Wizards of the Coast sues Nintendo

[Great Rumbler]

Wizards of the Coast filed a lawsuit on October 1st accusing Nintendo's Pokémon business of abandoning a contract with Wizards, the longtime producer and distributor of Pokémon trading-card games, instead producing the methods and technology to manufacture the card game themselves and having Nintendo be the distributor.

Wizards, a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc., claims it pioneered the idea of a trading-card game and holds the patent rights to it. The company signed an agreement with Nintendo in 1998 to manufacture and distribute the Pokemon trading card games outside Asia, the lawsuit says. The Pokemon companies are affiliates of Nintendo's parent company in Japan, according to the suit. In 2002, however, two former executives of Wizards of the Coast were hired at the Pokémon company as well as several others.

In March 2003 it's stated that Pokémon USA refused to allow Wizards to release two trading card games, the Jamboree and Legendary II expansion sets for the Pokemon Gold & Silver edition, which the Wizards team had spent considerable time and money developing, says the suit. Pokémon also informed Wizards that it had not been chosen to manufacture and distribute a new Pokémon trading-card game, the Ruby/Sapphire edition.

I think Wizards is just mad that Nintendo does need them anymore to make crazy amounts of money.

N-Philes

[Dark Jaguar]

I gotta admit, I'd be VERY upset if I found out a company I had worked with and had done a lot of work on suddenly just abandoned me. This is Sony all over again.

However, Wizards is claiming to have invented trading card games? What about baseball cards? They never once tried suing them BEFORE this I notice. It's not like Wizard even invented the Pokemon card game. Nintendo did, and then gave Wizards the rights to produce it outside Asia. Sure, Wizards tweaked a lot of cards and such, making things more balanced in their view, but it IS Nintendo's game.

Notice that suddenly this whole Neopets thing is Wizard's latest card game? I think they just grabbed the first thing they could to get back at Nintendo.

Ya know, Nintendo's card game was loosing speed steadily anyway. It all started with Yugioh's introduction. I think Nintendo just decided to cut out before bottoming out. Wizards has already announced they will no longer be producing Pokemon cards at all (though their site was a lot friendlier about it than this lawsuit), which of course is no surprise :D.

Here's a question. Even though Nintendo is no longer with Wizards, will Nintendo still publish the old cards they already made, and if so, for how long? I guess it's pretty much dead in America, but how long will it go on in Japan? Kinda sad though, considering the numbers of kids who probably went and got an e-reader because they figured all future Pokémon cards would have this data, just to find out that here in America, it's all over.

[A Black Falcon]

Baseball cards? Those have no connection to collectible card games. Those you just collect, you don't play games with. As for collectible cards, they have a very good point... unless you've forgotten about Magic? That smash-hit card game literally created the genre!

[Dark Lord Neo]

I think it means Wizards had the idea of selling Pokemon Trading cards

[Dark Jaguar]

No, Nintendo had that idea. They MADE the Pokemon card game and distributed it in Japan and a lot of Asia by themselves. They only came to Wizard for outside Asia.

[A Black Falcon]

See, Wizards INVENTED the trading-card game. They invented it and claim they have a patent on the idea... so they are suing now that Nintendo broke their agreement. We'll see.

[Dark Jaguar]

But... what about the Shadow Games of ancient Egypt? Plus card games already existed, like Poker, or Tarrot Card Readings.

[A Black Falcon]

Magic invented the genre. End of story. Whether they have a case or not I don't know, but I do know Magic invented the genre.

[Great Rumbler]

Whether they have a case or not I don't know, but I do know Magic invented the genre.

I doubt that would be of much use in court.

[A Black Falcon]

They claim to have a patent on the idea. :)

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, but there's a difference between having a patent for it and inventing the genre, in the way you put it.

[A Black Falcon]

They claim both. :)

[Great Rumbler]

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