Looking for a little bit of reading to pass the time at your in-laws over the next few days?  Go pick up Will Hindmarch & Jeff Tidball’s new book, Things We Think About Games.  Its essentially a collection of essays and interview excerpts from various luminaries in gaming about what they think about gaming including Chris Hanrahan, Fred Hicks, Ken Hite and Mike Selinker (and that’s without mentioning the foreward and ntroduction by Robin Laws and Wil Wheaton).  Topics vary from the silly to the serious and cover games of all types (though many of the stories do resonate with my inner role player).  That said, there’s a lot in this book that’ll bring a smirk to the face of any gamer.  Definitely worth checking out (even if you can’t get it on your Kindle…sigh).

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Sony is developing an MMOG called Free Realms, and simultaneously has licensed Topps to create a CCG to go along with it. The digital card game will launch with the online game, and the physical game will launch next spring.

The CCG will work in coordination with the online world, like similar recent CCGs based on MMOGs.

This will be the first foray by Topps into collectible card games, and its branching out is a result of its Acquisition last year by Micahel Eisner’s investment company, Tornante.

(source)

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The game Questionary has changed its name to Q90, due to a trademark dispute with Mattel over the name. Mattel felt that the name sounded too much like its game Pictionary.

The creators said that they didn’t have the money to fight Mattel.

(source)

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Hometown USA is a fundraising opportunity packaged as an American Christian board game. (Beware, as the page gave me several JavaScript errors on Firefox.)

The game contains trivia questions in four topics: patriotism, health, education, and the Bible. The main point, however, is to get sponsors in your neighborhood to buy spaces on the game so that they’ll have a stake in helping sell it.

It comes with crayons; the object is to color in your US flag decal first.

(source)

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The Million Dollar Password Game Show, based on the game based on the show based on the game, has now spawned a new board game from Endless Games, Million Dollar Password.

Comes with 3,000 passwords and an electronic timer playing music from the show.

(source)

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