Nintendo DS Product Review: WordJong

I’ve become quite addicted to this system. In fact, Ozyr noticed that I’ve been talking about the games I’ve bought for the DS more and more during our weekly gaming session, and so suggested that it might be good if I reviews some of my favorites.

Sounded like a good idea to me.

I’ll start with the one that’s in my little pink DS right now: WordJong by Destineer. This game, released on December 5, 2007 and selling for $19.99, crosses Majong with Scrabble by providing letters instead of symbols in various tile shapes that must be formed into words — the bigger, the better. The letters are scored much like Scrabble, with tiles that count for double and triple points, and other letter tiles that give you double and triple word scores. As for the graphics, they are fairly simplistic but decent.

But what I really like about the game is the variety of gameplay. The two modes that I play are the Temple Challenge and the Battle mode. In the Temple Challenge, you play successively harder games and gain ranks that have names with a decidedly Asian flavor. In this mode you are also able to win wild tiles, which are increasingly harder to get as you go along, but which help you sometimes to finish the puzzles. And in Temple mode you MUST finish the puzzle, or you get no points.

In Battle mode, you play against the residents of the temple and work your way up through tougher and tougher opponents. Points are earned in the same way as the Temple mode, and the one with the most points at the end of two rounds wins. Each opponent uses different strategies and certainly keep you on your toes at the higher levels.

There is of course a multi player mode as well, but sadly I’ve not had a chance to try it out yet, so I can’t really comment on that aspect of the game.

I’ve spent hours already working my way up several levels. It’s quite addicting, and the game makes a point of letting you know how far away you are from the next level, so you always feel like you’re working toward something, whether it’s a new rank or a new opponent. All in all, I’d say that this game is worth the price.

A little more Pathfinder Society info

Another thing I just love about Paizo and their employees: When you ask a question, you get an answer, and not just from some shmuck either. You get an answer from someone who should know.

Since I couldn’t find any real convention news aside from Gen Con for this campaign, I decided to make sure that conventions really are part of the set up. Indeed they are. Here’s the answer I got over at the Paizo message board. I’m Martha, btw.

Martha wrote:
I guess the question is, will this be a mainly home based campaign, or will there be scenarios to play at conventions, rather like the “living” campaigns of yore. If there are to be events at conventions, where would one go to find them?

Vic Wertz (Technical Director), replied:
The Pathfinder Society organized play program will encompass convention, in-store *and* home play. We’re working on a lot of web stuff for the Society right now, and it will give folks the ability to both create and find such events soon!

Jal Dorak commented:
I believe for now interested stores contact Joshua Frost to become Pathfinder Society official stores, and then they get scenarios for free. Not quite sure when that starts though.

Joshua J. Frost (Director of Marketing), chimed in:
Stores do not yet get the scenarios for free though we do intend to make this a reality once the web stuff is launched. Soon soon soon.

So there you have it. Nice to know the Technical Director and the Director of Marketing are actually reading and answering posts over there at Paizo Central, isn’t it.

Pathfinder Society Organized Play

Pathfinder Society Organized Play is the new mega-campaign from Paizo Publishing based on their Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, in case you’re not aware, is a system designed by Paizo to be compatible with the 3.5 Edition of D&D, and the Society is made up of thousands of adventurers, each in one of five factions, who explore and then report back about their adventures, all hoping to have their best escapades included in the Chronicles.

I should also let you know that the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game itself is available for free at Paizo’s site in beta release here You have to put the free product in your cart, and then go to the link provided to download it, but first it needs to be “personalized.” It’s alittle odd to download, but futz with it a bit and you’ll get it.

In Paizo’s own words “Pathfinder Society Organized Play is a constantly evolving mega-campaign played by thousands of players and the adventures you experience are shared by players around the world. Play is organized into Seasons, throughout which the actions and achievements of you and your fellow Pathfinders create an ongoing storyline.”

At the moment, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is in Beta testing mode, and apparently so is Pathfinder Society Organized Play. This year will be Season 0, a time to experiment with what form the campaign will take and and figure out what works best for the campaign. This initial season debuted at GenCon 2008.

I find it interesting that the Pathfinder Society appears to be designed for both convention and home play, as there are scenarios that may be bought for home use at the Paizo site for $3.99 each. At least that’s what I think is going on. The scenarios were indeed available at GenCon to be played, but the very same scenarios are available for downloading and home use. I believe things will become more clear as the campaign is developed.

For more information, go here. You can join the Society, register your character, join the discussion at the message board, buy stuff and also download a players guide for free, by the same method I described before.

Enjoy. It the message board comments are be believed, others have.

Wizards releases August, 2008 D&D 4.0 products

It’s the middle of August, and time for another three new products for D&D 4th Edition. This time we have the new DM’s Screen, the new Forgotten Realms Campaign book, and an adventure called Pyramid of Shadows.

For those wondering, the FR Campaign book sets the Forgotten Realms 100 years into the future of old D&D 3.5 rules. Lots of changes, non of which I’ll see (yeah, I’m a 3.5 holdout), but others can enjoy. I’d wonder if the DM screen will have the height of the older screens, or the smaller height of the 3.5 Eberron screen (and a few others)? I prefer the taller ones, but I have gotten used to the short ones. Each to their own, in the long run. Enjoy these new products, those who are on the 4.0 bandwagon!

-Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Screen (D&D Accessory) — $9.99
-Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (FR Sourcebook) — $39.99
-Pyramid of Shadows: H3 (D&D Adventure) — $24.95

4th Edition stuff is rolling out now, and will continue until 4.5 in three years (just kidding, but I would not be surprised at all). For those sticking with 3.5, look at Paizo’s website for their Pathfinder products (which I may list here some day).

Note: New D&D related products are also listed on our main page (until new stuff comes along) or on our club associate page (where they are listed for a long time).

ENnie 2008 winners announced Friday, August 15

Friday evening, the Gen Con EN World RPG Awards were given out to various deserving companies at Gen Con, 2008. These awards where as follows:

They gave out two Lifetime Achievement Awards - one to Gary Gygas (yeah!), and other other to Dave Arneson. Congrats to both (especially to Gary!).

Best Fan Product
Gold: DungeonMastering.com
Silver: FlamesRising.com

Best Cover Art
Gold: Pathfinder #1: Burnt Offerings, Paizo Publishing
Silver: Scion: God, White Wolf Publishing

Best Art, Interior
Gold: Changeling: The Lost, White Wolf Publishing
Silver: Pathfinder #1: Burnt Offerings, Paizo Publishing

Best Cartography
Gold: Pirate’s Guide to Freeport, Green Ronin Publishing
Silver: DCC #51: Castle Whiterock, Goodman Games

Best Production Values
Gold: Changeling: The Lost, White Wolf Publishing
Silver: The Savage World of Solomon Kane, Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Best Writing
Gold: Changeling: The Lost, White Wolf Publishing
Silver: Trail of Cthulhu, Pelgrane Press

Best Rules
Gold: Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition, Wizards of the Coast
Silver: Trail of Cthulhu, Pelgrane Press

Best Adventure
Gold: Pathfinder #1: Burnt Offerings, Paizo Publishing
Silver: Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, Wizards of the Coast

Best Setting
Gold: Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer, Paizo Publishing
Silver: Pirate’s Guide to Freeport, Green Ronin Publishing

Best Adversary/Monster Product
Gold: Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revisited, Paizo Publishing
Silver: Elder Evils, Wizards of the Coast

Best Supplement
Gold: True20 Companion, Green Ronin Publishing
Silver: Hollow Earth Expedition: Secrets of the Surface World, Exile Games Studio

Best Miniature Product
Gold: D&D Icons: Legend of Drizzt Scenario Pack, Wizards of the Coast
Silver: Dragon Tiles: Forest Adventures, Fat Dragon Games

Best Regalia
Gold: Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girls Guide to Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards of the Coast
Silver: Hobby Games: The 100 Best, Green Ronin Publishing

Best Aid or Accessory
Gold: Pathfinder Chronicles: Harrow Deck, Paizo Publishing
Silver: Hero Lab, Lone Wolf Development

Best Free Product or Web Enhancement
Gold: Pathfinder RPG Alpha, Paizo Publishing
Silver: Changeling Quickstart, White Wolf Publishing

Best Electronic Book
Gold: Book of Experimental Might 2, Malhavoc Press
Silver: Changeling: Fearmaker’s Promise, White Wolf Publishing

Best d20/OGL Product
Gold: Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition, Wizards of the Coast
Silver: Monte Cook’s World of Darkness, White Wolf Publishing

Best Game
Gold: Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition, Wizards of the Coast
Silver: Aces and Eights, Kenzer & Company

Product of the Year
Gold: Changeling: The Lost, White Wolf Publishing
Silver: Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition, Wizards of the Coast

Fan Choice Best Publisher
Gold: Paizo Publishing
Silver: White Wolf Publishing

(By the smilies, you can tell which products I like, and really like! I’m glad that Paizo did very well this year, and Green Ronin pretty good as well. Just goes to show that bigger is not always better. I have high hopes for Paizo and their Pathfinder system, which will keep 3.5 alive for a long time - at least I hope so).

Digital Insider prices announced this past week

The prices for WotC’s online content and D&D enhancer, Digital Insider, was finalized the second week of August, 2008. For now, content is still free, as they do not have all the tools and software fully in place. That won’t happen until sometime in 2009. Thus, I’m not really sure when they’ll start charging for their online services (or when I’ll stop going there when they do).

The price of $4.95 per month will cover DDI’s Web material only, which includes Dragon and Dungeon Magazines (as they call then now), the D&D Compendium, and their Bonus Tools. Personally, from what I have seen in the last year, I will not be paying for this service, and would rather advice people to try Kobold magazine. Why? Because I think Kobold is better than what DDI has to offer, at least if your looking for something truly creative and OGL as well (not just 4.0). Just my opinion on this - take it as it is.

Now for some more fun, and more money too. For $9.99 a month ($14.95 is you pay monthly only) you can have access to the above and the Character Builder, Visualizer, Game Table, and all the other software to use for D&D. Personally, I still wish they would make these tools platform independent, but that won’t happen. Bloody WotC (actually Hasbro more that WotC though). I won’t miss my $9.99 a month, as I am steering clear of this stuff. For those diving in, I wish you the best of luck, and hope you get your $120 a year value out of the online services DDI will provide.

Wheel of Time movies!?

In recent news, Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to the late Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” series of novels, in a supposed seven-figure deal (now that is a lot of money). It will be interesting to see what Universal does with the “Wheel of Time”, as this could make a very good set of movies (trilogy - and possibly more). Guess we’ll have to wait and see on this one, but it is something that I’ve wished for for a long time. Let’s just hope they do it right (and good)!

Paizo releases Pathfinder RPG (OGL) Beta book/pdf!

Just yesterday, Paizo released the softbound Beta version of the Pathfinder RPG. This ruleset, which is compatible with the old D&D 3.5 rules, offers plenty of new rules and options for your gaming pleasure. This Beta release of the Pathfinder RPG is the end result of months of public playtesting.

The Pathfinder RPG includes many revises rules, soothed out skill system, new and some regular feats, revised combat rules, lots of new and revised spells, an overhauled experience system, and a lot more. The Pathfinder RPG Beta is available online as a free PDF download, or as a 408-page full-color softcover printed book. Note that the PDF file include a web enhancement, with more spells, and magic items that didn’t make the print version.

Note that with the release of this Beta version of the Pathfinder RPG, Paizo will continue to monitor all playtesting feedback, which will be used for the final hardcover Pathfinder RPG release in August of 2009.

NPD July 2008 figures - Nintendo maintains top spot!

The NPD has released the video game sales numbers for July, 2008.

As with prior months, Nintendo once again maintained the top two spot for hardware sales, with the DS taking top honors. Sony’s PS3 took 3rd, with less than half the sales of the Wii. The PSP, 360, and PS2 (back on the charts) follow as we go down the sales chart, in the same order as last month.

NPD figures for July 2008 are:
Hardware:

NDS = 608,400 units sold!
WII = 555,000
PS3 = 224,900
PSP = 221,700
360 = 204,800
PS2 = 155,500

Software (top games for July 2008):

NCAA Football 09 - 360 = 397,600 units sold
Wii Fit - Wii = 369,600
Guitar Hero: On Tour - DS = 309,700
Wii Play with Wii Remote - Wii = 284,000
NCAA Football 09 - PS3 = 242,500
Soul Calibur IV - 360 = 218,900
Mario Kart Wii - Wii = 174,500
Rock Band Special Edition - Wii = 165,800
Soul Calibur IV - PS3 = 155,800
Sid Meier’s Civilization - 360 = 147,600

The 360 took top honor in game sales with NCAA football, while the Wii and DS followed closely behind with Wii Fit and the handheld Guitar Hero (which is still doing rather well). The rest of the chart is a good mix of the three main home consoles.

August 2008 Classic Dr. Who DVDs

It has been a while since I put up any posts on Classic Doctor Who DVDs. Well, that changes as of right now. For the month of August, 2008, Warner Home Video has distributed in the U.S. the following three DVDs.

Doctor Who - Black Orchid (1982) - $14.98
The Doctor (Peter Davison) and crew land on Earth, where they get caught up in a family secret at Cranleigh Hall.
(While not the best of Who, this budget title does have its moments.)

Doctor Who - Five Doctors, The (1983) - 34.98
The Doctor (Peter Davison) and his past incarnations are taken out of time and dropped on Gallifrey, along with some classic companions. Someone is trying to find a powerful secret of the Time Lords, but will the Doctors save the day?
(Yes, another release of the Five Doctors. This time, you get both versions - 1983 and 1995 - plus a lot of extras. Worth it just for these alone!)

Doctor Who - Time Meddler, The (1965) - 24.98
The Doctor (William Hartnell) and companions end up in the 11th century, where they play a part in stopping a stranger from meddling with the Battle of Hastings.
(A personal favorite of mine, at least of the Hartnell years. It is a tad slow at times, but I love the setting, plot, and especially William Hartnell in this show.)

(Note: As always, the prices listed may seem a tad high, but almost all DVDs have a high suggested retail price. Search Amazon, Buy or other discount stores online, you’ll find much lower prices. I’ve already bought these DVDs and will be watching them soon!)