Gifts Ungiven

NECA announced earlier this week that it has acquired most of the Wizkids properties from Topps, following in the wake of Wizkids folding last year or so.

Note that I said "most," as NECA gets HeroClix, ActionClix (the Halo and Aliens branding), HorrorClix, SportsClix, MageKnight, and Pocketmodel Games...but not Mechwarrior, which is the only Wizkids game I played.

This is not tremendously surprising, as Jordan Weisman has kept a firm grip on the Battletech property ever since he realized that generating your own IP was superior to licensing it from someone else (I have some very old FASA catalogs featuring early Battletech products side-by-side with Star Trek, Doctor Who, He-Man, and Top Gun games). Battletech has clearly had tremendous legs as a property, continuing to spawn successful video games and numerous incarnations including board games, collectible card games, collectible miniature games, and Virtual World, which in turn helped spawn Game Empire, which gave us Magic hall of famer Alan Comer.

You can still get into the original Battletech board game here.

It does mean that we may see more Clix games, which may be good for Clix fans (assuming the resurrected product line is compatible with the old stuff). In the meantime, I'll hold onto my Republic, Ghost Bear, Jade Falcon, Banson's Raiders, and Nova Cat forces. They're still cool little toys.

A design position has opened up at Wizards:

The Game Designer will lead and participate on teams to create game play content, focusing on trading card games such as Magic: the Gathering, Duelmasters, and others, but also including digital games and other game categories. The individual will be responsible for brainstorming new product concepts and ensuring the quality of existing game content. The position requires a mix of creativity, analytical ability, project management skills, and knowledge of the game design field.

Click here to learn more