Got news?   tips@destructoid.com  |  Never miss a story:   RSS + Twitter + YouTube
Hey! New here? Destructoid is a gaming discussion community, updated nearly every 20 minutes. Make a quick avatar to comment and enter our contests. Take the tour!
 


Home Xbox Live updates

Magic: The Gathering comes to Xbox Live
1:40 PM on 02.20.2008, Colette Bennett 47 comments

Magic: The Gathering comes to Xbox Live photo
     Xbox Live

Sadly, the cards above me are fan-made and not real Magic cards, or otherwise I might have kept playing after high school. Still, every time I see a Magic card I can't help but think that it used to be fun back in the day to whip guys at the game just to see the look on their faces. Fear my blue/white deck, noobs!

Good news for anyone that shares those memories: Magic: The Gathering is coming to Xbox Live (and also to PC, but that isn't really new news, as a successful version of Magic:Online has been around for some time.) Stainless games will handle its development for XBLA, while Mind Control will handle its development for PC and Mac. I have to admit I am excited -- as much as I enjoy Culdcept Saga, I think Magic could appeal to fans of that and possibly even draw in new fans that never played it in its heyday.

No dates yet, but we will bring you more updates as they come. I hope Serra Angels are playable cards. Nostalgia! Press release after the jump, naturally.

[Via Xboxamerica]

WIZARDS OF THE COAST EXTENDS ITS MAGIC: THE GATHERING IP TO MULTIPLE PLATFORMS

Industry Leading Partnerships Enhance Strategy Fantasy Gaming Options for all Gamers

RENTON, Wash.--February 18, 2008 -- Wizards of the Coast (WotC), the leader in strategy hobby collectible trading card, board and role playing games, and a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), today announced its plans to extend the Magic: The Gathering® franchise to gamers on Microsoft's Xbox 360 Xbox LIVE® Arcade and the PC through partnerships with Stainless Games, Ltd. and Mind Control Software, Inc. Stainless Games will develop a game using the Magic: The Gathering IP for both Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PC, while Mind Control will develop a game for the PC and Mac.

"We're excited to bring the Magic brand to new platforms and give our fans new ways to experience this great property," said Jared Gustafson, Brand Director for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast. "It's partnerships like these that will advance the strategy games category and transform it to meet the needs and desires of today's digital gamers."

Magic: The Gathering, introduced in 1993, is the premier and original trading card game that inspired an entirely new game genre. Combining the dynamics of a card game with the excitement of trading and collecting, MagicTM offers fun for casual play, as well as the option of highly competitive tournaments. Magic: The Gathering currently has a thriving online edition (Magic Online®) made up of more than 350,000 active accounts. The game allows gamers to collect and trade virtual cards, build the perfect deck, get help from mentors, find opponents at all skill levels, and compete for prizes every day without ever leaving the comforts of home.

Specific details on the games Stainless Games and Mind Control will develop using the Magic: The Gathering IP will be announced at a later date.


Next page: More Casual Gaming stories




DarkTetsuya's Avatar
DarkTetsuya at 02/20/2008 13:41
Four mana for a 9/10 with no drawback? Thats how you know they're fan-made. :P

But I do wish I had a 360 so I could check that out... though I'm sure it'll be the same per-starter/booster price for DLC, but hopefully they'll just charge per-set.
ajay42's Avatar
ajay42 at 02/20/2008 13:41
I would pay double the asking price if it just works with a card library instead of constantly requiring people to shell out big bucks for expansions and rares etc. Magic is a really really fun game that is completely ruined since its economics essentially dictate that the richest player has the best chance. The video game iteration of this game can really fix that!
Brandon Undead's Avatar
Brandon Undead at 02/20/2008 13:41
Colette: Will you play Magic with me?
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 02/20/2008 13:43
If you dont have to buy new cards, but instead earn them, Im all for it.
Rainbowblack's Avatar
Rainbowblack at 02/20/2008 13:44
I've never played any kind of Card combat games, but I've always wanted too

I can't wait

is there anyplace of the internets to learn MTG beforehand?
Redzie's Avatar
Redzie at 02/20/2008 13:44
grammatically wrong ninja assassin tran card. DO WANT.
DaedHead8's Avatar
DaedHead8 at 02/20/2008 13:45
Damnit, I just transfered to a new school with a MTG club so I've been thinking of breaking out my old cards (I stopped playing right after the format change) but I decided against it. Still, my former obsession haunts me. Now its coming to Xbox Live and god knows I can't avoid it forever.

Red Burn/ Green Creature decks ftw.
Tragic Hero's Avatar
Tragic Hero at 02/20/2008 13:45
Forget Magic the Gathering, I want the Marvel Overpowered Card game to come out for XBLA
NihonTiger90's Avatar
NihonTiger90 at 02/20/2008 13:46
Aerox: Fuck you and your damn counterspell decks. Squirrel Opposition is where its at.
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 02/20/2008 13:47
Hot! American!
DICKINGS
Mr Wilson's Avatar
Mr Wilson at 02/20/2008 13:50
Wow i didnt see this coming. God how much money did i waste on Magic back in the day??? and for the record...Titanias Song/Artifact Deck FTW!!!
ScottyG's Avatar
ScottyG at 02/20/2008 13:50
What, no mention of hot dickings on the Dr. Tran card? :(

...

Just passing 'em out!
savagesaladin's Avatar
savagesaladin at 02/20/2008 13:50
It will never be on my xbox. I hate Magic. Plus I bet you have to buy all your cards. So the richest win. Fuck that.
HarassmentPanda's Avatar
HarassmentPanda at 02/20/2008 13:52
I am SO EXCITED. Once Culdcept came out I was thinking how much I missed playing Magic. I don't have any friends locally that play, but being able to hop on my 360 and play would be amazing. I really hope you don't have to pay retail prices for digital booster packs a la Magic: Online, although I dumped my fair share of money into that game.

Maybe a system requiring you to purchase cards for "tournaments" but giving you access to the full set of cards for "recreational" games would be appropriate. This would be similar to real life rules where you must have the actual cards to compete in a tournament, but recreational play allows proxies.
Dennen's Avatar
Dennen at 02/20/2008 14:03
I really hope this game comes out to be like the Microprose game that was released back in the 90's.. I still have that game installed.
Oni's Avatar
Oni at 02/20/2008 14:08
"Watch him kill his own mother, with a BROKEN LAWN CHAIR!!

Those cards are made of epic and win. I cannot get over how funny those are! Sweet Jesus, I think that just made my day.

I also have the 'Oh shit, it's Dr. Tran' poster at home. It's awesome.

Oh, yeah, MTG on XBL. That's cool, I guess.
Brandon Undead's Avatar
Brandon Undead at 02/20/2008 14:09
ELF BUFF
kawitchate's Avatar
kawitchate at 02/20/2008 14:12
SWEEEEEEET
JonDarkwood's Avatar
JonDarkwood at 02/20/2008 14:16
Neat until they tell us we have to pay real money for digital cardboard.
HarassmentPanda's Avatar
HarassmentPanda at 02/20/2008 14:21
@Aerox

Blue Control decks are full of so much win it pains me to speak of them. You dirty Aggro players make me sick.
Colette Bennett's Avatar
Colette Bennett at 02/20/2008 14:24
@Brandon: YES!!!!
Qalamari's Avatar
Qalamari at 02/20/2008 14:25
Taiga/Kird Ape. Best combo ever.

@ Dennen, I hope it's not... at least, not entirely. That game was buggier than a cockroach convention. During your opponent's turn, you can tap their land for them and make them mana burn. If you collected over 500 cards, (Not hard to do, since everyone you beat gave you 3 or 4) the game would crash. Still, I spent countless hours with it, hunting down those Blue/Black guys who had a chance of cloning one of your cards if you really gave them a paddlin'. It was cool making a deck with Moxes instead of lands, for instance.

And I like HarassmentPanda's suggestion, as I don't especially enjoy the thought of spending an entirely new set of US dollars to buy digital versions of the cardboard I already own.
Syn's Avatar
Syn at 02/20/2008 15:00
My step-dad bought an entire grab-box full of Magic cards for 50$...turns out there was over 5000 cards in it.
VWGTI's Avatar
VWGTI at 02/20/2008 15:07
It's nice to know I'm not in the minority here being a Magic the Gathering lover/player. DO WANT this.
DynamicSheep's Avatar
DynamicSheep at 02/20/2008 15:15
How exactly is this going to work? Is it a 360 version of MtG:Online? That press release is very vague.
professor smarty pockets's Avatar
professor smarty pockets at 02/20/2008 15:29
Read the press release. They are not working on a game like Magic Online for XBox. At all. Bad reporting here.

It's some kind of game based on the Magic IP, like the Battlegrounds game they made a few years back; that is, some stupid shooter or fighter with Magic characters tacked on for no reason. They haven't released any details about what the game will actually be, but...

You will NOT be able to play the game of Magic the Gathering on your XBox. I don't know where the poster came up with this, but it's completely false.
dv8withn8's Avatar
dv8withn8 at 02/20/2008 15:54
dv8withn8's Avatar
dv8withn8 at 02/20/2008 15:55
@Brandon:
*High Five!*
KyleGamgee's Avatar
KyleGamgee at 02/20/2008 16:23
My swampwalk deck was my ass-kicker. It's the one I played with if I just wanted to win, I had other deck for play-for-fun. I got out after 4th Edition and Ice age though. I played Magic Online for a year or two during 9th edition, that was pretty cool.



As a total coincidence, I wore this shirt to work today. Go fig.
KyleGamgee's Avatar
KyleGamgee at 02/20/2008 16:24
Stupid photobucket doesn't re-size photos for shit.
lucashoal's Avatar
lucashoal at 02/20/2008 16:31
I require a iBEAN CUP! card. As well as a $Ted.Danson? card. Then I may play again.
Beautox's Avatar
Beautox at 02/20/2008 16:35
Channel + Fireball FTW
manasteel88's Avatar
manasteel88 at 02/20/2008 17:26
this game could go either way
Eschatos's Avatar
Eschatos at 02/20/2008 17:27
It just isn't the same without physical cards. Removes a lot of the awesomeness.
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 02/20/2008 17:31
I know a lot of people who will be stoked on this... I'm not one of them. But still sounds fun, i'll probably give it a try.
Pangloss's Avatar
Pangloss at 02/20/2008 17:56
Glad to see other proponents of the Counter-controller decks. I pissed off so many people with mine back in the day.

I stopped sometime around the Mirrodin block, where they actually made some creatures indestructible.
s0lesurviv0r's Avatar
s0lesurviv0r at 02/20/2008 17:59
Please, wizards of the coast, don't make me have to type "MTG singles xbox live" into the ebay search bar.
Kaikara's Avatar
Kaikara at 02/20/2008 18:00
Used to love Magic and still got hundreds of house (thinking of that I still haven't got that folder which I left at a mates house with 20 rares worth about $300 lol). Good game, lots of good memories. Definetly pick this up if it's good.
Daynger777's Avatar
Daynger777 at 02/20/2008 18:40
I never really played Magic but when I got to college they had a magic club my buddy was in. So I asked him to make me the most annoying deck possible, because everyone in the club was ridiculously arrogant and overly-nerdy. He made me a swarm deck with winter orb and some other card that made it very uncomfortable to play against me. Needless to say, they didn't let me play long.... bwaa haa haaa!
Natural 20's Avatar
Natural 20 at 02/20/2008 19:39
Here is why magic is retarded.

1. The richest player wins

2. 1.0 and 1.5 magic games inevitably end out as third turn kill games or blue counter decks to stop these third turn kill games.

3. Mirrodin

4. 2.0 style games change mechanics so often that a casual player can never really keep up with it.

5. Mirrodin

6. Tolarian Academy

7. Mirrodin

Can you see where I'm going with this?
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 02/20/2008 19:44
I never got into Magic. If I'm really into Eye of Judgment when I start playing it, though...
LarkOhiya's Avatar
LarkOhiya at 02/20/2008 19:46
Blue decks and counter spells where really toned down in what they could do. upped the casting cost on more powerful counters and limited the scope of what could be countered at lower costs...wait. anyone who cares to know this would not be finding out from my comment on this post...
Big Z's Avatar
Big Z at 02/20/2008 20:50
"I know theres already n older PC game out that I think lets you access everything."

That'd be Apprentice, a program that lets you play games with any decks of your creation against a friend online at absolutely no cost. The program itself is microscopic in size, and has a fairly easy to use interface that only gets a bit cumbersome when you need a large amount of tokens. I haven't downloaded a new version in quite some time, but the developers are pretty good about keeping the library of cards up to date with the latest sets released by WOTC, and if you enjoy the game but refuse to spend money on it this is the program for you.

As a bonus, Apprentice works nicely with Magic Set Editor, a program that lets you create your own cards like you see at the very top of the post. The latest version has settings for all sorts of backgrounds, from the original solid-color, very early print cards to the modern ones in the cards up top.

Apprentice can be downloaded here.
Magic Set Editor can be downloaded here.
flaming burrito's Avatar
flaming burrito at 02/21/2008 11:25
3 2 1 DR TRAN
The Unforgivable's Avatar
The Unforgivable at 02/21/2008 22:40
I will pwn you all with my counterburn deck.
prev next

Returning Dtoiders: login now to post a comment

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just Create an avatar now - it's fast and free: PLUS you also get your own gaming blog and begin posting stories and uploading videos in our open community area that may also appear on our home page. Sign up and we'll guide you through it, it's easy and 100% anonymous.




 Original Videos

 Reviews
Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack
Overlord II
Yosumin Live!
Let's Tap
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Wii)
View all Game Reviews

 Community blogs -   39770 Dtoiders!

This month's theme: Untapped Potential

New to Dtoid? Read the survival guide


 Originals

How Pokemon Red is blatantly better than Pokemon Blue











more original Destructoid stories


 Popular now more













Destructoid is:
Nick Chester
Editor-in-Chief		 Jim Sterling
Reviews Editor
Dale North
News Editor		 Hamza Aziz
Community Manager
Anthony Burch
Features Editor		 Rey Gutierrez
Video editor & director
Niero
Founder, publisher
Letters to the editors
tips@destructoid.com
Associate Editors
Ashley Davis Jonathan Holmes
Brad Nicholson Jonathan Ross
Brad Rice Jordan Devore
Chad Concelmo Matthew Razak
Colette Bennett Tom Fronczak
Conrad Zimmerman Topher Cantler
Dyson Samit Sarkar
Contributors
Adam Dork
Ben Perlee
Daniel Lingen
Joseph Leray		 Joe Burling
Mikey
Will Maddock
Stella Wong




get involved

register or login
post a blog
post a forum
enter a contest
discuss a review
contribute a news tip
write a guest editorial
 support

new member's guide
login assistance
tech support
report abuse
email our editors
read our dev blog
nuclear crisis?
 keep in touch

RSS feed
Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Flickr
Game nights
Meet-ups 		seriously

about us
advertising
terms of use
privacy policy
jobs at MM
buy our crap 		our network

Tomopop
Japanator



Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
living the dream since March 16, 2006