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Wizards And Pokemon Face Off Over CCG

Posted by simoniker on from the schoolyard-dustup-over-cards dept.

Thanks to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for their article discussing a lawsuit filed again The Pokemon Company by Wizards Of The Coast, following Pokemon USA's taking-over of the (formerly?) lucrative WOTC-helmed Pokemon collectible card game franchise. The suit "alleges patent infringement, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, tortuous interference with a business relationship, unjust enrichment and other claims", and mentions that "at least nine employees" have defected to Pokemon USA, and that "...all of the employees had signed non-disclosure agreements in which they agreed not to reveal confidential information to competitors." MSNBC has more information on this story, and while a WOTC spokesperson "expressed confidence that the issue... would be resolved", Pikachu declined to comment at this time.

28 comments

  1. Aw by DumbWhiteGuy777 · · Score: 1

    They should have atleast made up a statement by Pikachu. Something like:

    "Pi pika pi pi chu chu pika DIGIMON SUCKS kachu pi."

  2. Nintendo's Long History by Yorrike · · Score: 2, Interesting
    For those of you out there not as informed on Nintendo's history as other's, and wonder why WOTC would be concerned with secrets getting to Nintendo of all people, well.

    Nintendo has been making card games, trading cards and board games since 1902, and they've produced them ever since. Tading cards for the American market, Japanese market, the lot.

    If you're keen on reading up about this deceptively old company, check any of these out.

    --

    Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

  3. Heh by Tyrdium · · Score: 1
    Wizards suit alleges that Pokemon USA failed to carry out its contract and therefore Wizards is "entitled to an award of exemplary damages to punish Pokemon USA's wrongful conduct and to make an example of it."

    Touche.

  4. WOTC should have never had the rights by M3wThr33 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    WoTC only got the rights to translate the cards from the Japanese game, which Nintendo designed themselves anyway.

    But in the process, they altered the game rules, took the foils out of every pack(Inspiring more purchases), added coin flips to some attacks, lowered HP, made COUNTLESS COUNTLESS errors in EVERY set, and had a horrible league set up.

    Their Pokemon League was just fine, until the Orange Island set. When that came around, they instantly retired all the old badges, giving any player that didn't start at the beginning NO chance to earn them and forcing veterans to start all over again.

    This doesn't even dwell on the cost of the cards, or the fact some sets have YET to be released.

    WoTC makes me sick.

    1. Re:WOTC should have never had the rights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, basically, they turned it into MTG?

    2. Re:WOTC should have never had the rights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'll not be bashing MTG when my horde of ogres invades your lands, and beats down your mana pool!

    3. Re:WOTC should have never had the rights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Their Pokemon League was just fine, until the Orange Island set. When that came around, they instantly retired all the old badges, giving any player that didn't start at the beginning NO chance to earn them and forcing veterans to start all over again.

      And naturally Nintendo is not at fault at all for releasing Sapphire and Ruby versions, which did not allow connectivity to the previous versions, forcing players to start all over again. Hell, they did that with Gold/Silver/Crystal, forcing players to start over again (but allowing monsters from Red/Blue/Yellow to be brought over later on).

      Call me crazy, but I'm not seeing much of a difference here.

    4. Re:WOTC should have never had the rights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Um, IANA Pokemon Card Collector, but when you retire pokemon in a computer game, you're talking about things that were free after you purchased the cart. All you lose is the fruit of your efforts.

      When you retire league qualifications, you're talking about affecting people's real collections of things that cost money, and titles that are recognized in the real world. It's vastly more significant.

    5. Re:WOTC should have never had the rights by Guppy06 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "And naturally Nintendo is not at fault at all for releasing Sapphire and Ruby versions, which did not allow connectivity to the previous versions,"

      It's a hardware issue here, not software. The older versions were for older hardware that used older link cable protocols (including the physical layer) than the GBA now uses. If they enabled GBA link cable protocols to be backwards-compatible, I can almost guarantee you there wouldn't be multi-boot games (among other nice features) for the GBA.

      Besides, forcing players to start over in a video game is lost time. Forcing players to start over in a CCG means spending $100+ trying to play catch up.

    6. Re:WOTC should have never had the rights by Guppy06 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "they altered the game rules, took the foils out of every pack(Inspiring more purchases)"

      This right here is what has had me turned off to CCGs (and collectible minis) since I first tried M:TG. I don't like the "spend spend spend!" mentality that that makes these companies seem worse than GW in comparison. I want to collect things I have a reasonable chance of getting without having to tithe a percentage of my paycheck for several years. I feel like I'd get more satisfaction playing the lottery.

      Aside from my addiction to the GameCube game, I'm loving the Animal Crossing cards because they're easy to get. The hard part isn't trying to find this character or that design, it's trying to find a store (other than Nintendo's website) that still carries series 1 cards.

    7. Re:WOTC should have never had the rights by jjhlk · · Score: 1

      That's exactly the reason I stopped playing MTG: The Cost. (clever, eh) It's fun to play any strategy game, and card games are portable. I had about 1000 cards, but very few good ones. That wasn't enough to make a very decent deck at all. You're really limited to strategies when you have to buy them. That takes the fun away.

      With the online version though, you can play for free (it used to be a one time connectivety fee), but I'm just turned off of MTG right now.

      (Aside: I'm really missing strategy games, and haven't found a good one in a while. Nethack was fun to play because you can play so precisely, but it became boring for me. Chess is cool, but the learning curve is pretty steep. When getting good means studying... well, fun and studying don't mix. Any good strategy games (with an active community)? Tell me.)

    8. Re:WOTC should have never had the rights by M3wThr33 · · Score: 1

      Oh, that reminds me the other thing that pissed me off, too.

      Somewhere down the line they decided to ban every single old card set, re-release a new set combining the "Best" of those cards and once again screw everyone over.

      Of course, I stopped long before then, at the Orange Islands switch, because I wasn't about to pay for a new league fee prematurely.

  5. What lazy reporting by Ondo · · Score: 1

    From the MSNBC article:

    The Pokemon companies are affiliates of Nintendo's parent company in Japan, according to the suit.

    What is "according to the suit" doing here? It's an easily verified fact.

  6. Re:Mod Parent Down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No love, perhaps, but with but 1d20 he can both call upon a name transformation spell and make you look like an idiot. His DM powers know no bounds.

  7. Re: Aside on by Eevee · · Score: 1

    Have you looked at Go? It's easy to learn, allows for handicapping between players, and you can play it online.

    However, it does suffer from needing to study to get good. Perhaps if you tried considering studying part of the fun?

    To take a look at it, visit Yahoo Games and visit the Go boards. (Under Board and Tile games.)

  8. Yowza... by InfinityWpi · · Score: 2, Funny

    Must be a slow news day on MSNBC...

    WoTC attacks Nintendo with Lawsuit attack!
    It doesn't seem to affect Nintendo very much!
    WoTC is confused!

    1. Re:Yowza... by focitrixilous+P · · Score: 1

      You forgot the coin flip. WoTC - 60HP Lawsuit Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 40 damage. If tails, Lawsuit does no damage, and WoTC is confused.

      --
      SAILING MISHAP
  9. Re:Mod Parent Down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It might stand for rocket propelled grenade.

  10. so much trouble in the land of pokemon... by UltimaL337Star · · Score: 0

    Next we'll be seeing ash ketchum doing drugs and forcing pokemon into sweatshops

  11. Go is great! by DeadScreenSky · · Score: 1

    Have to agree with the parent post. Go is a really fun strategy game, and unfathomably deep.

    If you are into anime or manga at all, I suggest you check out Hikaru no Go. It is a surprisingly accomplished series, especially considering its silly premise and intended audience of young Japanese boys.

    This is a great site that really helped me learn Go. I also advise you to grab one of the numerous Go playing programs and start with a smaller board for a few weeks. Have fun!

    --
    There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
    1. Re: Go is great! by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      > If you are into anime or manga at all, I suggest you check out Hikaru no Go.

      *And* it's getting released in the US! They're going to serialize it in the US edition of Shonen Jump. Haven't heard anything about a graphic novel edition yet, but they're putting just about everything else in Jump into GNs, so it looks good.

      Chris Mattern

  12. WoTC Best Known for Magic game? by DaRat · · Score: 1
    Wizards of Coast, which employs 850 people, was purchased by Hasbro Inc. for $325 million in 1999. It is best known for the Magic trading card game.

    Interesting: is Wizards of the Coast really best known for the Magic card game? What about Dungeons and Dragons?

    1. Re:WoTC Best Known for Magic game? by devnull17 · · Score: 1

      Ummm, no. Dungeons and Dragons was originally produced by TSR, which was bought by WotC a mere five or so years ago. Wizards of the Coast was a miniscule company until the advent of Magic ten years ago. The game defined them, and is most likely still their greatest revenue source.

    2. Re:WoTC Best Known for Magic game? by Planesdragon · · Score: 1

      Wizards of the Coast really best known for the Magic card game?

      Yep. D&D is a small-margin game--us RPGers are cheap bastards who balk at $30 books.

      Oh, and WotC got bought by a little company you might have heard of, called Hasbro, not too long ago.

      In the meantime, if you want to roleplay the world's best fantasy RPG without aiding the corporate takeover of it (or encouraging the very very significant strings attached to their Open Gaming attempt), check out the Free Gaming Association : www.theFGA.com

  13. Details are Missing by robbway · · Score: 1

    The article pretty well defines that the defection of key employees may actually become a trade secrets issue as well as breach of contract issue on the "non-disclosure" clause. The key missing detail is the actual contract language, which is bound to be boring, on WotC publishing of Pokemon cards. These details are probably secret, but are what the entire case is based, I'd bet.

    Reminds me very much of the fiasco of Nintendo vs Atari/Tengen on the Tetris license.