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Games

Pi-Rats Beneath the Street

We don’t look at a lot of board games around here (how anthropomorphic can you get with them, really?), but now and then something catches our interest.  One such thing is Sewer Pirats. It’s a new 4-player board game created by Andreas Pelikan, with artwork by Marina Fahrenbach, and published by Heidelberger Spieleverlag (whew!). Here’s how they describe it: “In Sewer Pirats, deep underground in a maze of domed caverns, narrow tunnels, and piped passages, a motley cast of rodents, insects, and other vermin sail the treacherous waters of human refuse aboard bizarre vessels in search of discarded booty. In order to claim the best haul from the abandoned flotsam, players must make careful use of the unique abilities of their crews’ rats, cockroaches, weasels, and other critters. Don’t settle for less than left-over fast food and dumped toys. Go for your goal to become a true legend among the sewer pirates.” Apparently out for a while now in Europe, the game has only recently become available in North America. Check it out at Board Game Geek.

image c. 2012 Heidelberger Spieleverlag

And… yet more Sonic!

Hey, weren’t we just here? Well, yes, but that was mostly about Sonic the Hedgehog in comic book form. Now Udon Entertainment brings us The History of Sonic the Hedgehog, which is more about Sonic in the original games. Got it? Here, let Amazon tell you: “Celebrating over 20 years as SEGA’s official mascot, The History of Sonic the Hedgehog is the ultimate guide to SEGA’s spiky blue speedster! This hefty 300-page hardcover volume covers in detail every 2D and 3D Sonic game, plus spinoffs and crossovers. You’ll also find character profiles, promotional artwork, rare concept art, and a detailed look at the origins of the ‘Blue Blur’.” Edited by Marc Petronille and William Audureau, this large volume comes our way in early October.

image c. 2012 Udon Entertainment

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sonic

… and his friends. And his adversaries. At least so far as the Archie Comics universe is concerned. The Sonic the Hedgehog Who’s Who is a project that has been in the works since 2010, and put on hiatus several times as Sega Games decided to become involved. Now Archie Comics have announced that the newly-named Sonic the Hedgehog: The Complete Comic Encyclopedia will be released as a full-color trade paperback this October. “For the Sonic fan on the go and those who want to know it like the pros, this is the long-awaited official source for Sonic the Hedgehog comic info! Includes new, exclusive information not yet revealed in the comic itself and packed with entertaining character and locations listings that definitely explain Sonic’s world, Mobius. It’s a big place that has been featured in hundreds of issues of stories – the longest running video-game inspired hit comic ever!” Written and edited by Ian Flynn, it features art by Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante and several others.

image c. 2012 Archie Comics

Game Art from Japan

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter is an Ursa Major Award-nominated video game from Japan which (according to its Wikipedia page) is “a spiritual sequel to the Tail Concerto game”, which was also released by Namco Bandai. Now the anime/manga fan site Otaku.com has let us know that the Solatorobo Sketch Book is available for import, and you can order it on their site. It’s expensive (kind of), but it this softcover book features some striking anime-style furry art.

image c. 2012 Namco Bandai

Pandaria: The Graphic Novel

As if there weren’t already enough anticipation for the upcoming (When? WHEN??) Mists of Pandaria expansion pack for World of Warcraft, now Blizzard Entertainment and DC Comics have joined forces to bring us the World of Warcraft: Pearl of Pandaria graphic novel in hardcover. It’s written by Micky Neilson, illustrated by Sean “Cheeks” Galloway, and set to go on sale September 5th. According to the WOW-Pedia, the graphic novel is “set before the Shattering and will give a look at Pandaria before the mists protecting the island were clear.” Check out the preview at BlizzPlanet.com too, which includes some interior pages from the book.

image c. 2012 Blizzard Entertainment

Here Come the Hero Petz

First off, Happy Mother’s Day to you and yours!

Suddenly there is much ado about Hero Petz, written by Dale Mettam and illustrated by Juan Fleites. First off, a quick recap from the original series: “Even as the evil Itachi Clan of ninja weasels tightens its grasp on Peludo City, six heroes — okay, five heroes and a crazy Monkey — stand ready to defend the innocent and fight for justice. El Conejito the Rabbit; Wonder Squirrel; Steel Shell the Turtle; Sensei Penguin-San; Kapitan Brüllaffe the Monkey; and Golden Hamster are the Hero Petz! Together, they take it upon themselves to keep watch over the city and protect the innocent!” First off, this June Stan Lee’s Kids Universe is re-releasing the original 80-page graphic novel (from 1821 Comics) in trade paperback. Also, there’s a video trailer for a new Hero Petz video game — as well as several fan reviews — up on YouTube.

image c. 2012 by Juan Fleites

Dragons on your i-Phone

Dreamworks Animation have announced the release of a new video game for the iPad and iPhone called Dragons: Tap Dragon Drop (get it?).  Players take on the role of Hiccup and Toothless from the How to Train Your Dragon movie series. As a terrible storm approaches the village of Berk, the vikings hurry to move their sheep to safety. But the sheep are scattered all over the island! Hiccup needs to train his dragon Toothless to herd (and in many cases, air-lift) the sheep away from danger while losing as few of them as possible. Dreamworks has a YouTube video preview of the game up now.

image c. 2012 Dreamworks Animation

Nordguard: The Card Game

The art collective (or pair at least) known as Blotch have a new item connected with their successful comic book/graphic novel series Nordguard. Now it’s the Nordguard Card Game, coming this summer from Sofawolf Press. The game itself was developed by Tempe O’Kun and Nic Wald, and play-testing was directed over the last year by Jeremia Heupel of ThinkTank Games. And the game itself? “You and your friends play as an anthropomorphized sled dog rescue team, overcoming cannibalistic strays and a landscape as capricious as it is lethal. Only your wits and your gear stand between you and certain disaster. Quick-reference instructions provide the rules in minutes, while a scalable difficulty curve provides a challenge for everyone from pups to even the most veteran sled dogs. A randomized map ensures no two missions will ever be the same. Based on the award-winning graphic novel Nordguard: Across Thin Ice, this slim set comes packed with over 120 illustrations by the artists Tess Garman & Teagan Gavet [aka Blotch]. Custom-etched dice and a stamped metal play token fit neatly with the cards in a rugged belt pouch, emblazoned with the Nordguard logo, so you can have the game ready at hand no matter where your adventures take you.” Keep up with the latest on the game at the official web site, www.nordguard.com/about/cardgame.

image c. 2012 Tess Garman & Teagan Gavet

Angry Birds — The Series

We’ll forgive you if you think this is another April Fool’s gag, but it isn’t: Word is out that Rovio’s world-conquering game Angry Birds is being developed into an animated series. Look for it to hit (ha ha) this fall. Rovio have confirmed that 52 animated shorts are in production, each  of them 2 – 3 minutes in length. The shorts will be released on numerous mobile devices and, to quote the company, “on all possible devices” — including smart TV’s. What’s more, there’s an Angry Birds feature film in development for possible release in 2013 or 2014. You can read all about it on the ABC News blog.

image c. 2012 Rovio