The Saving Throw rolls around yet again. This week, we have two contest entries for you: one from Macstorm, and a much shorter one from myself. So far, there are only three people entered in the contest, and the highest score is three points, so this is a great time to start participating and capture an early lead. The way the contest is designed, higher point awards are much more likely when many people participate. For more details, check out the contest page. Macstorm's contest entry is also the featured hall of fame story for today.
Other than that, I have a fair amount of news and about the usual number of release dates for you. And as such, let's move onto the column!
Gaming Tip of the Week
"Never just walk in and take the treasure in the middle of the room. Always looks for traps first."
What happens when you just pick up the book of magic sitting on a pedastal in the middle of a room? Obviously, a trap is triggered, though this trap was a bit unusual.
On July 10, Score Entertainment announced that it will focus efforts related to the Dragon Ball Z TCG on the game's fan community and events. This change in focus has resulting in the discontinuing of the starter and booster sets scheduled for July and November. This move was made due to fear of oversaturating the market with product and in order to best serve the fan community.
Omniscient Eye, a feature where gamers can ask real-world questions to be answered by real-world professionals, is returning to Pyramid, the online gaming magazine published by Steve Jackson Games. It is not concerned with any specific game or gaming system. The company is also seeking anyone with in-depth experience in real-world disciplines who are willing to answer occasional questions for the Omniscient Eye, such as doctors, lawyers, government officials, and engineers, to name a few. Some peeks at previous answers and instructions for submitting questions or indicating interest in answering questions can be found here.
Firefly Games has recently published the first design journal for their upcoming interactive storytelling game Faery's Tale. The game is scheduled for release in August, and is considered suitable for ages 6 and up. Players will take on the role of a pixie, brownie, sprite, or pooka in a fairy-tale forest in this rules-light game. It will be available in both print and PDF formats with the print version retailing at $14.95 and the PDF version retailing at $9.95.
That's it for this week. Remember to get into the contest soon, or at least before the scores get too high. The deadline for guesses is Monday night, but entries will be accepted anytime; they just might not make it into that week's column if submitted after Monday night. I'll see you next week for another Saving Throw.