Bakugan is a new game based on an anime series. It’s a CCG with both dexterity and toy twists (description from BGG entry):

Each player takes turns shooting the marble-like Bakugan at the metal cards which have been placed to make up the play area. If the Bakugan lands at the right spot on the card, it will spring open and stand on the card, taking control of the card. When two Bakugan stand on the same card, they fight, using their strength, plus bonuses on the card they are attempting to control. Play continues until all areas are controlled, or one player’s Bakugan have been eliminated. The winner is determined by the values of the areas taken, and other bonuses accumulated in play.

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Richman Online is a new MMOG from Aeria Games, only this is a board game adaptation with some twists. The game is currently in Beta.

Richman Online can be casual enough to grab a quick game with friends, or hardcore enough for a long, knock-down, drag-out battle for financial supremacy (land mines included). It’s easy to pick up and play, and host to a sometimes-outrageous, always quirky sense of humor. On the surface, it has a lot of the same elements that make Monopoly an enjoyable game. But in which game of Monopoly have you ever been able to blow up your opponent’s hotel with a missile?

(source)

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UK’s Prince Philip, on a visit to Turkey with Queen Elizabeth, had a run-in with some chess sets in the Grand Bazaar on the banks of the Bosphorus.

First he studied one featuring Osama bin Laden (Tony Blair was king, Donald Rumsfeld his queen; George Bush and Saddam Hussein were merely pawns) Then Prince Philip picked up an English knight from a Crusader-themed historical chess set. “Always the losers,” the Prince said, referring to the British with his customary tact.

(source)

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Nancy Blackwell of the Maumelle, Arkansas library is seeking additional board games to round out the few they already have.

Blackwell said the students love playing board games. She said some of them had never played board games until they played them at the library.

She said the library plans to have a game day once a week starting in August, probably from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays.

(source)

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Electronic Arts is going to release Hasbro Family Game Night, which includes electronic versions of Battleship, Yahtzee, Boggle, Connect Four, Sorry!, and something called Sorry! Sliders.

The press release actually makes no reference to when it will be released, or in fact if it has already been released. I get the feeling that this confusing state of affairs was deliberate.

(source)

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Rifts is an RPG system from Palladium Books. Rifts has been around for 15 years and over a million people have played it, according to Palladium’s web site. In addition to their rulebooks, they also produce a quarterly magazine, the Rifter.

A movie based on the Rifts system has been in discussion for a few years, and the option was renewed at the beginning of this year.

According to their latest press release, the first issue of the Rifter will soon be available as a downloadable product, to be soon followed by other downloadable products from Paladium’s site.

In addition, the-rifter.com is a new website devoted to all things Rift, and should be up and running soon.

(source)

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I already knew that Rich Sommer, from the television series Mad Men, is a board game geek, but this video shows just how much of one he is, as well as his closet of 150 Euro and war games.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axrbPNYNxjI]

(a list of all known celebrity gamers)

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