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MAGIC.P
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1995-02-16
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5KB
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93 lines
PREVIEW
MAGIC THE GATHERING from MICROPROSE
FORMAT: PC/CD
DATE: 2ND QUARTER
PRICE: N/A
"Magic: the Gathering", the top-selling trading card game will arrive on
CD-ROM this year. Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of the card game, and
MicroProse Software have teamed up to create a computerized version of the
award-winning game.
The product will be an interactive multiplayer online computer game that will
allow two methods of play. The first method is the stand-alone game which
features an apprentice option to give the player a chance to learn the rules
of the game. Once novice players no longer need help from the tutorial,
they will start playing against the computer from the 1,000 cards available.
There is even an option (play a quest) which emulates the online environment
to allow the player to practice before going online to fight against real
human players.
The second method is going online to duel against other wizards, although
players will only be able to fight one player at a time.
As in the card game, where the winner chooses a card from their opponent,
the CD-ROM version will also include a reward system. Players will gain
cards depending on how well they played, and special rewards will be given
during tournaments and online events.
The card game features artwork from dozens of artists who created original
illustrations of a rare beauty for each card. To give the computer game the
same look as the card game, MicroProse used Super VGA 256 color graphics
that faithfully reproduced the original art from "Magic: The Gathering". On
shipment of the game, it will include the revised set of Magic: The
Gathering and the 4 expansion sets: Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends and
The Dark. Other expansion sets will follow as additional disks, for
example, Fallen Empires, the latest expansion set available for the card
game.
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The card game│
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To date, "Wizards of the Coast" has sold more than 500 million cards across
the world. This is, of course, an incredible success that may be explained
by several factors.
First of all, "Magic" is a complex game but simple to learn. The game was
designed so that it required minimal equipment and takes 15 to 20 minutes
to play. In the rule book, it is said that you can start playing within a
short time, but if you want to know all the other rules you might encounter
when playing with a more experienced wizard, you will have to take a little
more time to learn the rules.
Second, the artwork is excellent and this is probably the reason why people
buy them and start a collection. As different editions of the game (Alpha,
Beta, Unlimited and Revised) have been published, each with a limited number
of cards, except for the Revised edition, prices have risen for these
limited editions. For example, the card called "Black Lotus" from the Alpha
edition is now worth $100 US and is no longer available in the Revised
edition. Another example is the first expansion set called "Arabian Nights"
that was released with a print run of 5 million cards. If you want to buy a
booster pack (8 cards) from this expansion set, it will now cost you about
$35 US instead of the original price of $1.45 US back in the beginning.
This is why "Magic: The Gathering" is called a collectable trading card game.
Details
The starter deck is a pack of 60 cards of common, uncommon and rare cards
from the total 302 different cards. This means that when you buy
another starter Deck, you will have some of the common cards in double or
even triple, but you will also have the surprise of discovering new cards.
There are five expansion sets available to date. The first one, "Arabian
Nights" - a total of 78 cards, is no longer in print as it is also with the
following sets: "Antiquities" - a total of 100 cards and "Legends" - a total
of 300 cards. "The Dark" includes about 100 cards and "Fallen Empires" - the
last expansion set has about the same number of cards.
In total, there are over 1,000 cards available for the card game and with
expansion sets coming out every 2 to 4 months, that number increases. The
next expansion sets will be "Ice Age" - a stand-alone game which can be
played as an expansion set as well, and "Chronicles" - an assortment of
"Arabian Nights", "Antiquities", "Legends", "Dark" and "Fallen Empires".
However, to make a distinction between the original black bordered cards and
the new ones, "Chronicles" will have white borders.
Whatever it may be, the card game or the computer version, "Magic: The
Gathering" is definitively something you have to try. Even if you do not
like playing against other wizards, you will enjoy the cards enough to want
to start a collection as soon as you see them. Having myself discovered the
card game only recently, I feel as if I am already addicted to this strategy
game filled with wizards and casting spells.
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