In March, the computer program MoGo beat a 5 dan professional Go master playing on a 9×9 board.

This week MoGo showed signs of progress, beating an 8 dan professional at a sanctioned tournament on a full-sized board, albeit with a 9 stone handicap. The master said that he felt like he was playing a 2 to 3 dan player, with occasional glimpses of 5 dan play.

(source)

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Next up in the line of Monopoly-branded swag is Monopoly icon-adorned Reeboks.

Reverse Jam and Courtees will feature board icons, Community Chest, Chance, hotels and houses. Coming soon to feet (too) near you.

(source)

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Lest you think some yokel in Germany has a monopoly on tastelessly exploiting evil for games, I wanted to point out the Serial Killer Trivia Game by Ryan Hobson.

Ryan explicitly defends the game as an art piece, which is not meant to offend, but is also not meant to be tasteful. It has yet to find a publisher. You can see TV news coverage here.

Even less tasteful is a game from 1990 called the Serial Killer: the Board Game, designed by Tobias Allen, a serial killer enthusiast who committed suicide last year. The game is packaged in a “body bag” and comes with several “body” counters. You travel around trying to murder people and to only get caught in a state without a death penalty.

In both games, you keep track of your kills with little dead baby figures.

More tasteful are games that deal with serial killers but don’t require you to score points by killing, and, perhaps, deal with killers from previous generations. For example, the excellent Mr. Jack, where you have to catch Jack the Ripper before he escapes London.

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Battle Creek, MI: Visitor at a card game party shot and killed by a mysterious stranger. (source)

Capitol Heights, MD: Man shot and killed following a card game. Police seeking more information. (source)

Dayton, OH: Kid shot and lightly wounded by unknown person at dice game when police drop in. (source)

Alexandria, LA: Man robbed on the way back from a dominoes game. (source)

Albany, GA: Four men robbed at a home card game. (source)

Belle Glade, FL: Two men shot at a dominoes game claim they were victims of mistaken identity. (source)

This week’s OT report: Melissa Batten, 36, a software development engineer in Microsoft’s Xbox division, was murdered by her estranged husband, who then shot himself to death. The husband most recently worked for Wizards of the Coast. (source)

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Igor, an animated movie coming September 19, is about an upstart mad scientist assistant who wants to do his own science project, instead of just following orders and saying “yes, master!” all day long.

So naturally, in the world where licensing means more than game play, there is already a video game and a planned CCG from Upper Deck.

(source)

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Nearly a year after a tremendous reception at the 2007 Essen Games Fair, Agricola is finally available in English from Z-Man Games. This Euro-style board game, takes an unlikely theme, farming, faces players with a shortage of actions to develop their homestead, and mixes things up a bit with random job cards and item cards. The excitement for this game among dedicated board gamers is very high. And while some have scoffed at the theme, I think it’ll be an asset in attracting those less dedicated to a more challenging experience.

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Mythic Entertainment, a studio of video game powerhouse Electronic Arts, will launch Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning on September 18th. Being referred to simply as WAR, the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game is based on the Warhammer series from Games Workshop. Warhammer miniatures have a large and highly dedicated fan base, and EA is obviously hoping to take advantage of that—and the rich setting—in an effort to take on MMO king World of Warcraft. WAR is off to a good start; it was named best of E3 by XPlay, IGN, and GameSpy.

WAR will feature both PvP and PvE elements. But in addition, Mythic is adding to the game Realm vs. Realm components, such that both PvP and PvE will integrate into a single map with implications for the greater war.

If you preorder one of the limited WAR Collector’s Editions, you will be able to participate in the open beta playtest, get early access to the live game, receive a 128 page hardcover graphic novel with backstory, and benefit from a limited time experience point bonus system.

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