Over the last year or so I have noticed something for the first time in my adult life as a gamer – I missed the boat on a genre. And it’s not just some whacky temporary genre; it’s card/battle, which by all indications is here to stay. Recently, Ms. Bennett enlightened us by reporting on Square Enix’s upcoming card-based title Lord of Vermillion. The mere fact that Square Enix is willing to take the plunge into the genre frightens me further, because that means it is popular.

How did I miss it? Where did it start? Why is it fun? Who plays it? Right now I feel like a despot old man, unable to grasp the intricacies of a “new age” because I want to say that card-based video games are dull, void of usefulness or fun. I’m a hip guy. I play Rock Band. I picked up Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto 4. I would love to say that I play relevant titles, but apparently that is not the case due to this sudden revelation.


Here I am, playing a relevant title. Look at me go!

As far as I can ascertain, card battle games have been a staple of the last few decades for tabletop enthusiasts. The main game of choice being Magic: The Gathering. I have some experience with this game, although it’s just from an observer’s point of view. During my first year of college I met a guy that seemed pretty cool. We had some bullshit class together with a stuttering professor and hit it off making fun of him. One day my college friend invited me to his lunchtime hangout, a place he fancied calling “the basement.”



“The basement” was more like “the dungeon,” and provided my first real glimpse at Magic: The Gathering players and their collective social skills. I walked into the room underneath the university’s cafeteria and saw a bunch of introverts huddling over a table directly across from one another. Each player had a stack of cards to his side, and a cascade in his hands. They weren’t chatting, and possessed a near professional intensity in their faces. As I walked around this table of gloom I realized quickly that every kid at the table was a stereotypical geek. A few had an audacious aroma that could only be described by mentioning, “relish” and “bagels” in the same sentence. Others were clad in cheap black clothing, faded from many different washings. The females were dressed fairly scantily, but betrayed themselves with multiple piercings and fairly unrefined sitting positions.

I observed the various card maneuvers, the rolling of die, and laughed internally. No sir, I was not going to be a part of this.

Perhaps this is what has initially turned me off to the genre, and closes my eyes to each new release or announcement. Or maybe it really is a generational gap. I did not grow up watching anime. I shamefully didn’t know what the fuck an “otaku” was until the Nintendo story. Yet, I do know that Pokemon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and even Sailer Moon have popular card based games if the aisle in Wal-Mart is any sort of barometer.



The rabbit hole goes deeper than that, though. Every console has had a release of a card-based game. Even the ill-fated Saturn and Dreamcast. I’m personally ashamed to admit that I played the original Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast, anxiously clacking away at my keyboard in the lobby. But apparently amidst my “nerdom” in the MMO world I missed a big title named Culdcept. I ask myself now, how in the hell did I get into PSO but not card-based?

Ultimately, I think I just have to admit to myself that I missed the boat because of misconceptions and a dreary outlook on the community of players. While I was anxiously looking for answers I found that a card/battle game was released for the PS3 this year. The Eye of Judgement is supposedly grand, and the only thing left to do is to suck it up, quit taking baths, and check it out.

I’ll make sure to mention the experience in a future post - if I don’t break my hip on the way to the store.