Comments on: Magic: The Gathering – Tactics: It's gotta suck ass, right?

By: Zak

Zak — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:26:45 +0000

To be fair, I loved Pokemon Puzzle League. I’ll probably get the game to check out, but my expectations aren’t high. If it turns out awesome, then all the better.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:43:17 +0000

totally agree. I think it’s dumb to assume that just because we like one product (cards) that we will like a game that features those characters (tactics game)

See also: Pokemon / Pokemon Puzzle League

By: messels

messels — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:45:02 +0000

@pedro, i think it needs to be VERY clear that this project or Duels or any other video game version of mtg wasn’t designed or implemented by WotC R&D–at all. aside from some minor guidance from WotC, this concept (and duels) was implemented completely by a third party.

the business model we’re looking at here isn’t so much targeted at growing the player base–though this is obviously part of and a consequence of these activites.

what we’re seeing is the mickey-mouse-ization of magic. WotC is becoming a license-intense company, generating cash flow through other companies building games and slapping magic related images and names on the cover. when i say mickey mouse-ization, i don’t mean “dumbing down”–i just mean an emulation of what disney did/does with its animated characters.

so far as appeal to the consumer base, we’re finding that the magic-playing community is really vast in tastes. it’s a squishy market. creating games like this or duels is just a reflection of the very varied appeal the base-game has for people.

@norm; i agree. the storyline is completely irrelevant so there’s not much appeal for checking out a 3d version of the game. there’s no pull. maybe if WotC made a decision to locate a design studio (i’d love a Square version of mtg) and develop an intense storyline like we see in full RPGs, they could create the storyline there. a solidification of a consistent narrative would be nice.

By: pedro

pedro — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:39:08 +0000

I actually disagree. Duels of the Planeswalkers is the top hit on the Xbox live store and has done its job in raking in new customers. I have actually met a few players who started playing Magic through duels so first hand I can see how wizards reach out to the community of Xbox gamers has worked. They are the audience that wizards probabaly have the most stake in. I haven’t heard much about Tactics but WOTC has given me almost no reason in the past year or two to question big decisions. They have done a stellar job on ideas and execution and I would expect the same on tactics. Simply put, R&D is doing a fantastic job.

By: Norm

Norm — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:29:38 +0000

I agree, I could care less about this game. I’m not into tactics games however so that might feed my lack of enthusiasm. In order to create spin off games I think magic has to make the story matter more so it has relevance in cross platforms. Since we love the card game magic, we don’t really care about other game formats with the same name.