What is Valentine’s Day without a little bit of heart?

For the single ladies, it often seems as if we hide our hearts away, behind an inpenetrable shield, protecting ourselves from love and it’s pitfalls. And, for those “cast-iron” hearts, Paradox Interactive has the Valentine’s Day solution: Hearts of Iron – The Card Game.

That’s right – take out all of those feelings of hurt and regret with a good dose of real-time strategy.

Paradox Interactive is another company hopping onto the bandwagon of “online collectible card games”. And for anyone who has had a go at the online Magic: the Gathering collectible card game, you will understand the ideal that Paradox is striving for. Hearts of Iron takes that idea and gives it a “realistic” spin. Players will take on the role of Axis or Allies during the events of World War II, and choose their strategies as they challenge opponents online. The game is being developed internally by Paradox and is the company’s first online TCG.

The game is boasting some good features. The 120 collectible cards use authentic World War II artwork, with 20 more promotional cards added to the mix. There are multiple game modes for the player to engage in, as well as opportunities to build your own deck and trade with other players online through the Paradox Connect system.

Hearts of Iron is scheduled to enter open beta in the coming months and go live later this year. For more information, follow Paradox on Twitter, or check in for updates on their website.

The Pokémon Company International have announced the latest Pokémon Trading Card Game series, HS-Triumphant. This exciting new series will introduce Palkia & Dialga LEGEND and Darkrai & Cresselia LEGEND cards along with six new Pokémon Prime cards.

This series will mark the fourth and final expansion of cards of the HeartGold & SoulSilver era of the Trading Card Game, with 102 cards in the English release.

The new series is packaged with a holographic treatment and two theme decks (each including one guaranteed foil card), and is scheduled to arrive in stores in early November 2010.

Features of the new Pokémon TCG: HS—Triumphant expansion include:

• Legendary Pokémon come back in pairs as LEGEND cards—Dialga & Palkia, and Darkrai & Cresselia
• Amazing new Pokémon Prime cards that include Celebi, Machamp, and Gengar!
• New theme decks, Verdant Frost and Royal Guard that let players send shivers down their opponents’ spines while unleashing devastating attacks



For more information, head on over to www.pokemon.com

With the current Australian-US exchange rate and the cost of plane tickets, I instead considered swimming to the merry US of A. It is interesting that, after dipping one toe into the chilly water at the Gold Coast, I had my own personal epiphany:

Jealousy is a bad colour on me.

And winter swimming is crazy.

Marvel’s Super Hero Squad Online is another premiere game at PAX this year, and the Gazillion booth (#3433) seems to be the place to be for our comic-loving, collectible card game enthusiasts. To celebrate the announcement of Super Hero Squad Online’s Collectible Card Battle system, the first 25,000 people at the show will receive a free Starter Deck inside their PAX swag bag.

Additional decks and exclusive chase cards will be distributed at the Gazillion booth, where the company will be sponsoring a Super Hero Squad Online card tournament. Winning players will be privy to one of three prize packages from Alienware.

If you can’t get close to the Gazillion booth, do not stress – there will also be a live Super Hero Squad tournament located in the Tabletop Area of The Conference Center.

In summary: not only will there be brand new Marvel characters and registrations for the closed beta, but there will also be this live CCG tournament based upon the cards, art and rules of the in-game Card Battle System.

WHAT: Premiere: Super Hero Squad Online PvP Combat Live Collectible Card Game Tournaments

WHEN: During the Penny Arcade Expo – September 3-5 2010

WHERE: Gazillion Entertainment Booth (# 3433)

Oh dear, I am starting to feel envious again …..

PAX convention veterans and newbies should head on over and check it out!

Yes, I am regretting leaving SoulSilver at home while I am in Sydney this weekend, with all of this inspiration from the Pokémon world!

But out of thousands, there could be only one. Well, only a few hundred. Those few hundred made it to the big stage on August 14­-15, to fulfill their dreams at the 2010 Pokémon World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. It was a perfect backdrop for fun and relaxation, even with the difficult battles ahead for the young, hard-working Trainers!

Many of the world’s elite Pokémon trading card and video game Trainers traveled to Hawaii to compete in the prestigious, invite-only Pokémon World Championships. It was not without its perks – Trainers were vying for the title of World Champion as well as custom Nintendo DSi XL consoles, trophies, vacations, and more than $100,000 in scholarships.

Staged as two separate tournaments under the same roof at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, the two-day event emphasized the skill, strategy, creativity, sportsmanship, and fun involved in playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver  console games. Trainers enjoyed an entire weekend of action-packed battles in the tropics to determine the world’s best.

When the dust settled after two days of intense competition featuring more than 375 players from over 25 countries, five World Champions were crowned.

2010 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Finalists

Junior Division (born after 1999)

World Champion: Yuka Furusawa from Japan
Second Place: Juan Pablo Arenas from the United States

Senior Division (born between 1995 and 1998)

World Champion: Jacob Lesage from Canada
Second Place: Mychael Bryan from the United States

Masters Division (born before 1994)

World Champion: Yuta Komatsuda from Japan
Second Place: Michael Pramawat from the United States

2010 Pokémon Video Game World Finalists

Junior Division (born after 1998)

World Champion: Shota Yamamoto from Japan
Second Place: Santa Ito from Japan

Senior Division (born before 1997)

World Champion: Ray Rizzo from the United States
Second Place: Yasuki Tochigi from Japan

Congratulations to all of the champions and finalists, and for more information on the action, head on over to http://www.pokemonworldchampionships.com!

After 12 months of tournaments and hundreds of Qualifying events across the globe, 37 players, from 18 countries travelled to Long Beach, California, in the hopes to be crowned with the top Yu-Gi-Oh! honours of the year – the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game 2010 World Champion, or the Video Game 2010 World Champion.

It was an amazing weekend-long Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship event, with dramatic Duels and roller coasters of emotions. But the congratulations this year go to Galileo De Obaldia from Panama, who played his final card to defeat Vincent Paglia from Las Vegas, NV, and is now the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game 2010 World Champion.

Heading into the Final Round Sunday, all eyes were upon 21-year-old De Obaldia and 18-year-old Paglia, as they brought their cards to the table. De Obaldia started with a Cold Wave card from his FROG One-Turn-Kill Deck and Paglia activated Royal Oppression and  Mask of Restrict cards from his Blackwing Deck.  Well into the match, it was still unclear who was going to take home the top prize but in the final minutes it was Galileo De Obaldia’s unwavering skill and strategy that helped him to prevail and to capture the title of 2010 World Champion.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Video Game World Championship was also held at the same time, pitting world-class Duelists from around the globe on the center stage. Competitors have battled for months, to make it to the World Championship event, with only twelve players skilled enough to earn a trip to the Championship. After seven rounds of playing Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia it was Arturo Oviedo from Spain that proved to possess the unwavering skills and strategic moves that lead him down the winning path and ultimately to be crowned the Video Game 2010 World Champion.

Congratulations to all of the finalists, and of course to Obaldia and Oviedo for their hard work to become the 2010 World Champions!

The Legend of the Five Rings collectible card game is a collectible card game for two or more players (in tournaments, generally two), each with two decks of at least 40 cards each (formerly at least 30 cards each). The game continues until a player has reached one of several different victory conditions, at which point that player is declared the winner. Victory conditions include winning militarily (destroying all provinces of one’s opponent), by honour (reaching a certain number of honour points), dishonour (forcing one’s opponent under a certain honour point threshold), through enlightenment (by putting cards called rings into play) or via a couple of special cards which essentially mean “game won”.

Legend of the Five Rings Wikipedia

What I do like is the artwork and the environment that the game exists in. You have the opportunity to play one of seven clans, each clan has its personality, strengths, and weaknesses. My chosen clan was the Phoenix Clan, whose strength lies in their superior honour. You control provinces that are replenished after each turn, unless your province has been destroyed. You may purchase powerful personalities (creatures), spells, weapons, and artifacts for your army. Another interesting piece of the L5R puzzle is that tournaments actually shape the outcome of the L5R universe. If certain clans are victorious, it changes the story.

While I do like the feel of the game, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. After three rounds of practice play, this game plays like a clunky version of Magic meets Shadowfist. As one of the most popular CCGs in (one of many of) our local hobby store, I was extremely disappointed with how steep the learning curb is and how utterly uninteresting it is. If a game can’t manage to hold my attention for more than ten minutes at a time, something (somewhere) has gone horribly, horribly wrong.

All in all, while this is a universe that I would enjoy learning more about, this is not a game that will be replacing V:TES or M:TG in my books. …maybe just Pokemon.

It’s called Play! Pokémon.

And the new logo is awesome.

It is a nice spin, isn’t it? I love how it echoes the style of American Major League Baseball. Pokémon looks to be promoted as a keen sport!

Konami announced this new venture on August 4, inviting Pokémon fans worldwide to join the fun at official, year-round Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) and video game events. Whether a seasoned player or a Pokémon newbie, the Play! Pokémon program will provide events suitable for all levels of Pokémon knowledge.  Some players will opt to visit a local Pokémon League, where they can learn about Pokémon games and win prizes, while others may choose to test their strategies and training at competitive tournaments.  No matter where Pokémon fans decide to join the fun, players at all levels are sure to have a great time.

It is building the Pokémon community into something that is both a fan base and also a participatory game. It is also something that reaches to both trading card enthusiasts and fans of the video game series.

The new name and logos announced today will appear initially on hats, binders, playmats, posters, and other printed materials.  Players and fans at the 2010 Pokémon World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, August 14–15 will see the newly branded materials firsthand.  For more information about Play! Pokémon, including where to find Play! Pokémon events, players should visit http://www.pokemon.com/us/organized-play/.

It’s called TweetMTG. And it’s going to be a delicious addition to your weekend multiplayer gaming. That is, if you can tune in for the weekend of July 31-August 1.

How do you join in? Simply follow @TweetMTG on Twitter. Or, for the Twitter-impaired, watch the feed on Wizards.com. From there, get ready for the Multiverse to unfold in ways you’ve never seen before.

Top minds in Magic R&D have compiled some of the finest and most plot-foiling effects they could find and will unleash them on the TweetMTG Twitter feed every few minutes for an entire weekend. Before each game, each player joins the team of one of the five Planeswalkers (Ajani, Jace, Liliana, Chandra, or Garruk) from the Magic 2011 core set. Some tweets provide benefits for players on a certain Planeswalker’s team. There are also a few tweets that are unaligned and will affect everyone equally.

This is a move that is beautifully creative, and I can’t wait to see how much it is going to help or hinder the game.

So hop on board and enjoy this small step that hybridizes collectible card gaming and social networking. For more information, head on over to Wizards.com!

The new 100-card booster set will have all new Unicorn, Scrap, Amazoness, and Fusion Monsters – including Yusei’s 3200 ATK Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste.  Duelist Revolution also includes many cards that work great with the cards from other recent sets like Hidden Arsenal 2 and Gold Series 3! Every Duelist will receive a limited edition Ultra Rare participation card and have the chance to win an exclusive Duelist Revolution Game Mat.

For those attending the preview events, Konami have created kits specifically for store owners hosting the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG sneak peek events. Each kit includes support for 16 players:

• 80 Duelist Revolution booster packs
• 16 Ultra Rare participation cards
• Two Game Mats
• 16 Info Cards for players

Head on over to www.yugioh-card.com for more information.

Another summer release for card game fans, with Pokemon’s new expansion, HS-Undaunted, due to hit the shelves on 18 August.

Players will have access to 90 cards in this expansion set, and the new theme deck packaging has not only a clear preview window to see the first card in each deck, but will also include a bonus booster pack. It will up the price of the theme deck  to $12.99, and is anticipated to be a trend that will continue for future Pokemon releases. The booster packs are set to sell for $3.79 each.

New features of HS-Undaunted will include:

• Introduction of Daybreak and Nightfall theme decks with bonus booster pack
• Rare and Legendary Pokémon teamed up in pairs: Kyogre & Groudon and Rayquaza & Deoxys
• New Pokémon Prime cards including Houndoom and Scizor
• New Stadium cards including Ruins of Alph
• New Trainer cards including Legend Box

Further info is available at http://www.pokemon.com/us/trading-cards/hgss-series/hgss3/