‘Abaddon’ Board Game by Toy Vault and Richard Borg

Toy and game manufacturer Toy Vault will be publishing a new mech-fighting board game designed by Richard Borg (Memoir 44, BattleLore). The new game, entitled Abaddon, is expected to release in 2012.

The game is set on the planet Abaddon, a desolate wasteland that produces “Feronium.” Two factions fight for control of the resource using mechanized suits called “Links.”

Battles take place on a 28” by 19” game board using 32 detailed miniatures and 18 free-standing landscape features. The game system utilizes a deck of 100 cards representing offensive and defensive weapon systems and special battle dice. Unpredictable and random events and malfunctions are resolved through the use of special “Wild Fire” cards. 15 mission scenarios are included.

Abaddon is designed for two to four players.

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Update On FFG’s Release Of Merchant Of Venus

Fantasy Flight Games has announced that it will release its new edition of Richard Hamblen’s Merchant of Venus board game in February. This is notable because in October both FFG and Stronghold Games announced that they were releasing new versions of the board game of space trading originally published by Avalon Hill in 1988. FFG got its license from Hasbro/Avalon Hill while Stronghold had signed a contract with the game’s designer (see “Dueling Merchants”).

When contacted by ICv2, Stronghold’s Stephen Buonocare declined comment on the potential FFG release of the Merchant of Venus game in February, but referred to previously published remarks on the situation, which expressed admiration for Fantasy Flight Games and a hope that the two parties who issued the licenses (Richard Hamblen and Hasbro, which claims that it acquired the rights when it purchased Avalon Hill) will come to some sort of resolution of their differences.
FFG did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

If FFG does release its updated version of Merchant of Venus, which according to FFG “remains true to the game’s magnificently campy core while expanding the game in surprising ways that will cause even the most hardcore fan to celebrate,” it appears unlikely that Stronghold Games will publish its version based on remarks made by Stronghold’s Kevin Nesbit quoted on Boardgame Geek.
FFG’s Merchant of Venus is listed for shipping in February with an MSRP of $59.95.

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Keltis HD For iPad & iPhone

Found a bit of news about Keltis by Reiner Knizia for iOS from the very cool site iPadboardgames.org…

Last year, we reviewed Keltis on the iPhone. A large portion of the critique at that point related to the fact that there was no HD version, and that it seemed like any further developments would disappear into the ether.

We have now been proven wrong. Keltis HD is not just simply a template update, but rather a revision of the existing iOS property into something that uses the iPad smartly.

Gameplay

As previously noted, the gameplay itself is not overly difficult to comprehend. You have four columns, each with a scale of -4 to 10. Your purpose is to advance your stones up these columns to a predetermined ending point. At the end of the game, your score is the sum of your columns, plus a relevant modifier.

The game works through developing ascending or descending runs of cards. Each column has an associated card suit. You use these suits to build a chain of cards in ascending or descending order. Since the cards you can draw are reasonably random, you have to make a judgement about whether to play a card you have or wait for a better card. You can only progress a stone when you can play a card, and if you dither about too much you’ll be left behind as your opponents streak ahead. As you progress along a particular column, the first stone there will encounter a number of bonuses. These include the ability to advance other stones, and the collection of wishing stones, which are also important to the final score. The trick is to remember that you don’t need to have an optimal game, only one that’s a bit better then the opponents’.

The game ends when there are five stones in the final three rows from any players in the game. It also ends when the last card is drawn.

Visit iPad Board Games For The Rest Of The Story

Giant, HUGE LAN Party In Sweden

What does a legion of Swedish LAN party-goers and a 120Gbps internet connection look like? Something like this. Dreamhack, officially (by Guinness Book of Records, no less) the world’s largest LAN party, offered up all sorts of gaming thrills along the lines of StarCraft II and Counter-Strike to the 12,000 attendees.

It looks like the air was thick with excitement, perspiration — and hopefully a little air freshener.

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Bethesda Ships 7 Million Copies Of Skyrim

Bethesda has shipped 7 million copies of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, garnering approximately $450 million in global sales, the publisher said Wednesday.

Over 280,000 players simultaneously accessed the PC version of Skyrim during its first 24 hours of availability on digital distribution platform Steam, setting a new record for the most concurrent players on the service, Bethesda added.

The open-world role-playing game has been lauded by critics since its release last Friday. It currently holds a 96 on review aggregating site Metacritic.

Wired.com gave Skyrim a perfect score in our review last week.

Merchant Of Venus Reprint Up For Grabs?

Both Fantasy Flight Games and Stronghold Games have announced that they’ve licensed the rights to reprint the 1980s Avalon Hill game Merchant of Venus.  Stronghold announced a license from designer Richard Hamblen, and that its release will be titled Richard Hamblen’s Merchant of Venus.  FFG announced a license from Avalon Hill parent Wizards of the Coast, and that its March 2012 release will be titled Merchant of Venus.

Stronghold believes the license is Hamblen’s to give.  “Stronghold Games feels very strongly that the license is solely Mr. Hamblen’s to offer, and he has selected Stronghold Games for the reprint,” a statement from the company said.

FFG signed its license with WotC/Hasbro over a year ago, according to the company, and has been working on republishing the title since.  FFG’s info on its release implies that some rule changes have been made in its edition.  “We’ve been working hard to produce what will be a fantastic edition of Merchant of Venus, one that remains true to tis magnificently campy core, while expanding the game in surprising ways that will cause even the most hardcore fan to celebrate.”

Original Avalon Hill version

Both companies appear to believe that the other acted in good faith, but is mistaken about who controls reprint rights (designer Hamblen, or Avalon Hill).  A statement by FFG President Christian Petersen says that his company is “in open communication with both Hasbro and Stronghold on this, and will be digging into more details next week to clarify the issue.”

It would seem that the nature of the Avalon Hill rights to the game is the key issue on which this dispute will turn: does Avalon Hill still have publishing rights to Merchant of Venus, or have they reverted to designer Hamblen?

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Fantasy Flight Games To Publish Star Wars Games

Breaking news from the Fantasy Flight Games website:

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce that it has entered a comprehensive licensing partnership with Lucasfilm Ltd. for the worldwide rights to publish card, roleplaying, and miniatures games set in the popular Star Wars™ universe!

”Being able to publish gaming products in the Star Wars universe is quite simply a hobby-game company’s dream come true,” said Christian T Petersen, CEO of Fantasy Flight Games. “I’m confident that both Star Wars fans as well as FFG’s regular customers will be blown away by the game experiences we have planned for this legendary IP.”

“As a leader in hobby gaming, we’re excited to be partnering with Fantasy Flight Games,” said Howard Roffman, President of Lucas Licensing. “Fun and adventure are hallmarks of the Star Wars saga, and FFG perfectly captures this in their games.” Read more

Diablo 3 Bringing Real Currency Into Game

The hotly anticipated role-playing game will feature an online auction house in which players can hawk almost everything they find in the game for either in-game gold or real money. The company calls it a “convenient, powerful, and fully integrated” solution for players who want to turn their green boots into greenbacks.

By using a real-money auction house in Diablo III, the company is attempting to wrest control away from the lucrative gold-farming industry and back into its own hands.

“Acquiring items has always been an important part of the Diablo series, but the previous games have not had a robust, centralized system for facilitating trades, and as a result players have turned to inconvenient and potentially unsafe alternatives, such as third-party real-money-trading organizations,” Blizzard said. Read more

Mirror’s Edge 2 To Use Frostbite 2 Engine?

The Mirror’s Edge and Battlefield franchises are related through more than developer-publisher relations — they’re poised to share digital DNA. If it is made, a sequel to Mirror’s Edge may use Battlefield 3‘s Frostbite 2 engine, according to Official PlayStation Magazine, which writes, "The Frostbite 2 engine will pave the way for Mirror’s Edge to make a free-running return."

We don’t know much more about the potential sequel or OPM’s "inside whispers," besides the fact that Mirror’s Edge is an "important franchise" to EA.

We may have to wait until EA and DICE stop coddling Battlefield 3 for confirmation of another game or details about its engine. For now, dreaming about free-running on Frostbite 2 will have to tide us over. Mmmm…

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‘A Game of Thrones: The Board Game’ 2nd Edition

Fantasy Flight Games has announced a Second Edition of its A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (MSRP $59.95). Each of the 3-6 players the game accommodates has control of one of the great houses of Westeros in this epic struggle for control of the Iron Throne that is based on George R.R. Martin’s bestselling A Song of Fire and Ice fantasy novels, which are currently being adapted for television in the extremely popular HBO series Game of Thrones. FFG will debut the Second Edition at Gen Con, and release it during the fourth quarter.

The timing could hardly be better. Dynamite and Bantam are launching their comic book/graphic novel adaptation of Game of Thrones in the fall, and given the tremendous impact of the HBO series, Q4 should be the perfect time to debut a new edition of the game and take full advantage of traditionally strong holiday board game sales. Read more

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