TabletopGame "You were the chosen one!"
Ah Magi-Nation. It was the twilight for Pokemon, and the dawn of Yu-Gi-Oh. Magic: The Gathering was around, but the game wasn't as friendly as its modern incarnation would be. Then, you came, with your games and promises of a newer, different way of going about things. Cash tourneys, fan playtesters, storyline tournaments! And, for the time it lasted, it was good.
The first game was a good, if ambitious little RPG. There were bugs, and Dummied Out bits that still haunt me when I think of what might've been, but it was an endearing romp. Some parts were frustrating; the Orothe Gyeser and the Shadowhold, the latter of which was required to get the good ending.
But what made me happy most was that after the game ended, the CCG picked up, and the world was struggling to pick up the pieces left in our heroes wake. The writing wasn't top notch, but then, Magic hasn't been on top of that pile either. The card game itself wasn't as hardy. Certain mechanics became degenerate (discard), and rather than ban cards, 2i chose to issue errata. Good on paper, but bad idea in practice. Cards found themselves erraated even before release, and word got out that player-playtesters had deliberately designed a particularly degenerate deck. Orothe found itself nerfed every set. I never heard of any actual cash tournaments.
I too saw the TV show recently, and had to admit defeat once and for all.
I held out hope for this game, even as late as 2005, when the tv show was in limbo, and 2i was no more than a domain name and a jpeg. Last year (2008) I went to the last fansite to pay my respects to the series and the other members who had once been my friends. Now, it too has faded into obscurity, its last bastions DDOS'd by hackers. It was sad to watch the game rise and fall, but, in the long run, it has allowed me to grow to respect the games that have long term survivability.
And make me hate the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG all the more. Survival of the fittest is an ugly beast.
TabletopGame There's Still Hope Left
Magi Nation is one of those hidden gems. It has enormous potential, waiting to be coaxed into a flame. With a card game, a game-boy game, and a TV series, it's still in its infancy, trying to figure out what it wants to be. Does it want to be a witty card game that pokes fun of its enemies? Does it want to be a brave RPG series, telling the story of an alien traveler stranded on a distant world, learning to accept and overcome the challenges thrown at him? Or does it want to be a television series aimed at a new, much younger generation?
The card game is clever, has a clever storyline, if you can read it, and joys and sorrows aplenty. Characters come and go, and in some cases, are actually killed off in-universe. A surprisingly mature and entrancing tale, if you pay attention. The game had a lot of power to it, despite the limited graphics. Strategy, good storytelling, and character that you could learn to love. Most folks first ran into their favourite characters in the card game, and grew to like them even more when they could interact with their childhood heroes.
For most people, the TV show was a complete switch of direction. A Canadian-Korean production, it was aimed mostly at elementary schoolers, and was filled to the brim with edutainment. It made several large deviations from the source material, and for most people, these changes were the end of the line for Magi Nation. This is where I came in. Prior to this, I had never heard of Magi Nation, and knew nothing of either of the preceding materials. I enjoyed the clever storyline and the art style, and there was something about it that was magnetic. In its own strange way, the show had the exact same power as its predecessors to draw in fans from the most unlikely places. Upon discovering the card game and the video game, I endeavoured to learn as much as I could about this elusive aspect to one of my favourite shows. And that’s where I got a bit of a surprise. For all its dumbing down and its tweaks, the show is shockingly close to its roots. It has the same level of changes that the original video game does, as well as those moments for kids, like the game. (Dirigible Forks, anyone?)
My hat off to ye, Magi-Nation. The Moon's the limit!