Super Mario Chess Set

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Accessories, Nintendo, Special Editions

Take your fave video game and fave board game and you get a Nintendo authorized Super Mario Chess Set, packed in a collector’s tin. On one side, Mario is of course the king, while Luigi plays queen, Princesses Peach and Daisy are bishops and Yoshi is the faithful knight. On the other side Bowser is king, Bowser Jr. is the queen and Magikoopa is the Bishop. Pre-order the Collector’s Edition for $39.99 and expect delivery sometime this month.

Read More | Entertainment Earth

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Eternity II Offers $2 Million to Puzzle Solver

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Toys

For those who were into the puzzle Eternity I, it’s time to get excited. For those of you not familiar with the game, $1 million went to a UK student who successfully solved the first one in five months. This time there is a $2 million prize at stake, and it could be yours if you are the first to figure it out. Once you find the answers to the Clue Puzzles, you receive key locations for the 256 piece main puzzle, which has more than one solution. All entries will be locked in a vault until December 31, 2008, and the first correct answer wins.

The only catch is that you have to buy Eternity II, so we are just not sure if the hype is worth the AUD $39.95 (US $34.76) price with all that competition. Check out the test game with 16 pieces, which is not as simple as it looks, and if you ace that, it might be worth the investment.

Read More | Latest Buy

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Xbox Live Arcade 6/27: Carcassonne

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Strategy, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade

The European board game you’ve probably never heard of has made its way to the Xbox Live Arcade. For 800 Microsoft Points ($10) you can download the virtual version of the strategic board game. Catan was very well received (especially by those GamerAndy folks), so hopefully Carcassonne catches on as well and we’ll see more board games in the future.

Read More | Xbox.com

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Carcassonne Hits XBLA This Wednesday

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Release Dates, Strategy, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade

Unless you’re from Europe, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of the board game Carcassonne before. I sure haven’t, but after giving it a look – and keeping in mind the success of Catan – it looks like we’re getting another solid XBLA release this week. And finally we get another game that makes use of the Vision camera. It still doesn’t quite feel like it was worth $40, though.

The official word on Carcassonne:

Using strategic tactics and a little luck, one to five players take turns selecting from 72 tiles displaying various features of a city including roads, the walls of a castle or fields. The medieval countryside thrives as players and their opponents place tiles and complete towns, roads, and farms while competing to accumulate the most points.

Game Features

• Special AI settings to challenge any skill level
• Challenge your friends – Up to five players can play over Xbox LIVE or up to four players can play on the same Xbox 360
• Interact with new and old friends alike over Xbox LIVE while you play “Carcassonne” with the Xbox LIVE Vision camera
• Helpful step-by-step tutorial to teach you the game in minutes
• Skill-based matchmaking for ranked games
• The complete “Carcassonne” includes 72 tiles and all rule sets
• “Carcassonne” includes the “Rivers II” expansion set - 12 additional tiles
• Earn up to 200 Gamerscore and 12 Achievements

The game goes live this Wednesday, June 27, for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

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