News And Updates Archives Jan-Jun 2009

3/24/09- D&D Game Day Pictures Posted

For those who participated this weekend in our Worldwide D&D Game Day, pictures of the event are now posted on our website:

To those who played in the evening event, my apologies. I was apparently too tired to remember to push the camera button even once.

3/16/09- Sales Tax Increase Takes Effect April 1!

This is not an April Fool's Joke!

For those of you who don't deal with this on a daily basis, voter approved transit tax increases go into effect April 1st, increasing sales tax on merchandise from 8.9% to 9.5%.

If you were planning to pick up a game or some supplies, save yourself some money and shop before March 31st.

3/16/09- Worldwide D&D Game Day DM Update!

For those planning to DM a game on Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day THIS SATURDAY, we just received the kits!

Please feel free to stop by and pick up your copy of the campaign, so that you can be prepared this weekend.

For those of you who plan to attend but haven't yet RSVP'd, space is filling up fast! Please call, email or comment here your intentions to join us to ensure a place at the table. Seating priority will be given to those who have RSVP'd first, with remaining seats given on a first come-first served basis (provided we have enough DMs).

Also, this week marks the release of the Player's Handbook 2 and the first sets of Player's Handbook Power Cards. Each Power Card deck of 100 cards includes all the powers for one of the eight classes featured in the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Player's Handbook, plus a few blank cards for players to use for other powers. These items will be available, but may not last long. To ensure you receive what you want, please reserve your copies by calling or visiting the store this week!

In addition, 5/23/09- SAVE THE DATE! Another Game Day is in the works for the release of Monster Manual 2! More details to come soon!

2/27/09- 'Merit' To Konami's Charges Against Upper Deck?

From ICv2- Konami Digital Entertainment was awarded a preliminary injunction on Thursday which stops Upper Deck’s involvement with Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! brand, at least for now. The order from U.S. District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank of the California Central District orders Upper Deck to stop using Konami’s trademarks, art, and text; to stop “promoting or holding itself out to members of the public as an authorized distributor or rights-holder to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG;” and to stop selling any previously printed Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG products, other than product paid for by customers prior to Konami’s notice of termination of its distribution agreement with Upper Deck on December 11th.

The order is conditioned on Konami posting a bond of $700,000. Upper Deck had asked for a bond of $115 million.

The ruling came in the suit that began when Konami sued Vintage Sports Cards alleging that it was distributing allegedly counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards. Upper Deck was added to the suit in December as the alleged source of those cards?).

In granting the injunction, the judge ruled that Konami had “shown both a likelihood of success on the merits as well as a likelihood of irreparable injury.”

Upper Deck is ceasing Web support for organized play; it had stopped running new events last week. Upper Deck released a statement on Thursday, which said in part, “We do not feel that this course of action is in the best interest of the players.”

2/2709- Yu-Gi-Oh Pre-Release, Magic Tourney And Other Weekend Events!

Join us this weekend as we end the month of February with a bang!

The Yu-Gi-Oh! pre-release for Crimson Crisis is taking place right here! We're the only north end location hosting a pre-release, so tell all your friends if they want to participate, Phoenix Games is the place!

    Tonight!                          Saturday                            Sunday
Friday Night Magic                Pokemon League               D&D Delve Campaign
Format: Legacy                Format: Casual Play                    Format: Casual
    Time: 6-9pm                        Time: 1-4pm                             Time: 2-4pm
      Entry: $5                            Entry: Free                              Entry: Free

Yu-Gi-Oh! Crimson Crisis Pre-Release
Format: Sealed (build your deck from 5 packs of the new set before you can them!)
Time: 5-9pm
Entry: $20
Space is limited to the first 48 participants!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Tournament
Format: Advanced Constructed
Time: 5-8pm
Entry: $8

2/25/09- Worldwide D&D Game Day- Spring Edition!

The latest Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day has just been announced and Phoenix Games is participating once again!

The event will take place in conjunction with the release of the Player's Handbook 2 at two times: noon and 9pm Saturday, March 21st 2009. Characters will be pulled from the new book, so you'll be playing with a new set of classes and abilities.

We are now taking signups via MySpace comment here and in person on the in-store sign up sheet.

Please indicate if you'd like to DM for this event. As always, DMs walk away with a nice collection of cool stuff as a thank you for stepping up.

We're also taking reservations for the Player's Handbook 2, so if you wish to have one for release weekend, please let us know. Only a small, limited number of non-reserved copies will be available that weekend, as we don't want to carry excess inventory, so please be sure to reserve ahead of time!

More information on the Player's Handbook 2 can be found here.

Set aside the day- Saturday, March 21st 2009. You can play in either the noon or 9pm time slot.

Should the need arise, and you were a player in the noon games, we may allow a few to participate as DMs for the 9pm time. However, you won't be able to receive the campaign ahead of time, as that would be cheating! So all of your planning would have to happen between the two event times. Let us know also if you're willing to be an alternate DM, should the need arise.

"But, Phoenix Games, why are you doing a 9pm game time instead of the midnight one you did last time?"

Good question, fake person asking a fake question. We decided to try 9pm because of the interest from participants to play in the midnight event with a younger sibling/ friend due to work schedules/ prior commitments, but were not allowed because of the time. This, we hope, will allow us more flexibility in accommodating our DMs who want to bring a friend or family member, but are unable to participate in the midday event. And, as a bonus, I get more sleep.

From the website:

Ready an Action to Play on March 21st!

Prepare yourself (and your friends) to join D&D fans all around the world on March 21st for Worldwide D&D Game Day: Player’s Handbook 2. Everything you need to play will be on-hand, so it’s a great chance for new players, as well as veterans, to band together and find some adventure.
Come try out the new races (such as the gnome) and the new classes (like the invoker and barbarian) while you battle wicked fiends and thwart dark plots. No matter if you’re new to the game or a 4th Edition veteran; we'll have everything you need to embark on an all-new adventure.
The adventure, entitled One Dark Night in Weeping Briar, runs in 2-3 hours and includes five pregenerated 11th-level characters. The characters are:

Ilvarra, drow avenger
Markaria, tiefling invoker
Roswyn, gnome bard
Squeaks, warforged barbarian
Balasar, dragonborn paladin (uses material from the upcoming Divine Power product)

In addition to the adventure, there's a trivia activity sheet. Test your knowledge of our 4th Edition releases since the game's launch.

2/23/09- Hey Anime Fans! 1/2 Off DVDs!

We've obtained a list of Best Buy stores that will be running a half-off anime sale running March 1st to March 21st. The chain is moving to reduce its anime exposure in stores that do not have the sales volume to support such broad selections.

If you're in the market for some cheap DVDs, it may be worth a road trip.

Marysville (Smokey Point) WA
Bellingham WA
Burlington WA
Spokane North WA
Hazel Dell WA (north of Vancouver)
Yakima WA

2/18/09- Conflux Fat Packs Gone Forever!

Wizards of the Coast has just announced that they are completely sold out of Conflux Fat Packs and will not reprint them.

This means that the current supply available through stores and distributors is all that remains. If you're interested in purchasing a Fat Pack from the Conflux release, supplies are now limited!

Purchase soon, before you miss out!

2/5/09- Pokemon Pre-Release This Weekend!

Greetings, Pokemon Players!

This is your quarterly reminder for the newest Pokemon set pre-release, Pokemon Platinum!

Phoenix Games is proud to once again host this pre-release event for all of our players this Sunday, February 8th, 2008! Get a sneak peek at this set before anyone can buy it! All you need to bring with you for this event are your damage counters and/ or dice. Your $25 entry fee covers the cost of all your cards!

We'll start registration at 9:00am, with the first round starting promptly at 10:00am. Participants receive cool prizes including an exclusive Lucario prerelease promo card just for participating! These items are limited and, for those of you who have participated in pre-releases before, we oftentimes have more players than giveaways. Because of this, we want to give our league players the best opportunity to receive these items.

Have you been to our new web page specifically for Pokemon League? If you have, then you've known about this pre-release for about a month! Bookmark it! It's a valuable resource and you get to find out all the cool Pokemon information first! Visit the page to receive new information on cards, events and tournaments first! Follow the link below to view it and tell us what you think!

Click here to visit the official Pokemon website for pre-releases!

Or visit our Pokemon League page for all of our latest Pokemon League events!

See you this Sunday, February 8th!

1/30/09- Magic: The Gathering Conflux Prerelease Tomorrow!

Just a quick reminder that the Conflux pre-release is tomorrow, Saturday, January 31st, starting at 11:00am!

Main event is a sealed tournament, with side events after, including draft and mini-masters events.
Entry fee is $25 and each participant is guaranteed at least one booster in addition to their 6 boosters from which your deck is built.
In addition, pre-order a box of Conflux boosters during the tournament and take home your Conflux playmat that day!

Hope to see you tomorrow morning!

1/15/09- MTG: Conflux Pre-Release Saturday 1/31!

Phoenix Games is proud to host the Magic: The Gathering pre-release for the latest set, Conflux!

Join us at 11am on Saturday, January 31st and be a part of the fun! Your $25 entry fee covers the cost of the boosters you will receive to build your deck. Minimum four rounds of tournament play.

Participants receive a special pre-release foil card, while supplies last. Prizes, prizes, prizes! See our downloadable calendar for more details!

1/15/09- Phoenix Games, Your Inauguration Headquarters!

The much anticipated 1000 piece Barack Obama commemorative inaugural jigsaw puzzles have arrived and are, at least for now, on the shelves! They won't last long, so stop by and get yours soon!

As many of you know, I and 2-4 million of my closest friends will be in Washington, D.C. next week taking part up close and personal in the inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President of the United States. As a political and historical junkie, this opportunity, when presented to me, was one I could not pass up.

Phoenix Games will still be open during this time, however we may not be open until about 2pm on most weekdays next week. A big thank you to Tristian, Eric and Ryan for your help in my absence. Thank you to Rep. Jay Inslee and his staff for selecting my name out of hundreds or thousands submitted for tickets that will put me up close to the stage and the action.

As a special treat, I am planning to upload pictures of the trip to the Phoenix Games website on a regular basis. Crowds, events, inaugural photos; whatever I can capture that might be of interest. Check www.phoenixgamesandgifts.com regularly next week to see photo updates!

Republican or Democrat, Libertarian, Independent or any of the other myriad party affiliations- history is made next Tuesday. Your children will one day read about this day in their history books.

Here's to the peaceful transition of power. Only in our America.

1/15/09- More Yu-Gi-Oh! Drama Between Konami and UDE

More Japanimation drama between Upper Deck and Konami in their battle to control U.S. distribution of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game.

From ICv2:

Upper Deck Claims Konami Won't Fill Orders

Upper Deck has announced that it will not be able to fill orders from hobby tournament stores for Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game Champion Packs. Upper Deck claims that “despite contractual obligations,” Konami Digital Entertainment did not send the Champion Packs to Upper Deck for distribution to hobby stores. The Champion Packs, which were originally designated Tournament Packs, are issued at tournaments and often contain unique cards not found in any other set. Typically the Champion Packs mix tournament-tested cards with all new cards to create a highly desirable item for players and collectors.

The lack of the latest round of Champion Packs is the latest example of the fallout from the legal dispute between Upper Deck and Konami, which announced last month that it was taking control of “all operational and business aspects of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Upper Deck filed suit in response to Konami’s action and vowed to continue the Yu-Gi-Oh! organized play program. By not providing the Champion Packs it would appear that Konami is attempting to make it more difficult for Upper Deck to continue to support the YGO organized play program. In response to Konami’s action Upper Deck issued a statement saying: “Upper Deck regrets that the Yu-Gi-Oh! community is being denied this product, but encourages players to continue to support their local hobby store.”

Konami Responds: "We Are The Only Distributor"

Konami Digital Entertainment has responded to Upper Deck’s announcement on the lack of availability of Yu-Gi-Oh! Champion Packs by stating that it has terminated Upper Deck’s distribution agreement and that it (Konami) is the only authorized distributor for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. “Despite what was recently announced by The Upper Deck Company (UDC), the distribution agreement between Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KDE) and UDC for North America.. has been terminated,” a statement by Konami VP Card Business Yumi Hoashi said. “KDE is the exclusive worldwide licensee for the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. We have always been and continue to be the sole manufacturer and are the only authorized distributor in North America”

Konami terminated its distribution agreement with Upper Deck in December and Upper Deck filed suit. Konami was unsuccessful in its efforts to get an injunction to force Upper Deck to stop selling the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.

1/06/09-Obama Commemorative Puzzle Pre-Orders!

We are receiving a limited number of commemorative puzzles celebrating the inaugural of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. In anticipation of high demand, we will be accepting pre-orders on this item IN-STORE ONLY.

This 1000pc puzzle, covered with many of the most memorable quotes of his speeches, is scheduled to arrive roughly around inauguration day.

Due to the limited nature of this item, buy an extra one for posterity! Reserve yours now!

12/30/08- Upper Deck Maintains Yu-Gi-Oh Rights... For Now.

From ICv2:

Upper Deck will be able to market and distribute the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in the U.S. for now, according to a court ruling. The court ruled against Konami, which had requested a temporary selling and shipping ban. The ruling parallels one in a Dutch court, which ruled that Konami did not have the right to terminate Upper Deck as the distributor of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.

Upper Deck exec Bernd Becker expressed the company's happiness with the rulings. "Upper Deck is very pleased with today's rulings," he said. "We look forward to continuing the superior game support that we've been delivering to worldwide Yu-Gi-Oh! players for the last seven years."

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