Well, that didn't take long, but is the new Wonder Woman costume really an improvement?

Jeff wrote recently about the controversial, sexy Halloween costume that the new Wonder Woman movie was to feature.  The controversy might have had an impact because new photos from the set reveal a tamer, stretchier costume that seems less likely to be worn by a Vegas stripper.  The problem is, it is ugly. It makes sense to make the pants of a material with some give to it, but what's with the stars up the seams.  It looks like she is in Dallas Cowboy cheerleader warm-up pants.  I'm beginning to wonder if it is possible to do a good WW costume in this picky nerd world.  I guess they could go the route of Green Lantern and do it digitally, but I doubt star Adrianne Palicki wants that nothing-left-to-the-imagination look. Anyway, here is an image fromt set.  Let us know what you think.

Apparently, the lasso works on her, too. 

My No New Games Pledge--FOLLOW UP

Updated on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 06:25PM by Danny Webb

Updated on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 06:34PM by Danny Webb

When I was young (let's say from age 10 through 24), I had very little money and an enormous amount of free time. I loved video games, but it would sometimes take me months to put back enough money to buy a new game. When I received games for my birthday or Christmas (sadly, only four days apart), I had to make them last for a while. These facts of life meant I put an amazing amount of hours into the games I owned. I would turn them inside out, hold them by their feet, and shake every tiny bit of value out of their pockets. I didn't start keeping track of how much time I had put in to a game much before games started tracking that stat themselves, but I do have notes showing I put in over sixty hours on the SNES Ogre Battle and over two-hundred hours on Heroes of Might and Magic I-III (over 100 hours on HOMM II alone).

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Dance With Dragons Gets a Date--July 12, 2011--Woohoo!

It's official.  Dance With Dragons, the next book in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series has a release date.  Mr. Martin says he is close enough to being finished to allow the date to be set.  The cynics among you might be tempted to roll your eyes and ask, "haven't we heard this before?" but the fact remains that this is the first time Martin has signed off on a hard release date.  I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and go ahead and ramp my excitement level up to eleven.  

As part of the announcement, Martin did a short intereview with EW.  You can read it here.  No big news in the interview, other than it is a big book--over 900 pages, but I think we were all expecting that.  I'm assuming enough of the cast will be killed off that Martin will be able to get the page count down to AGoT size for the last few books.

The Thrifty Nerd: Five Party Games That Make Money on Ebay

(This is a first in a series of articles based on finding valuable, nerdy items at thrift stores)

I pretty much support my gaming habit by picking up items at thrift and junk stores and selling them on Ebay. Having done this for years, I've developed a good eye for games, toys, and collectables that sell better on Ebay than the average thrift shopper might think. Since I constantly hear from friends “Even if I came across one of those, I wouldn't have known to pick it up,” I thought I'd start a series of articles helping thrifters find the good, nerdy stuff that can turn a profit online. I'm starting with a group of super-common items that actually sell well—party games. There isn't a ton of profit to be had here, but they are almost guaranteed sales and consistently profitable. By the way, I'm working under the assumption that you can pick up these games for between 1.00 and 2.50.

1. 25 Words or Less. This former winner of the Games Magazine Game of the Year was my groups favorite party game for a couple of years in the 90's and we still bring it out occasionally. The original green box edition (pictured) has been selling for between 20.00 and 40.00 on Ebay. This one snuck up on me. I hadn't noticed it selling, and I'm sure I've left copies behind recently. It is definitely now on my list.

2. Guesstures. A simple Charades variation, Guesstures somehow manages to be a decent Ebay item even when it is currently in-print. When the company has it on moratorium, Guesstures can go through the roof on Ebay. Otherwise, you can count on 10 to 20 bucks.

3. Moods. I'm not too impressed with this more recent, but now out of print game, but it sells well. In the past month, copies have gone for between 15.00 (for a used copy) and 40.00 (for a still-in-shrink copy).

4. Beyond Balderdash. It takes the right crowd, but BB is my choice for best party game of all time. It takes the already solid Balderdash and adds categories that are right up my alley (like obscure movie titles). It is a bit inconsistent as far as Ebay prices, but I've had good luck with it over the years. The last month has seen copies sell from between 5.00 and 45.00 (for a sealed copy), but it more consistently sales for between 10.00 and 15.00.

5. What Were You Thinking? This really good party game is a double collectable. It appeals to players of party games and to collectors of Richard Garfield (the designer of Magic: the Gathering). It is also the rarest game on the list (though I'm not sure how many copies of Moods are in print). The combination of factors makes it a consistent seller. The average price is around 25.00, but I've seen it go as high as 60.00.

So, there you go. No one is getting rich selling these games, but they are so commonly available that you can pick up multiples to sell.

Review: 7 Wonders is fast, fun and addictive

When I imported a copy of Fairy Tale from Japan in 2004, I found it to be a great little game with an interesting card distribution system.  Instead of having cards dealt to each player, cards were instead distributed using a simple, quick draft.  This gave each player more control over their own cards and limited knowlege of the other players cards.  Otherwise, Fairy tale was a pretty simple set collection game (albeit one with a few "take that" elements built in and a really cool theme).  Immediately, I started thinking of other game designs that could use the drafting mechanism.  Apparently, Antoine Bauza had a similar experience.  His 7 Wonders uses the draft as its core mechanism.  It is also somewhat of a set collection game.  Still, it does not feel like a "rip off" of Fairy Tale.  Instead, it reveals itself to be a solid game that will likely become a staple filler game with hardcore gamers and casual gamers alike.

In 7 Wonders, players play the role of one of seven ancient civilizations that were responsible for building the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  One of the players' goals during the game will be to complete their wonder.  Additionally, players will be building structures that either add abilities, score victory points, or develop resources for their kingdom (some buildings bring multiple rewards).  

7 Wonders is nearly entirely card-based.  The game is played in three rounds.  Each round starts with a draft.  Players are dealt seven cards each.  They pick one card from those dealt to them and either play it immediately, sell it for cash, or use it (face down) to mark the building of a level of their Wonder.  The players then pass the remaining six cards to their neighbor (left-hand or right-hand depending on the turn), choose another card, and repeat the process.  This continues for a total of six turns of drafting and actions;  the remaining cards are discarded.

Cards represent seven different types of structures:  raw materials, manafactured goods, civilian, scientific, military, commercial, and guilds. 

Raw and Manufactured Goods structures give the player resources to build other building.  These resources aren't spent.  Once a player's nation can produce a resource, that resource will be available each turn.

Civilian structures are simply worth victory points at the end of the game.

Scientific structures have three different symbols on them.  Players earn victory points for complete sets and multiples of the same symbol.  

Military structures raise the nations military strength.  Players compare military might with their neighbors at the end of each turn and lose or gain victory points according to whether they are weaker or stronger than their nieghbor.

Commercial structures pirmarily bring in money or lower the cost of using other players' resources.

Guilds come in during the third age and are immediately worth a certain amount of cash based on the types of cards the player and his or her nieghbor have in play.  Additionally, guilds earn the nation victory points at the end of the game based on the same criteria.

Are these card types balanced?  I think so.  In early plays, we felt that the game was a bit unbalanced because some players were scoring a boat load of points using the Science structures.  After we learned to control that (mostly by not passing a green card unless we had to), it looked like Military dominance was the way to go.  Now, after a dozen or so plays, it seems that each structure type has its place.  We've had players win big with nothing but Civilian structures and the building of their wonder.

About the wonders:  players each are given a player board with the stages (mostly three) of their wonder on them.  Each stage has a cost to build and a reward for the player.  The costs and rewards vary greatly, and I really haven't got a handle on whether the wonders are balanced or not.  Certainly, no one in our group has put forth the idea that one of them is broken.

For example, the first phase of the Pyramid of Giza costs two stone and rewards the player with three VP

The entire game is encompassed by the drafting of eighteen cards and the taking of eighteen actions.  This scarcity of actions makes making the right choice very important.  If the card you play isn't at least maintaining victory point parity with the rest of the players, it is usually a bad play.  In the end, a player is unlikely to win unless they average at least three VPs per action.  Our lowest winning total to date is 47 points--and that was in an early game before we really figured out how to play.  

My Take:  So, is the game any good.  Yes.  Yes, it is.  We have played the game at nearly every one of our weekly game nights since I got it at Christmas.  It isn't a deep game, certainly, and it is 100 % tactical.  You might have the urge to choose a strategy at the beginning of the game, but the game will consistently send the wrong cards your way.  It is all about making the best of what you are able to draft, and I like that.  Thirty minute tactical games are fine.  If it were twice as long, I could understand some of the complaints about the lack of strategic options.  The game has worked well with every one we have introduced it to, from the hardened gamer to the gaming newbie.  It plays super-fast and has a real "just one more game" feel to it.  The game is due to be back on shelves soon.  I highly recommend picking it up if you don't have a copy in your game group to play.