Wizards Of The Coast Tries Star Sisterz, Duel Masters

Thanks to OgreCave for its article pointing out that Wizards Of The Coast, the Hasbro gaming division best known for the Magic: The Gathering CCG, is now trying a collectible charm-bracelet game called Star Sisterz. Apparently, the game "combines the popular beaded trinkets with truth-or-dare-style questions on cards" in order to target the difficult-to-reach female demographic, and "girls might be charged with going to the mall with their clothes on inside-out or reading a page from their diary aloud to all of their friends - how embarrassing!" The official site has more information on this 'game', although OgreCave notes the more interactive Duel Masters CCG, the current Japanese collectible card game of choice, will launch around the same time, with comics, videogames, action figures, and a TV show on Toonami/Cartoon Network all contributing to the Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh styled media blitz.

Truth or dare for geeks!

[Leffe]

"geeks might be charged with going to the mall or reading a page of code from their extreme programming experiment aloud to all of their friends - how embarrassing!"

Re:Truth or dare for geeks!

[Lord Graga]

Geek#1: Truth or dare?
Geek#2: Truth...
Geek#1: Okay... Was it you that bailed my Linux installation when I was getting cofee?
Geek#2: :S
HOW FUN! :P

best known game?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wizards Of The Coast, the Hasbro gaming division best known for the Magic: The Gathering

you're right...that probably is their best known game [wizards.com]... : p

Re:best known game?

[Kleedrac2]

Though you are correct, I would say Magic is their best known game as it was invented by Richard Garfeild and developed exclusively at WOTC. D&D however was started by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax at their small TSR company before it went belly up about 6 years ago! Although I really like the direction WOTC took the game with 3.0 and to a lesser extent 3.5, I'd still give the majority of the credit back to TSR where it belongs!

Kleedrac

Re:best known game?

[OgdEnigmaX]

I think the reason that they're better known for Magic is that they, well, created it (while the success of Magic basically assured their own success), while they bought [white-wolf.com] TSR and, by extension, Dungeons and Dragons. This isn't to say that 3rd Edition isn't a hell of a lot more streamlined than 2nd (I know I enjoy playing it), but given that WotC opted to preserve the TSR brand, their relation to DnD in my mind is more marketshare than mindshare; I know I don't immediately associate them with it.

This is stupid, even for girls

[DrDoombender]

STAR SISTERZ enables tween girls to develop interpersonal skills through communication and trust exercises with friends. More importantly, STAR SISTERZ fosters a heightened sense of self as girls discover and define their own unique interests and talents."

yeah, cause you know how girls can't develop communication skillz and trust with friends through IM, the phone, normal conversation, and good games (IMHO, this is a stupid game idea). Here's how I see it....

Girl1: "Like OMG, you look so like Britney spears!"

Girl2: "OMG! I was gonna say the same about you."

girl1: "Okay, so its like my turn. Truth or dare, do you like Will Farrell?"

girl2: "Dare! *giggle"

Girl1: "okay, so like, my bracelet compells you to be like an anorexic for a week."

girl2: "OMG! I already am."

girl1: "OMG! I am too!" *both girls giggle.

maybe, I'm outta touch, maybe I got karma to burn, but that's my thoughts on this.

Negative branding?

[GonzoDave]

Is ANY teenage girl going to buy something by the people who bought you Magic:The Gathering, Dungeon and Dragons and the Lifelong Virginity expansion packs?

Re:Negative branding?

[DrDoombender]

yeah, buying game jewelry from a company that serves the geek community seems a little dumb. Besides that, I actually went to the site where they show all their products. Alot of the stuff is repeat "jewelry" that just has a different color gem. The other thing is that I imagine all the "jewelry" will probably made from plastic. Seriously, what girl is going to spend money on a game when they can go out and buy cheap jewelry that isn't going to make them look like a toddler

Re:Negative branding?

[Morrisguy]

Alot of the stuff is repeat "jewelry" that just has a different color gem. The other thing is that I imagine all the "jewelry" will probably made from plastic.

Yeah, but it's a collectible game from WoTC. Does that mean the Ultra-Rares will be foiled?

Re:Negative branding?

[Kobal]

I don't think it's the branding that would be a problem. Just think of all stereotypically girlish toys Hasbro already produces.
It's the compulsive collection thing that will make that thing bomb: not a girl thing at all. Could be a success as a standalone game, though.

Re:Negative branding?

[NonSequor]

YOu're forgetting Beanie Babies.

Re:Negative branding?

[ElleyKitten]

The average teenage girl doesn't know what Wizards of the Coast are. Also, they're selling it through Limited Too with the intentions of hiding its geek-infested origins.

So girls won't buy it because it's geeky, they won't buy it because it's stupid. Any girl who does get it will quickly realize that:
A: Since the charms come with the cards, you don't actually have to do the cards to get the charms, which defeats the point of the game.
B: Claire's sells cheap plastic jewerly that looks better and is p

Re:Negative branding?

[Mighty Eris]

Exactly. I've never understood how condescending to girls is going to hook them on gaming.

"Hey, you'll play this game won't you? It's got shiny jewelry!"

Re:Negative branding?

[Cipster]

You mean the same way they try to hook boys? "Hey this game is retarded but has chicks in bikinis!"
It's not condescending it's knowing your target market :)

Girl Challenges

[TwistedSquare]

As I read this: "girls might be charged with going to the mall with their clothes on inside-out" I had a horrible feeling it was about to dare girls to go commando... After all what do you expect if you let a geeky company dream up these things ;-)

Re:Girl Challenges

[digitalgiblet]

"My bead says you HAVE to make out with a 40 year old virgin game designer who lives with his mom!"

Where to buy it?

[WebGangsta]

I'm so happy that Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast is releasing this exciting new game! I can't wait to go to my local mall and buy it while browsing other great games that are available! (Settlers of Catan! Casino items! 136 different versions of Monopoly! Apples to Apples expansion pack #1802! A chess set shaped like the Simpsons!)

Oh wait, Hasbro is closing all their Wizards of the Coast stores, making it near impossible to find decent games locally anymore. Never mind.