SEATTLE – With Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers, Wizards of the Coast was able to create a low-impact entry point into their wildly popular collectable card game.
Last month, I called the Xbox Live download the ideal summer game. But at Penny Arcade Expo, Chris Perkins, Dungeons & Dragons creative manager (and the dungeon master on those wildly entertaining D&D Podcasts starring Gabe and Tycho) calls the game something else: "A lesson learned."
Perkins views the console incarnation of his company's flagship card game as "something we've done very right." His hope is to bring that kind of success to the venerable tabletop RPG brand that he's working to evolve. He sees the accessibility of Planeswalkers and asks himself, "can we replicate it" for Dungeons & Dragons? He hopes his company's unique partnership with Atari can help something he imagines come to pass.
Traditionally, videogames that look to channel old-school role playing games tried their best to bury the nuts and bolts mechanics that govern combat, favoring action and fancy graphics over die rolls. A game that helps players digest the game's combat rules could make an interesting entry point into further nerdery. Or at the very least make Xbox Live trash talk a little more interesting.
Are you sure about wanting to attacking the darkness, HALODEWD420?
Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast
See Also:
- R.I.P. Dungeons & Dragons Co-Creator Dave Arneson, 1947-2009 ...
- Paperless D&D with Dungeon Mastering Tools
- Take D&D 4th Edition for a Free Test Drive
- John McCain Campaign Takes a +3 Vorpal Blade to Dungeons & Dragons ...
- 2010 Core Set Returns Magic: The Gathering to its Fantasy Roots ...
- Magic: The Gathering Goes Console with Duels of the Planeswalkers ...
