Possibly the purest Magic: The Gathering experience ever to grace a game console, Wizards of the Coast is keen to bring Duels of the Planeswalkers to the PlayStation 3 and PC audience, while continuing to show love to the Xbox 360 audience with a couple of new expansions. The PC version of Duels is scheduled for release in the (northern hemisphere) summer of 2010, featuring the same gameplay of the Xbox Live Arcade version with an “extra bonus”. I’m guessing the extra bonus is some sort of card marketplace, but don’t quote me on that.

The PlayStation Network version of the game won’t be hitting until at least mid-2010.

Meanwhile, Xbox Live players will enjoy the release of the second and third expansions for the game early-mid next year.

I’ve yet to download the first expansion, what with our review season in full swing, but I look forward to sitting down and getting my game on soon. Once a Magic addict, always a Magic addict.

SOE’s fascination with card games finally comes full circle. After years of creating collectible card games based on their popular MMO properties like EverQuest and Star Wars Galaxies, now the company’s Denver studio is creating a strategy game based on the inspirations for those games – Magic: The Gathering.

Magic: The Gathering – Tactics draws on the Planeswalkers lore of Magic, putting players in control of 3D figures and spells from the popular CCG. The game will include both single player scenarios and online PVP multiplayer. As with any Magic-related product, fans can expect regular content expansions and strong tournament support, along with achievements and rankings.

“By collaborating with Wizards of the Coast, we’re able to combine the strengths of both companies to develop an innovative, online, 3D game based on an extremely popular IP,” said John Smedley, president, Sony Online Entertainment. “We’re going to be taking the Magic: The Gathering Multiverse places players have never seen.”

I still prefer the Xbox Live Arcade Magic game myself, as it’s the straight-up card game and not a strategy derivative, but it’s nice to see the PlayStation 3 getting a little Magic loving either way.

Looks for Magic: The Gathering – Tactics to hit the PC in early 2010, with a PlayStation 3 release coming soon after.

The newly released Xbox Live Arcade title is getting not one but two special play sessions this month, starting with a Game with Fame session on June 20th, which allows players to go up against some of Magic’s top pro players, along with the game’s creator himself, Richard Garfield. Garfield will be joined by Magic Pro Tour Hall of Famers Mike Turian and John Finkel, along with pro tour players Gerry Thompson, Gerry Parke, and Brian Kibler. Daunting opponents indeed, but considering the game’s deck structure you might just having a fighting chance.

If you’re looking for a little less of a challenge, employees from Wizards of the Coast, VMC, Stainless Games, and Microsoft will be taking on all comers during the Game with Developers session a week later on the 27th.

Details for both sessions should be appearing soon at the official Game with Fame and Game with Developers websites. Being terrified of live competition myself, I will be busy playing single player, where it’s safe.

Sam & Max Save the World is a compilation of the first season of Telltale Games’ Sam & Max episodic PC adventure game series, lovingly repackaged for Xbox Live Arcade consumption at a reasonable 1600 Microsoft points. A great series, and not the downloadable title we should be worried about this week.

No, that’s Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers, which brings the addictive game play of Magic: The Gathering to Xbox Live. Eight player decks, deck customisation, single player and co-operative campaigns, ranked and unranked online play, and more, all for 800 Microsoft points. Folks who buy the title will also receive a code good for one limited edition foil Garruk Wildspeaker Planeswalker promo card, which can be redeemed at the Wizards of the Coast website.

All of this information came from the Wizards of the Coast site incidentally, as the official Microsoft press release amusingly featured a link to their Uno page instead of a dedicated Magic: The Gathering page on Xbox Live. I suppose they are both card games, after all.

It remains to be seen if enough players still harbor an interest in Magic: The Gathering for this release to bring about the apocalypse, but if it does, Sam & Max will be there to stop it.

Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures is a Facebook app that lets you create a character, equip them with potions and weapons and them set them off on a (hey!) Tiny Adventure.

Your character will send you regular updates from your chosen quest, and because FB is a Social Networking site you can ask your friends to buff them up by throwing potions and other kit your way. Success in the various game events is determined by dice rolls modified by your initial choices.

The game server is down at the moment due to heavy demand, but should soon rise again, stronger and more powerful than ever.

D&D Tiny Adventures [Facebook via Tor]

In addition to the Insider promotion, Wizards of the Coast is sponsoring a Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day tomorrow, Saturday June 7th, during which locations around the world will be hosting special events to help ease players into the new ruleset. Hit the jump for to find out more about this worldwide celebration!

“We’re excited to bring the Magic brand to new platforms and give our fans new ways to experience this great property,” said Jared Gustafson, Brand Director for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast.

As to what exactly the games are going to be…well that’s anyone’s guess, though I am leaning strongly towards card, and not a rehash of the crappy Xbox title Magic: The Gathering – Battlegrounds.

WIZARDS OF THE COAST EXTENDS ITS MAGIC: THE GATHERING IP TO MULTIPLE PLATFORMS Industry Leading Partnerships Enhance Strategy Fantasy Gaming Options for all Gamers

RENTON, Wash.–February 18, 2008 — Wizards of the Coast (WotC), the leader in strategy hobby collectible trading card, board and role playing games, and a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), today announced its plans to extend the Magic: The Gathering® franchise to gamers on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Xbox LIVE® Arcade and the PC through partnerships with Stainless Games, Ltd. and Mind Control Software, Inc. Stainless Games will develop a game using the Magic: The Gathering IP for both Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PC, while Mind Control will develop a game for the PC and Mac.

“We’re excited to bring the Magic brand to new platforms and give our fans new ways to experience this great property,” said Jared Gustafson, Brand Director for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast. “It’s partnerships like these that will advance the strategy games category and transform it to meet the needs and desires of today’s digital gamers.”

Magic: The Gathering, introduced in 1993, is the premier and original trading card game that inspired an entirely new game genre. Combining the dynamics of a card game with the excitement of trading and collecting, MagicTM offers fun for casual play, as well as the option of highly competitive tournaments. Magic: The Gathering currently has a thriving online edition (Magic Online®) made up of more than 350,000 active accounts. The game allows gamers to collect and trade virtual cards, build the perfect deck, get help from mentors, find opponents at all skill levels, and compete for prizes every day without ever leaving the comforts of home.

Specific details on the games Stainless Games and Mind Control will develop using the Magic: The Gathering IP will be announced at a later date.

“Wizards of the Coast has created many of the most popular brands in roleplaying, trading card and tabletop strategy games” said Patrick Buckland, CEO for Stainless Games. “We’re proud to be working with one of the most treasured IPs in the games field in a true partnership which will produce a real gaming revolution later next year.”

Let the wild speculation begin! Is it Magic the Gathering for Xbox Live? An online version of D&D with downloadable episodic content and community created modules? We won’t know until details start trickling out next year. Until then, something is coming. Hooray for something!

Wizards of the Coast Announces Partnership With Stainless Games

December 3, 2007 (RENTON, Wash.) – Wizards of the Coast, the world leader in hobby gaming, and a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), today announced an agreement with leading UK video game developer Stainless Games to produce an exciting new online downloadable game.

“Wizards of the Coast has created many of the most popular brands in roleplaying, trading card and tabletop strategy games” said Patrick Buckland, CEO for Stainless Games. “We’re proud to be working with one of the most treasured IPs in the games field in a true partnership which will produce a real gaming revolution later next year.”

Details about the game will start to become available in early 2008.