A New Batch of Marvel Games for 2010

The big Superhero news over the weekend was this press release:

The Upper Deck Company and Marvel Entertainment today announced an agreement granting Upper Deck the rights to produce a variety of products based on the Marvel Universe. The multi-year agreement covers trading-card games, miniatures games, and trading cards, with the first products scheduled to arrive in stores in January 2010.

Let's look at this product by product:

Trading Cards - Awesome. Someone had to pick up Iron Man 2, Captain America, and Avengers movie properties, and UDE will do a great job. Heck, they've been pretty good to hero fans over the past years with their Marvel Masterpieces series. Looking forward to seeing how these babies look.

Miniature Games - Again, this sounds like a good thing. I have not played UDE's World of Warcraft miniature game, but I can say that I love the look of the pieces they produce. That kind of quality will surely enhance any minis game they put out.

One of the interesting things about this part of the Marvel deal is that it seems to conflict with Topps' Heroclix. Apparently, Topps has a new 'clix set ready to roll ("Hammer of Thor") and the fate of that set is now uncertain. Hopefully for 'clix players, they'll get their last set out. As the press release noted:

Sources close to the situation are telling us that chances for the release of HeroClix Hammer of Thor, which Topps planned to release this summer if a buyer could not be found in time, have not changed as a result of the Upper Deck-Marvel deal.  

Trading Card Game - Overall, this is a good thing. But there may be a dark lining on this silver cloud.

UDE made THE best TCG ever - Vs. System (if you haven't heard of it, visit one of the links in my side nav or go check the wiki page for more details.) I could go on and on about how great a game it is, but I'll spare you the fanboy gushing. I can sum it up with: UDE hit it out of the ballpark with a mix of killer strategy, a little luck, and a lot of fun.

In the beginning, UDE threw full support behind Vs. System. There were tournaments, there were prizes, there was new product on a regular basis. And, most importantly, there was great communication between the company and the Vs. System fans.

But over the years, all that changed. Without warning, UDE just stopped making regular announcements about the game. And then they restructured their tournaments, losing many players in the process. And after a short while, they turned the focus of the game from competitive play to casual play, alienating more fans and local card shops to boot.

As the days went on, UDE wouldn't even update their own web site with new Vs. System information. Instead, they left it to the individual game developers to create a page on Facebook to support the game. Finally, after years of poor communication and fan frustration, UDE pulled the plug on the game. 

In this economy, having a great game lose support is sad but totally understandable. What is not understandable, nor acceptable, is the way communication was handled by UDE during the final years of the game. It left a bad taste in the mouths of many Superhero fans/TCGers and some have sworn to never buy product from UDE again. And I don't blame them.

But I'm not going to put myself in that camp. I believe in second chances and I know that UDE has learned a little something from their mistakes from Vs. System. According to Erik of Edgeworld Cards:

"Despite how [one feels] about UDE ending Vs... I still think their [Organized Play] efforts are quite good... especially for stores since they've basically got rid of the PTO system (which retailers have complained about in all games for years) and put [Organized Play] in the hands of the stores."

If the local stores are happy, that goes a long way towards making the fans happy.

Also, lets not forget - Vs. System was a GREAT GAME. If they release a game 1/2 as good as Vs., it'll still be the best TCG on the market. I know they have the design talent to pull it off. And with Marvel's support, this could be the second best superhero TCG ever.

Vs. System fans have three things to think about though - no matter which side of the pro/anti UDE fence they may be on:

1. The game isn't necessarily going to be marketed to the same crowd as Vs. was. This could be another kid's game for all we know. It'd be pointless to get your panties in a bunch only to find that the game will be going after the Pokemon/Huntik crowds. (Not that there is anything wrong with those games...they just aren't for most of us.)

2. Over 1/2 the fun is because of the community. As EvilDave put it:

"UDE DOES know how to produce good games, and this could be one of them, and I'd love to see some of our community back. I too fondly enjoy all the friends I have made through this game :)."

Without the community, I wouldn't enjoy Vs. System nearly as much as I do. I've made 8 friends that I see on a weekly basis because of this game, and at least a dozen more locally that I meet up with now and then. Tack on the number of friends I've made through VsRealms and VsSystem.org, and the game has more than paid back what I put into it. And for better or for worse, UDE had very little control over that aspect of the game.

3. The proof is in the pudding. UDE can promise us the moon or they can say nothing, but for me, it's all about delivering on the promises they DO make and communicating with the fans on a regular basis. If they can do those two things with a decent Marvel Superhero game, then they'll have my attention for as long as they want it.

In any event, there are so many unkowns here that it's a little premature to praise or damn this TCG just yet. But I know, like you, I'll be impatiently waiting for more news.

Comments

[OSM]

I like this.

[Chris]

you think they're gonna go back to the old old Marvel card game they made before turning into VS?

That was was modeled after Yu-Gi-Oh and was a much quicker game.

could be interesting...

[Farley the Hamster]

Honestly? I hope the go in the direction of the WOW TCG - Hero vs Hero with supporting minions and equipment

[Chris]

as long as they dont just copy paste the wow system.

wow is so god damn boring ._.

[Carlos]

WORD!!!

[Chris]

I'd be all about it if the combined the two though.
Major hero cards with a flip over effect on one side and an activate effect on the other

Quest/Adventure cards face up that are completed by tapping resources.

Hero cards to support the major hero that are recruited by tapping resources

Plot twists, locations face-down that can be activated when thresholds are met. generic or support for the major hero

It could totally work.

Might be... dare i say it... FUN