Former WotC CEO reinvents crack -- again

[SirBruce]

It's called Clout Fantasy, and instead of cards, it uses collectible poker-like chips:



More details here:
http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=16272

In the game players have a stack of chips. Each chip has 0 to 6 clout points. Players have to make a stack 15 chips while not spending more than a set amount of Clout on the stack. Players take turns throwing the chips into the play area and depending on how they hit the table the individual effects of each chip occur. Chips have stats, abilities and powers that affect game play. Some of the powers and abilities include protection, poison, weaken, and the strengthening of other chips within a radius of where the chip lands. After landing on the table players can decide to attack other player's chips. Further chip effects can come into play in these situations. For example, chips with the Taunt ability force attacking chips to attack them before any other chips. Chips are eliminated from the play area as play continues. After throwing and playing out all their chips players count all their Clout still in the play area plus extra points for proximity to other chips. Whoever has the most Clout points wins.

Bruce

[AOFanboi]

Sounds like a "randomer" version of Diskwars.

[Abagadro]

What, no Alf pogs?

[Krakrok]

Combine it with LARP and big rubber dice instead of pogs for a game of peg the wizard.

[Margalis]

It looks retarded, sounds retarded, and the artwork is terrible. I predict it will bomb.

[Shockeye]

It looks retarded, sounds retarded, and the artwork is terrible. I predict it will bomb.

I defy you to explain Pokemon, then.

[schild]

It looks retarded, sounds retarded, and the artwork is terrible. I predict it will bomb.

I defy you to explain Pokemon, then.

I defy him to explain Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

[Flashman]

It looks retarded, sounds retarded, and the artwork is terrible. I predict it will bomb.

I defy you to explain Pokemon, then.

I defy him to explain Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

Hey, you missed 5

[schild]

No, I didn't. It didn't sound or look retarded.

[Flashman]

haha oops (deleted comment that made me look real stupid)

thanks murdoc
______________________

Sorry to derail.

I wonder what the market is for this game. How many fans are out there for these kind of games that are looking for an alternative to Magic?

[murdoc]

FYI: Episode 5 was Empire Strikes Back


Yeeeesh

[schild]

There is no alternative to Magic. All those other games? Not real.

[Shockeye]

There is no alternative to Magic. All those other games? Not real.

This link does not exist, obviously.

[Trippy]

Just to be pedantic, Peter Adkinson didn't invent Magic the Gathering, Richard Garfield did. And Peter didn't invent Clout Fantasy, Jesper Myrfors did.

[Strazos]

I defy him to explain Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

Oh come on, schild...Episode 4 and 6? 4 was kinda slow, and 6 had Ewoks, but still...

But I agree with your assessment of 1 and 2...I actually saw those in theatres, and they made me think that I could come up with something better, using only a betamax cam and 3 crayons.

[Hanzii]

Peter Adkinsons greatest  contribution to Magic was believing in it (Garfield was trying to sell him Roborally, but Peter said 'we can't afford to put out a boardgame, make us a card game people will whip out, when queing at conventions' - and the rest, as they say, is history)

Jesper Myrfors was the first (or one of the first) art directors for Magic. An artdirector and a former CEO (allthough also a - not very sucessfull - gamedesigner before being CEO) inventing a new game... oh, well.

Since this relies on how and where you throw you pogs whatever, I predict endless discussions and a gme I couldn't care less about.

[AOFanboi]

Peter Adkinsons greatest  contribution to Magic was believing in it (Garfield was trying to sell him Roborally, but Peter said 'we can't afford to put out a boardgame, make us a card game people will whip out, when queing at conventions' - and the rest, as they say, is history)

Another thankyou should go to the folks at Palladium, who went bananas over references to their system in conversion tables in the first "metarulebook" The Primal Order, which caused the small publisher Wizards of the Coast to need cash quick. M:tG was reckoned to sell 10,000 units and fade away, but bring in enough cash to compensate for the losses on TPO.

Yeah right.

In the first two years after M:tG exploded, I am certain I saw 100 or so CCG/TCG games, from the brilliant (On the Edge from Atlas, Jyhad/V:tES from Wizards) to the horrible (Towers in Time, Star Quest), via cash-cows (ST:TNG and Star Wars made by Decipher, a company that sprang to a big #2 spot after the WoTC behemoth). Quite the industry - but nearly all of them faded away.

[SirBruce]

I've not studied a breakdown of the CCG industry, but my impression is L5R and Pokemon are the two big post-MtG names that have done well.  I thought LotR might, but it seems they just re-packaged the earlier version, which was (IMHO) overly complicated.

Bruce

[CmdrSlack]

My youngest cousin seems to be spending cash on the Yu Gi Oh cards (or howthefuckever that's spelled).  No idea if it's successful, but there's a cartoon for it.  Cartoons = easy marketing.

[ahoythematey]

I always liked the Pokemon CCG, but could never really find anybody to play it with that I didn't want to stomp in the head American History X-style.  In the end, though, Final Fantasy 8's Triple Triad CCG minigame ended up as my favorite, just above M:TG pre-Ice Age.

[Johny Cee]

These things have a life span of a couple of years.  Most of them are cash grabs on top of established licenses (Star Trek/Wars) or have amazingly poor planning.

Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon were pretty big,  but have been dying hard.  From what I heard about Yu Gi Oh,  they started selling a starter pack for $10 that has what was a couple hundred bucks in cards.  It's great if you're starting the game,  but will kill the secondary market.  This, combined with issuing alot of cards that are designed to be banned/restricted right away,  leads to alot of unsatisfying game play.

Restricted (can only have one in deck, usually) cards are usually good enough that whoever draws one first, wins.  Turns the game into the Magic equivalent of playing Type 1 (the if you play first, you generally win format).

Magic has been smart enough to push Limited (draft and sealed deck) formats,  and also has respected the secondary market.  Shitting on the secondary market shuts down alot of retailers (especially online).  The rotation scheme they have going to phase cards in and out is also pretty slick.

Been loving Magic Online....  all the fun of playing, without having to look at/smell/talk to the normal run of folks you get in stores.

[HaemishM]

I think Magic and Pokemon are the only games that have had real business staying power. But outside of MTG, Legend of the Five Rings was the only one that was really worth a shit as a game.

This one looks goddamn stupid.

[Bunk]

Actually, in my opinion of course, the best game to come out of the whole slew was Vampire: the Masquerade (Jyhad).  Problem was, it was made for 5+ players, so no one played it. It was right up there with Lot5R for quality and depth of play.

[Hanzii]

I think Magic and Pokemon are the only games that have had real business staying power. But outside of MTG, Legend of the Five Rings was the only one that was really worth a shit as a game.

Not true.

Some of them (and I played them ALL) were pretty fun games... just not necessarily that collectible.

Netrunner, Battletech and especially V:TES were damn fine games.
XXXenophile and Illuminati (INWO) were terrific games, just not collectibel.

And there were others.

[Joe]

Actually, in my opinion of course, the best game to come out of the whole slew was Vampire: the Masquerade (Jyhad).  Problem was, it was made for 5+ players, so no one played it. It was right up there with Lot5R for quality and depth of play.

Great game. I still have my old first ed cards. Unfortunately, even a two player game lasted three hours. Your ass goes numb after two.

[HaemishM]

I'm not saying the other games weren't fun; I'm just saying that they were not nearly as engaging over the long haul as L5R or Magic was. Vampire and Netrunner were both decent, but they lacked that certain hook that MTG and L5R had.

[ahoythematey]

I never did get around to L5R's CCG, even though I pen and papered the game many times.  Feel like I missed out...

[Mesozoic]

My favorite was Rage, based on White Wolf's Werewolf: Apocalypse aspect of the World of Darkness. Great art, laminated cards, deep gameplay.

Again, it took at least 3-4 people to really play well, but lots of fun.  After college, there was no way to get a game going. 

[Sky]

Anyone want to buy a Picard and Riker?

[Ardent]

My youngest cousin seems to be spending cash on the Yu Gi Oh cards (or howthefuckever that's spelled).  No idea if it's successful, but there's a cartoon for it.  Cartoons = easy marketing

Yu Gi Oh has earned over a billion dollars since its inception.

That's with a b.

[shiznitz]

Revenue and earnings are not the same thing. For a company like WalMart, the difference is about $270 billion. That's with a b.