There's a gaming system that's been out for a while, but no one takes it seriously. It generates millions of dollars in revenue each year, but on the average gaming site, it might not even get a footnote. And chances are good that you have one in your pocket right now. That's right, it's your cell phone.
Cell phones have become a large source of revenue, and bigger game developers have noticed. Companies such as Electronic Arts, Square Enix, and id Software all make games for your mobile phone. And they're not just substandard programmers making substandard titles. Noticeable franchises such as Age of Empires, Final Fantasy, and Simcity have all put games on mobile phones. Still don't think it's big business? Consider this: in 2005, Electronic Arts paid $650 million to acquire Jamdat Mobile.
Cell phone games have their own unique problems. The relatively poor control setup and the extremely small screen mean that the most popular console and PC games are not ideal for a mobile phone. First person shooters and fighting games, perennial favorites, take a backseat to strategy and sports games. But the real king of the cell set? Puzzle games. Yes, the genre reduced to marginal at best on consoles has risen to the top on mobiles. In fact, the $650M transaction that I mentioned? It was largely based on the fact that Jamdat had long-term rights to Tetris. The fact is that cell phones lack the memory space to put in state of the art graphics and the complicated systems that top shelf games boast. Which make cell phones an ideal starting point for new programmers and designers. And cell phones have breathed new life into older franchises. In 2005, id Software released a Doom RPG for mobiles.
No one is certain where the market for cell phone games is headed. But it is an industry that is definitely upwardly mobile.
Nov 11, 2007
Nov 7, 2007
Are Magic Cards Getting Too Powerful?
In any game that has a following, there are going to be complaints. Some player somewhere will have an idea about what is wrong with a game, or how it could be made better. As more people play a game, more complaints will emerge. And the same complaints will be heard more often from more players.
One of the complaints frequently heard from people who have been playing Magic: the Gathering goes something like this: “They keep making the new cards more powerful, so that you have to keep buying them to compete.”
First, let’s get something out of the way. Yes, the people at Wizards of the Coast want you to buy more cards. They are in the business of making and selling cards, and they pay their rent by selling them to you. That is why they keep making new sets of cards. If they just printed up one set of their best cards, and never made any more, they would go out of business. Are we all in agreement here? The question under discussion is not whether Wizards is trying to get you to buy cards. The question is whether they are making old cards obsolete in the process. But is this really true? Well, sort of.
So we’ve established that the people at Magic are making new cards with the intent of getting you to buy them. So, how do they go about that? They can’t just print new copies of old cards, nor can they just give old cards new names and art (although a certain amount of this does go on). And, if you really look, they haven’t just given each creature and spell a boost. So what have they done? Add mechanics. In each set, new abilities and types of abilities are introduced, changing the way you might play a card. For example, the Dissension set introduced the Forecast mechanic, in which you paid part of a card’s cost, revealed the card from your hand, and then put the card back in hand. Forecasting thus allowed you to use part of a card’s ability without using the card. This is an example of forecast: (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=107379) The most recent expansion, Lorwyn, has a similar mechanic called evoke, in which a creature card with a “comes into play” ability is played for a fraction of its cost, but must immediately be sacrificed, effectively turning a creature spell into a sorcery. Here’s a quick example: (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=146599)
But what do these changes mean? The cards don’t exactly gain power, but they definitely gain . . . what? Versatility. And utility. Newer cards mean that there are more ways than ever to build a successful deck.
“So there!” you say. “They are making the new cards stronger!” Well, like I said, sort of. A lot of the older cards are still as good, if not better than their newer counterparts. Just look at Savannah Lions (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=867). Its absence from 10th edition is considered a big part of why white is weak in the set. It doesn’t seem like much, but being able to pay 1 mana to go toe to toe with a 2/2 creature is a big deal. But let’s go back a little further, and think just a little bigger. What about Counterspell (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=11214)? Countering spells is a big part of playing blue, and this is the best card to do it with. Many other counters have some kind of “out”, such as paying extra mana, or put it back on the library, etc. But this one was just a hard counter, pure and simple, for 2 mana. But where did it go? It became Cancel (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=129882). But what’s the difference? Just 1 mana. But that means that it takes 1 turn longer before you can cast it, and it’s going to be that much harder to have enough mana to cast a spell if you need to have enough left to cast a counter. Another not so minor change is the card Lightning Bolt (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=2291). This is a staple for any player playing a red deck. 1 mana, 3 damage, anywhere you want it. But where is it now? Well, it’s still around, sort of. There are a few cards that are a lot like it. Shock (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=5143) costs 1 mana, but only does 2 damage. Lava Spike (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=79084) does 3 damage, but can’t target creatures, etc. There is no shortage of direct damage in red, but nothing with quite the same power or efficiency. Of course, you might say, "What's the big deal? It's only 1 damage!" And you'd be right. Sort of. Since you can have up to 4 of a card in your deck, this could be a difference of 4 damage. If you get down to it, it's the difference between 8 damage and 12 damage. And when you only start with 20 life, that can be a big difference.
And if you really want to dig deep, there are a slew of old cards that are so out of control powerful (the term is “broken”) that they have been banned from tournament play, not to mention a number of casual gaming groups.
To let you know where I stand, I’m fairly new to Magic, and most of my cards are new. And I get a giggle whenever I get to show a veteran a card they haven’t seen, or exploit an ability they hadn’t heard of. But on the other hand, I wasn’t laughing at the last RPGX tournament, when I took 3 damage on turn 1, or had a spell fall flat on turn 2. So, ultimately, I feel like there’s a pretty strong balance between the old and the new. Of course, this article is put to the test every time an expansion set comes out. So we'll have to wait and see.
One of the complaints frequently heard from people who have been playing Magic: the Gathering goes something like this: “They keep making the new cards more powerful, so that you have to keep buying them to compete.”
First, let’s get something out of the way. Yes, the people at Wizards of the Coast want you to buy more cards. They are in the business of making and selling cards, and they pay their rent by selling them to you. That is why they keep making new sets of cards. If they just printed up one set of their best cards, and never made any more, they would go out of business. Are we all in agreement here? The question under discussion is not whether Wizards is trying to get you to buy cards. The question is whether they are making old cards obsolete in the process. But is this really true? Well, sort of.
So we’ve established that the people at Magic are making new cards with the intent of getting you to buy them. So, how do they go about that? They can’t just print new copies of old cards, nor can they just give old cards new names and art (although a certain amount of this does go on). And, if you really look, they haven’t just given each creature and spell a boost. So what have they done? Add mechanics. In each set, new abilities and types of abilities are introduced, changing the way you might play a card. For example, the Dissension set introduced the Forecast mechanic, in which you paid part of a card’s cost, revealed the card from your hand, and then put the card back in hand. Forecasting thus allowed you to use part of a card’s ability without using the card. This is an example of forecast: (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=107379) The most recent expansion, Lorwyn, has a similar mechanic called evoke, in which a creature card with a “comes into play” ability is played for a fraction of its cost, but must immediately be sacrificed, effectively turning a creature spell into a sorcery. Here’s a quick example: (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=146599)
But what do these changes mean? The cards don’t exactly gain power, but they definitely gain . . . what? Versatility. And utility. Newer cards mean that there are more ways than ever to build a successful deck.
“So there!” you say. “They are making the new cards stronger!” Well, like I said, sort of. A lot of the older cards are still as good, if not better than their newer counterparts. Just look at Savannah Lions (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=867). Its absence from 10th edition is considered a big part of why white is weak in the set. It doesn’t seem like much, but being able to pay 1 mana to go toe to toe with a 2/2 creature is a big deal. But let’s go back a little further, and think just a little bigger. What about Counterspell (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=11214)? Countering spells is a big part of playing blue, and this is the best card to do it with. Many other counters have some kind of “out”, such as paying extra mana, or put it back on the library, etc. But this one was just a hard counter, pure and simple, for 2 mana. But where did it go? It became Cancel (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=129882). But what’s the difference? Just 1 mana. But that means that it takes 1 turn longer before you can cast it, and it’s going to be that much harder to have enough mana to cast a spell if you need to have enough left to cast a counter. Another not so minor change is the card Lightning Bolt (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=2291). This is a staple for any player playing a red deck. 1 mana, 3 damage, anywhere you want it. But where is it now? Well, it’s still around, sort of. There are a few cards that are a lot like it. Shock (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=5143) costs 1 mana, but only does 2 damage. Lava Spike (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=79084) does 3 damage, but can’t target creatures, etc. There is no shortage of direct damage in red, but nothing with quite the same power or efficiency. Of course, you might say, "What's the big deal? It's only 1 damage!" And you'd be right. Sort of. Since you can have up to 4 of a card in your deck, this could be a difference of 4 damage. If you get down to it, it's the difference between 8 damage and 12 damage. And when you only start with 20 life, that can be a big difference.
And if you really want to dig deep, there are a slew of old cards that are so out of control powerful (the term is “broken”) that they have been banned from tournament play, not to mention a number of casual gaming groups.
To let you know where I stand, I’m fairly new to Magic, and most of my cards are new. And I get a giggle whenever I get to show a veteran a card they haven’t seen, or exploit an ability they hadn’t heard of. But on the other hand, I wasn’t laughing at the last RPGX tournament, when I took 3 damage on turn 1, or had a spell fall flat on turn 2. So, ultimately, I feel like there’s a pretty strong balance between the old and the new. Of course, this article is put to the test every time an expansion set comes out. So we'll have to wait and see.
Card synergy in Magic: the Gathering
This is the first in what I hope to be a series of articles about card synergy in Magic: the Gathering. The idea is not to give away an entire deck or strategy, but simply to talk about certain card interactions with the goal of inspiring a little creativity. In the interest of honesty, I feel it’s important to disclose that many of these ideas are not mine, and have been pulled from other decklists and articles.
The first card synergy is mostly an example to show everyone what I have in mind. It’s not very complicated, and is a driving force in the 10th edition theme deck Cho-Manno’s Resolve. Here you go:
Pariah (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=135248) and Cho-Manno, Revolutionary (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=130554)
Easy, huh? Put them together, and you can’t be damaged. Nothing to it.
This one’s a little more complicated. Reality Acid (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=125880) and Boomerang (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=129494) Reality Acid by itself isn’t a very useful card. You put it on something, and it dies three turns later. Big deal. But, if you put it on something you want dead, and then return Reality Acid to your hand, then you kill something, and keep your card.
This is a creature-killer that gives a little punch to a red-black burn deck:
Prodigal Pyromancer (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=134752) and Witch’s Mist (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=132222) Tap the Pyromancer to damage a creature, then use the Mist to kill it. Use these two together to take down the largest creatures for a minimum of fuss.
This is a risky 3-card grouping that a White Weenie deck might use to even the board in a drawn out game: Wrath of God, (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=129808) Armageddon, (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=233) and Patrician’s Scorn. (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=136213) Wrath of God clears all of the creatures, and Armageddon destroys all of the land. Since you’ve played a White spell already, you can play Patrician’s Scorn for free. If you are playing a deck of small creatures, you can COMPLETELY clear the board and start again. With a little luck, you can complete the kill before your opponents can recover.
Here’s a tricky pair of cards that can make doing damage to opponents a lot easier, while restricting their ability to do, well, anything: Manabarbs (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=130367) and Circle of Affliction (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=126803) Manabarbs has long been a staple of lockdown-style decks. Any time an opponent taps a land for mana, they take damage. Which is fine, but it does the same thing to you. So, traditionally, you lay down Manabarbs when you’re ahead, to prevent any resurgence. Circle of Affliction, however, is the modern descendant of the older Circle of Protection cards. In this one, you tap for 1 mana, and you gain 1 life, and an opponent loses 1 life. So what happens if you put them together? Well, you can set the Circle to Red, and tap a land. You take one damage. You then use your mana to pay for the Circle’s ability. You recover your one life, and target opponent loses one life. So, you can now tap a land to do damage to an opponent. Enjoy.
The first card synergy is mostly an example to show everyone what I have in mind. It’s not very complicated, and is a driving force in the 10th edition theme deck Cho-Manno’s Resolve. Here you go:
Pariah (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=135248) and Cho-Manno, Revolutionary (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=130554)
Easy, huh? Put them together, and you can’t be damaged. Nothing to it.
This one’s a little more complicated. Reality Acid (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=125880) and Boomerang (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=129494) Reality Acid by itself isn’t a very useful card. You put it on something, and it dies three turns later. Big deal. But, if you put it on something you want dead, and then return Reality Acid to your hand, then you kill something, and keep your card.
This is a creature-killer that gives a little punch to a red-black burn deck:
Prodigal Pyromancer (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=134752) and Witch’s Mist (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=132222) Tap the Pyromancer to damage a creature, then use the Mist to kill it. Use these two together to take down the largest creatures for a minimum of fuss.
This is a risky 3-card grouping that a White Weenie deck might use to even the board in a drawn out game: Wrath of God, (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=129808) Armageddon, (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=233) and Patrician’s Scorn. (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=136213) Wrath of God clears all of the creatures, and Armageddon destroys all of the land. Since you’ve played a White spell already, you can play Patrician’s Scorn for free. If you are playing a deck of small creatures, you can COMPLETELY clear the board and start again. With a little luck, you can complete the kill before your opponents can recover.
Here’s a tricky pair of cards that can make doing damage to opponents a lot easier, while restricting their ability to do, well, anything: Manabarbs (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=130367) and Circle of Affliction (http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=126803) Manabarbs has long been a staple of lockdown-style decks. Any time an opponent taps a land for mana, they take damage. Which is fine, but it does the same thing to you. So, traditionally, you lay down Manabarbs when you’re ahead, to prevent any resurgence. Circle of Affliction, however, is the modern descendant of the older Circle of Protection cards. In this one, you tap for 1 mana, and you gain 1 life, and an opponent loses 1 life. So what happens if you put them together? Well, you can set the Circle to Red, and tap a land. You take one damage. You then use your mana to pay for the Circle’s ability. You recover your one life, and target opponent loses one life. So, you can now tap a land to do damage to an opponent. Enjoy.
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