If you go to the spoils home page at http://www.thespoils.com/spoils/view.php?pg=home
There is a post that says that the spoils game has been purchased and the game will be published soon. The cruse is back as well.
I don’t have any more news about this. I will be calling them soon to see what is going on and what plans for OP they have. I really like the guys at Tenacious and it sounds like some of the staff (Josh and Patrick) are going to keep at it.
Tim
from ICV2.com – I really liked this game at first. Over time the development of the game went in a direction I really didn’t care for but I really loved this game.
Tim
After producing 25 releases and more than 4,000 cards over the past five years Upper Deck Entertainment has announced the end of its Vs. System CCG for Marvel and DC Comics properties. In a post on the Upper Deck Entertainment Website lead Vs. System designer Ben Seck bid farewell to the game and to the thousands of fans who Seck counts as “among the most staunch and dedicated that I have known in my twenty years of gaming.” For the past year Upper Deck has been producing hobby league kits for the Vs. System. The January kit, which has already been shipped, will be the last one as UDE ends its OP support for theVs. System.
With the demise of the Vs. System, the fact that WizKids’HeroClix CMG has not yet found a new home, and the discontinuation of the Marvel board game from FFG, it appears that there are currently no Marvel or DC licensed non-electronic games in the game space.
Although Upper Deck Entertainment’s Director of Marketing Scott Gaeta mentioned several new Vs. System releases when interviewed by ICv2 last April (see “Interview With Upper Deck’s Scott Gaeta”), the handwriting may well have been on the wall with the first series of UDE layoffs announced in May, which included R. Hyrum Savage, the Brand Manager for the Vs. System (see “Layoffs at Upper Deck”). Although the products that Gaeta mentioned, which were in the pipeline, were released, they turned out to be the last Vs. System releases from UDE.
The cancellation of the Vs. System is the latest in a series of retrenchments in the gaming industry in the face of economic conditions that steadily worsened in 2008. Upper Deck’s May layoffs were followed in June by cuts at Score and Donruss (see “More Game Company Layoffs”). In November Topps shuttered its WizKids division (see “Topps Shuts Down WizKids”) and Upper Deck announced a second wave of cuts across both its sports and entertainment divisions (see “Upper Deck Lays Off 40”).”
Clearly this is one more example of Upper Deck reevaluating its trading card game business. In addition to losing YGO (at least for now) they have now canceled Vs. This might be a logical move from a purely finicalperspective – however it is certainly going to raise questions in the minds of new players before they start playing a new Upper Deck game.
Upper Deck just issued this press release. I don’t see my role as issuing commentary. To find out what I think you need to ply me with mediocre Scotch at a con.
Tim
Court Rules in Favor of Upper Deck
Courts Not Persuaded by Konami’s Baseless Allegations
North Las Vegas, NV (January 26, 2009) — Since December, Konami has twice attempted to convince the courts to issue a restraining order against Upper Deck in Konami’s case against Vintage. Both times, the courts have not been persuaded by mere allegations and have denied Konami’s motions. To date, California courts have sided with Upper Deck on all rulings. InEurope, Upper Deck International obtained an injunction against Konami, forcing them to honor their contractual commitments there.
On December 11, 2008, following several attempts to negotiate with Konami for the betterment of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, Upper Deck filed a breach of contract suit against Konami, citing unfair business practices and several instances where Konami had made moves to undermine and ultimately take over the Yu-Gi-Oh! business from Upper Deck. Konami representatives have tried on several occasions to obtain proprietary information from Upper Deck regarding key programs used to support, market and distribute the Yu-Gi-Oh! brand in North America and Europe. Upper Deck has refused to lower itself to the unfair and backstabbing tactics that Konami has used over the past several years toward their ultimate goal of removing Upper Deck from the Yu-Gi-Oh! business.
The day following Upper Deck’s suit, Konami added Upper Deck as a defendant in its three month-old lawsuit against Vintage, an absurd allegation with dubious timing considering Upper Deck’s history of fighting Yu-Gi-Oh! counterfeit cards over the last six years.
Since the start of the Yu-Gi-Oh! distribution in the USA and Europe, Upper Deck and the Yu-Gi-Oh! consortium (Shueisha, ADK, TV Tokyo and Sensei Takahashi) have suffered irrevocable harm by Konami’s unwillingness to give Upper Deck legal support in fighting against the manufacture and importation of billions of counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Upper Deck has spent millions of dollars fighting against Yu-Gi-Oh! counterfeits and even raided Chinese factories itself because Konami refused to do so or, in some cases, simply reacted too late.
To think that Upper Deck would be involved in Yu-Gi-Oh! counterfeit activity is therefore not only absurd, it simply does not make sense.
Upper Deck estimates that Yu-Gi-Oh! counterfeit activity since 2003 has resulted in damages to the company of several hundreds of millions of dollars in the European and North American territories.
Despite Konami’s unfounded charges against Upper Deck, the company is continuing to support the Yu-Gi-Oh! community with the upcoming Upper Deck Day, a special tournament that will offer high-level Dueling and great prizes, including a Gold Sarcophagus to the winner at each location. Please visit UDE.com for more information about Upper Deck Day.
Industry informational web site Icv2.com is reporting the following story (below). It is important to remember this is what is alleged in an lawsuit. The courts need to determine the facts. http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14158.html
Upper Deck Source of Counterfeit ‘YGO’ Cards?
In Vintage Case
Published: 01/25/2009, Last Updated: 01/26/2009 04:33am
In an amended complaint filed December 11th, Konami Digital Entertainment has alleged that Upper Deck is the source of the allegedly counterfeit Yu Gi Oh! TCG cards it found in packages distributed by Vintage Sports Cards (see “Counterfeit Yu Gi Oh! Rares”). In the original complaint, filed in October, Konami named Vintage as the distributor of the packages, but didn’t name Upper Deck as a defendant.
In the amended complaint, Konami says, “Plaintiffs recently obtained through discovery documents and testimony from defendant Vintage that identify Upper Deck as the source of the counterfeit ‘Rare Cards’ being re-packaged and sold by Vintage.” The amended complaint adds Upper Deck Company of California and Upper Deck Company of Nevada as additional defendants, in addition to Vintage, in the case.
This information makes clearer the reasons behind Konami’s announcement that it was terminating its distribution relationship for the Yu Gi Oh! TCG at around the same time as the amended complaint was filed (see “Konami Takes over YGO TCG”).
I have scheduled 2 artists in Seattle and 1 in San Diego for the saturday prerelease event.
Guest Artists:
- In San Diego we will have Mike Dringenberg.
- In Seattle we will have Don Hazeltine.
- In Seattle we will have Darrell Riche.
It is important that you note this is from Upper Deck EUROPE not US. Upper Deck has won its lawsuit in Europe and therefore events are going forward as scheduled. This is not true in the US. In the US Konami has lost its lawsuit.
There is a world of difference between Upper Deck winning a lawsuit affirming the contract in Europe and Konami losing a lawsuit lawsuit that would negate the contract in the US.
If this doesn’t make sense – we can discuss it later – thats all side information – the key takeaway is There will NOT be a YGO sneak run by Cascade Games in the US. Stores are currently being offered Sneak Peak kits that support 16 players. Please go speak with your local store about this.
Tim
From Upper Deck – Europe
http://www.upperdeck-international.com/tabid/56/language/en-US/Default.aspx?AnnouncementID=1
Upper Deck International (UDI) organizes OP-events for Yu-Gi-Oh!™ as scheduled.Following the successful outcome of the injunction against Konami, in which the Dutch court decided in favor of Upper Deck Panoceanic CV and Upper Deck International BV, we are pleased to announce that UDI launches expansions and events as planned. This means that the following expansions will be released:
Duelist Pack – Yusei (DP8): February 24th, 2009
Crimson Crisis Booster: March 3rd, 2009
As with all new booster releases we scheduled a sneak preview for Crimson Crisis. This event will be held on February 28th and March 1st.
“Thanks for your continuous support. It is highly appreciated! We will continue to provide you with the best possible support for Organized Play, as you are accustomed and entitled to.”, says Nico Blauw, CEO Upper Deck International.
From http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14146.html
Tim
Konami To Release ‘Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Pack—Yusei’
In February
Published: 01/22/2009, Last Updated: 01/23/2009 03:54am
Konami Digital Entertainment has announced that it will release Duelist Pack—Yusei, the first 5D’s Duelist Pack, on February 24th in both hobby and mass retail stores. Two SKUs will be available: Duelist Packs with an MSRP of $1.99, and a two-pack blister at $3.99.
Duelist Pack—Yusei will include strategy cards for new players to work on their game play skills, as well as powerful cards for a winning hand. Synchro Monsters, Junk Warrior, Nitro Warrior, Turbo Warrior and the knockout card, Stardust Dragon, are among the cards in the set.
The 30-card set includes five new cards and 25 existing cards:
17 Commons
7 Rares
4 Super Rares
2 Ultra Rares
10 Strategy Cards
This follows the announcement that Konami will release Crimson Crisis, the next booster set for Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, in early March after sneak peek events in retail stores (see “Konami To Release Yu-Gi-Oh! Crimson Crisis”).
From ICV2.com.
YGO players will get to play in store based sneak peaks. The one drawback is that there will only be packs for 16 players per store – so you should pre-register at the store.
Tim
Konami to Release ‘Yu-Gi-Oh! Crimson Crisis’
Sneak Peaks at Hobby Stores
Published: 01/21/2009, Last Updated: 01/22/2009 04:22am
Konami Digital Entertainment has announced that it will hold hobby store sneak peek events for Crimson Crisis, the next booster set for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, on the weekend of February 28th and March 1st, followed by a release date of March 3rd for Crimson Crisis Boosters.
Konami is offering sneak peek event kits directly to hobby stores, each of which will contain support for sixteen players: 96 packs (five packs to build with and one extra for participating for each player), 16 Duelist participation cards (Colossal Fighter/Assault Mode promo card), four foldable deck boxes (two for top players, and two for random giveaways) and thank you letters and instruction sheets. The Crimson Crisis booster packs will be sold to hobby retailers by distributors.
The Crimson Crisis set is a 100-card set with 48 commons (8:1), 20 Rares (1:1), 14 Super Rares (1:5) and 10 Ultra Rares (1:12). The set “…introduces new cards used by Yusei, Jack and Aki in addition to the mega powerful Assault Mode monsters,” according to Yumi Hoashi, Vice President of Card Business for KDE, along with “a Red Dragon Archfield/Assault Mode card which allows Duelists to upgrade their decks to the more powerful assault mode.”
Upper Deck recently announced that it would not be releasing Crimson Crisis as a result of its dispute with Konami (see “No YGO Crimson Crisis”), which announced that it is terminating its relationship with Upper Deck. The news that product will be flowing again is good news for retailers; Yu-Gi-Oh! is the #2 CCG brand over-all (see “Top Fall 2008 CCGs”). Konami’s Crimson Crisis release may have been delayed by the need to develop new packaging in the wake of the company’s split with Upper Deck.
The March 3rd street date applies to both hobby and mass retailers, and will also apply to release outside the U.S.
Konami plans full organized play support for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.
WotC has very graciously agreed to give us another PTQ in Portland this season. Mike should have the info live on the Cascade Games site Wed. However for those of you who want info now
the additional PTQ in portland will be held on March 14th at the NEW Location for the Ambridge Event center they have moved into a new building that is much nicer.1333 NE MLK JR BlvdPortland Oregon 97232Tim
Did you go to Grand Prix LA? yes you did – you mush have because GP LA had 837 players. I am now in a panic. Last time we had a GP in Seattle we had less than 400 players. I was thinking the max for a west coast event would be 750.
GP LA was EXTENDED – one of the most expensive formats. GP Seattle is STANDARD. Who doesn’t have a standard deck? I need to move into a larger room. I am waiting for Seattle Center to call me back to see if we can move into the X – Hall that weekend.
Im not saying we will get 800+ players but I think we have to be ready just in case.
Tim
PS – it feels great not to be writing about YGO for a change. There has been so much drama. Its good to take a break.
