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00:18, 14 November 2016: 2600:8801:a807:1200:c08f:fbb2:57f3:b794 (talk) triggered filter 135, performing the action "edit" on Collectible card game. Actions taken: Warn; Filter description: Repeating characters (examine)

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[[File:TCG.jpg|thumb|Cards from various collectible card games]]
[[File:TCG.jpg|thumb|Cards from various collectible card games]]
A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 and consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation
A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 afdgxxfdcbkb k🇧🇫😇😇😇😆😜🙃😍🙂🙃😍🙂😆🙂😜😗😗😑🦄😘🔥🔥🔥🔥🍕⚡️🌤🐊🌦🌊nd consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation
|last=Frank
|last=Frank
|first=Jane
|first=Jane

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'[[File:TCG.jpg|thumb|Cards from various collectible card games]] A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 and consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation |last=Frank |first=Jane |title=Role-Playing Game and Collectible Card Game Artists : A Biographical Dictionary |date=2012 |url=http://www.amazon.com/Role-Playing-Game-Collectible-Card-Artists/dp/0786446102/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416694102&sr=8-1&keywords=role-playing+game+and+collectible+card+game+artists%3A+a+biographical+dictionary |accessdate=2014-11-22}}</ref> The rudimentary definition requires the game to resemble [[trading card]]s in shape and function, be mass-produced for trading or collectibility, and it must have rules for [[strategy game|strategic]] game play.<ref name="WILLIAMS">{{Citation |last=Williams |first=J. Patrick |title=Gaming as Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games |date=2007-05-02 |url=http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/patrick.williams/PDFs/Williams%20-%20CSGs.pdf |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="BGG">{{Citation |title=Board Game Terminology |date= 2012-01-27 |url=http://libguides.slu.edu/boardgames |accessdate=2013-08-12}}</ref> The definition of CCGs is further refined as being a card game in which the player uses his own deck with cards primarily sold in random assortments. Acquiring these cards may be done by trading with other players or buying card packs. If every card in the game can be obtained by making a small number of purchases, or if the manufacturer does not market it as a CCG, then it is not a CCG.<ref name="MILLER">{{Citation |last=Miller |first=John Jackson |title=Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide |year=2001 |pages=520 |postscript=.}}</ref> Successful CCGs typically have upwards of thousands of unique cards, with the most successful one, ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', having nearly 15,000.<ref name="Gatherer">{{cite web| url = http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&cmc=+%3E=%5b0%5d | title = Gatherer | accessdate = March 6, 2014 | publisher = [[Wizards of the Coast]]}}, the official ''Magic'' card database.</ref> Typically, a CCG is initially played using a [[Starter pack|starter deck]], or intro deck, which has a basic complement of cards that can be used to play the game. This deck may be expanded or modified with cards from [[booster pack]]s, which contain a random selection of cards of varying rarities, usually between 8 and 15 cards. One of these cards is a rare or unique card that is much harder to obtain than the remaining cards and often has a higher value than the rest. These values can change over time as distribution changes, cards become banned in playing formats, or the [[metagame]] is altered by interactions with new cards. Eventually, with enough cards, [[Player (game)|players]] may create new decks from scratch. ==Overview== Regular [[card games]] have been around since at least the 1300s, but in 1993 a "new kind of card game" appeared.<ref name="FRANK"/><ref name="OWENS">{{Citation | last =Owens | first =Thomas S. | title =Inside Collectible Card Games | year =1996 | pages =142 | postscript =. }}</ref> It was different because the player could not buy all the cards at once. Players would first buy starter decks and then later be encouraged to buy booster packs to expand their selection of cards. What emerged was a card game that players collected and treasured but also played with.<ref name="OWENS"/> The very first collectible card game created was ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', invented by [[Richard Garfield]], and patented by [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 1993.<ref name="WILLIAMS"/><ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="OWENS"/><ref name="LONG">{{Citation |last=Long |first=Nick |title=Understanding Magic: The Gathering - Part One: History |date=2006-03-01 |url=http://voices.yahoo.com/understanding-magic-gathering-part-one-history-316660.html |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref><ref name="CHING">{{Citation |last=Ching |first=Albert |title=Card Game MAGIC: THE GATHERING Returns to Comics at IDW |date=2011-09-11 |url=http://www.newsarama.com/8291-card-game-magic-the-gathering-returns-to-comics-at-idw.html |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="UofW">{{Citation |last=Kotha |first=Suresh |title=Wizards of the Coast |date=1998-10-19 |url=http://faculty.bschool.washington.edu/skotha/website/cases%20pdf/Wizards%20of%20the%20coast%201.4.pdf |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="STAFFORD">{{Citation |last=Stafford |first=Patrick |title=Richard Garfield: King of the cards |date=2014-05-24 |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-05-25-richard-garfield-king-of-the-cards |accessdate=2014-06-05}}</ref> It's considered the most successful CCG and many other companies have tried to emulate it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wizards.com/company/downloads/Magic_Fact_Sheet_Aug09.pdf |title=Magic: The Gathering Fact Sheet |year=2009 |accessdate=2013-06-10 |publisher=Wizards of the Coast}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-10000/first-modern-trading-card-game/ |title=First modern trading card game |year=2013 |accessdate=2013-06-16 |publisher=Guinness World Records}}</ref> ''The Base Ball Card Game'', a prototype from 1904, is a noteworthy precursor to CCGs because it had some similar qualities but it never saw production to qualify it as a ''collectible'' card game.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37094/the-base-ball-card-game |title=The Base Ball Card Game |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref> It is not known if the game was intended to be a standalone product or something altogether different like [[Top Trumps]].<ref name="Meeplepedia">{{Citation | last =Unknown | first =Kai | title =Collectible Card Games | date =2011-07-12 | url =http://www.meoplesmagazine.com/2011/07/21/collectible-card-games/ | accessdate =2013-08-12}}</ref> The game consisted of a limited 112 cards and never saw manufacture past the marketing stage.<ref name="LIPSET">{{Citation | last =Lipset | first =Lew | title =The Hobby Insider - Recollecting the history of a baseball card game that never was | newspaper =Sports Collectors Digest | year =2000 | pages =50 | postscript =. }}</ref> In 1951, [[Topps]] released the ''[[Topps#Topps baseball cards: A history|Baseball Card Game]]'' that resembled CCGs because the game cards were sold in random packs and were collectible, however the game required no strategic play to operate.<ref name="TOMARTS">{{Citation | last =Tumbusch | first =T. M. | title =Tomart's Photo Checklist & Price Guide to Collectible Card Games, Volume One | year =1995 | pages =88 | postscript =. }}</ref> To play the game, players used a randomized deck to migrate their characters around a [[baseball field|baseball diamond]]. Interaction between the two players was limited to who scored the most points and was otherwise a [[Patience (game)|solitaire]]-like function since players could not play simultaneously but in [[tandem]].<ref name="Toppsarchives">{{Citation | last =unknown | first =toppcat | title =It's Cott To be Good! | date =2013-03-28 | url =http://toppsarchives.blogspot.com/2013/03/its-cott-to-be-good.html | accessdate =2013-08-12}}</ref> This game seemed to be a followup of a game from 1947 called [[Baseball (card game)|Batter Up]] by Ed-u-Cards Corp. The game was not sold in random packs but instead the entirety of the game could be obtained with one purchase. It utilized the same baseball diamond rules that Topps adopted in 1951.<ref name="Toppsarchives"/> Other notable entries that resemble and predate the CCG are ''[[Strat-O-Matic]]'', ''[[Nuclear War (card game)|Nuclear War]]'', ''[[BattleCards]]'', and ''[[Illuminati (game)|Illuminati]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> When designing ''Magic: The Gathering'', Garfield borrowed elements from the [[board game]] ''[[Cosmic Encounter]]'' which also used cards for game play.<ref name="OWENS"/> Despite the dominance of ''Magic: The Gathering'' in the CCG market, a few have met with success and have built a niche for themselves including ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', ''[[Pokémon Trading Card Game|Pokémon]]'', and ''[[Legend of the Five Rings (collectible card game)|Legend of the Five Rings]]''. Other notable CCGs have come and gone: ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game|Star Wars]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game|Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'', ''[[Middle-earth Collectible Card Game|Middle-earth]]'', ''[[World of Warcraft Trading Card Game|World of Warcraft]]'' and ''[[Netrunner]]'' among others. Many [[List of collectible card games|other CCGs]] were produced, but had little or no commercial success.<ref name="Meeplepedia"/> ===Types and similar products=== CCGs of the past and present are divided into two kinds: "dead games" and "live games". ''Dead Games'' are those CCGs which are no longer supported by their manufacturers and have ceased releasing expansions. ''Live Games'' are those CCGs which continue to be supported by their manufacturers. Usually this means that new expansions are being created for the game and player tournaments are occurring in some fashion.<ref name="MILLER"/> CCGs should not be mistaken for [[deck-building game]]s, where the construction of the deck is a mechanism used during gameplay, or [[Fantasy Flight Games#Living Card Games|Living Card Games]] (LCGs), which is a registered trademark of [[Fantasy Flight Games]]. LCGs are card games that share many of the same characteristics as CCGs, but without the randomized booster packs characteristic of trading cards and CCGs. Other similar card games have been marketed or referred to as CCGs. [[List of collectible card games#Collectible Common-Deck Card Games|Collectible Common-Deck Card Games]] are those games where players do not have their own personal deck, and consequently, no customization of decks occur and no trading or metagame is developed. [[List of collectible card games#Non-Collectible Customizable Card Games|Non-Collectible Customizable Card Games]] are those games where each player has their own deck, but no randomness occurs when acquiring the cards. Many of these games are sold as complete sets. A few were intended to have booster packs, but those were never released.<ref name="MILLER2">{{Citation |last=Miller |first=John Jackson |title=Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, Second Edition |year=2003 |pages=688 |postscript=.}}</ref> ==History== ===Pre-history closely associated with Wizards of the Coast=== Prior to the advent of the CCG, the market for alternative games was dominated by [[role-playing game]]s (RPG), in particular [[Dungeons & Dragons]] by [[TSR (company)|TSR]]. [[Wizards of the Coast]] (Wizards), a new company formed in [[Peter Adkison]]'s basement in 1990, was looking to enter the RPG market with its series called [[The Primal Order]] which converted [[Player character|characters]] to other RPG series. After a suit from [[Palladium Books]] which could have financially ruined the company, Wizards acquired another RPG called [[Talislanta]]. This was after [[Lisa Stevens]] joined the company in 1991 as vice president after having left [[White Wolf Publishing|White Wolf]]. Through their mutual friend Mike Davis, Adkison met [[Richard Garfield]] who at the time was a doctoral student. Garfield and Mike Davis had an idea for a game called [[RoboRally]] and pitched the idea to Wizards of the Coast in 1991, but Wizards did not have the resources to manufacture it and instead challenged Garfield to make a game that would pay for the creation of RoboRally. This game would require minimal resources to make and only about 15–20 minutes to play.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===''Magic: The Gathering''=== In December 1991, Garfield had a prototype for a game called ''Mana Clash'', and by 1993 he established Garfield Games to attract publishers and to get a larger share of the company should it become successful. Originally, ''Mana Clash'' was designed with Wizards in mind, but the suit between Palladium Books and Wizards was still not settled. Investment money was eventually secured from Wizards and the name ''Mana Clash'' was changed to ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''. The ads for it first appeared in ''[[Cryptych]]'', a magazine that focused on RPGs. On the July 4 weekend in 1993, the game premiered at the [[Origins Game Fair]] in [[Fort Worth]], [[Texas]]. In the following month of August, the game was released and sold out its initial print run of 2.6 million cards creating an immediate need for more cards. Wizards quickly released new iterations of the core set, called ''[[Beta (Magic: The Gathering)|Beta]]'' (7.3 million card print run) and ''[[Unlimited (Magic: The Gathering)|Unlimited]]'' (35 million card print run) in an attempt to satisfy orders as well as to fix small errors in the game. December also saw the release of the first expansion called ''[[Arabian Nights (Magic: The Gathering)|Arabian Nights]]''. With ''Magic: The Gathering'' still the only CCG on the market, it released another expansion called ''[[Antiquities (Magic: The Gathering)|Antiquities]]'' which experienced collation problems. Another core set iteration named ''[[Revised Edition (Magic: The Gathering)|Revised]]'' was released shortly after that. Demand was still not satiated as the game grew by leaps and bounds. [[Legends (Magic: The Gathering)|Legends]] was released in mid-1994 and no end was in sight for the excitement over the new CCG.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MOURSUND">{{Citation | last =Moursund | first =Beth | title =The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering | year =2002 | pages =720 | postscript =. }}</ref> ===CCG craze of 1994 & 1995=== What followed was the CCG craze. ''Magic'' was so popular that game stores could not keep it on their shelves. More and more orders came for the product, and as other game makers looked on they realized that they had to capitalize on this new fad. The first to do so was TSR who rushed their own game ''[[Spellfire]]'' into production and was released in June 1994. Through this period of time, ''Magic'' was hard to obtain because production never met the demand. Store owners placed large inflated orders in an attempt to circumvent allocations placed by distributors. This practice would eventually catch up to them when printing capacity met demand coinciding with the expansion of [[Fallen Empires]] released in November 1994. Combined with the releases of 9 other CCGs, among them ''[[Galactic Empires]]'', [[Decipher, Inc.|Decipher]]'s ''[[Star Trek Customizable Card Game|Star Trek]]'', ''[[On the Edge (game)|On the Edge]]'', and ''[[Super Deck!]]''. [[Steve Jackson Games]], which was heavily involved in the alternative game market, looked to tap into the new CCG market and figured the best way was to adapt their existing [[Illuminati (game)|Illuminati]] game. The result was ''[[Illuminati: New World Order]]'' which followed with two expansions in 1995 and 1998. Another entry by Wizards of the Coast was ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle|Jyhad]]''. The game sold well, but not nearly as well as ''Magic'', however it was considered a great competitive move by Wizard as Jyhad was based on one of the most popular [[intellectual property|intellectual properties]] in the alternative game market which kept White Wolf from aggressively competing with ''Magic''. By this time however, it may have been a moot point as the CCG Market had hit its first obstacle: too much product. The overprinted expansion of ''Magic's'' ''[[Fallen Empires]]'' threatened to upset the relationship that Wizards had with its distributors as many complained of getting too much product, despite their original over-ordering practices.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"> {{Citation | last =Appelcline | first =Shannon | title =A Brief History of Game #1: Wizards of the Coast: 1990-Present | date = 2006-08-03 | url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory1.phtml | accessdate=2013-08-29 }}</ref><ref name="UGOREK"> {{Citation | last =Courtland | first =Hayden-William | title =History of Spellfire | date = n.d. | url=http://www.spellfire.net/history.shtml | accessdate=2013-08-30 }}</ref> In early 1995, the [[Game Manufacturers Association|GAMA]] Trade Show previewed upcoming games for the year. One out of every three games announced at the show was a CCG. Publishers other than game makers were now entering the CCG market such as [[Donruss]], [[Upper Deck]], [[Fleer]], [[Topps]], [[Comic Images]], and others. The CCG [[Economic bubble|bubble]] appeared to be on everyone's mind. Too many CCGs were being released and not enough players existed to meet the demand. In 1995 alone, 38 CCGs entered the market, among them the most notable being ''[[Doomtrooper]]'', ''[[Middle-earth Collectible Card Game|Middle-earth]]'', ''[[OverPower]]'', ''[[Rage (collectible card game)|Rage]]'', ''[[Shadowfist]]'', ''[[Legend of the Five Rings (collectible card game)|Legend of the Five Rings]]'', and ''[[Sim City: The Card Game|SimCity]]''. ''Jyhad'' saw a makeover and was renamed as ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'' to distance itself from the [[Islam]]ic term [[jihad]] as well as to get closer to the source material.<ref name="MILLER"/> The Star Trek CCG from Decipher was almost terminated after disputes with [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] announced that the series would end in 1997. But by the end of the year, the situation was resolved and Decipher regained the license to the ''Star Trek'' franchise along with ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' and the movie ''[[First Contact (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|First Contact]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> Enthusiasm from manufacturers was very high, but by the summer of 1995 at [[Gen Con]], retailers had noticed CCG sales were lagging. The ''Magic'' expansion ''[[Chronicles (Magic: The Gathering)|Chronicles]]'' released in November and was essentially a compilation of older sets. It was maligned by collectors and they claimed it devalued their collections. Besides this aspect, the market was still reeling from too much product as ''Fallen Empires'' still sat on shelves alongside newer ''Magic'' expansions like ''[[Ice Age (Magic: The Gathering)|Ice Age]]''. The one new CCG that retailers were hoping to save their sales, ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game|Star Wars]]'', wasn't released until very late in December. By then, Wizards of the Coast, the lead seller in the CCG market had announced a downsizing in their company and it was followed by a layoff of over 30 jobs. The excess product and lag in sales also coincided with an 8 month long gap in between ''Magic: The Gathering'''s expansions, the longest in its history.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> In [[Hungary]], {{ill|hu|Hatalom Kártyái Kártyajáték|Hatalom Kártyái Kártyajáték}}, or HKK, was released in 1995 and was inspired by ''Magic: The Gathering.'' HKK was later released in the [[Czech Republic]]. HKK is still being made.<ref>[http://www.beholder.hu/?m=ak&cikk=8105 History of HKK]</ref><ref>[http://www.beholder.hu/?m=hkk&cikk=14663 About HKK CCG]</ref> ===Stabilization and consolidation=== In early 1996, the CCG market was still reeling from its recent failures and glut of product, including the release of Wizards' expansion ''[[Homelands (Magic: The Gathering)|Homelands]]'' which was rated as the worst ''Magic'' expansion to date. The next two years would mark a "cool off" period for the over-saturated CCG market. Additionally, manufacturers slowly came to understand that having a CCG was not enough to keep it alive. They also had to support organized players which in turn further evolved tournament play. Combined with a new dichotomy between collectors and players especially among ''Magic'' players, more emphasis was placed on the game rather than the collectibility of the cards.<ref name="MILLER"/> Plenty more CCGs were introduced in 1996, chief among them were ''[[BattleTech Collectible Card Game|BattleTech]]'', ''[[The X-Files Collectible Card Game|The X-Files]]'', ''[[Mythos (card game)|Mythos]]'', and Wizard's very own ''[[Netrunner]]''. Many established CCGs were in full swing releasing expansions every few months, but even by this time, many CCGs from only two years ago had already died. TSR had ceased production of ''Spellfire'' and attempted another collectible game called ''[[Dragon Dice]]'' which failed shortly after being released.<ref name="MILLER"/> In the first half of 1997, Wizards of the Coast announced that it had acquired TSR and its ''Dungeons & Dragons'' property which also gave them control of Gen Con. Wizards now had its long sought role-playing game, and it quickly discontinued all plans to continue producing Dragon Dice as well as any hopes of resuming production of the ''Spellfire'' CCG. Decipher was now sanctioning tournaments for their ''Star Trek'' and ''Star Wars'' games. ''Star Wars'' was also enjoying strong success in part from the coinciding enthusiasm for the ''Star Wars'' ''[[List of changes in Star Wars re-releases#1997 Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition|Special Edition]]'' films. In fact, the CCG would remain the second best selling CCG until the introduction of ''[[Pokémon Trading Card Game|Pokémon]]'' in 1999.<ref name="MILLER"/> Wizards continued acquiring properties and bought ''Legend of the Five Rings'' CCG on June 26. Wizards also acquired [[Andon Unlimited]] which by association gave them control over the Origins Convention. By September, Wizards was awarded a patent for its "Trading Card Game." Later in October, Wizards announced that it would seek royalty payments from other CCG companies. Allegedly, only [[Harper Prism]] announced its intention to pay these royalties for its game ''[[Imajica#Game|Imajica]]''. Other CCGs acknowledge the patent on their packaging.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> 1997 saw a slow down in the release of new CCG games. Only 7 new games came out, among them: ''[[Dune (card game)|Dune]]'', ''[[Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game|Babylon 5]]'', ''[[Shadowrun: The Trading Card Game|''Shadowrun'']]'', ''[[Imajica#Game|Imajica]]'' and ''[[Aliens vs. Predator Collectible Card Game|Aliens/Predator]]''. ''Babylon 5'' saw moderate success for a few years before its publisher [[Precedence Entertainment|Precedence]] succumbed to a nonrenewal of its license later on in 2001. Also in 1997, ''Vampire: The Eternal Struggle'' ceased production. However, Wizards of the Coast attempted to enter a more mainstream market with the release of a watered down version of ''Magic'', called ''[[Portal (Magic: The Gathering)|Portal]]''. Its creation is considered a failure along with its follow up ''[[Portal Second Age]]'' released in 1998.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===Wizards of the Coast dominates, Hasbro steps in=== By February 1998, one out of every two CCGs sold was ''Magic: the Gathering''. Only 6 new CCGs were introduced that year, all but one being a product of Wizards of the Coast. ''[[C-23 Trading Card Game|C-23]]'', ''[[Doomtown]]'', ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'', ''[[Legend of the Burning Sands]]'' and ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' were those five, and only ''Doomtown'' met with better than average reviews before its run was terminated and the rights returned to [[Alderac Entertainment Group|Alderac]]. ''C-23'', ''Hercules'', and ''Xena'' were all a part of a new simplified CCG system Wizards had created for beginners. Called the ARC System, it had four distinct types of cards: Resource, Character, Combat, and Action. The system also utilized the popular "tapping" mechanic of ''Magic: The Gathering''. This system was abandoned shortly afterwards.<ref name="MILLER"/> Despite limited success or no success at all in the rest of the CCG market, ''Magic'' had recovered and Wizards learned from its lessons of 1995 and early 1996. Players still enjoyed the game and were gobbling up its latest expansions of ''[[Tempest (Magic: The Gathering)|Tempest]]'', ''[[Stronghold (Magic: The Gathering)|Stronghold]]'', ''[[Exodus (Magic: The Gathering)|Exodus]]'' and by year's end, ''[[Urza's Saga]]'' which added new enthusiasm to ''Magic's'' fanbase in light of some of the cards being "too powerful."<ref name="MILLER"/> In early 1999, Wizards released the ''Pokémon'' TCG to the mass market. The game benefited from the ''[[Pokémon]]'' fad also of that year. At first there wasn't enough product to meet demand. Some retailers perceived the shortage to be, in part, related to Wizards's recent purchase of the [[Game Keeper]] stores where it was assumed they received ''Pokémon'' shipments more often than non-affiliated stores. By the summer of 1999, the ''Pokémon'' TCG became the first CCG to outsell ''Magic: The Gathering''. The success of ''Pokémon'' brought renewed interest to the CCG market and many new companies began pursuing this established customer base. Large retail stores such as [[Walmart]] and [[Target Corporation|Target]] began carrying CCGs and by the end of September, [[Hasbro]] was convinced on its profitability and bought Wizards of the Coast for $325 million.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/> A small selection of new CCGs also arrived in 1999, among them ''[[Young Jedi Collectible Card Game|Young Jedi]]'', ''[[Tomb Raider Collectible Card Game|Tomb Raider]]'', ''[[Austin Powers Collectible Card Game|Austin Powers]]'', ''[[7th Sea (collectible card game)|7th Sea]]'' and ''[[The Wheel of Time (card game)|The Wheel of Time]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===Transitions and refining of the market=== By 2000, the ups and downs of the CCG market was old hat to its retailers. They foresaw ''Pokémon's'' inevitable fall from grace as the fad reached its peak in April of that year. The panic associated with the overflooding of the CCGs from 1995 and 1996 was absent and the retailers withstood the crash of ''Pokémon''. Yet CCGs benefited from the popularity of ''Pokémon'' and they saw an uptick in the amount of CCGs released and an overall increased interest in the game genre. ''Pokémon'''s mainstream success in the CCG world also highlighted an increasing trend of CCGs being marketed with existing intellectual properties, especially those with an existing television show, such as a [[cartoon]]. New CCGs introduced in 2000 included notable entries in ''[[Sailor Moon Collectible Card Game|Sailor Moon]]'', ''[[The Terminator Collectible Card Game|The Terminator]]'', ''[[Digi-Battle]]'', ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'' Collectible Card Game, ''[[Magi-Nation Duel|Magi-Nation]]'' and ''[[X-Men Trading Card Game|X-Men]]''. ''Vampires: The Eternal Struggle'' resumed production in 2000 after White Wolf regained full rights and released the first new expansion in three years called ''Sabbat War''. Wizards of the Coast introduced a new sports CCG called ''[[MLB Showdown]]'' as well.<ref name="MILLER"/> Decipher released its final chronological expansion of the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy called ''Death Star II'' and would continue to see a loss in sales as interest waned in succeeding expansions, and their ''Star Wars'' license was not being renewed. ''[[Mage Knight]]'' was also released this year and would seek to challenge the CCG market by introducing [[Miniature wargaming|miniature]]s into the mix. Though not technically a CCG, it would target the same player base for sales. The real shake up in the industry however, came when Hasbro laid off more than 100 workers at Wizards of the Coast and ended its attempts at an online version of the game when it sold off their interactive division. Coinciding with this turn of events was Peter Adkisson's decision to resign and Lisa Stevens whose job ended when ''[[The Duelist]]'' magazine (published by Wizards of the Coast) was cancelled by the parent company. With Adkisson went Wizards' acquirement of Gen Con and the Origins Convention went to GAMA. Hasbro also ceased production of ''Legends of the Five Rings'' in 2000 and it was eventually sold to Alderac in 2001.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> ===Franchise trends continue=== As seen in 2000, the years 2001 and 2002 continued on with the CCG market being less likely to take chances on new and original intellectual properties, but instead it would invest in CCGs that were based off existing franchises. Cartoons, movies, television, and books influenced the creation of such CCGs as ''[[Harry Potter Trading Card Game|Harry Potter]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game|The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[A Game of Thrones (card game)|A Game of Thrones]]'', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Collectible Card Game|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' and two ''Star Wars'' CCGs: ''[[Jedi Knights Trading Card Game|Jedi Knights]]'' and a rebooted ''[[Star Wars Trading Card Game|Star Wars]]'' TCG, both by Wizards of the Coast. They followed the demise of the original ''Star Wars'' CCG by Decipher in December of 2001, but they would see very little interest and eventually the two games were cancelled. Other niche CCGs were also made, including ''[[Warlord (card game)|Warlord]]'' and ''[[Warhammer 40,000 Collectible Card Game|Warhammer 40,000]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/> Upper Deck had its first hit with ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' The game was known to be popular in [[Japan]] but until 2002 had not been released in the [[United States]]. The game was mostly distributed to big retailers, with [[Hobby shop|hobby stores]] added to their distribution afterwards. By the end of 2002, the game was the top CCG even though it was no where near the phenomenon that ''Pokémon'' was. The card publisher Precedence produced a new CCG in 2001 based on the ''[[Rifts (role-playing game)|Rifts]]'' RPG by [[Palladium]]. ''[[Rifts Collectible Card Game|Rifts]]'' had top of the line artwork but the size of the starter deck was similar in size to the RPG books. Precedence's other main CCG ''Babylon 5'' ended its decent run in 2001 after the company lost its licence. The game was terminated and the publisher later folded in 2002. The release of ''The Lord of the Rings'' CCG marked the release of the 100th new CCG since 1993, and 2002 also marked the release of the 500th CCG expansion for all CCGs. ''The Lord of the Rings'' CCG briefly beat out sales of ''Magic'' for a few months.<ref name="MILLER2"/> ''Magic'' continued a steady pace releasing successful expansion blocks with ''[[Odyssey (Magic: The Gathering)|Odyssey]]'' and ''[[Onslaught (Magic: The Gathering)|Onslaught]]''. Decipher released ''The Motion Pictures'' expansion for the ''Star Trek'' CCG, and also announced that it would be the last expansion for the game. Decipher then released the ''Second Edition'' for the ''Star Trek'' CCG which refined the rules, rebooted the game, and introduced new card frames. [[Collectible miniature game]]s made more splashes in 2002 with the releases of ''[[HeroClix]]'' and ''[[MechWarrior: Dark Age|MechWarrior]]''.<ref name="MILLER2"/> ===A second wave of new CCGs=== The next few years saw a large increase in the amount of companies willing to start a new CCG. No small thanks to the previous successes of ''Pokémon'' and ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', many new CCGs entered the market, many of which tried to continue the trend of tying them in with other franchises. Notable entries include ''[[The Simpsons Trading Card Game|The Simpsons]]'', ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants Trading Card Game|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', ''[[Neopets Trading Card Game|Neopets]]'', ''[[G.I. Joe Trading Card Game|G.I. Joe]]'', ''[[Hecatomb (card game)|Hecatomb]]'', ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trading Card Game|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' and many others. ''[[Duel Masters Trading Card Game|Duel Masters]]'' was introduced to the United States after strong popularity in Japan the previous two years. Wizards of the Coast published it for a couple years before it was cancelled in the U.S. due to weak sales. Two ''Warhammer'' CCGs were released with ''[[Horus Heresy (card game)|Horus Heresy]]'' and ''[[WarCry (game)|WarCry]]''. ''Horus Heresy'' lasted two years and was succeeded by ''[[Dark Millennium]]'' in 2005. Also, two entries from Decipher were released, one that passed the torch from their ''Star Wars'' CCG to ''[[WARS Trading Card Game|WARS]]''. ''WARS'' kept most of the game play mechanics from their ''Star Wars'' game, but transferred them to a new and original setting. The game did not do particularly well, and after two expansions, the game was cancelled in 2005. The other new CCG was ''[[.hack//Enemy]]'' which won an Origins award. Unfortunately, this game was also cancelled in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/2003| title=Origins Award Winners (2003) |publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design|accessdate=2007-10-02 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20071105015159/http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/2003 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-11-05}}</ref> Plenty of other CCGs were attempted by various publishers, many that were based on Japanese [[manga]] such as ''[[Decipher, Inc.#History|Beyblade]]'', ''[[Gundam War Collectible Card Game|Gundam War]]'', ''[[One Piece]]'', ''[[Inuyasha]]'', ''[[Zatch Bell! The Card Battle|Zatch Bell!]]'', ''[[Case Closed (manga)#Other related media|Case Closed]]'', and ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho Trading Card Game|YuYu Hakusho]]''. Existing CCGs were reformatted or rebooted including ''Dragon Ball Z'' as ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'' and ''Digimon D-Tector'' as the ''[[Digimon Collectible Card Game#Card game|Digimon Collectible Card Game]]''. An interesting CCG released by Upper Deck was called the ''[[Vs. System]]''. It incorporated the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] and [[DC Comics]] universes and pitted the heroes and villains from those universes against one another. Similarly, the game [[Universal Fighting System|UFS: The Universal Fighting System]] used characters from [[Street Fighter]], [[Soul Calibur]], [[Tekken]], [[Mega Man]], [[Darkstalkers]], etc. This CCG was obtained by [[Jasco Games]] in 2010 and is currently still being made. Another CCG titled ''[[Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game|Call of Cthulhu]]'' was the spiritual successor to ''[[Mythos (card game)|Mythos]]'' by the publisher [[Chaosium]]. Chaosium licensed the game to [[Fantasy Flight Games]] who produced the CCG. Probably one of the biggest developments in the CCG market was the release of ''Magic'''s ''[[8th Edition (Magic: The Gathering)|8th Edition]]'' core set. It introduced a redesigned card border and it would later mark the beginning of a new play format titled [[Magic: The Gathering#Constructed|Modern]] that utilized cards from this set onward. ''Pokémon'', which was originally published by Wizards, was sold to [[Nintendo]] in June 2003. ===The CCG renaissance continues=== The previous years influx of new CCGs continued on into 2006. Riding high on the success of the popular [[PC Game]] ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', [[Blizzard Entertainment]] licensed Upper Deck to publish a TCG based on the game. The ''[[World of Warcraft Trading Card Game|World of Warcraft]]'' TCG was born and was carried by major retailers but saw limited success. Following previous trends, more Japanese influenced CCGs entered the market. These games were either based on cartoons or manga and included: ''[[Naruto Collectible Card Game#Trading card game|Naruto]]'', ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender Trading Card Game|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', ''[[Bleach Trading Card Game|Bleach]]'', ''[[Rangers Strike]]'' and the classic series ''[[Robotech Collectible Card Game|Robotech]]''. ''Dragon Ball GT'' was rebooted once again in 2008 and renamed as just ''[[Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game|Dragon Ball]]''. Additional franchises were made into CCGs, some as reboots. Some of the more notable ones include: ''[[Conan Collectible Card Game|Conan]]'', ''[[Battlestar Galactica Collectible Card Game|Battlestar Galactica]]'', ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game|Pirates of the Caribbean]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Collectible Card Game|Power Rangers]]'', ''[[List of 24 media#24: Trading Card Game|24 TCG]]'', and another attempt at ''[[Doctor Who – Battles in Time|Doctor Who]]'' in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Australia]]. Publisher Alderac released ''[[City of Heroes Collectible Card Game|City of Heroes]]'' CCG based on the ''[[City of Heroes]]'' PC game. Another video game was turned into a CCG by [[Tomy]] and titled ''[[List of Kingdom Hearts media#Collectible card game|Kingdom Hearts]]'' and was based on the PS2 game ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' by [[Square Enix]]. A few other CCGs were released only in other countries and never made it overseas to English speaking countries, including ''[[Monster Hunter Hunting Card|Monster Hunter]]'' of Japan, and ''{{ill|id|Vandaria Wars|Vandaria Wars}}'' of [[Indonesia]]. By the end of 2008, trouble was brewing between [[Konami]], who owned the rights to ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' and its licensee Upper Deck. Meanwhile, strong sales continued with the three top CCGs of ''Pokémon'', ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', and ''Magic: the Gathering''. ''Dark Millenium'' ended its run on the Warhammer series in 2007. <!-- ===2009 & 2010 & 2011 Contraction === Redakai, Marvel Superstars, Cardfight!! Vanguard; Magic's Zendikar uptick --><!-- ===2012 & 2013 More contraction === World of Warcraft cancelled, Monsuno introduced, Magic the Gathering Commander support --> A rise in tie-in collectible card games continued with the introduction of the ''[[My Little Pony Collectible Card Game]]'', created by Enterplay LLC and published on December 13, 2013. Enterplay was licensed the My Little Pony brand by Hasbro and first given the task to develop trading cards.<ref name="trending">{{Cite web | url = http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/27632.html | title = 'MLP CCG' Trending in Hobby | publisher = ICV2 | date = January 14, 2014 | accessdate = August 4, 2014 }}</ref> With the trading cards being rather popular, Enterplay soon developed a new CCG based on the brand alongside new waves of the trading cards. The collectible cards proved to be rather successful according to Enterplay's president, Dean Irwin; so much so that Enterplay was forced to reprint the premiere release set mid-February 2014.<ref name="trending"/> [[File:My little pony collectible card game card back.jpg|thumbnail|right|Card back for the ''My Little Pony Collectible Card Game'']] ==Gameplay== [[Image:Magicgathering1.jpg|thumb|Players engaged in a game of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''.]] Each CCG system has a fundamental set of rules that describes the players' objectives, the categories of cards used in the game, and the basic rules by which the cards interact. Each card will have additional text explaining that specific card's effect on the game. They also generally represent some specific element derived from the game's genre, setting, or source material. The cards are illustrated and named for these source elements, and the card's game function may relate to the subject. For example, ''Magic: The Gathering'' is based on the [[fantasy]] genre, so many of the cards represent creatures and magical spells from that setting. In the game, a [[European dragon|dragon]] is illustrated as a reptilian beast and typically has the ''flying'' ability and higher combat stats than smaller creatures. The bulk of CCGs are designed around a resource system by which the pace of each game is controlled. Frequently, the cards which constitute a player's deck are considered a resource, with the frequency of cards moving from the deck to the play area or player's hand being tightly controlled. Relative card strength is often balanced by the number or type of basic resources needed in order to play the card, and pacing after that may be determined by the flow of cards moving in and out of play. Resources may be specific cards themselves, or represented by other means (e.g. tokens in various resource pools, symbols on cards, etc.). Players select which cards will compose their deck from the available pool of cards, unlike traditional [[card game]]s such as [[poker]] or [[crazy eights]] in which the deck's content is limited and pre-determined. This allows a CCG player to strategically customize their deck to take advantage of favorable card interactions, combinations and statistics. While a player's deck can theoretically be of any size, a deck of approximately sixty cards is considered the optimal size, for reasons of playability, and has been adopted by most CCGs as an arbitrary 'standard' deck size. Some games, such as ''[[Magic: the Gathering]]'', limit how many copies of a particular card can be included in a deck; such limits force players to think creatively when choosing cards and deciding on a playing strategy. During a game, players usually take turns playing cards and performing game-related actions. The order and titles of these steps vary between different game systems, but the following are typical:{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} * Ready phase — A player's own in-play cards are readied for the upcoming turn. * Draw phase — The player draws one or more cards from his or her own deck. This is necessary in order to circulate cards in players' hands. * Main phase — The player uses the cards in hand and in play to interact with the game or to gain and expend resources. Some games allow for more than one of these phases. * Combat phase — This typically involves some sort of attack against the other player, which that player defends against using their own cards. Such a phase is the primary method for victory in most games. * End of turn — The player discards to the game's maximum hand size, if it has one, and end of turn effects occur. ===Internet play=== In addition to actual physical card games, collectible card games have also been developed that are played over the [[Internet]] and [[LAN]] lines. Instead of receiving physical cards, a player establishes a virtual collection that exists only as a set of data stored on a server. Such cards can be purchased (using real money) or traded within this environment. Titles include online versions of games that originated as physical CCGs (e.g., [[Magic: The Gathering Online]]), as well as games that exist solely online (e.g., [[Draconian Wars: Hyperborea Edition]], [[Card Hunter]] and [[Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft|Hearthstone]]). The first online CCGs were [[Sanctum (card game)|Sanctum]] and [[Chron X]], both developed in 1997. Sanctum was taken offline in 2010, but has since returned due to fan intervention;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://playsanctum.net |title=Sanctum Redux - Come play the game of Sanctum again |accessdate=2013-11-07}}</ref> Chron X still exists, producing new expansions over a decade later. Chron X was developed by [[Genetic Anomalies, Inc]], which later developed other online collectible card-style games based on licensed content. In some cases, new elements are added to the CCG&nbsp;— the online card games Sanctum and [[Star Chamber (game)|Star Chamber]] include, e.g.: game boards, animations and sound effects for some of their cards. [[The NOKs]], on the other hand, offer talking figures and action-arcade game play. In a different case, The [[Eye of Judgement]], a CCG that has been combined with a [[PlayStation 3]] game, bringing innovation with the CyberCode matrix technology. It allows real cards bought in stores to be scanned with the [[PlayStation Eye]] and brought into the game with 3D creatures, animations, spell animations, etc. as representations. In a similar fashion, [[Chaotic]], [[Bella Sara]], and [[MapleStory]] allow online players to enter a unique alpha-numeric code found on each physical card. These codes allow access to online cards or other online features. A related concept is that of software programs which allow players to play CCGs over the Internet, but without relying on a central server or database. When utilizing such software, players don't need to purchase any (real or virtual) cards, and are instead free to create any deck they like using the cards supported by the client software. Most of these programs have limited rule enforcement engines, instead relying on players to interpret the complex interactions between the cards. Some of these software packages support the play of more than one virtual card game; for example, [[Magic Workstation]] was originally designed to play ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic]]'', but can technically support additional games as well. In Japan, online card battle games are a common genre of [[free-to-play]] [[browser games]] or mobile games; such games with significant populations of players include ''[[The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls]]'', ''[[Kantai Collection]]'' and ''[[List of Square Enix video games|Million Arthur]]''. ''Cinderella Girls'' earns over 1 billion [[Japanese yen|yen]] in revenue monthly,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-27/idolmaster-mobile-game-earns-1-billion-yen-a-month|title=Idolmaster Mobile Game Earns 1 Billion Yen a Month|publisher=[[Anime News Network]]|date=September 27, 2012|accessdate=July 19, 2013}}</ref> whilst ''Kantai Collection'' has grown to more than 1 million players throughout Japan.<ref>2013-10-10, [http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2013/10/10/71039.html 提督100万人突破、そして島田フミカネ氏による航空母艦も実装決定! ─ 『艦これ』秋のイベントも実施準備中], インサイド</ref> The systems for online play that support the greatest variety of games are [[LackeyCCG]] and [[Gccg]]. Offerings include many copyrighted games whose manufacturers are no longer publishing the game, most notably [[Decipher, Inc.|Decipher]]'s [[Star Wars Customizable Card Game]]<ref>[http://www.decipher.com/starwars/rfd011228transcript.html DECIPHER.com : Star Wars CCG<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{wayback|url=http://www.decipher.com/starwars/rfd011228transcript.html |date=20080207033208 }}</ref> and [[Precedence Entertainment|Precedence]]’s [[Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game]]. In addition, there are several small, online CCGs run completely free by the card game creators and volunteer staff. These games at their most basic include a number of decks created for members to collect and trade. These cards are earned through games and contests at the CCG, with additional prize cards earned by collecting all cards in a deck (mastering) or completing a certain number of trades. Members typically visit each other's websites where they house their card collections, and propose trades to each other through forums or e-mail. ==Distribution== Specific game cards are most often produced in various degrees of scarcity, generally denoted as ''common'' (C), ''uncommon'' (U), and ''rare'' (R). Some games use alternate or additional designations for the relative rarity levels, such as ''super-'', ''ultra-'', ''mythic-'' or ''exclusive rares''. Special cards may also only be available through promotions, events, purchase of related material, or redemption programs. The idea of rarity borrows somewhat from other types of collectible cards, such as [[baseball cards]], but in CCGs, the level of rarity also denotes the significance of a card's effect in the game, i.e., the more powerful a card is in terms of the game, the greater its rarity. A powerful card whose effects were underestimated by the game's designers may increase in rarity due to those effects; in later editions of the game, such a card's level of rarity might increase to reduce its availability to players. Such a card might even be removed entirely from the next edition, to further limit its availability and its effect on gameplay. Most ''collectible card games'' are distributed as sealed packs containing a subset of the available cards, much like [[trading card]]s. Some of the most common distribution methods are: * Starter set — This is an introductory product which contains enough cards for two players and includes instructional information on playing the game. In order to speed the learning process, the card content is typically fixed and designed around a theme, so that the new players can start playing right away. * Starter deck (AKA ''Intro Deck'') — This contains enough game cards (usually 40 or more) for one player. It usually contains a random selection of cards, but with some basic elements so that it may be playable from the start. * Theme deck or Tournament deck — Most CCGs are designed with opposing factions, themes, or strategies. A theme deck is composed primarily of cards that work well together and is typically non-random. * Booster packs — This is the dominant avenue for distribution and is similar to trading cards. Depending on the game, booster packs for CCGs may contain from 4 to 15 cards. ==Patent== A [[patent]] was granted to [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 1997 for "a novel method of game play and game components that in one embodiment are in the form of trading cards" that includes claims covering games whose rules include many of ''Magic'''s elements in combination, including concepts such as changing orientation of a game component to indicate use (referred to in the ''Magic'' and [[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]] rules as "tapping") and constructing a deck by selecting cards from a larger pool.<ref>{{cite patent|US|5662332}}</ref> The patent has aroused criticism from some observers, who believe some of its claims to be invalid.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol17/issue18/screens.gaming.html | title = The Year in Gaming | accessdate = 2007-06-03 | last = Varney | first = Allen | publisher = [[The Austin Chronicle]] | date = 2006-05-03 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809095814/http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol17/issue18/screens.gaming.html | archivedate=2011-08-09 }}</ref> In 2003, the patent was an element of a larger legal dispute between Wizards of the Coast and [[Nintendo]], regarding trade secrets related to Nintendo's [[Pokémon Trading Card Game]]. The legal action was [[settlement conference|settled out of court]], and its terms were not disclosed.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20031229005065/en/Pokemon-USA-Wizards-Coast-Resolve-Dispute | title = Pokemon USA, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Resolve Dispute | accessdate = 2013-08-24 | publisher =Business Wire | date = 2003-12-29 }}</ref> ==Arcade== In Japan, CCGs that are played on arcade machines with physical card sets came into vogue in the early 2000s, which provided a boost to arcade profits and have been a mainstay in many game centers since. Arcade games of this type have been developed by companies such as [[Sega]], [[Square Enix]] and [[Taito]], and are most commonly of the [[real-time strategy]] or [[sports management]] genres, with some diversion into action RPGs. Players can purchase starter decks for most games separately, and after each play session, the machines will commonly dispense more cards for players to expand their decks.<ref>http://gameroomblog.com/guides/a-look-into-the-crazy-thriving-japanese-arcade-scene</ref> ==See also== * [[List of collectible card games]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==Bibliography== *{{Cite book|first1=John Jackson|last1= Miller|first2=Joyce|last2=Greenholdt|title=Collectible Card Games Checklist & Price Guide|edition=2nd|year=2003|publisher=Krause Publication|isbn=0-87349-623-X|ref=harv}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Collectible Card Game}} [[Category:Collectible card games| ]] [[Category:Games of mental skill]] [[Category:Video game genres]] [[Category:Card game terminology]]'
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'[[File:TCG.jpg|thumb|Cards from various collectible card games]] A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 afdgxxfdcbkb k🇧🇫😇😇😇😆😜🙃😍🙂🙃😍🙂😆🙂😜😗😗😑🦄😘🔥🔥🔥🔥🍕⚡️🌤🐊🌦🌊nd consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation |last=Frank |first=Jane |title=Role-Playing Game and Collectible Card Game Artists : A Biographical Dictionary |date=2012 |url=http://www.amazon.com/Role-Playing-Game-Collectible-Card-Artists/dp/0786446102/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416694102&sr=8-1&keywords=role-playing+game+and+collectible+card+game+artists%3A+a+biographical+dictionary |accessdate=2014-11-22}}</ref> The rudimentary definition requires the game to resemble [[trading card]]s in shape and function, be mass-produced for trading or collectibility, and it must have rules for [[strategy game|strategic]] game play.<ref name="WILLIAMS">{{Citation |last=Williams |first=J. Patrick |title=Gaming as Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games |date=2007-05-02 |url=http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/patrick.williams/PDFs/Williams%20-%20CSGs.pdf |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="BGG">{{Citation |title=Board Game Terminology |date= 2012-01-27 |url=http://libguides.slu.edu/boardgames |accessdate=2013-08-12}}</ref> The definition of CCGs is further refined as being a card game in which the player uses his own deck with cards primarily sold in random assortments. Acquiring these cards may be done by trading with other players or buying card packs. If every card in the game can be obtained by making a small number of purchases, or if the manufacturer does not market it as a CCG, then it is not a CCG.<ref name="MILLER">{{Citation |last=Miller |first=John Jackson |title=Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide |year=2001 |pages=520 |postscript=.}}</ref> Successful CCGs typically have upwards of thousands of unique cards, with the most successful one, ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', having nearly 15,000.<ref name="Gatherer">{{cite web| url = http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&cmc=+%3E=%5b0%5d | title = Gatherer | accessdate = March 6, 2014 | publisher = [[Wizards of the Coast]]}}, the official ''Magic'' card database.</ref> Typically, a CCG is initially played using a [[Starter pack|starter deck]], or intro deck, which has a basic complement of cards that can be used to play the game. This deck may be expanded or modified with cards from [[booster pack]]s, which contain a random selection of cards of varying rarities, usually between 8 and 15 cards. One of these cards is a rare or unique card that is much harder to obtain than the remaining cards and often has a higher value than the rest. These values can change over time as distribution changes, cards become banned in playing formats, or the [[metagame]] is altered by interactions with new cards. Eventually, with enough cards, [[Player (game)|players]] may create new decks from scratch. ==Overview== Regular [[card games]] have been around since at least the 1300s, but in 1993 a "new kind of card game" appeared.<ref name="FRANK"/><ref name="OWENS">{{Citation | last =Owens | first =Thomas S. | title =Inside Collectible Card Games | year =1996 | pages =142 | postscript =. }}</ref> It was different because the player could not buy all the cards at once. Players would first buy starter decks and then later be encouraged to buy booster packs to expand their selection of cards. What emerged was a card game that players collected and treasured but also played with.<ref name="OWENS"/> The very first collectible card game created was ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', invented by [[Richard Garfield]], and patented by [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 1993.<ref name="WILLIAMS"/><ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="OWENS"/><ref name="LONG">{{Citation |last=Long |first=Nick |title=Understanding Magic: The Gathering - Part One: History |date=2006-03-01 |url=http://voices.yahoo.com/understanding-magic-gathering-part-one-history-316660.html |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref><ref name="CHING">{{Citation |last=Ching |first=Albert |title=Card Game MAGIC: THE GATHERING Returns to Comics at IDW |date=2011-09-11 |url=http://www.newsarama.com/8291-card-game-magic-the-gathering-returns-to-comics-at-idw.html |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="UofW">{{Citation |last=Kotha |first=Suresh |title=Wizards of the Coast |date=1998-10-19 |url=http://faculty.bschool.washington.edu/skotha/website/cases%20pdf/Wizards%20of%20the%20coast%201.4.pdf |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="STAFFORD">{{Citation |last=Stafford |first=Patrick |title=Richard Garfield: King of the cards |date=2014-05-24 |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-05-25-richard-garfield-king-of-the-cards |accessdate=2014-06-05}}</ref> It's considered the most successful CCG and many other companies have tried to emulate it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wizards.com/company/downloads/Magic_Fact_Sheet_Aug09.pdf |title=Magic: The Gathering Fact Sheet |year=2009 |accessdate=2013-06-10 |publisher=Wizards of the Coast}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-10000/first-modern-trading-card-game/ |title=First modern trading card game |year=2013 |accessdate=2013-06-16 |publisher=Guinness World Records}}</ref> ''The Base Ball Card Game'', a prototype from 1904, is a noteworthy precursor to CCGs because it had some similar qualities but it never saw production to qualify it as a ''collectible'' card game.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37094/the-base-ball-card-game |title=The Base Ball Card Game |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref> It is not known if the game was intended to be a standalone product or something altogether different like [[Top Trumps]].<ref name="Meeplepedia">{{Citation | last =Unknown | first =Kai | title =Collectible Card Games | date =2011-07-12 | url =http://www.meoplesmagazine.com/2011/07/21/collectible-card-games/ | accessdate =2013-08-12}}</ref> The game consisted of a limited 112 cards and never saw manufacture past the marketing stage.<ref name="LIPSET">{{Citation | last =Lipset | first =Lew | title =The Hobby Insider - Recollecting the history of a baseball card game that never was | newspaper =Sports Collectors Digest | year =2000 | pages =50 | postscript =. }}</ref> In 1951, [[Topps]] released the ''[[Topps#Topps baseball cards: A history|Baseball Card Game]]'' that resembled CCGs because the game cards were sold in random packs and were collectible, however the game required no strategic play to operate.<ref name="TOMARTS">{{Citation | last =Tumbusch | first =T. M. | title =Tomart's Photo Checklist & Price Guide to Collectible Card Games, Volume One | year =1995 | pages =88 | postscript =. }}</ref> To play the game, players used a randomized deck to migrate their characters around a [[baseball field|baseball diamond]]. Interaction between the two players was limited to who scored the most points and was otherwise a [[Patience (game)|solitaire]]-like function since players could not play simultaneously but in [[tandem]].<ref name="Toppsarchives">{{Citation | last =unknown | first =toppcat | title =It's Cott To be Good! | date =2013-03-28 | url =http://toppsarchives.blogspot.com/2013/03/its-cott-to-be-good.html | accessdate =2013-08-12}}</ref> This game seemed to be a followup of a game from 1947 called [[Baseball (card game)|Batter Up]] by Ed-u-Cards Corp. The game was not sold in random packs but instead the entirety of the game could be obtained with one purchase. It utilized the same baseball diamond rules that Topps adopted in 1951.<ref name="Toppsarchives"/> Other notable entries that resemble and predate the CCG are ''[[Strat-O-Matic]]'', ''[[Nuclear War (card game)|Nuclear War]]'', ''[[BattleCards]]'', and ''[[Illuminati (game)|Illuminati]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> When designing ''Magic: The Gathering'', Garfield borrowed elements from the [[board game]] ''[[Cosmic Encounter]]'' which also used cards for game play.<ref name="OWENS"/> Despite the dominance of ''Magic: The Gathering'' in the CCG market, a few have met with success and have built a niche for themselves including ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', ''[[Pokémon Trading Card Game|Pokémon]]'', and ''[[Legend of the Five Rings (collectible card game)|Legend of the Five Rings]]''. Other notable CCGs have come and gone: ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game|Star Wars]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game|Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'', ''[[Middle-earth Collectible Card Game|Middle-earth]]'', ''[[World of Warcraft Trading Card Game|World of Warcraft]]'' and ''[[Netrunner]]'' among others. Many [[List of collectible card games|other CCGs]] were produced, but had little or no commercial success.<ref name="Meeplepedia"/> ===Types and similar products=== CCGs of the past and present are divided into two kinds: "dead games" and "live games". ''Dead Games'' are those CCGs which are no longer supported by their manufacturers and have ceased releasing expansions. ''Live Games'' are those CCGs which continue to be supported by their manufacturers. Usually this means that new expansions are being created for the game and player tournaments are occurring in some fashion.<ref name="MILLER"/> CCGs should not be mistaken for [[deck-building game]]s, where the construction of the deck is a mechanism used during gameplay, or [[Fantasy Flight Games#Living Card Games|Living Card Games]] (LCGs), which is a registered trademark of [[Fantasy Flight Games]]. LCGs are card games that share many of the same characteristics as CCGs, but without the randomized booster packs characteristic of trading cards and CCGs. Other similar card games have been marketed or referred to as CCGs. [[List of collectible card games#Collectible Common-Deck Card Games|Collectible Common-Deck Card Games]] are those games where players do not have their own personal deck, and consequently, no customization of decks occur and no trading or metagame is developed. [[List of collectible card games#Non-Collectible Customizable Card Games|Non-Collectible Customizable Card Games]] are those games where each player has their own deck, but no randomness occurs when acquiring the cards. Many of these games are sold as complete sets. A few were intended to have booster packs, but those were never released.<ref name="MILLER2">{{Citation |last=Miller |first=John Jackson |title=Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, Second Edition |year=2003 |pages=688 |postscript=.}}</ref> ==History== ===Pre-history closely associated with Wizards of the Coast=== Prior to the advent of the CCG, the market for alternative games was dominated by [[role-playing game]]s (RPG), in particular [[Dungeons & Dragons]] by [[TSR (company)|TSR]]. [[Wizards of the Coast]] (Wizards), a new company formed in [[Peter Adkison]]'s basement in 1990, was looking to enter the RPG market with its series called [[The Primal Order]] which converted [[Player character|characters]] to other RPG series. After a suit from [[Palladium Books]] which could have financially ruined the company, Wizards acquired another RPG called [[Talislanta]]. This was after [[Lisa Stevens]] joined the company in 1991 as vice president after having left [[White Wolf Publishing|White Wolf]]. Through their mutual friend Mike Davis, Adkison met [[Richard Garfield]] who at the time was a doctoral student. Garfield and Mike Davis had an idea for a game called [[RoboRally]] and pitched the idea to Wizards of the Coast in 1991, but Wizards did not have the resources to manufacture it and instead challenged Garfield to make a game that would pay for the creation of RoboRally. This game would require minimal resources to make and only about 15–20 minutes to play.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===''Magic: The Gathering''=== In December 1991, Garfield had a prototype for a game called ''Mana Clash'', and by 1993 he established Garfield Games to attract publishers and to get a larger share of the company should it become successful. Originally, ''Mana Clash'' was designed with Wizards in mind, but the suit between Palladium Books and Wizards was still not settled. Investment money was eventually secured from Wizards and the name ''Mana Clash'' was changed to ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''. The ads for it first appeared in ''[[Cryptych]]'', a magazine that focused on RPGs. On the July 4 weekend in 1993, the game premiered at the [[Origins Game Fair]] in [[Fort Worth]], [[Texas]]. In the following month of August, the game was released and sold out its initial print run of 2.6 million cards creating an immediate need for more cards. Wizards quickly released new iterations of the core set, called ''[[Beta (Magic: The Gathering)|Beta]]'' (7.3 million card print run) and ''[[Unlimited (Magic: The Gathering)|Unlimited]]'' (35 million card print run) in an attempt to satisfy orders as well as to fix small errors in the game. December also saw the release of the first expansion called ''[[Arabian Nights (Magic: The Gathering)|Arabian Nights]]''. With ''Magic: The Gathering'' still the only CCG on the market, it released another expansion called ''[[Antiquities (Magic: The Gathering)|Antiquities]]'' which experienced collation problems. Another core set iteration named ''[[Revised Edition (Magic: The Gathering)|Revised]]'' was released shortly after that. Demand was still not satiated as the game grew by leaps and bounds. [[Legends (Magic: The Gathering)|Legends]] was released in mid-1994 and no end was in sight for the excitement over the new CCG.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MOURSUND">{{Citation | last =Moursund | first =Beth | title =The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering | year =2002 | pages =720 | postscript =. }}</ref> ===CCG craze of 1994 & 1995=== What followed was the CCG craze. ''Magic'' was so popular that game stores could not keep it on their shelves. More and more orders came for the product, and as other game makers looked on they realized that they had to capitalize on this new fad. The first to do so was TSR who rushed their own game ''[[Spellfire]]'' into production and was released in June 1994. Through this period of time, ''Magic'' was hard to obtain because production never met the demand. Store owners placed large inflated orders in an attempt to circumvent allocations placed by distributors. This practice would eventually catch up to them when printing capacity met demand coinciding with the expansion of [[Fallen Empires]] released in November 1994. Combined with the releases of 9 other CCGs, among them ''[[Galactic Empires]]'', [[Decipher, Inc.|Decipher]]'s ''[[Star Trek Customizable Card Game|Star Trek]]'', ''[[On the Edge (game)|On the Edge]]'', and ''[[Super Deck!]]''. [[Steve Jackson Games]], which was heavily involved in the alternative game market, looked to tap into the new CCG market and figured the best way was to adapt their existing [[Illuminati (game)|Illuminati]] game. The result was ''[[Illuminati: New World Order]]'' which followed with two expansions in 1995 and 1998. Another entry by Wizards of the Coast was ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle|Jyhad]]''. The game sold well, but not nearly as well as ''Magic'', however it was considered a great competitive move by Wizard as Jyhad was based on one of the most popular [[intellectual property|intellectual properties]] in the alternative game market which kept White Wolf from aggressively competing with ''Magic''. By this time however, it may have been a moot point as the CCG Market had hit its first obstacle: too much product. The overprinted expansion of ''Magic's'' ''[[Fallen Empires]]'' threatened to upset the relationship that Wizards had with its distributors as many complained of getting too much product, despite their original over-ordering practices.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"> {{Citation | last =Appelcline | first =Shannon | title =A Brief History of Game #1: Wizards of the Coast: 1990-Present | date = 2006-08-03 | url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory1.phtml | accessdate=2013-08-29 }}</ref><ref name="UGOREK"> {{Citation | last =Courtland | first =Hayden-William | title =History of Spellfire | date = n.d. | url=http://www.spellfire.net/history.shtml | accessdate=2013-08-30 }}</ref> In early 1995, the [[Game Manufacturers Association|GAMA]] Trade Show previewed upcoming games for the year. One out of every three games announced at the show was a CCG. Publishers other than game makers were now entering the CCG market such as [[Donruss]], [[Upper Deck]], [[Fleer]], [[Topps]], [[Comic Images]], and others. The CCG [[Economic bubble|bubble]] appeared to be on everyone's mind. Too many CCGs were being released and not enough players existed to meet the demand. In 1995 alone, 38 CCGs entered the market, among them the most notable being ''[[Doomtrooper]]'', ''[[Middle-earth Collectible Card Game|Middle-earth]]'', ''[[OverPower]]'', ''[[Rage (collectible card game)|Rage]]'', ''[[Shadowfist]]'', ''[[Legend of the Five Rings (collectible card game)|Legend of the Five Rings]]'', and ''[[Sim City: The Card Game|SimCity]]''. ''Jyhad'' saw a makeover and was renamed as ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'' to distance itself from the [[Islam]]ic term [[jihad]] as well as to get closer to the source material.<ref name="MILLER"/> The Star Trek CCG from Decipher was almost terminated after disputes with [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] announced that the series would end in 1997. But by the end of the year, the situation was resolved and Decipher regained the license to the ''Star Trek'' franchise along with ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' and the movie ''[[First Contact (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|First Contact]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> Enthusiasm from manufacturers was very high, but by the summer of 1995 at [[Gen Con]], retailers had noticed CCG sales were lagging. The ''Magic'' expansion ''[[Chronicles (Magic: The Gathering)|Chronicles]]'' released in November and was essentially a compilation of older sets. It was maligned by collectors and they claimed it devalued their collections. Besides this aspect, the market was still reeling from too much product as ''Fallen Empires'' still sat on shelves alongside newer ''Magic'' expansions like ''[[Ice Age (Magic: The Gathering)|Ice Age]]''. The one new CCG that retailers were hoping to save their sales, ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game|Star Wars]]'', wasn't released until very late in December. By then, Wizards of the Coast, the lead seller in the CCG market had announced a downsizing in their company and it was followed by a layoff of over 30 jobs. The excess product and lag in sales also coincided with an 8 month long gap in between ''Magic: The Gathering'''s expansions, the longest in its history.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> In [[Hungary]], {{ill|hu|Hatalom Kártyái Kártyajáték|Hatalom Kártyái Kártyajáték}}, or HKK, was released in 1995 and was inspired by ''Magic: The Gathering.'' HKK was later released in the [[Czech Republic]]. HKK is still being made.<ref>[http://www.beholder.hu/?m=ak&cikk=8105 History of HKK]</ref><ref>[http://www.beholder.hu/?m=hkk&cikk=14663 About HKK CCG]</ref> ===Stabilization and consolidation=== In early 1996, the CCG market was still reeling from its recent failures and glut of product, including the release of Wizards' expansion ''[[Homelands (Magic: The Gathering)|Homelands]]'' which was rated as the worst ''Magic'' expansion to date. The next two years would mark a "cool off" period for the over-saturated CCG market. Additionally, manufacturers slowly came to understand that having a CCG was not enough to keep it alive. They also had to support organized players which in turn further evolved tournament play. Combined with a new dichotomy between collectors and players especially among ''Magic'' players, more emphasis was placed on the game rather than the collectibility of the cards.<ref name="MILLER"/> Plenty more CCGs were introduced in 1996, chief among them were ''[[BattleTech Collectible Card Game|BattleTech]]'', ''[[The X-Files Collectible Card Game|The X-Files]]'', ''[[Mythos (card game)|Mythos]]'', and Wizard's very own ''[[Netrunner]]''. Many established CCGs were in full swing releasing expansions every few months, but even by this time, many CCGs from only two years ago had already died. TSR had ceased production of ''Spellfire'' and attempted another collectible game called ''[[Dragon Dice]]'' which failed shortly after being released.<ref name="MILLER"/> In the first half of 1997, Wizards of the Coast announced that it had acquired TSR and its ''Dungeons & Dragons'' property which also gave them control of Gen Con. Wizards now had its long sought role-playing game, and it quickly discontinued all plans to continue producing Dragon Dice as well as any hopes of resuming production of the ''Spellfire'' CCG. Decipher was now sanctioning tournaments for their ''Star Trek'' and ''Star Wars'' games. ''Star Wars'' was also enjoying strong success in part from the coinciding enthusiasm for the ''Star Wars'' ''[[List of changes in Star Wars re-releases#1997 Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition|Special Edition]]'' films. In fact, the CCG would remain the second best selling CCG until the introduction of ''[[Pokémon Trading Card Game|Pokémon]]'' in 1999.<ref name="MILLER"/> Wizards continued acquiring properties and bought ''Legend of the Five Rings'' CCG on June 26. Wizards also acquired [[Andon Unlimited]] which by association gave them control over the Origins Convention. By September, Wizards was awarded a patent for its "Trading Card Game." Later in October, Wizards announced that it would seek royalty payments from other CCG companies. Allegedly, only [[Harper Prism]] announced its intention to pay these royalties for its game ''[[Imajica#Game|Imajica]]''. Other CCGs acknowledge the patent on their packaging.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> 1997 saw a slow down in the release of new CCG games. Only 7 new games came out, among them: ''[[Dune (card game)|Dune]]'', ''[[Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game|Babylon 5]]'', ''[[Shadowrun: The Trading Card Game|''Shadowrun'']]'', ''[[Imajica#Game|Imajica]]'' and ''[[Aliens vs. Predator Collectible Card Game|Aliens/Predator]]''. ''Babylon 5'' saw moderate success for a few years before its publisher [[Precedence Entertainment|Precedence]] succumbed to a nonrenewal of its license later on in 2001. Also in 1997, ''Vampire: The Eternal Struggle'' ceased production. However, Wizards of the Coast attempted to enter a more mainstream market with the release of a watered down version of ''Magic'', called ''[[Portal (Magic: The Gathering)|Portal]]''. Its creation is considered a failure along with its follow up ''[[Portal Second Age]]'' released in 1998.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===Wizards of the Coast dominates, Hasbro steps in=== By February 1998, one out of every two CCGs sold was ''Magic: the Gathering''. Only 6 new CCGs were introduced that year, all but one being a product of Wizards of the Coast. ''[[C-23 Trading Card Game|C-23]]'', ''[[Doomtown]]'', ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'', ''[[Legend of the Burning Sands]]'' and ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' were those five, and only ''Doomtown'' met with better than average reviews before its run was terminated and the rights returned to [[Alderac Entertainment Group|Alderac]]. ''C-23'', ''Hercules'', and ''Xena'' were all a part of a new simplified CCG system Wizards had created for beginners. Called the ARC System, it had four distinct types of cards: Resource, Character, Combat, and Action. The system also utilized the popular "tapping" mechanic of ''Magic: The Gathering''. This system was abandoned shortly afterwards.<ref name="MILLER"/> Despite limited success or no success at all in the rest of the CCG market, ''Magic'' had recovered and Wizards learned from its lessons of 1995 and early 1996. Players still enjoyed the game and were gobbling up its latest expansions of ''[[Tempest (Magic: The Gathering)|Tempest]]'', ''[[Stronghold (Magic: The Gathering)|Stronghold]]'', ''[[Exodus (Magic: The Gathering)|Exodus]]'' and by year's end, ''[[Urza's Saga]]'' which added new enthusiasm to ''Magic's'' fanbase in light of some of the cards being "too powerful."<ref name="MILLER"/> In early 1999, Wizards released the ''Pokémon'' TCG to the mass market. The game benefited from the ''[[Pokémon]]'' fad also of that year. At first there wasn't enough product to meet demand. Some retailers perceived the shortage to be, in part, related to Wizards's recent purchase of the [[Game Keeper]] stores where it was assumed they received ''Pokémon'' shipments more often than non-affiliated stores. By the summer of 1999, the ''Pokémon'' TCG became the first CCG to outsell ''Magic: The Gathering''. The success of ''Pokémon'' brought renewed interest to the CCG market and many new companies began pursuing this established customer base. Large retail stores such as [[Walmart]] and [[Target Corporation|Target]] began carrying CCGs and by the end of September, [[Hasbro]] was convinced on its profitability and bought Wizards of the Coast for $325 million.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/> A small selection of new CCGs also arrived in 1999, among them ''[[Young Jedi Collectible Card Game|Young Jedi]]'', ''[[Tomb Raider Collectible Card Game|Tomb Raider]]'', ''[[Austin Powers Collectible Card Game|Austin Powers]]'', ''[[7th Sea (collectible card game)|7th Sea]]'' and ''[[The Wheel of Time (card game)|The Wheel of Time]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===Transitions and refining of the market=== By 2000, the ups and downs of the CCG market was old hat to its retailers. They foresaw ''Pokémon's'' inevitable fall from grace as the fad reached its peak in April of that year. The panic associated with the overflooding of the CCGs from 1995 and 1996 was absent and the retailers withstood the crash of ''Pokémon''. Yet CCGs benefited from the popularity of ''Pokémon'' and they saw an uptick in the amount of CCGs released and an overall increased interest in the game genre. ''Pokémon'''s mainstream success in the CCG world also highlighted an increasing trend of CCGs being marketed with existing intellectual properties, especially those with an existing television show, such as a [[cartoon]]. New CCGs introduced in 2000 included notable entries in ''[[Sailor Moon Collectible Card Game|Sailor Moon]]'', ''[[The Terminator Collectible Card Game|The Terminator]]'', ''[[Digi-Battle]]'', ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'' Collectible Card Game, ''[[Magi-Nation Duel|Magi-Nation]]'' and ''[[X-Men Trading Card Game|X-Men]]''. ''Vampires: The Eternal Struggle'' resumed production in 2000 after White Wolf regained full rights and released the first new expansion in three years called ''Sabbat War''. Wizards of the Coast introduced a new sports CCG called ''[[MLB Showdown]]'' as well.<ref name="MILLER"/> Decipher released its final chronological expansion of the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy called ''Death Star II'' and would continue to see a loss in sales as interest waned in succeeding expansions, and their ''Star Wars'' license was not being renewed. ''[[Mage Knight]]'' was also released this year and would seek to challenge the CCG market by introducing [[Miniature wargaming|miniature]]s into the mix. Though not technically a CCG, it would target the same player base for sales. The real shake up in the industry however, came when Hasbro laid off more than 100 workers at Wizards of the Coast and ended its attempts at an online version of the game when it sold off their interactive division. Coinciding with this turn of events was Peter Adkisson's decision to resign and Lisa Stevens whose job ended when ''[[The Duelist]]'' magazine (published by Wizards of the Coast) was cancelled by the parent company. With Adkisson went Wizards' acquirement of Gen Con and the Origins Convention went to GAMA. Hasbro also ceased production of ''Legends of the Five Rings'' in 2000 and it was eventually sold to Alderac in 2001.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> ===Franchise trends continue=== As seen in 2000, the years 2001 and 2002 continued on with the CCG market being less likely to take chances on new and original intellectual properties, but instead it would invest in CCGs that were based off existing franchises. Cartoons, movies, television, and books influenced the creation of such CCGs as ''[[Harry Potter Trading Card Game|Harry Potter]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game|The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[A Game of Thrones (card game)|A Game of Thrones]]'', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Collectible Card Game|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' and two ''Star Wars'' CCGs: ''[[Jedi Knights Trading Card Game|Jedi Knights]]'' and a rebooted ''[[Star Wars Trading Card Game|Star Wars]]'' TCG, both by Wizards of the Coast. They followed the demise of the original ''Star Wars'' CCG by Decipher in December of 2001, but they would see very little interest and eventually the two games were cancelled. Other niche CCGs were also made, including ''[[Warlord (card game)|Warlord]]'' and ''[[Warhammer 40,000 Collectible Card Game|Warhammer 40,000]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/> Upper Deck had its first hit with ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' The game was known to be popular in [[Japan]] but until 2002 had not been released in the [[United States]]. The game was mostly distributed to big retailers, with [[Hobby shop|hobby stores]] added to their distribution afterwards. By the end of 2002, the game was the top CCG even though it was no where near the phenomenon that ''Pokémon'' was. The card publisher Precedence produced a new CCG in 2001 based on the ''[[Rifts (role-playing game)|Rifts]]'' RPG by [[Palladium]]. ''[[Rifts Collectible Card Game|Rifts]]'' had top of the line artwork but the size of the starter deck was similar in size to the RPG books. Precedence's other main CCG ''Babylon 5'' ended its decent run in 2001 after the company lost its licence. The game was terminated and the publisher later folded in 2002. The release of ''The Lord of the Rings'' CCG marked the release of the 100th new CCG since 1993, and 2002 also marked the release of the 500th CCG expansion for all CCGs. ''The Lord of the Rings'' CCG briefly beat out sales of ''Magic'' for a few months.<ref name="MILLER2"/> ''Magic'' continued a steady pace releasing successful expansion blocks with ''[[Odyssey (Magic: The Gathering)|Odyssey]]'' and ''[[Onslaught (Magic: The Gathering)|Onslaught]]''. Decipher released ''The Motion Pictures'' expansion for the ''Star Trek'' CCG, and also announced that it would be the last expansion for the game. Decipher then released the ''Second Edition'' for the ''Star Trek'' CCG which refined the rules, rebooted the game, and introduced new card frames. [[Collectible miniature game]]s made more splashes in 2002 with the releases of ''[[HeroClix]]'' and ''[[MechWarrior: Dark Age|MechWarrior]]''.<ref name="MILLER2"/> ===A second wave of new CCGs=== The next few years saw a large increase in the amount of companies willing to start a new CCG. No small thanks to the previous successes of ''Pokémon'' and ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', many new CCGs entered the market, many of which tried to continue the trend of tying them in with other franchises. Notable entries include ''[[The Simpsons Trading Card Game|The Simpsons]]'', ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants Trading Card Game|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', ''[[Neopets Trading Card Game|Neopets]]'', ''[[G.I. Joe Trading Card Game|G.I. Joe]]'', ''[[Hecatomb (card game)|Hecatomb]]'', ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trading Card Game|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' and many others. ''[[Duel Masters Trading Card Game|Duel Masters]]'' was introduced to the United States after strong popularity in Japan the previous two years. Wizards of the Coast published it for a couple years before it was cancelled in the U.S. due to weak sales. Two ''Warhammer'' CCGs were released with ''[[Horus Heresy (card game)|Horus Heresy]]'' and ''[[WarCry (game)|WarCry]]''. ''Horus Heresy'' lasted two years and was succeeded by ''[[Dark Millennium]]'' in 2005. Also, two entries from Decipher were released, one that passed the torch from their ''Star Wars'' CCG to ''[[WARS Trading Card Game|WARS]]''. ''WARS'' kept most of the game play mechanics from their ''Star Wars'' game, but transferred them to a new and original setting. The game did not do particularly well, and after two expansions, the game was cancelled in 2005. The other new CCG was ''[[.hack//Enemy]]'' which won an Origins award. Unfortunately, this game was also cancelled in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/2003| title=Origins Award Winners (2003) |publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design|accessdate=2007-10-02 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20071105015159/http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/2003 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-11-05}}</ref> Plenty of other CCGs were attempted by various publishers, many that were based on Japanese [[manga]] such as ''[[Decipher, Inc.#History|Beyblade]]'', ''[[Gundam War Collectible Card Game|Gundam War]]'', ''[[One Piece]]'', ''[[Inuyasha]]'', ''[[Zatch Bell! The Card Battle|Zatch Bell!]]'', ''[[Case Closed (manga)#Other related media|Case Closed]]'', and ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho Trading Card Game|YuYu Hakusho]]''. Existing CCGs were reformatted or rebooted including ''Dragon Ball Z'' as ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'' and ''Digimon D-Tector'' as the ''[[Digimon Collectible Card Game#Card game|Digimon Collectible Card Game]]''. An interesting CCG released by Upper Deck was called the ''[[Vs. System]]''. It incorporated the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] and [[DC Comics]] universes and pitted the heroes and villains from those universes against one another. Similarly, the game [[Universal Fighting System|UFS: The Universal Fighting System]] used characters from [[Street Fighter]], [[Soul Calibur]], [[Tekken]], [[Mega Man]], [[Darkstalkers]], etc. This CCG was obtained by [[Jasco Games]] in 2010 and is currently still being made. Another CCG titled ''[[Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game|Call of Cthulhu]]'' was the spiritual successor to ''[[Mythos (card game)|Mythos]]'' by the publisher [[Chaosium]]. Chaosium licensed the game to [[Fantasy Flight Games]] who produced the CCG. Probably one of the biggest developments in the CCG market was the release of ''Magic'''s ''[[8th Edition (Magic: The Gathering)|8th Edition]]'' core set. It introduced a redesigned card border and it would later mark the beginning of a new play format titled [[Magic: The Gathering#Constructed|Modern]] that utilized cards from this set onward. ''Pokémon'', which was originally published by Wizards, was sold to [[Nintendo]] in June 2003. ===The CCG renaissance continues=== The previous years influx of new CCGs continued on into 2006. Riding high on the success of the popular [[PC Game]] ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', [[Blizzard Entertainment]] licensed Upper Deck to publish a TCG based on the game. The ''[[World of Warcraft Trading Card Game|World of Warcraft]]'' TCG was born and was carried by major retailers but saw limited success. Following previous trends, more Japanese influenced CCGs entered the market. These games were either based on cartoons or manga and included: ''[[Naruto Collectible Card Game#Trading card game|Naruto]]'', ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender Trading Card Game|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', ''[[Bleach Trading Card Game|Bleach]]'', ''[[Rangers Strike]]'' and the classic series ''[[Robotech Collectible Card Game|Robotech]]''. ''Dragon Ball GT'' was rebooted once again in 2008 and renamed as just ''[[Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game|Dragon Ball]]''. Additional franchises were made into CCGs, some as reboots. Some of the more notable ones include: ''[[Conan Collectible Card Game|Conan]]'', ''[[Battlestar Galactica Collectible Card Game|Battlestar Galactica]]'', ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game|Pirates of the Caribbean]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Collectible Card Game|Power Rangers]]'', ''[[List of 24 media#24: Trading Card Game|24 TCG]]'', and another attempt at ''[[Doctor Who – Battles in Time|Doctor Who]]'' in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Australia]]. Publisher Alderac released ''[[City of Heroes Collectible Card Game|City of Heroes]]'' CCG based on the ''[[City of Heroes]]'' PC game. Another video game was turned into a CCG by [[Tomy]] and titled ''[[List of Kingdom Hearts media#Collectible card game|Kingdom Hearts]]'' and was based on the PS2 game ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' by [[Square Enix]]. A few other CCGs were released only in other countries and never made it overseas to English speaking countries, including ''[[Monster Hunter Hunting Card|Monster Hunter]]'' of Japan, and ''{{ill|id|Vandaria Wars|Vandaria Wars}}'' of [[Indonesia]]. By the end of 2008, trouble was brewing between [[Konami]], who owned the rights to ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' and its licensee Upper Deck. Meanwhile, strong sales continued with the three top CCGs of ''Pokémon'', ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', and ''Magic: the Gathering''. ''Dark Millenium'' ended its run on the Warhammer series in 2007. <!-- ===2009 & 2010 & 2011 Contraction === Redakai, Marvel Superstars, Cardfight!! Vanguard; Magic's Zendikar uptick --><!-- ===2012 & 2013 More contraction === World of Warcraft cancelled, Monsuno introduced, Magic the Gathering Commander support --> A rise in tie-in collectible card games continued with the introduction of the ''[[My Little Pony Collectible Card Game]]'', created by Enterplay LLC and published on December 13, 2013. Enterplay was licensed the My Little Pony brand by Hasbro and first given the task to develop trading cards.<ref name="trending">{{Cite web | url = http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/27632.html | title = 'MLP CCG' Trending in Hobby | publisher = ICV2 | date = January 14, 2014 | accessdate = August 4, 2014 }}</ref> With the trading cards being rather popular, Enterplay soon developed a new CCG based on the brand alongside new waves of the trading cards. The collectible cards proved to be rather successful according to Enterplay's president, Dean Irwin; so much so that Enterplay was forced to reprint the premiere release set mid-February 2014.<ref name="trending"/> [[File:My little pony collectible card game card back.jpg|thumbnail|right|Card back for the ''My Little Pony Collectible Card Game'']] ==Gameplay== [[Image:Magicgathering1.jpg|thumb|Players engaged in a game of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''.]] Each CCG system has a fundamental set of rules that describes the players' objectives, the categories of cards used in the game, and the basic rules by which the cards interact. Each card will have additional text explaining that specific card's effect on the game. They also generally represent some specific element derived from the game's genre, setting, or source material. The cards are illustrated and named for these source elements, and the card's game function may relate to the subject. For example, ''Magic: The Gathering'' is based on the [[fantasy]] genre, so many of the cards represent creatures and magical spells from that setting. In the game, a [[European dragon|dragon]] is illustrated as a reptilian beast and typically has the ''flying'' ability and higher combat stats than smaller creatures. The bulk of CCGs are designed around a resource system by which the pace of each game is controlled. Frequently, the cards which constitute a player's deck are considered a resource, with the frequency of cards moving from the deck to the play area or player's hand being tightly controlled. Relative card strength is often balanced by the number or type of basic resources needed in order to play the card, and pacing after that may be determined by the flow of cards moving in and out of play. Resources may be specific cards themselves, or represented by other means (e.g. tokens in various resource pools, symbols on cards, etc.). Players select which cards will compose their deck from the available pool of cards, unlike traditional [[card game]]s such as [[poker]] or [[crazy eights]] in which the deck's content is limited and pre-determined. This allows a CCG player to strategically customize their deck to take advantage of favorable card interactions, combinations and statistics. While a player's deck can theoretically be of any size, a deck of approximately sixty cards is considered the optimal size, for reasons of playability, and has been adopted by most CCGs as an arbitrary 'standard' deck size. Some games, such as ''[[Magic: the Gathering]]'', limit how many copies of a particular card can be included in a deck; such limits force players to think creatively when choosing cards and deciding on a playing strategy. During a game, players usually take turns playing cards and performing game-related actions. The order and titles of these steps vary between different game systems, but the following are typical:{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} * Ready phase — A player's own in-play cards are readied for the upcoming turn. * Draw phase — The player draws one or more cards from his or her own deck. This is necessary in order to circulate cards in players' hands. * Main phase — The player uses the cards in hand and in play to interact with the game or to gain and expend resources. Some games allow for more than one of these phases. * Combat phase — This typically involves some sort of attack against the other player, which that player defends against using their own cards. Such a phase is the primary method for victory in most games. * End of turn — The player discards to the game's maximum hand size, if it has one, and end of turn effects occur. ===Internet play=== In addition to actual physical card games, collectible card games have also been developed that are played over the [[Internet]] and [[LAN]] lines. Instead of receiving physical cards, a player establishes a virtual collection that exists only as a set of data stored on a server. Such cards can be purchased (using real money) or traded within this environment. Titles include online versions of games that originated as physical CCGs (e.g., [[Magic: The Gathering Online]]), as well as games that exist solely online (e.g., [[Draconian Wars: Hyperborea Edition]], [[Card Hunter]] and [[Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft|Hearthstone]]). The first online CCGs were [[Sanctum (card game)|Sanctum]] and [[Chron X]], both developed in 1997. Sanctum was taken offline in 2010, but has since returned due to fan intervention;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://playsanctum.net |title=Sanctum Redux - Come play the game of Sanctum again |accessdate=2013-11-07}}</ref> Chron X still exists, producing new expansions over a decade later. Chron X was developed by [[Genetic Anomalies, Inc]], which later developed other online collectible card-style games based on licensed content. In some cases, new elements are added to the CCG&nbsp;— the online card games Sanctum and [[Star Chamber (game)|Star Chamber]] include, e.g.: game boards, animations and sound effects for some of their cards. [[The NOKs]], on the other hand, offer talking figures and action-arcade game play. In a different case, The [[Eye of Judgement]], a CCG that has been combined with a [[PlayStation 3]] game, bringing innovation with the CyberCode matrix technology. It allows real cards bought in stores to be scanned with the [[PlayStation Eye]] and brought into the game with 3D creatures, animations, spell animations, etc. as representations. In a similar fashion, [[Chaotic]], [[Bella Sara]], and [[MapleStory]] allow online players to enter a unique alpha-numeric code found on each physical card. These codes allow access to online cards or other online features. A related concept is that of software programs which allow players to play CCGs over the Internet, but without relying on a central server or database. When utilizing such software, players don't need to purchase any (real or virtual) cards, and are instead free to create any deck they like using the cards supported by the client software. Most of these programs have limited rule enforcement engines, instead relying on players to interpret the complex interactions between the cards. Some of these software packages support the play of more than one virtual card game; for example, [[Magic Workstation]] was originally designed to play ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic]]'', but can technically support additional games as well. In Japan, online card battle games are a common genre of [[free-to-play]] [[browser games]] or mobile games; such games with significant populations of players include ''[[The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls]]'', ''[[Kantai Collection]]'' and ''[[List of Square Enix video games|Million Arthur]]''. ''Cinderella Girls'' earns over 1 billion [[Japanese yen|yen]] in revenue monthly,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-27/idolmaster-mobile-game-earns-1-billion-yen-a-month|title=Idolmaster Mobile Game Earns 1 Billion Yen a Month|publisher=[[Anime News Network]]|date=September 27, 2012|accessdate=July 19, 2013}}</ref> whilst ''Kantai Collection'' has grown to more than 1 million players throughout Japan.<ref>2013-10-10, [http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2013/10/10/71039.html 提督100万人突破、そして島田フミカネ氏による航空母艦も実装決定! ─ 『艦これ』秋のイベントも実施準備中], インサイド</ref> The systems for online play that support the greatest variety of games are [[LackeyCCG]] and [[Gccg]]. Offerings include many copyrighted games whose manufacturers are no longer publishing the game, most notably [[Decipher, Inc.|Decipher]]'s [[Star Wars Customizable Card Game]]<ref>[http://www.decipher.com/starwars/rfd011228transcript.html DECIPHER.com : Star Wars CCG<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{wayback|url=http://www.decipher.com/starwars/rfd011228transcript.html |date=20080207033208 }}</ref> and [[Precedence Entertainment|Precedence]]’s [[Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game]]. In addition, there are several small, online CCGs run completely free by the card game creators and volunteer staff. These games at their most basic include a number of decks created for members to collect and trade. These cards are earned through games and contests at the CCG, with additional prize cards earned by collecting all cards in a deck (mastering) or completing a certain number of trades. Members typically visit each other's websites where they house their card collections, and propose trades to each other through forums or e-mail. ==Distribution== Specific game cards are most often produced in various degrees of scarcity, generally denoted as ''common'' (C), ''uncommon'' (U), and ''rare'' (R). Some games use alternate or additional designations for the relative rarity levels, such as ''super-'', ''ultra-'', ''mythic-'' or ''exclusive rares''. Special cards may also only be available through promotions, events, purchase of related material, or redemption programs. The idea of rarity borrows somewhat from other types of collectible cards, such as [[baseball cards]], but in CCGs, the level of rarity also denotes the significance of a card's effect in the game, i.e., the more powerful a card is in terms of the game, the greater its rarity. A powerful card whose effects were underestimated by the game's designers may increase in rarity due to those effects; in later editions of the game, such a card's level of rarity might increase to reduce its availability to players. Such a card might even be removed entirely from the next edition, to further limit its availability and its effect on gameplay. Most ''collectible card games'' are distributed as sealed packs containing a subset of the available cards, much like [[trading card]]s. Some of the most common distribution methods are: * Starter set — This is an introductory product which contains enough cards for two players and includes instructional information on playing the game. In order to speed the learning process, the card content is typically fixed and designed around a theme, so that the new players can start playing right away. * Starter deck (AKA ''Intro Deck'') — This contains enough game cards (usually 40 or more) for one player. It usually contains a random selection of cards, but with some basic elements so that it may be playable from the start. * Theme deck or Tournament deck — Most CCGs are designed with opposing factions, themes, or strategies. A theme deck is composed primarily of cards that work well together and is typically non-random. * Booster packs — This is the dominant avenue for distribution and is similar to trading cards. Depending on the game, booster packs for CCGs may contain from 4 to 15 cards. ==Patent== A [[patent]] was granted to [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 1997 for "a novel method of game play and game components that in one embodiment are in the form of trading cards" that includes claims covering games whose rules include many of ''Magic'''s elements in combination, including concepts such as changing orientation of a game component to indicate use (referred to in the ''Magic'' and [[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]] rules as "tapping") and constructing a deck by selecting cards from a larger pool.<ref>{{cite patent|US|5662332}}</ref> The patent has aroused criticism from some observers, who believe some of its claims to be invalid.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol17/issue18/screens.gaming.html | title = The Year in Gaming | accessdate = 2007-06-03 | last = Varney | first = Allen | publisher = [[The Austin Chronicle]] | date = 2006-05-03 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809095814/http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol17/issue18/screens.gaming.html | archivedate=2011-08-09 }}</ref> In 2003, the patent was an element of a larger legal dispute between Wizards of the Coast and [[Nintendo]], regarding trade secrets related to Nintendo's [[Pokémon Trading Card Game]]. The legal action was [[settlement conference|settled out of court]], and its terms were not disclosed.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20031229005065/en/Pokemon-USA-Wizards-Coast-Resolve-Dispute | title = Pokemon USA, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Resolve Dispute | accessdate = 2013-08-24 | publisher =Business Wire | date = 2003-12-29 }}</ref> ==Arcade== In Japan, CCGs that are played on arcade machines with physical card sets came into vogue in the early 2000s, which provided a boost to arcade profits and have been a mainstay in many game centers since. Arcade games of this type have been developed by companies such as [[Sega]], [[Square Enix]] and [[Taito]], and are most commonly of the [[real-time strategy]] or [[sports management]] genres, with some diversion into action RPGs. Players can purchase starter decks for most games separately, and after each play session, the machines will commonly dispense more cards for players to expand their decks.<ref>http://gameroomblog.com/guides/a-look-into-the-crazy-thriving-japanese-arcade-scene</ref> ==See also== * [[List of collectible card games]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==Bibliography== *{{Cite book|first1=John Jackson|last1= Miller|first2=Joyce|last2=Greenholdt|title=Collectible Card Games Checklist & Price Guide|edition=2nd|year=2003|publisher=Krause Publication|isbn=0-87349-623-X|ref=harv}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Collectible Card Game}} [[Category:Collectible card games| ]] [[Category:Games of mental skill]] [[Category:Video game genres]] [[Category:Card game terminology]]'
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'@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ [[File:TCG.jpg|thumb|Cards from various collectible card games]] -A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 and consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation +A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 afdgxxfdcbkb k🇧🇫😇😇😇😆😜🙃😍🙂🙃😍🙂😆🙂😜😗😗😑🦄😘🔥🔥🔥🔥🍕⚡️🌤🐊🌦🌊nd consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation |last=Frank |first=Jane '
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[ 0 => 'A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 afdgxxfdcbkb k🇧🇫😇😇😇😆😜🙃😍🙂🙃😍🙂😆🙂😜😗😗😑🦄😘🔥🔥🔥🔥🍕⚡️🌤🐊🌦🌊nd consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation' ]
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[ 0 => 'A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 and consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation' ]
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'[[File:TCG.jpg|thumb|Cards from various collectible card games]] A '''collectible card game''' ('''CCG'''), also called a '''trading card game''' ('''TCG''') or '''customizable card game''', is a kind of [[card game]] that first emerged in 1993 afdgxxfdcbkb k🇧🇫😇😇😇😆😜🙃😍🙂🙃😍🙂😆🙂😜😗😗😑🦄😘🔥🔥🔥🔥🍕⚡️🌤🐊🌦🌊nd consists of specially designed sets of [[playing card]]s. Terms such as "collectible" and "trading" are used interchangeably because of copyrights and marketing strategies of game companies.<ref name="FRANK">{{Citation |last=Frank |first=Jane |title=Role-Playing Game and Collectible Card Game Artists : A Biographical Dictionary |date=2012 |url=http://www.amazon.com/Role-Playing-Game-Collectible-Card-Artists/dp/0786446102/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416694102&sr=8-1&keywords=role-playing+game+and+collectible+card+game+artists%3A+a+biographical+dictionary |accessdate=2014-11-22}}</ref> The rudimentary definition requires the game to resemble [[trading card]]s in shape and function, be mass-produced for trading or collectibility, and it must have rules for [[strategy game|strategic]] game play.<ref name="WILLIAMS">{{Citation |last=Williams |first=J. Patrick |title=Gaming as Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games |date=2007-05-02 |url=http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/patrick.williams/PDFs/Williams%20-%20CSGs.pdf |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="BGG">{{Citation |title=Board Game Terminology |date= 2012-01-27 |url=http://libguides.slu.edu/boardgames |accessdate=2013-08-12}}</ref> The definition of CCGs is further refined as being a card game in which the player uses his own deck with cards primarily sold in random assortments. Acquiring these cards may be done by trading with other players or buying card packs. If every card in the game can be obtained by making a small number of purchases, or if the manufacturer does not market it as a CCG, then it is not a CCG.<ref name="MILLER">{{Citation |last=Miller |first=John Jackson |title=Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide |year=2001 |pages=520 |postscript=.}}</ref> Successful CCGs typically have upwards of thousands of unique cards, with the most successful one, ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', having nearly 15,000.<ref name="Gatherer">{{cite web| url = http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&cmc=+%3E=%5b0%5d | title = Gatherer | accessdate = March 6, 2014 | publisher = [[Wizards of the Coast]]}}, the official ''Magic'' card database.</ref> Typically, a CCG is initially played using a [[Starter pack|starter deck]], or intro deck, which has a basic complement of cards that can be used to play the game. This deck may be expanded or modified with cards from [[booster pack]]s, which contain a random selection of cards of varying rarities, usually between 8 and 15 cards. One of these cards is a rare or unique card that is much harder to obtain than the remaining cards and often has a higher value than the rest. These values can change over time as distribution changes, cards become banned in playing formats, or the [[metagame]] is altered by interactions with new cards. Eventually, with enough cards, [[Player (game)|players]] may create new decks from scratch. ==Overview== Regular [[card games]] have been around since at least the 1300s, but in 1993 a "new kind of card game" appeared.<ref name="FRANK"/><ref name="OWENS">{{Citation | last =Owens | first =Thomas S. | title =Inside Collectible Card Games | year =1996 | pages =142 | postscript =. }}</ref> It was different because the player could not buy all the cards at once. Players would first buy starter decks and then later be encouraged to buy booster packs to expand their selection of cards. What emerged was a card game that players collected and treasured but also played with.<ref name="OWENS"/> The very first collectible card game created was ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', invented by [[Richard Garfield]], and patented by [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 1993.<ref name="WILLIAMS"/><ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="OWENS"/><ref name="LONG">{{Citation |last=Long |first=Nick |title=Understanding Magic: The Gathering - Part One: History |date=2006-03-01 |url=http://voices.yahoo.com/understanding-magic-gathering-part-one-history-316660.html |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref><ref name="CHING">{{Citation |last=Ching |first=Albert |title=Card Game MAGIC: THE GATHERING Returns to Comics at IDW |date=2011-09-11 |url=http://www.newsarama.com/8291-card-game-magic-the-gathering-returns-to-comics-at-idw.html |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="UofW">{{Citation |last=Kotha |first=Suresh |title=Wizards of the Coast |date=1998-10-19 |url=http://faculty.bschool.washington.edu/skotha/website/cases%20pdf/Wizards%20of%20the%20coast%201.4.pdf |accessdate=2013-08-11}}</ref><ref name="STAFFORD">{{Citation |last=Stafford |first=Patrick |title=Richard Garfield: King of the cards |date=2014-05-24 |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-05-25-richard-garfield-king-of-the-cards |accessdate=2014-06-05}}</ref> It's considered the most successful CCG and many other companies have tried to emulate it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wizards.com/company/downloads/Magic_Fact_Sheet_Aug09.pdf |title=Magic: The Gathering Fact Sheet |year=2009 |accessdate=2013-06-10 |publisher=Wizards of the Coast}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-10000/first-modern-trading-card-game/ |title=First modern trading card game |year=2013 |accessdate=2013-06-16 |publisher=Guinness World Records}}</ref> ''The Base Ball Card Game'', a prototype from 1904, is a noteworthy precursor to CCGs because it had some similar qualities but it never saw production to qualify it as a ''collectible'' card game.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37094/the-base-ball-card-game |title=The Base Ball Card Game |accessdate=2013-08-08}}</ref> It is not known if the game was intended to be a standalone product or something altogether different like [[Top Trumps]].<ref name="Meeplepedia">{{Citation | last =Unknown | first =Kai | title =Collectible Card Games | date =2011-07-12 | url =http://www.meoplesmagazine.com/2011/07/21/collectible-card-games/ | accessdate =2013-08-12}}</ref> The game consisted of a limited 112 cards and never saw manufacture past the marketing stage.<ref name="LIPSET">{{Citation | last =Lipset | first =Lew | title =The Hobby Insider - Recollecting the history of a baseball card game that never was | newspaper =Sports Collectors Digest | year =2000 | pages =50 | postscript =. }}</ref> In 1951, [[Topps]] released the ''[[Topps#Topps baseball cards: A history|Baseball Card Game]]'' that resembled CCGs because the game cards were sold in random packs and were collectible, however the game required no strategic play to operate.<ref name="TOMARTS">{{Citation | last =Tumbusch | first =T. M. | title =Tomart's Photo Checklist & Price Guide to Collectible Card Games, Volume One | year =1995 | pages =88 | postscript =. }}</ref> To play the game, players used a randomized deck to migrate their characters around a [[baseball field|baseball diamond]]. Interaction between the two players was limited to who scored the most points and was otherwise a [[Patience (game)|solitaire]]-like function since players could not play simultaneously but in [[tandem]].<ref name="Toppsarchives">{{Citation | last =unknown | first =toppcat | title =It's Cott To be Good! | date =2013-03-28 | url =http://toppsarchives.blogspot.com/2013/03/its-cott-to-be-good.html | accessdate =2013-08-12}}</ref> This game seemed to be a followup of a game from 1947 called [[Baseball (card game)|Batter Up]] by Ed-u-Cards Corp. The game was not sold in random packs but instead the entirety of the game could be obtained with one purchase. It utilized the same baseball diamond rules that Topps adopted in 1951.<ref name="Toppsarchives"/> Other notable entries that resemble and predate the CCG are ''[[Strat-O-Matic]]'', ''[[Nuclear War (card game)|Nuclear War]]'', ''[[BattleCards]]'', and ''[[Illuminati (game)|Illuminati]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> When designing ''Magic: The Gathering'', Garfield borrowed elements from the [[board game]] ''[[Cosmic Encounter]]'' which also used cards for game play.<ref name="OWENS"/> Despite the dominance of ''Magic: The Gathering'' in the CCG market, a few have met with success and have built a niche for themselves including ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', ''[[Pokémon Trading Card Game|Pokémon]]'', and ''[[Legend of the Five Rings (collectible card game)|Legend of the Five Rings]]''. Other notable CCGs have come and gone: ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game|Star Wars]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game|Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'', ''[[Middle-earth Collectible Card Game|Middle-earth]]'', ''[[World of Warcraft Trading Card Game|World of Warcraft]]'' and ''[[Netrunner]]'' among others. Many [[List of collectible card games|other CCGs]] were produced, but had little or no commercial success.<ref name="Meeplepedia"/> ===Types and similar products=== CCGs of the past and present are divided into two kinds: "dead games" and "live games". ''Dead Games'' are those CCGs which are no longer supported by their manufacturers and have ceased releasing expansions. ''Live Games'' are those CCGs which continue to be supported by their manufacturers. Usually this means that new expansions are being created for the game and player tournaments are occurring in some fashion.<ref name="MILLER"/> CCGs should not be mistaken for [[deck-building game]]s, where the construction of the deck is a mechanism used during gameplay, or [[Fantasy Flight Games#Living Card Games|Living Card Games]] (LCGs), which is a registered trademark of [[Fantasy Flight Games]]. LCGs are card games that share many of the same characteristics as CCGs, but without the randomized booster packs characteristic of trading cards and CCGs. Other similar card games have been marketed or referred to as CCGs. [[List of collectible card games#Collectible Common-Deck Card Games|Collectible Common-Deck Card Games]] are those games where players do not have their own personal deck, and consequently, no customization of decks occur and no trading or metagame is developed. [[List of collectible card games#Non-Collectible Customizable Card Games|Non-Collectible Customizable Card Games]] are those games where each player has their own deck, but no randomness occurs when acquiring the cards. Many of these games are sold as complete sets. A few were intended to have booster packs, but those were never released.<ref name="MILLER2">{{Citation |last=Miller |first=John Jackson |title=Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide, Second Edition |year=2003 |pages=688 |postscript=.}}</ref> ==History== ===Pre-history closely associated with Wizards of the Coast=== Prior to the advent of the CCG, the market for alternative games was dominated by [[role-playing game]]s (RPG), in particular [[Dungeons & Dragons]] by [[TSR (company)|TSR]]. [[Wizards of the Coast]] (Wizards), a new company formed in [[Peter Adkison]]'s basement in 1990, was looking to enter the RPG market with its series called [[The Primal Order]] which converted [[Player character|characters]] to other RPG series. After a suit from [[Palladium Books]] which could have financially ruined the company, Wizards acquired another RPG called [[Talislanta]]. This was after [[Lisa Stevens]] joined the company in 1991 as vice president after having left [[White Wolf Publishing|White Wolf]]. Through their mutual friend Mike Davis, Adkison met [[Richard Garfield]] who at the time was a doctoral student. Garfield and Mike Davis had an idea for a game called [[RoboRally]] and pitched the idea to Wizards of the Coast in 1991, but Wizards did not have the resources to manufacture it and instead challenged Garfield to make a game that would pay for the creation of RoboRally. This game would require minimal resources to make and only about 15–20 minutes to play.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===''Magic: The Gathering''=== In December 1991, Garfield had a prototype for a game called ''Mana Clash'', and by 1993 he established Garfield Games to attract publishers and to get a larger share of the company should it become successful. Originally, ''Mana Clash'' was designed with Wizards in mind, but the suit between Palladium Books and Wizards was still not settled. Investment money was eventually secured from Wizards and the name ''Mana Clash'' was changed to ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''. The ads for it first appeared in ''[[Cryptych]]'', a magazine that focused on RPGs. On the July 4 weekend in 1993, the game premiered at the [[Origins Game Fair]] in [[Fort Worth]], [[Texas]]. In the following month of August, the game was released and sold out its initial print run of 2.6 million cards creating an immediate need for more cards. Wizards quickly released new iterations of the core set, called ''[[Beta (Magic: The Gathering)|Beta]]'' (7.3 million card print run) and ''[[Unlimited (Magic: The Gathering)|Unlimited]]'' (35 million card print run) in an attempt to satisfy orders as well as to fix small errors in the game. December also saw the release of the first expansion called ''[[Arabian Nights (Magic: The Gathering)|Arabian Nights]]''. With ''Magic: The Gathering'' still the only CCG on the market, it released another expansion called ''[[Antiquities (Magic: The Gathering)|Antiquities]]'' which experienced collation problems. Another core set iteration named ''[[Revised Edition (Magic: The Gathering)|Revised]]'' was released shortly after that. Demand was still not satiated as the game grew by leaps and bounds. [[Legends (Magic: The Gathering)|Legends]] was released in mid-1994 and no end was in sight for the excitement over the new CCG.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MOURSUND">{{Citation | last =Moursund | first =Beth | title =The Complete Encyclopedia of Magic: The Gathering | year =2002 | pages =720 | postscript =. }}</ref> ===CCG craze of 1994 & 1995=== What followed was the CCG craze. ''Magic'' was so popular that game stores could not keep it on their shelves. More and more orders came for the product, and as other game makers looked on they realized that they had to capitalize on this new fad. The first to do so was TSR who rushed their own game ''[[Spellfire]]'' into production and was released in June 1994. Through this period of time, ''Magic'' was hard to obtain because production never met the demand. Store owners placed large inflated orders in an attempt to circumvent allocations placed by distributors. This practice would eventually catch up to them when printing capacity met demand coinciding with the expansion of [[Fallen Empires]] released in November 1994. Combined with the releases of 9 other CCGs, among them ''[[Galactic Empires]]'', [[Decipher, Inc.|Decipher]]'s ''[[Star Trek Customizable Card Game|Star Trek]]'', ''[[On the Edge (game)|On the Edge]]'', and ''[[Super Deck!]]''. [[Steve Jackson Games]], which was heavily involved in the alternative game market, looked to tap into the new CCG market and figured the best way was to adapt their existing [[Illuminati (game)|Illuminati]] game. The result was ''[[Illuminati: New World Order]]'' which followed with two expansions in 1995 and 1998. Another entry by Wizards of the Coast was ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle|Jyhad]]''. The game sold well, but not nearly as well as ''Magic'', however it was considered a great competitive move by Wizard as Jyhad was based on one of the most popular [[intellectual property|intellectual properties]] in the alternative game market which kept White Wolf from aggressively competing with ''Magic''. By this time however, it may have been a moot point as the CCG Market had hit its first obstacle: too much product. The overprinted expansion of ''Magic's'' ''[[Fallen Empires]]'' threatened to upset the relationship that Wizards had with its distributors as many complained of getting too much product, despite their original over-ordering practices.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"> {{Citation | last =Appelcline | first =Shannon | title =A Brief History of Game #1: Wizards of the Coast: 1990-Present | date = 2006-08-03 | url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory1.phtml | accessdate=2013-08-29 }}</ref><ref name="UGOREK"> {{Citation | last =Courtland | first =Hayden-William | title =History of Spellfire | date = n.d. | url=http://www.spellfire.net/history.shtml | accessdate=2013-08-30 }}</ref> In early 1995, the [[Game Manufacturers Association|GAMA]] Trade Show previewed upcoming games for the year. One out of every three games announced at the show was a CCG. Publishers other than game makers were now entering the CCG market such as [[Donruss]], [[Upper Deck]], [[Fleer]], [[Topps]], [[Comic Images]], and others. The CCG [[Economic bubble|bubble]] appeared to be on everyone's mind. Too many CCGs were being released and not enough players existed to meet the demand. In 1995 alone, 38 CCGs entered the market, among them the most notable being ''[[Doomtrooper]]'', ''[[Middle-earth Collectible Card Game|Middle-earth]]'', ''[[OverPower]]'', ''[[Rage (collectible card game)|Rage]]'', ''[[Shadowfist]]'', ''[[Legend of the Five Rings (collectible card game)|Legend of the Five Rings]]'', and ''[[Sim City: The Card Game|SimCity]]''. ''Jyhad'' saw a makeover and was renamed as ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'' to distance itself from the [[Islam]]ic term [[jihad]] as well as to get closer to the source material.<ref name="MILLER"/> The Star Trek CCG from Decipher was almost terminated after disputes with [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] announced that the series would end in 1997. But by the end of the year, the situation was resolved and Decipher regained the license to the ''Star Trek'' franchise along with ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' and the movie ''[[First Contact (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|First Contact]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> Enthusiasm from manufacturers was very high, but by the summer of 1995 at [[Gen Con]], retailers had noticed CCG sales were lagging. The ''Magic'' expansion ''[[Chronicles (Magic: The Gathering)|Chronicles]]'' released in November and was essentially a compilation of older sets. It was maligned by collectors and they claimed it devalued their collections. Besides this aspect, the market was still reeling from too much product as ''Fallen Empires'' still sat on shelves alongside newer ''Magic'' expansions like ''[[Ice Age (Magic: The Gathering)|Ice Age]]''. The one new CCG that retailers were hoping to save their sales, ''[[Star Wars Customizable Card Game|Star Wars]]'', wasn't released until very late in December. By then, Wizards of the Coast, the lead seller in the CCG market had announced a downsizing in their company and it was followed by a layoff of over 30 jobs. The excess product and lag in sales also coincided with an 8 month long gap in between ''Magic: The Gathering'''s expansions, the longest in its history.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> In [[Hungary]], {{ill|hu|Hatalom Kártyái Kártyajáték|Hatalom Kártyái Kártyajáték}}, or HKK, was released in 1995 and was inspired by ''Magic: The Gathering.'' HKK was later released in the [[Czech Republic]]. HKK is still being made.<ref>[http://www.beholder.hu/?m=ak&cikk=8105 History of HKK]</ref><ref>[http://www.beholder.hu/?m=hkk&cikk=14663 About HKK CCG]</ref> ===Stabilization and consolidation=== In early 1996, the CCG market was still reeling from its recent failures and glut of product, including the release of Wizards' expansion ''[[Homelands (Magic: The Gathering)|Homelands]]'' which was rated as the worst ''Magic'' expansion to date. The next two years would mark a "cool off" period for the over-saturated CCG market. Additionally, manufacturers slowly came to understand that having a CCG was not enough to keep it alive. They also had to support organized players which in turn further evolved tournament play. Combined with a new dichotomy between collectors and players especially among ''Magic'' players, more emphasis was placed on the game rather than the collectibility of the cards.<ref name="MILLER"/> Plenty more CCGs were introduced in 1996, chief among them were ''[[BattleTech Collectible Card Game|BattleTech]]'', ''[[The X-Files Collectible Card Game|The X-Files]]'', ''[[Mythos (card game)|Mythos]]'', and Wizard's very own ''[[Netrunner]]''. Many established CCGs were in full swing releasing expansions every few months, but even by this time, many CCGs from only two years ago had already died. TSR had ceased production of ''Spellfire'' and attempted another collectible game called ''[[Dragon Dice]]'' which failed shortly after being released.<ref name="MILLER"/> In the first half of 1997, Wizards of the Coast announced that it had acquired TSR and its ''Dungeons & Dragons'' property which also gave them control of Gen Con. Wizards now had its long sought role-playing game, and it quickly discontinued all plans to continue producing Dragon Dice as well as any hopes of resuming production of the ''Spellfire'' CCG. Decipher was now sanctioning tournaments for their ''Star Trek'' and ''Star Wars'' games. ''Star Wars'' was also enjoying strong success in part from the coinciding enthusiasm for the ''Star Wars'' ''[[List of changes in Star Wars re-releases#1997 Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition|Special Edition]]'' films. In fact, the CCG would remain the second best selling CCG until the introduction of ''[[Pokémon Trading Card Game|Pokémon]]'' in 1999.<ref name="MILLER"/> Wizards continued acquiring properties and bought ''Legend of the Five Rings'' CCG on June 26. Wizards also acquired [[Andon Unlimited]] which by association gave them control over the Origins Convention. By September, Wizards was awarded a patent for its "Trading Card Game." Later in October, Wizards announced that it would seek royalty payments from other CCG companies. Allegedly, only [[Harper Prism]] announced its intention to pay these royalties for its game ''[[Imajica#Game|Imajica]]''. Other CCGs acknowledge the patent on their packaging.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> 1997 saw a slow down in the release of new CCG games. Only 7 new games came out, among them: ''[[Dune (card game)|Dune]]'', ''[[Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game|Babylon 5]]'', ''[[Shadowrun: The Trading Card Game|''Shadowrun'']]'', ''[[Imajica#Game|Imajica]]'' and ''[[Aliens vs. Predator Collectible Card Game|Aliens/Predator]]''. ''Babylon 5'' saw moderate success for a few years before its publisher [[Precedence Entertainment|Precedence]] succumbed to a nonrenewal of its license later on in 2001. Also in 1997, ''Vampire: The Eternal Struggle'' ceased production. However, Wizards of the Coast attempted to enter a more mainstream market with the release of a watered down version of ''Magic'', called ''[[Portal (Magic: The Gathering)|Portal]]''. Its creation is considered a failure along with its follow up ''[[Portal Second Age]]'' released in 1998.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===Wizards of the Coast dominates, Hasbro steps in=== By February 1998, one out of every two CCGs sold was ''Magic: the Gathering''. Only 6 new CCGs were introduced that year, all but one being a product of Wizards of the Coast. ''[[C-23 Trading Card Game|C-23]]'', ''[[Doomtown]]'', ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'', ''[[Legend of the Burning Sands]]'' and ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' were those five, and only ''Doomtown'' met with better than average reviews before its run was terminated and the rights returned to [[Alderac Entertainment Group|Alderac]]. ''C-23'', ''Hercules'', and ''Xena'' were all a part of a new simplified CCG system Wizards had created for beginners. Called the ARC System, it had four distinct types of cards: Resource, Character, Combat, and Action. The system also utilized the popular "tapping" mechanic of ''Magic: The Gathering''. This system was abandoned shortly afterwards.<ref name="MILLER"/> Despite limited success or no success at all in the rest of the CCG market, ''Magic'' had recovered and Wizards learned from its lessons of 1995 and early 1996. Players still enjoyed the game and were gobbling up its latest expansions of ''[[Tempest (Magic: The Gathering)|Tempest]]'', ''[[Stronghold (Magic: The Gathering)|Stronghold]]'', ''[[Exodus (Magic: The Gathering)|Exodus]]'' and by year's end, ''[[Urza's Saga]]'' which added new enthusiasm to ''Magic's'' fanbase in light of some of the cards being "too powerful."<ref name="MILLER"/> In early 1999, Wizards released the ''Pokémon'' TCG to the mass market. The game benefited from the ''[[Pokémon]]'' fad also of that year. At first there wasn't enough product to meet demand. Some retailers perceived the shortage to be, in part, related to Wizards's recent purchase of the [[Game Keeper]] stores where it was assumed they received ''Pokémon'' shipments more often than non-affiliated stores. By the summer of 1999, the ''Pokémon'' TCG became the first CCG to outsell ''Magic: The Gathering''. The success of ''Pokémon'' brought renewed interest to the CCG market and many new companies began pursuing this established customer base. Large retail stores such as [[Walmart]] and [[Target Corporation|Target]] began carrying CCGs and by the end of September, [[Hasbro]] was convinced on its profitability and bought Wizards of the Coast for $325 million.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/> A small selection of new CCGs also arrived in 1999, among them ''[[Young Jedi Collectible Card Game|Young Jedi]]'', ''[[Tomb Raider Collectible Card Game|Tomb Raider]]'', ''[[Austin Powers Collectible Card Game|Austin Powers]]'', ''[[7th Sea (collectible card game)|7th Sea]]'' and ''[[The Wheel of Time (card game)|The Wheel of Time]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/> ===Transitions and refining of the market=== By 2000, the ups and downs of the CCG market was old hat to its retailers. They foresaw ''Pokémon's'' inevitable fall from grace as the fad reached its peak in April of that year. The panic associated with the overflooding of the CCGs from 1995 and 1996 was absent and the retailers withstood the crash of ''Pokémon''. Yet CCGs benefited from the popularity of ''Pokémon'' and they saw an uptick in the amount of CCGs released and an overall increased interest in the game genre. ''Pokémon'''s mainstream success in the CCG world also highlighted an increasing trend of CCGs being marketed with existing intellectual properties, especially those with an existing television show, such as a [[cartoon]]. New CCGs introduced in 2000 included notable entries in ''[[Sailor Moon Collectible Card Game|Sailor Moon]]'', ''[[The Terminator Collectible Card Game|The Terminator]]'', ''[[Digi-Battle]]'', ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'' Collectible Card Game, ''[[Magi-Nation Duel|Magi-Nation]]'' and ''[[X-Men Trading Card Game|X-Men]]''. ''Vampires: The Eternal Struggle'' resumed production in 2000 after White Wolf regained full rights and released the first new expansion in three years called ''Sabbat War''. Wizards of the Coast introduced a new sports CCG called ''[[MLB Showdown]]'' as well.<ref name="MILLER"/> Decipher released its final chronological expansion of the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy called ''Death Star II'' and would continue to see a loss in sales as interest waned in succeeding expansions, and their ''Star Wars'' license was not being renewed. ''[[Mage Knight]]'' was also released this year and would seek to challenge the CCG market by introducing [[Miniature wargaming|miniature]]s into the mix. Though not technically a CCG, it would target the same player base for sales. The real shake up in the industry however, came when Hasbro laid off more than 100 workers at Wizards of the Coast and ended its attempts at an online version of the game when it sold off their interactive division. Coinciding with this turn of events was Peter Adkisson's decision to resign and Lisa Stevens whose job ended when ''[[The Duelist]]'' magazine (published by Wizards of the Coast) was cancelled by the parent company. With Adkisson went Wizards' acquirement of Gen Con and the Origins Convention went to GAMA. Hasbro also ceased production of ''Legends of the Five Rings'' in 2000 and it was eventually sold to Alderac in 2001.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="APPELCLINE"/> ===Franchise trends continue=== As seen in 2000, the years 2001 and 2002 continued on with the CCG market being less likely to take chances on new and original intellectual properties, but instead it would invest in CCGs that were based off existing franchises. Cartoons, movies, television, and books influenced the creation of such CCGs as ''[[Harry Potter Trading Card Game|Harry Potter]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game|The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[A Game of Thrones (card game)|A Game of Thrones]]'', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Collectible Card Game|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' and two ''Star Wars'' CCGs: ''[[Jedi Knights Trading Card Game|Jedi Knights]]'' and a rebooted ''[[Star Wars Trading Card Game|Star Wars]]'' TCG, both by Wizards of the Coast. They followed the demise of the original ''Star Wars'' CCG by Decipher in December of 2001, but they would see very little interest and eventually the two games were cancelled. Other niche CCGs were also made, including ''[[Warlord (card game)|Warlord]]'' and ''[[Warhammer 40,000 Collectible Card Game|Warhammer 40,000]]''.<ref name="MILLER"/><ref name="MILLER2"/> Upper Deck had its first hit with ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' The game was known to be popular in [[Japan]] but until 2002 had not been released in the [[United States]]. The game was mostly distributed to big retailers, with [[Hobby shop|hobby stores]] added to their distribution afterwards. By the end of 2002, the game was the top CCG even though it was no where near the phenomenon that ''Pokémon'' was. The card publisher Precedence produced a new CCG in 2001 based on the ''[[Rifts (role-playing game)|Rifts]]'' RPG by [[Palladium]]. ''[[Rifts Collectible Card Game|Rifts]]'' had top of the line artwork but the size of the starter deck was similar in size to the RPG books. Precedence's other main CCG ''Babylon 5'' ended its decent run in 2001 after the company lost its licence. The game was terminated and the publisher later folded in 2002. The release of ''The Lord of the Rings'' CCG marked the release of the 100th new CCG since 1993, and 2002 also marked the release of the 500th CCG expansion for all CCGs. ''The Lord of the Rings'' CCG briefly beat out sales of ''Magic'' for a few months.<ref name="MILLER2"/> ''Magic'' continued a steady pace releasing successful expansion blocks with ''[[Odyssey (Magic: The Gathering)|Odyssey]]'' and ''[[Onslaught (Magic: The Gathering)|Onslaught]]''. Decipher released ''The Motion Pictures'' expansion for the ''Star Trek'' CCG, and also announced that it would be the last expansion for the game. Decipher then released the ''Second Edition'' for the ''Star Trek'' CCG which refined the rules, rebooted the game, and introduced new card frames. [[Collectible miniature game]]s made more splashes in 2002 with the releases of ''[[HeroClix]]'' and ''[[MechWarrior: Dark Age|MechWarrior]]''.<ref name="MILLER2"/> ===A second wave of new CCGs=== The next few years saw a large increase in the amount of companies willing to start a new CCG. No small thanks to the previous successes of ''Pokémon'' and ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', many new CCGs entered the market, many of which tried to continue the trend of tying them in with other franchises. Notable entries include ''[[The Simpsons Trading Card Game|The Simpsons]]'', ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants Trading Card Game|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', ''[[Neopets Trading Card Game|Neopets]]'', ''[[G.I. Joe Trading Card Game|G.I. Joe]]'', ''[[Hecatomb (card game)|Hecatomb]]'', ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trading Card Game|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' and many others. ''[[Duel Masters Trading Card Game|Duel Masters]]'' was introduced to the United States after strong popularity in Japan the previous two years. Wizards of the Coast published it for a couple years before it was cancelled in the U.S. due to weak sales. Two ''Warhammer'' CCGs were released with ''[[Horus Heresy (card game)|Horus Heresy]]'' and ''[[WarCry (game)|WarCry]]''. ''Horus Heresy'' lasted two years and was succeeded by ''[[Dark Millennium]]'' in 2005. Also, two entries from Decipher were released, one that passed the torch from their ''Star Wars'' CCG to ''[[WARS Trading Card Game|WARS]]''. ''WARS'' kept most of the game play mechanics from their ''Star Wars'' game, but transferred them to a new and original setting. The game did not do particularly well, and after two expansions, the game was cancelled in 2005. The other new CCG was ''[[.hack//Enemy]]'' which won an Origins award. Unfortunately, this game was also cancelled in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/2003| title=Origins Award Winners (2003) |publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design|accessdate=2007-10-02 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20071105015159/http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/2003 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-11-05}}</ref> Plenty of other CCGs were attempted by various publishers, many that were based on Japanese [[manga]] such as ''[[Decipher, Inc.#History|Beyblade]]'', ''[[Gundam War Collectible Card Game|Gundam War]]'', ''[[One Piece]]'', ''[[Inuyasha]]'', ''[[Zatch Bell! The Card Battle|Zatch Bell!]]'', ''[[Case Closed (manga)#Other related media|Case Closed]]'', and ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho Trading Card Game|YuYu Hakusho]]''. Existing CCGs were reformatted or rebooted including ''Dragon Ball Z'' as ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'' and ''Digimon D-Tector'' as the ''[[Digimon Collectible Card Game#Card game|Digimon Collectible Card Game]]''. An interesting CCG released by Upper Deck was called the ''[[Vs. System]]''. It incorporated the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] and [[DC Comics]] universes and pitted the heroes and villains from those universes against one another. Similarly, the game [[Universal Fighting System|UFS: The Universal Fighting System]] used characters from [[Street Fighter]], [[Soul Calibur]], [[Tekken]], [[Mega Man]], [[Darkstalkers]], etc. This CCG was obtained by [[Jasco Games]] in 2010 and is currently still being made. Another CCG titled ''[[Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game|Call of Cthulhu]]'' was the spiritual successor to ''[[Mythos (card game)|Mythos]]'' by the publisher [[Chaosium]]. Chaosium licensed the game to [[Fantasy Flight Games]] who produced the CCG. Probably one of the biggest developments in the CCG market was the release of ''Magic'''s ''[[8th Edition (Magic: The Gathering)|8th Edition]]'' core set. It introduced a redesigned card border and it would later mark the beginning of a new play format titled [[Magic: The Gathering#Constructed|Modern]] that utilized cards from this set onward. ''Pokémon'', which was originally published by Wizards, was sold to [[Nintendo]] in June 2003. ===The CCG renaissance continues=== The previous years influx of new CCGs continued on into 2006. Riding high on the success of the popular [[PC Game]] ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', [[Blizzard Entertainment]] licensed Upper Deck to publish a TCG based on the game. The ''[[World of Warcraft Trading Card Game|World of Warcraft]]'' TCG was born and was carried by major retailers but saw limited success. Following previous trends, more Japanese influenced CCGs entered the market. These games were either based on cartoons or manga and included: ''[[Naruto Collectible Card Game#Trading card game|Naruto]]'', ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender Trading Card Game|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', ''[[Bleach Trading Card Game|Bleach]]'', ''[[Rangers Strike]]'' and the classic series ''[[Robotech Collectible Card Game|Robotech]]''. ''Dragon Ball GT'' was rebooted once again in 2008 and renamed as just ''[[Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game|Dragon Ball]]''. Additional franchises were made into CCGs, some as reboots. Some of the more notable ones include: ''[[Conan Collectible Card Game|Conan]]'', ''[[Battlestar Galactica Collectible Card Game|Battlestar Galactica]]'', ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game|Pirates of the Caribbean]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Collectible Card Game|Power Rangers]]'', ''[[List of 24 media#24: Trading Card Game|24 TCG]]'', and another attempt at ''[[Doctor Who – Battles in Time|Doctor Who]]'' in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Australia]]. Publisher Alderac released ''[[City of Heroes Collectible Card Game|City of Heroes]]'' CCG based on the ''[[City of Heroes]]'' PC game. Another video game was turned into a CCG by [[Tomy]] and titled ''[[List of Kingdom Hearts media#Collectible card game|Kingdom Hearts]]'' and was based on the PS2 game ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' by [[Square Enix]]. A few other CCGs were released only in other countries and never made it overseas to English speaking countries, including ''[[Monster Hunter Hunting Card|Monster Hunter]]'' of Japan, and ''{{ill|id|Vandaria Wars|Vandaria Wars}}'' of [[Indonesia]]. By the end of 2008, trouble was brewing between [[Konami]], who owned the rights to ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' and its licensee Upper Deck. Meanwhile, strong sales continued with the three top CCGs of ''Pokémon'', ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', and ''Magic: the Gathering''. ''Dark Millenium'' ended its run on the Warhammer series in 2007. <!-- ===2009 & 2010 & 2011 Contraction === Redakai, Marvel Superstars, Cardfight!! Vanguard; Magic's Zendikar uptick --><!-- ===2012 & 2013 More contraction === World of Warcraft cancelled, Monsuno introduced, Magic the Gathering Commander support --> A rise in tie-in collectible card games continued with the introduction of the ''[[My Little Pony Collectible Card Game]]'', created by Enterplay LLC and published on December 13, 2013. Enterplay was licensed the My Little Pony brand by Hasbro and first given the task to develop trading cards.<ref name="trending">{{Cite web | url = http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/27632.html | title = 'MLP CCG' Trending in Hobby | publisher = ICV2 | date = January 14, 2014 | accessdate = August 4, 2014 }}</ref> With the trading cards being rather popular, Enterplay soon developed a new CCG based on the brand alongside new waves of the trading cards. The collectible cards proved to be rather successful according to Enterplay's president, Dean Irwin; so much so that Enterplay was forced to reprint the premiere release set mid-February 2014.<ref name="trending"/> [[File:My little pony collectible card game card back.jpg|thumbnail|right|Card back for the ''My Little Pony Collectible Card Game'']] ==Gameplay== [[Image:Magicgathering1.jpg|thumb|Players engaged in a game of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''.]] Each CCG system has a fundamental set of rules that describes the players' objectives, the categories of cards used in the game, and the basic rules by which the cards interact. Each card will have additional text explaining that specific card's effect on the game. They also generally represent some specific element derived from the game's genre, setting, or source material. The cards are illustrated and named for these source elements, and the card's game function may relate to the subject. For example, ''Magic: The Gathering'' is based on the [[fantasy]] genre, so many of the cards represent creatures and magical spells from that setting. In the game, a [[European dragon|dragon]] is illustrated as a reptilian beast and typically has the ''flying'' ability and higher combat stats than smaller creatures. The bulk of CCGs are designed around a resource system by which the pace of each game is controlled. Frequently, the cards which constitute a player's deck are considered a resource, with the frequency of cards moving from the deck to the play area or player's hand being tightly controlled. Relative card strength is often balanced by the number or type of basic resources needed in order to play the card, and pacing after that may be determined by the flow of cards moving in and out of play. Resources may be specific cards themselves, or represented by other means (e.g. tokens in various resource pools, symbols on cards, etc.). Players select which cards will compose their deck from the available pool of cards, unlike traditional [[card game]]s such as [[poker]] or [[crazy eights]] in which the deck's content is limited and pre-determined. This allows a CCG player to strategically customize their deck to take advantage of favorable card interactions, combinations and statistics. While a player's deck can theoretically be of any size, a deck of approximately sixty cards is considered the optimal size, for reasons of playability, and has been adopted by most CCGs as an arbitrary 'standard' deck size. Some games, such as ''[[Magic: the Gathering]]'', limit how many copies of a particular card can be included in a deck; such limits force players to think creatively when choosing cards and deciding on a playing strategy. During a game, players usually take turns playing cards and performing game-related actions. The order and titles of these steps vary between different game systems, but the following are typical:{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} * Ready phase — A player's own in-play cards are readied for the upcoming turn. * Draw phase — The player draws one or more cards from his or her own deck. This is necessary in order to circulate cards in players' hands. * Main phase — The player uses the cards in hand and in play to interact with the game or to gain and expend resources. Some games allow for more than one of these phases. * Combat phase — This typically involves some sort of attack against the other player, which that player defends against using their own cards. Such a phase is the primary method for victory in most games. * End of turn — The player discards to the game's maximum hand size, if it has one, and end of turn effects occur. ===Internet play=== In addition to actual physical card games, collectible card games have also been developed that are played over the [[Internet]] and [[LAN]] lines. Instead of receiving physical cards, a player establishes a virtual collection that exists only as a set of data stored on a server. Such cards can be purchased (using real money) or traded within this environment. Titles include online versions of games that originated as physical CCGs (e.g., [[Magic: The Gathering Online]]), as well as games that exist solely online (e.g., [[Draconian Wars: Hyperborea Edition]], [[Card Hunter]] and [[Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft|Hearthstone]]). The first online CCGs were [[Sanctum (card game)|Sanctum]] and [[Chron X]], both developed in 1997. Sanctum was taken offline in 2010, but has since returned due to fan intervention;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://playsanctum.net |title=Sanctum Redux - Come play the game of Sanctum again |accessdate=2013-11-07}}</ref> Chron X still exists, producing new expansions over a decade later. Chron X was developed by [[Genetic Anomalies, Inc]], which later developed other online collectible card-style games based on licensed content. In some cases, new elements are added to the CCG&nbsp;— the online card games Sanctum and [[Star Chamber (game)|Star Chamber]] include, e.g.: game boards, animations and sound effects for some of their cards. [[The NOKs]], on the other hand, offer talking figures and action-arcade game play. In a different case, The [[Eye of Judgement]], a CCG that has been combined with a [[PlayStation 3]] game, bringing innovation with the CyberCode matrix technology. It allows real cards bought in stores to be scanned with the [[PlayStation Eye]] and brought into the game with 3D creatures, animations, spell animations, etc. as representations. In a similar fashion, [[Chaotic]], [[Bella Sara]], and [[MapleStory]] allow online players to enter a unique alpha-numeric code found on each physical card. These codes allow access to online cards or other online features. A related concept is that of software programs which allow players to play CCGs over the Internet, but without relying on a central server or database. When utilizing such software, players don't need to purchase any (real or virtual) cards, and are instead free to create any deck they like using the cards supported by the client software. Most of these programs have limited rule enforcement engines, instead relying on players to interpret the complex interactions between the cards. Some of these software packages support the play of more than one virtual card game; for example, [[Magic Workstation]] was originally designed to play ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic]]'', but can technically support additional games as well. In Japan, online card battle games are a common genre of [[free-to-play]] [[browser games]] or mobile games; such games with significant populations of players include ''[[The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls]]'', ''[[Kantai Collection]]'' and ''[[List of Square Enix video games|Million Arthur]]''. ''Cinderella Girls'' earns over 1 billion [[Japanese yen|yen]] in revenue monthly,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-09-27/idolmaster-mobile-game-earns-1-billion-yen-a-month|title=Idolmaster Mobile Game Earns 1 Billion Yen a Month|publisher=[[Anime News Network]]|date=September 27, 2012|accessdate=July 19, 2013}}</ref> whilst ''Kantai Collection'' has grown to more than 1 million players throughout Japan.<ref>2013-10-10, [http://www.inside-games.jp/article/2013/10/10/71039.html 提督100万人突破、そして島田フミカネ氏による航空母艦も実装決定! ─ 『艦これ』秋のイベントも実施準備中], インサイド</ref> The systems for online play that support the greatest variety of games are [[LackeyCCG]] and [[Gccg]]. Offerings include many copyrighted games whose manufacturers are no longer publishing the game, most notably [[Decipher, Inc.|Decipher]]'s [[Star Wars Customizable Card Game]]<ref>[http://www.decipher.com/starwars/rfd011228transcript.html DECIPHER.com : Star Wars CCG<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{wayback|url=http://www.decipher.com/starwars/rfd011228transcript.html |date=20080207033208 }}</ref> and [[Precedence Entertainment|Precedence]]’s [[Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game]]. In addition, there are several small, online CCGs run completely free by the card game creators and volunteer staff. These games at their most basic include a number of decks created for members to collect and trade. These cards are earned through games and contests at the CCG, with additional prize cards earned by collecting all cards in a deck (mastering) or completing a certain number of trades. Members typically visit each other's websites where they house their card collections, and propose trades to each other through forums or e-mail. ==Distribution== Specific game cards are most often produced in various degrees of scarcity, generally denoted as ''common'' (C), ''uncommon'' (U), and ''rare'' (R). Some games use alternate or additional designations for the relative rarity levels, such as ''super-'', ''ultra-'', ''mythic-'' or ''exclusive rares''. Special cards may also only be available through promotions, events, purchase of related material, or redemption programs. The idea of rarity borrows somewhat from other types of collectible cards, such as [[baseball cards]], but in CCGs, the level of rarity also denotes the significance of a card's effect in the game, i.e., the more powerful a card is in terms of the game, the greater its rarity. A powerful card whose effects were underestimated by the game's designers may increase in rarity due to those effects; in later editions of the game, such a card's level of rarity might increase to reduce its availability to players. Such a card might even be removed entirely from the next edition, to further limit its availability and its effect on gameplay. Most ''collectible card games'' are distributed as sealed packs containing a subset of the available cards, much like [[trading card]]s. Some of the most common distribution methods are: * Starter set — This is an introductory product which contains enough cards for two players and includes instructional information on playing the game. In order to speed the learning process, the card content is typically fixed and designed around a theme, so that the new players can start playing right away. * Starter deck (AKA ''Intro Deck'') — This contains enough game cards (usually 40 or more) for one player. It usually contains a random selection of cards, but with some basic elements so that it may be playable from the start. * Theme deck or Tournament deck — Most CCGs are designed with opposing factions, themes, or strategies. A theme deck is composed primarily of cards that work well together and is typically non-random. * Booster packs — This is the dominant avenue for distribution and is similar to trading cards. Depending on the game, booster packs for CCGs may contain from 4 to 15 cards. ==Patent== A [[patent]] was granted to [[Wizards of the Coast]] in 1997 for "a novel method of game play and game components that in one embodiment are in the form of trading cards" that includes claims covering games whose rules include many of ''Magic'''s elements in combination, including concepts such as changing orientation of a game component to indicate use (referred to in the ''Magic'' and [[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]] rules as "tapping") and constructing a deck by selecting cards from a larger pool.<ref>{{cite patent|US|5662332}}</ref> The patent has aroused criticism from some observers, who believe some of its claims to be invalid.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol17/issue18/screens.gaming.html | title = The Year in Gaming | accessdate = 2007-06-03 | last = Varney | first = Allen | publisher = [[The Austin Chronicle]] | date = 2006-05-03 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809095814/http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol17/issue18/screens.gaming.html | archivedate=2011-08-09 }}</ref> In 2003, the patent was an element of a larger legal dispute between Wizards of the Coast and [[Nintendo]], regarding trade secrets related to Nintendo's [[Pokémon Trading Card Game]]. The legal action was [[settlement conference|settled out of court]], and its terms were not disclosed.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20031229005065/en/Pokemon-USA-Wizards-Coast-Resolve-Dispute | title = Pokemon USA, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Resolve Dispute | accessdate = 2013-08-24 | publisher =Business Wire | date = 2003-12-29 }}</ref> ==Arcade== In Japan, CCGs that are played on arcade machines with physical card sets came into vogue in the early 2000s, which provided a boost to arcade profits and have been a mainstay in many game centers since. Arcade games of this type have been developed by companies such as [[Sega]], [[Square Enix]] and [[Taito]], and are most commonly of the [[real-time strategy]] or [[sports management]] genres, with some diversion into action RPGs. Players can purchase starter decks for most games separately, and after each play session, the machines will commonly dispense more cards for players to expand their decks.<ref>http://gameroomblog.com/guides/a-look-into-the-crazy-thriving-japanese-arcade-scene</ref> ==See also== * [[List of collectible card games]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==Bibliography== *{{Cite book|first1=John Jackson|last1= Miller|first2=Joyce|last2=Greenholdt|title=Collectible Card Games Checklist & Price Guide|edition=2nd|year=2003|publisher=Krause Publication|isbn=0-87349-623-X|ref=harv}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Collectible Card Game}} [[Category:Collectible card games| ]] [[Category:Games of mental skill]] [[Category:Video game genres]] [[Category:Card game terminology]]'
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