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Chaoblog (The Blog) for October 19, 2007 [Part A]:
Beta Launch of
Chaotic Announced
Before I begin, I have a lot to say
today, so I am breaking today's blog into two separate posts A and
B.
This will be about the announcement of the launch and related stuff and the
second post will be about my review of the cards.
The Press Release:
We all knew a few days ago that the
launch was official and would be on October 24th via the front page news section
of ChaoticGame.com.
Yesterday (although I found out about it today) 4Kids published a Press Release
on their
corporate website. The
press
release did not give a lot of details, but I will go over it and give
you my own summary of what they are saying. The first paragraph is
probably the most important to us and it reads as follows:
4Kids Entertainment, Inc.
(NYSE: KDE), the children’s
entertainment powerhouse that turned the trading card-based properties Pokémon
and Yu-Gi-Oh! into worldwide sensations, and its subsidiary TC Digital Games LLC
have released the first wave of the Chaotic Trading Card Game™ starter
decks and booster packs exclusively to comic and hobby stores nationwide and in
Canada. Starting October 24th, fans can purchase "Chaotic OverWorld – The Dawn
of Perim™" and Chaotic "UnderWorld – The Dawn of Perim™" starter decks as well
as "The Dawn of Perim – Secrets™" booster packs. The public beta version of the
Chaotic website, www.ChaoticGame.com, will also launch on October 24th.
Here are my interpretations of some
of the buzz words they use:
-
"first wave" -- This means that
this is only the first part of the release. I talked to 4Kids and they
said that there will be a few functionality limitations for the first launch
of the online game. This means that some of the bells and whistles
will be held off until the next release.
-
"have released" -- The cards are
on thier way to the distributors who will be distributing them to the hobby
and comic stores
-
"exclusively to comic and hobby
stores" -- The cards will ONLY be distributed to the hobby and comic stores.
Sorry, your local Wal-Mart will not be getting it in, nor will any other
large retailer.
-
"nationwide and Canada" -- A
confirmation that the release will be in both the United States and in
Canada - for both the sale of the cards and access of the online
portal.
-
"Starting October 24th" -- The
stores will begin selling the cards and the portal will open on October 24th
-
"starter decks" -- There will be
two starter decks that will have everything you need to play the game.
-
"booster packs" -- In addition to
the starter packs, they will also be selling booster packs to bulk up and
hopefully better your deck, and these can be purchased separately. In
addition, they have also let us know that the booster packs will be called
"The Dawn of Perim – Secrets™"
-
"public beta version" -- The
portal may have a few kinks and we are testing it out on you
-
"also launch" -- Reassuring us
that the portal will launch at the same time as the physical cards are being
sold.
I am not going to go word by word
for the rest of the press release, but will point out a few items I find of
interest to us (since the press release is really being written for
stockholders, investors and licensees (or potential licensees)
-
"We expect to
release the Chaotic Trading Card Game to the mass market in early 2008 supported
by television advertising" (Al Kahn) -- For those of you that do not
live near a hobby/comic shop or do not have access to a distributor, great news,
the cards will be in the big retail stores (possibly Wal-Mark, K-Mart,
Toys-R-Us, etc.) in early 2008. Also expect to see those TV commercials we
know have been filmed just before it launches to the masses.
-
"During the
public beta phase of the website, players will be able to upload and trade
their cards, battle other players in one-on-one game play as well as take
part in web-based messaging and forum discussions." -- the online portal
will work, and there will be some cool things like battling, sending
messages and forum discussions, however, there will be some limitations,
such as only allowing one-on-one battles at this time.
-
"By watching
the animated series, viewers can discover battle strategies that will
ultimately help them master the Chaotic Trading Card Game for both online
and offline gameplay." -- Watch the Chaotic TV show, there will be
a lot of cool strategy hints and tips on the show that will help you play
online and off.
Beta
Functionality
The press release
mentions that there will be a few things that the portal will offer in this
initial Beta release. I have a list of those functionalities that will be
available:
Registration (user
name)
Card Upload (lock
codes)
Card portfolio
Build Armies
Forums
Battle Chat
Online One-on-One
Apprentice Rules Game
Rankings
Your Change to
Interview Bryan Gannon
Guys, this is your
chance to ask the big man himself at Chaotic a question or two. If you
have a serious question for Mr. Gannon, please submit it to the forum by
clicking here.
The Cards Have
Been Released
Just to confirm that
the cards have been printed and are being shipped, I have some pictures of the
cards as they roll off the printing presses and are brought over to the trucks
for distribution. In addition, I have some footage of the cards being
printed (see below, it is in Quicktime -- it takes about 50-60 seconds to load)
Clip of the Chaotic
Cards Being Printed
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| Picture of Magmon Chaotic Cards Close Up |
Picture of Chaotic Cards Being Printed |
Cases of Chaotic Cards on Sled |
Picture of Chaotic Booster Packs Being
Printed |
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So now we know all about the release.
I am getting really excited about going online. However, right now I will
be able to amuse myself by looking over the cards I just got in advance of the
release so that I can review them and tell you guys what I like or do not like
about them. So, onto part two of todays blog (click
here)
LED
The Lord of Perim
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