Dinosaur King is an online card game from Sega released in 2005, whose anime series is carried by 4KidsTV, so it’s rather shocking that it took until now to become a CCG.

From Upper Deck. Site placeholder here.

(source)

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The makers of Scrabulous have temporarily suspended operations on Facebook for North American players in response to Hasbro’s legal action.

No telling if this is a permanent thing yet, or if Mattel will follow Hasbro’s lead and get Scrabulous suspended for players outside of North America, too.

In the meantime, you can still play on Scrabulous.com, which I find rather weird.

(source)

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The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a contender for poshest Chess Club in the US, according to several sources.

Plasma TV sets play in the lobby’s huge display window overlooking Maryland Avenue. The basement is equipped with a lounge and classroom, where even the hard-backed chairs get a touch of class: mahogany-color hardwood with a contrasting motif of a king’s piece on their backs. Another plasma TV monitor will relay the moves being made by tournament players on the second floor. There, a cluster of freshly matted and framed photographs of famous chess players, mid-think, adorn one wall. A door opens into an even more lavish setting, the board room. Here the chess tables and pieces are handmade by St. James craftsman Nate Cohen. The chairs are high wingbacks, set on zebra-striped and fur rugs. Six plasma screens show close-ups of disembodied hands moving pieces through historic chess matches. It’s the work of video installation artist Diana Thater. (source)

The Club opened its doors on July 17. Seven stone chess tables and chairs are available for outside sidewalk play where you can also watch the inside play on the TV. Membership is $80 a year.

(source, source)

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Other than video games, Kung-Fu Panda is currently licensed to only two analog games that i know of:

Kung Fu Panda Movie Uno Card Game

and

Kung Fu Panda Rockm Sockm

I’m disappointed. Where’s the KFP Monopoly, KFP Candyland, and KFP Electronic Battleship?

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The Barefoot Gallery in Colombo, Sri Lanka, will be displaying an exhibition called “Games We Play” from August 22 to September 7.

Games We Play is a series of works on paper; an introspective study of card and board games infused with tropical pop bravado of South Asia and Californian sensibility by artist Josephine Balakrishnan. As a child games teach us to risk, barter, and fearlessly communicate. We learn the price of winning and losing to relationships. Because Cards, Monopoly, Chess, Risk and Bridge occupy our psychic energy it is fitting that we give these games homage. Because games pattern us we need to see the threads of our personality beneath the pattern.

I can’t see the connection between the sample paintings and board games, but maybe you can.

(source)

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Christopher T. Fong of the SF Chronicle takes a break from digital games to recommend a number of analog games.

His recommendations include Memoir ’44, Ticket to Ride, Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft CCG, Ca$h and Gun$, and Apples to Apples.

(source)

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The ENnies, which are given out annually at Gen Con, are awards that recognize excellence in roleplaying games. Voting for the ENnies is open to the public, and this year began on Monday and will continue until Wednesday, August 6th. Award categories include:

• Cover Art
• Interior Art
• Cartography
• Production Values
• Writing
• Rules
• Aid or Accessory
• Free Product/Web Enhancement
• Electronic Book
• Game
• Product of the Year
• Publisher

Make your opinion count, go vote!

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Lock ‘N Load Publishing has released Dark July, a hex-and-counter wargame that depicts the battles between German and Soviet forces west of Prochorovka July 10-12, 1943. Dark July is not a stand-alone game; it requires Band of Heroes and Not One Step Back to play all six included scenarios. It does, however, include two 22″ x 17″ mounted maps, 85 counters, and a player’s aid card. The also does add to the previous publications new rules for anti-tank mines and low wheat.

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Confirming the iconic role of Monopoly not only for board games, but also for free-market economies, the humor website, Capitalist Banter, has posted an article “Economy Forces Monopoly Games To Downsize.” Okay, it’s not really news, but I thought the link worthwhile for gems like this:

High gas prices began causing problems for Monopoly two years ago. “No one wanted the race car as their playing piece,” says Pazgough. “We had to replace thousands of them with little bicycles. Then we had to recall the bicycles after the doping scandal at the Tour de France. We’re using little scooters now, but I’ve got the assembly lines ready to switch to skateboards or golf carts.”

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