NECA acquires WizKids assets, including HeroClix
HeroClix fans may see the light at the end of the tunnel. The National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc. (NECA) has purchased the majority of the assets of WizKids, Inc. from The Topps Company, Inc.
This includes HeroClix, ActionClix, HorrorClix and SportsClix. Also acquired by NECA were the WizKids brand, the Pocketmodel Game family of games, including the Pirates of the Crimson Coast, Pirates of the Spanish Main and Pirates of the Cursed Seas games, and the Mage Knight line of games.
According to the release, the popular DC and Marvel HeroClix lines will continue under this new ownership, which has got to be a relief for the players who have been waiting to see if their game would return.
Click past the cut for the full release.
DC Universe Online trailer revealed
The trailer for DC Universe Online was revealed at E3. With comics talent including Marv Wolfman, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee on the game, I’m looking forward to it.
– Matt Price
PSP Go shown at E3
Joystiq took a look at the PSP Go at the E3 expo in Los Angeles. The new PSP go is about the size of an iPhone when collapsed and is set for an October release at $249.99. Ditching the proprietary UMD format, PSP Go games will be download-only. My first thought is, what makes this better than an iPhone? How many things do you want in your pockets? I suppose it will come down to what kind of games are available on the system and at what price.
- Matt Price
Topps closes WizKids; HeroClix to continue?
According to industry web site ICV2.com, Topps has announced it is shutting down the WizKids division of the company. WizKids was the company that premiered HeroClix, Mage Knight and Pirates of the Spanish Main. It was acquired by Topps in 2003; Topps itself was acquired in 2007 by Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company and Dearborn Partners, ICV2 reports.
Topps said in the statement it was pursuing “strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without any noticeable disruption.”
This is rough news for fans of the WizKids games, and even moreso, obviously, for the people who worked there. Will HeroClix continue, and will it do so as a game focused on the hobby gaming market? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
– Matt Price
Need “Scrabble” help?
Gary Schwarzbard got tired of losing to his mom at Scrabble, and thus, Scrabblebard was born.
“My Mom is an excellent Scrabble player,” Schwartzbard said in a news release. “While playing with the family (at) Thanksgiving a few years ago, I had an idea to develop an application that would help me become a better player and to beat the socks off my mother.”
His Web site determines every possible play given the rack of letters and the letters on the board. Now, if you’re playing over a board face-to-face with someone, they may notice that you’re checking Scrabblebard every play; however, if you’re a Facebook player of Scrabulous, you’re a lot more likely to get away with it.
– Matt Price
“Darkon” examines idea of role-playing
From Friday’s “The Oklahoman”:
By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor
Live-action role-playing — in which adults act out often fantasy-based scenarios involving battle and adventure — is, if it’s considered at all by the general public, often seen to be an odd hobby. “Darkon” co- Luke Meyer wanted to examine the behavior of role-playing in the context of these games — and he was determined that his film wouldn’t be a vehicle to make fun of the live-action role-players featured in the film.
But he and Andrew Neel first had to convince the Darkon Wargaming Club of their intentions.
“It’s an outsider hobby, it’s not part of mainstream culture, and it’s often pretty widely ridiculed,” Meyer said in a phone interview with The Oklahoman. “They’re all aware of that, and it was definitely on their mind that us, a group of filmmakers coming in, they didn’t know where we were coming from. And it was something that they were concerned about.”
“Darkon,” recently released on DVD, explores the adventures of the Darkon Wargaming Club, a group of live-action role-players, or LARPers.
The film follows the players’ in-game storyline and their personal lives, during a time in the game in which the nation of Laconia led an alliance against the Mordomian empire.
“Initially, when we showed up with cameras, we were just shooting battle stuff and talking to some people on the sidelines. The initial presence was light, and they didn’t mind their battles being photographed,” Meyer said. “As we stuck around, we went through a period of really trying to gain their trust, that we were going to make something that would represent them properly, and they wouldn’t feel like we were making fun of them or anything like that.”
In addition to meeting with the game’s ruling body, Meyer said the filmmakers won over players by simply being at the events on a regular basis.
“Eventually, they felt comfortable with us being there. We came down over and over again, and hung out, and would shoot more footage, and our presence became more of a normal thing,” Meyer said. “They got to know us, and got used to who we were and what we were doing there.”
“Darkon” is different than many live-action role-playing games, as there is an in-game map representing squares of land. It’s for these fictional squares of land that the players battle, using padded weapons.
“That adds a whole lot of depth to people battling it out on the field, which is what goes on in most LARP games,” Meyer said.
While most LARP games are fantasy-based with some type of live-action combat, other types also exist, Meyer said.
“There’s one called ‘Vampire the Masquerade,’ which is about vampires, and there’s no actual battling. The contests in that are decided by rock-paper-scissors,” Meyer said. Other live-action role playing games take place in science-fiction worlds, among others.
Meyer said part of the appeal of the film is the examination of the idea of role-playing, something everyone does to a degree in life.
“We all have a role we play at work, a role we play with our friends. And it’s not to say that there’s not a true self in there somewhere, but we’re always adapting ourselves to an environment so that things fit as best as possible,” Meyer said. “And it was really interesting to us to look at a hobby group that was taking that part of human behavior and really going far with it, and having fun with it.”
ComicsPRO meeting: Diamond, Diamond Select Toys announcements
LAS VEGAS — Some brief information from Diamond Comics’ Distributors’ Roger Fletcher and Bill Schanes from the ComicsPRO meeting in Las Vegas. Bill Schanes is Diamond’s Vice President of Purchasing; Fletcher is Diamond’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Among the announcements:
* Ultimate 1/4 Scale Figures are coming for Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Star Wars figures shown were Obi Wan, Darth Maul and Hoth Han Solo.
The Star Wars figures will be 18 inches tall, have 20 points of articulation, and come with sound.
Fletcher said the Star Wars figures drew a strong reaction at Toy Fair, where they first exhibited them.
“The reaction that I saw from people coming by looking at these things — they were showstoppers,” he said.
A vinyl bust bank featuring Indiana Jones was also shown.
In stores now is a Star Trek Original Series Communicator, which was demonstrated for attendees. Schanes indicated interest in these items could rise as the upcoming J.J. Abrams film draws closer to release.
From WizKids, a July-scheduled expansion called “Secret Invasion” will tie into the comic-book series from Marvel. And, according to Diamond, the expansion will reveal who is in fact a Skrull.
– Matt Price
Game-show veterans launch PopJax
Merging social networking, user-generated video and gaming, PopJax aims to lure online game players to its online trivia contests.
Executives behind PopKax have more than 25 years of game show experience.
Doug Barry, PopJax CEO, has been involved with producing shows such as “The Jokers Wild” and “Win, Lose or Draw” and is the son of game show pioneer Jack Barry. Larry Taymor, COO, worked for more than 20 years in interactive television production, creating interactive versions of hit shows such as “Wheel of Fortune,” “Family Feud,” “The Dating Game” and “Jeopardy.”
The head writer for PopJax is Arnie Meisner, who has written for “The Family Feud,” and the “Hollywood Squares.”
“As lifelong game show professionals and video enthusiasts, we thought there was a void in the current casual online games offerings, and we felt that the most popular aspects of the Internet — online video and social networking — were being ignored,” said Barry in a release. “With PopJax, we’ve created a highly engaging video trivia game experience that also combines a prize system similar to game shows. Furthermore, the game experience will continuously expand, as more and more content is brought online and more users begin submitting questions. Now purveyors of pop culture trivia can finally be rewarded with cash for their databank of useless knowledge!”
I played a couple of quizzes — superheroes and pro football — and found them relatively easy, but pretty fun. It’s sort of like directed YouTube browsing (which is where the videos come from) with trivia alongside. I could see this being a TV game show pretty easily. There’s also the chance to win some money by getting high scores each week, so it could even be a cost-effective way to waste time.
– Matt Price
“Darkon” follows lives of live-action role players
From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor
THE NEXT LEVEL
While many fantasy gameplayers are satisfied with console, tabletop or online gaming, there’s a cult following for live-action roleplaying, or LARPing.
“Darkon,” recently released on DVD, explores the adventures of the Darkon Wargaming Club, a group of LARPers in the Baltimore area.
The film follows the players’ in-game storyline and their personal lives, during a time in the game in which the nation of Laconia led an alliance against the Mordomian empire.
Players must follow an elaborate battle system for land, in a real-life combat setting using padded weapons. In the game, the highly successful Mordomian empire has taken over many land squares, worrying their in-game rivals.
Skip Lipman plays Bannor of Laconia, who heads the uprising against Mordam.
“My goal was to be heroic in the realm of Darkon and to be excellent in my game endeavors,” Lipman said.
Lipman, a stay-at-home dad at the time of the film, says his character resembles his real-life personality.
“I think a lot of different people play different aspects of their personality, but for me, Bannor is very much an avatar of me that just steps into another realm. Bannor is Skip by another name,” Lipman said. “It’s rare in real life where we get to have our enemies arrayed before us. … Darkon is a pleasant release when you can actually see your foe and come to grips with them in combat.”
Kenyon Wells plays Keldar, the Mordomian leader. He started the game as an awkward teen, and says the skills learned in the game helped him develop his speaking and interpersonal skills. Wells is now a manager at a large information technology consulting firm.
“For me personally, I was originally drawn to this type of things when I was much younger because I liked the subject matter — fantasy, swords and sorcery. I read a lot of Tolkien when I was younger,” Wells said.
“Just being involved in a large organized sport taught me a lot and gave me a lot more self-confidence than I would have otherwise had. And I became quite good at it,” Wells said. “It was a way for me to experiment with leadership and organization and public speaking and all these other things in a relatively safe way before I had to do any of that in my academic or professional career.”
Wells said he was playing a character that was the kind of character he wanted to be: a confident, charismatic leader.
“And after a while playing that kind of led to acting like that, and having the confidence that I could act like that when the situation warranted it,” Wells said. “When I later had (professional) opportunities for a leadership position, I was ready for it.”
Yu-Gi-Oh! Sneak Preview
Upper Deck informs Nerdage that the first Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game sneak preview of 2008, featuring the new Phantom Darkness booster pack, will be this weekend.
The sneak preview will start at 9 a.m. Sunday at Game Headquarters,1620 J SW 89th. Each player will get an exclusive look at the “Phantom Darkness” booster pack. While supplies last, participating Duelists will receive the card “Dark Grepher.”
For more information, visit www.yugiohpreview.com.
Phantom Darkness is the first Yu-Gi-Oh! collectible card game release of 2008. This 100-card set follows the storyline of the “Yu-Gi-Oh! GX” animated series.
– Matt Price
