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Could Magic be Coming to the Microsoft Surface?
by Bill Stark | posted at 2010-02-11 21:42:00
tagged: WOTC, MTG, Magic, Wizards, Wizards of the Coast, Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, Microsoft, Surface, Microsoft Surface, Carnegie Mellon University, CMU, Dungeons & Dragons
The Stranger, a local Seattle paper, reported today on a project by a group of Carnegie Mellon University students to bring Dungeons & Dragons to the Microsoft Surface. The device, which functions something like a plus-sized iPad, is currently being used as an interactive map-like device at large tourist and shopping destinations. The CMU group has reinterpreted D&D, the original roleplaying game and a property owned by Wizards of the Coast, for the new computing device. Supporting the project? Both Microsoft, who provided the group with Surfaces to try it out on, and Wizards of the Coast, some of whom's D&D staff members have served as advisors on the project.
This is an exciting development in the gaming world, as flat top computing devices increase in popularity. In addition, Magic: The Gathering has also been experiencing a bit of a digital renaissance over the past few years. Duels of the Planeswalkers brought the TCG to its first modern console, the Xbox, and in conjunction with Sony Entertainment, Wizards has also announced a Magic tactics game (you can read more about Tactics here) for the Playstation. That on top of its long time offering of Magic Online for personal computers adds up to an increasingly hefty digital footprint. With Wizards of the Coast in support of the development of a D&D game at CMU, could Magic be far behind?
Historically the company and Magic the game has had strong ties to CMU. Pros from the school who have gone on to become Wizards of the Coast employees include Randy Buehler, Mike Turian, Paul Sottosanti, and Nate Heiss. And having its corporate offices located in the same metropolitan area as Microsoft, in addition to having a working relationship with them for Duels of the Planeswalkers, one of the most popular games in its categories on Xbox Live Arcade, and you have a veritable tinderbox of possibility for just such an offering.
No word yet, but you can bet TheStarkingtonPost.com will keep you in the loop when (if) such a project is announced.
Read the original article on TheStranger.com here.
(The cover photo used for this article is copyright Weboobie.com.)
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Bill Stark is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheStarkingtonPost.com. He began playing Magic in 1995 after being introduced to the game by his brother. Since then he has competed at all levels of play including the JSS, Grand Prix, Nationals, and Pro Tour. In addition to his career as a pro, Bill began writing about the game early on for TheDojo.com, the first website dedicated to Magic. Since then he has written and edited for nearly every major Magic website on the web. In 2007 he began work as an official coverage reporter for Wizards of the Coast, flying to Grand Prixs, Nationals, and World Championships to record the events happening at each. He was also hired for six months as an R&D intern at Wizards where he worked on the redesign for DailyMTG.com as well as helping to develop multiple Magic sets. After leaving Wizards, he started TheStarkingtonPost.com to utilize his many contacts in the industry to provide a better information solution for fans of TCGs, gaming, and Magic: The Gathering.