US YGO ruling

From http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13998.htm

there are a couple things to know – this is not the end of the litigation.  This is just the start. The court rejected the request Konami made to have an immediate ban on UD selling YGO.  However there is still the 75 million dollar UD lawsuit pending against Konami by Upper Deck. It also seems likely Konami will appeal this ruling. What this does is give us a bit of clarity for now. As of today Upper Deck is still allowed to support YGO. The tournaments can continue as can Upper Deck sales.  

Tim

Upper Deck will be able to market and distribute the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in the U.S. for now, according to a court ruling.  The court ruled against Konami, which had requested a temporary selling and shipping ban.  The ruling parallels one in a Dutch court, which ruled that Konami did not have the right to terminate Upper Deck as the distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG(see “Dutch Court Sides with Upper Deck”). 

 

Upper Deck exec Bernd Becker expressed the company’s happiness with the rulings.  “Upper Deck is very pleased with today’s rulings,” he said.  “We look forward to continuing the superior game support that we’ve been delivering to worldwideYu-Gi-Oh! players for the last seven years.”

Major YGO ruling – RE Konami in Europe

From http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13978.html This is a major development and likely will be appealed. Tim Dutch Court Sides With Upper Deck Overrules ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ Termination Published: 12/25/2008, Last Updated: 12/26/2008 10:54am On December 24th a Dutch court decided in favor of Upper Deck Panoceanic BV and Upper Deck International BV and overruled Konami’s termination of the its contract with Upper Deck designating Upper Deck as the exclusive distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in Europe.  The court found that the termination was unfounded and indicated that Konami should reinstate all aspects of the contract immediately.  The Dutch court’s ruling reaffirms Upper Deck International’s position as the exclusive distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game in Europe.   Earlier this week Upper Deck International filed suit in a Dutch court seeking an injunction against Konami’s termination of theYu-Gi-Oh! license (see “Upper Deck, Konami Feud Spreads to Europe”).  Nico Blauw, the CEO of Upper Deck International, commentedon the court’s preliminary ruling: “In these hectic economic times, this is a great Christmas present for our employees, our customers and the player base.”

Upper Deck and Konami

From http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13969.html

 

Upper Deck/Konami Feud Spreads to Europe U.D. Files for Injunctions Published: 12/23/2008 08:29pm The legal feud between Upper Deck and Konami over the rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game has spread toEurope.  Upper Deck International and Upper Deck Panoceanic have announced that they have filed for an injunction in the Netherlands against Konami on the basis of unlawful termination.  Konami announced on December 12th that it was taking over all operational and business aspects of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (see “Konami Takes Over Yu-Gi-Oh!”).   In an open letter posted on the Upper Deck International Website and signed by Eric Burzle, President of Upper Deck Panoceanic, and Nico Blauw, CEO of Upper Deck International, Upper Deck announced its intention with regard to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG to “continue to do business with all its counterparties as usual.” According to the letter, Upper Deck maintains “that there is no legal ground or justification for this termination by Konami whatsoever and that this termination is therefore wrongful. Regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game business, Upper Deck is still the sole and exclusive distributor for the European territory and will continue providing the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG products to all its contractual customers.”

Hope for the future

Magic guy at PAX

I was talking to a game industry profession who was skeptical about the future of TCG’s.  I tried to explain that there is a huge number of players who love them.  He really didn’t understand the love of the players for the game they play. 

I was looking at my photos and came across this photo I took at Penny Arcade Expo – This is why I have hope for the growth of TCG’s. Thats right this guy - anyone who builds a suit of armor out of Magic cards is a true fan and there are armies (pardon the pun) of them.

Tim

Magic PTQ scheduling

In the past year a lot of players have asked me “how can it be that events can be scheduled where there are two events in cities that are close to each other on the same weekend?” The simple answer is that there are only so many weekends and not all weekends work for example I can not schedule on a prerelease or sneak peak weekend. The event sites are also frequently no available on the preferred weekend.

I have promised to make my best attempt to avoid this as it really affects that most motivated players.  If you don’t travel to PTQ’s this really isn’t an issue. However if you do travel this can be a big deal.

My commitment is to book my PTQ’s as soon as I have dates and to send those date to all the PTO’s who have cities that are close.  For the next round I have done so. However that doesn’t mean there will never be a conflict.

It really depends on how close cities have to be to consider it a conflict. If the event is in Portland what cities are you really going to drive to? The time of year also affects this. A drive to Boise in the summer is no big deal. A drive in the winter in the snow and ice might not be such a great idea.

As I look at the current schedule here are the conflicts I see. 1/3/09 there are events overlapping in Portland and Salt Lake.  Thats a 12 hour drive in the middle of the winter.  1/24/09 San Diego and Denver a 15 hour drive.  On 4/4/09 there is a PTQ in Phoenix and Boise.  This shouldn’t be a big deal as the cities are 900+ miles away and 16 hours driving time. 

All in all – I think this should meet players needs. The conflicts are minimal in my judgement.  

Again – I welcome your feedback and comments.

Tim

UDE press release

Upper Deck sent out this press release. here is an article about it http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/13947.html

and the press release follows

tim

 

Upper Deck to Continue Support of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Organized Play

 

Company refuses to abandon players!

 

 

(December 17, 2008) – Upper Deck reiterates its commitment to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelists, event organizers, and retailers. Upper Deck intends to continue supporting Organized Play (OP) programs and all organizers who wish to run events.  This includes Hobby Leagues, Sneak Previews, Regional Qualifiers, and all Championship tournaments.

 

As part of our continued support for OP, Duelist ratings will be updated on Upper Deck’s Yu-Gi-Oh! website, as usual. Also, event organizers will still be able to use MANTIS^®, Upper Deck’s proprietary software, to run their Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments. Please visitWannaDuel.com for the latest information about Upper Deck’s sanctioned Yu-Gi-Oh! Organized Play events. 

Thank you to everyone who took part in Upper Deck’s Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME Regional Qualifiers this past weekend. Upper Deck knows the vital role that Duelists play in helping to create the fantastic gaming environment that keeps the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG growing. We are unwavering in our commitment to you – the players, organizers, and retailers – and will do everything within our power to maintain the same high level of Organized Play during this uncertain time.

 

As a company, Upper Deck is committed to providing exceptional OP events for players of all ages and skill levels.  2009 will be a very exciting year, as we continue to grow our existing OP programs, introduce new formats, and roll out programs for our new games, such as the Dinosaur King TCG and the Huntik: Secrets & Seekers TCG.  Upper Deck is also proud to offer a new, in-depth “Road to Worlds” OP program for the World of Warcraft TCG and Miniatures Game, which will culminate in the 2009 World Championship, featuring $250,000 in cash and prizes.

 

Without a doubt, 2009 will be a great year for Upper Deck players!  To find out more about the OP opportunities for all of our great games, please visit UDE.com.

 

YGO news from Upper Deck

One of the YGO judges just sent this to me.  He included in a comment to an earlier post but I think its important enough to highlight.  I really don’t have a clue how this all turns out but I do know that everyone wants to be involved with YGO.  

I have had conversations with the UDE guys and my conclusion is that they remain commited to YGO and OP.  I have much less contact with Konami but I’m sure they also love YGO.  I know no one wants anything to hurt the game in any way. Hopefully they will work it out together.

Tim

More on Magic Prerelease

Jeremy V Says:
December 15, 2008 at 11:53 p.m.   editI don’t understand the conflict. Super Bowl is on Sunday, why can’t Seattle (and other cities) have a Saturday only Pre-Release Tournament?

Let  me try to explain – My basic assumption is that what I do well is hold larger events.  If it is going to be a 20 person event the local store can do a fine job at it. When events get larger, more complex and demanding that there is a reason for me to hold the event. 

If tournament doesn’t draw a large number of players it just doesn’t make sense for me to hold it.

These are my assumptions about player numbers. Feel free to explain to me why I’m wrong – I’m really open to feedback – but this is how I think it breaks down.

In a city the size of Portland or Salt Lake there are about 300-400 players who historically might come to a prerelease on a weekend. (Seattle can and 99% likely will have an event)

 Of that player base we lose about 25% by having the event so close to the release day.  Clearly some players say to themselves I can wait and draft with my friends or its just not as fun if its not really early. (400 possible is now 300).

Of the 400 there is another quarter who just are not going to make the drive now that they have stores in their area.  I know I wouldn’t drive from Coos Bay to Portland if my local store could hold a good event (and they can). In Utah substitute George Utah for Coos Bay – but you get my point. (now were down to 200 possible players)

Another quarter of the players are very loyal to the local store where they play FNM.  (I totally support this loyalty BTW). They might like the larger event, but they are long time friends with Bob the magic dude or George and Ancient Wonders or whatever store you might like to name. They will chose the store over a large event out of loyalty, a desire to get a discount or just that’s where all my friends go. (now were down to  a possible 100 players)

Some players come to see other players, have a large meet up and the fun of that. Some come for the superior judging and a chance to get tested. Some come to meet the artist or the gun slinger. Some come to sell cards to the vendor(s). All these players might come and they might not. Lets assume they all come – then we have an event of 100 players – but its just not likely they will …

So what does all this have to do with Saturday vs Sunday? Good question – If we have two days to hold the event on I can go to the retailers and say “I will hold my event on Sunday and you hold your on Saturday (or the other way around). Not everyone agrees but many do and we likely increase the event attendance by 20% which really helps get the critical mass to hold the large event.

However on Super bowl weekend I can’t go to the retailers and offer to split the weekend.  No one is going to come on Sunday. Just not going to happen.  (note all this might not work in Utah due to other factors) So I just don’t see the events as viable in Portland, Salt Lake or Phoenix. The numbers just don’t work.

It might be viable in Seattle as the overall pool of players is larger.  San Diego might be viable due to the large number of military and college students. (There are other factors at work in these cities that I can’t get into right now as well that might help make them viable for the large event.) 

So that’s what i think. Feel free to make a case that I’m wrong. But I just don’t see how to make it work.

Tim

No news is good news

Trying to contact anyone I can to get more details on the Yu-Gi-Oh situation. At this point I’m not getting any more information.  However that lack of news means that no one has told me to cancel the SJC.  I remain committed to running it. I am working to confirm the prizes and get everything squared away ASAP.

I did have a judge send me this post which contains important information.

Tim 

(tried to clean up the formatting but it just won’t fix. Please follow the link for the info )

 http://www.yugioh-card.com/en/press/open_letter_to.pdf

December 15, 2008  

Open Letter to Yu‐Gi‐Oh! TRADING CARD GAME Duelists

YGO in Seattle and Phoenix today

Todays YGO tournaments attendance is just fine.  The players are having a good time and everything is going as normal.  Attendance in Seattle (71 players) was hurt by the weather forcast of freezing rain (which has not happend so far in fact is sunny right now) and Phoenix has 93 players.

Players tell us that they are worried but that they still want to play in events.  They are beginning to make the mental shift from asking “what is going on?” to “How cool will the new events be?”

That seems to be a very fair question.

My best answer is that I am hearing rumors that Upper Deck will keep things going as long as they can.  Then Konami is going to get its OP program up and running – using the same tournament organizers that Upper Deck did – and that they will try to make the new events better than the Upper Deck ones.

This is only a rumor – but it makes me hopeful for the games future.

Tim