Upperdeck KO’s Konami - Pass Priority

29 12 2008

While this site is all about the Vs. System trading card game, it would be churlish of us to ignore the current plight of Upperdeck Entertainment in regards of it’s situation with Konami.

For those who missed this saucy little story, lifted straight from some day-time soap opera, Konami decided to announce that it was pulling the Yu Gi Oh rug from underneath Upperdeck’s feet.  The kids TCG is the golden goose for UDE, so many were shocked - apparently UDE were amongst those.  The creators of our beloved Vs. System TCG stood firm and have challenged Konami in the courts.  The following statement was posted on their website on 27th December:

Upper Deck Wins Major Victory in Support of Worldwide Yu-Gi-Oh! Players

U.S. and International courts side with Upper Deck in multiple legal actions involving Konami and the future of Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Games. 

North Las Vegas, NV (December 27, 2008) – A California court has denied Konami’s application for a temporary selling and shipping ban, effectively stopping any restrictions that would have prevented Upper Deck from marketing, selling, distributing and providing game support for the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game.  

The Dutch courts also ruled in favor of Upper Deck, overruling Konami’s alleged termination of its contract with Upper Deck.  Accordingly, Upper Deck will continue its role as the exclusive distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game in all European territories, plus Australia and New Zealand.   The complete release announcing this decision can be found at http://www.upperdeck-international.com/tabid/56/language/en-US/Default.aspx?AnnouncementID=11

Both victories clear the way for Upper Deck to continue distributing, marketing and selling Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG products in territories outside of Asia.  “Upper Deck is very pleased with today’s rulings”, said Upper Deck executive Bernd Becker.  “We look forward to continuing the superior game support that we’ve been delivering to worldwide Yu-Gi-Oh! players for the last seven years.” 

The unparalleled game support Upper Deck has provided to dedicated Yu-Gi-Oh! players around the world has led to another successful year for the trading card game, as evidenced by the current product sell-out.  “This is as much a victory for the Yu-Gi-Oh! players as it is for Upper Deck,” said Becker.

About Upper Deck

Upper Deck is a premier sports and entertainment publishing company which delivers a portfolio of relevant, innovative and multi-dimensional product experiences to collectors, sports and entertainment enthusiasts. For more information on Upper Deck and its products please visit www.upperdeck.com <http://www.upperdeck.com/> .

The outcome of this situation could have far reaching consequences for the future of our game, so I suggest that we all stay tuned to see exactly how this plays out.  UDE have struck a blow, but now it’s Konami’s initiative, I’m sure they’ve got a few plot twists up their sleeves.





Checkmate Arcade Ep. 35 - Imagine If The Price Was Right

29 12 2008

Its the last podcast of the year 2008 and we stuff your stockings with a ton of gaming goodness. The November NPDs are out and even with the bad economy, console sales are up. Jason goes treasure hunting with Lara Croft and throws some hadokens in Ryu's general direction. Steven finds himself out of air in Dead Space and tries out an MMORPG beta. Have a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, and a great New Year.

Don't forget to enter our contest, check out this link for more details:
http://www.vsrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64229





Marvel Evolution set review - Starjammers

29 12 2008

Clandestine ContemplationsThe Starjammers are one of the minor teams represented in Marvel Evolution. They are a bunch of Space Pirates who spend their time fighting against various villainous elements within the Shi’Ar (usually involving Deathbird). And of course where the Shi’Ar are involved, so are the X-Men often as not. Even more complicated, Corsair turns out to be Major Christopher Summers, Cyclops long-lost Dad who was actually kidnapped by aliens instead of dying in a plane crash. I love comics sometimes. Their primary card themes turn out to be piracy and sabotage, represented by their various abilities to steal your opponent’s cards, force them to discard and otherwise restrict their ability to put their own game plan into action. Of course the Starjammers don’t have that much of a plan themselves, but they sure will be annoying, and for some people that is more than enough. Not to mention the chance that their semi-random acts of pillage will occasionally wreck their opponents completely.
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Marvel Evolution set review: Weapon X

23 12 2008

vscorpsToday’s chunk of the set review will focus on Weapon X.  Weapon X’s featured keyword is Hunter, which reads, “When this card enters play, choose an opposing character. That character becomes hunted by you.”

  • Becoming hunted doesn’t do anything by itself, but other cards refer to it.
  • Each player may only have one character that is being hunted by them at any one time. If another character becomes hunted by you, all other characters stop being hunted by you.
  • A character stays hunted by you until it leaves play or another character becomes hunted by you, even if it becomes stunned or loses its powers.

If you remember the four Weapon X cards from the MUN set, this mechanic may seem oddly familiar.  Before ‘hunter’ was actually a keyword, it was already the theme of Weapon X.  Take Sabretooth, Government Assassin for example.  His text reads:

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The Ring has Chosen Episode 68

20 12 2008

Cliff, Squire, and special guest Charles (Obsidian3d) close out the year chatting, about VS, blogging, MEV, and why we love this game. To wrap up this epic episode we’ve included lost footage featuring Joe10lo, BigBossMan, and Ludin Romero.

Special Thanks and shout-outs to The Kamiza, and the Lost Hemisphere crew.





Vs. System TCG awards - 2008

16 12 2008

Sweep the LegAs 2008 draws toward an end, there is plenty of doom and gloom in the world. In our everyday lives most of us are effected by the current global economic crisis. In our leisure time, Vs. System is clouded in uncertainty and surrounded by whispers of the worst kind. Instead of focusing on the negative, I think it’s time that we take a look at the positive for the last year. With that in mind, I propose we hold the Vs. System TCG awards - 2008 (VSA’s). Here are the categories I’ve come up with. Please reply with your nominations for each category. Once we have a decent number of nominations, I’ll put up polls for every one to vote for their favourite.

There will be a prize for the person who nominates the most ultimate winners. If there is a tie, then the prize will go to the person who submitted their nominations first.

The categories are:

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Marvel Evolution set review: X-Factor

16 12 2008

Clandestine Contemplations

Welcome to the first instalment of The-Kamiza.com’s set review for the latest VS. System TCG expansion - Marvel Evolution. Keep your eyes out for more reviews from our other writers, but today Felix Hughes kicks us off with his thoughts on the X-Factor (the team, not the TV show, although if you ask me Alexandra totally nailed it and deserved the win over everyone else! Now, over to Felix - Steve

X Factor are a team based around controlling the game through exhausting other characters and generally making themselves difficult to attack. They are the main beneficiaries of the new energise mechanic, and the large number of activated powers that go with it. These powers have long been a feature of the X-Men teams, and it is with those that X-Factor have most in common; especially the X-Stall decks that held the game under control until they could build up to some powerful late game characters. They also encourage an interesting playing style. Off-initiative they are great, giving you plenty of things to do (and off-initiative tricks have often been a very powerful element in some very powerful teams). When you have the initiative you have to make the choice between attacking or activating, and that can lead to some interesting decisions, as well as some complicated board situations. While X-Factor are not the X-Men they definitely have this feel, as well as some of the recovery tricks and pacifistic tendencies of the X-Men. The large number of dual affiliated characters also contributes to this.

They also get two legendary characters, each representing different periods in the comic history of X-Factor. Cyclops comes from the first inception of the team - a reunion of the original X-Men. This version of Madrox represents the current series, based around X-Factor Investigations - A Private Investigation firm operating from inside Mutant Town. (Madrox and most of the other X-Factor regulars were also members of the X-Factor team during the 90s.) The one thing that links all these incarnations of X-Factor? They are always on the lookout for new threats to mutants and so far they have always been ready to deal with them. Read the rest of this entry »





The Ring has Chosen Episode 68

13 12 2008

This Week Cliff and Joe take a crack at the next part of the MEV set review.





Clandestine Contemplation’s - The best Defence….is actually a really good Defence.

12 12 2008

Clandestine ContemplationsWell it’s been a little while since I last wrote anything. For whatever reason I’ve found it a bit tricky recently (I’ve probably started this 4 times now - blame travel and winding down for the end of the year).

I think it is important to write something though, so this is all going to be a bit off the cuff and unplanned. Apologies if that is a bit random for people. Hopefully I’ll be running at full steam again soon. But what to talk about?

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The Pull List: Episode 59

12 12 2008

The Pull List: Episode 59
(0:57:18) A day late, but just as great. This week Sean and Craig take a look at HAUNTED TANK #1, NEW AVENGERS #47, and HELLBOY: THE WILD HUNT #1. Craig also gushes over the intricately interwoven tales in the SUPER SPY graphic novel from Top Shelf Productions. Lastly, the guys make an announcement about their schedule for the coming weeks ahead.

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