Unless you’ve been too wrapped up in World Cup fever, you’ve probably noticed there were a few news stories about E3 and all the new gaming options that are coming out in the near future.  One of these stories is the release of the Xbox Kinect (formerly Project Natal) and the Kinect series of games.

Kinect (pronounced: connect) is an auxiliary device for your Xbox that allows you to use your body as the controller in order to play games.  To drive a car you just put your hands out like they’re on a steering wheel.  To ride a skateboard, you stand sideways and lean back, forth, forward and backward.  You are literally part of the game.

So what is this fancy new tech device doing on a board game site?  Well, my friends, the Kinect has one other capability that has not been discussed all that much.  Kinect allows you to connect with other Xbox users and play games, chat, and interact with them in an almost Skype or Apple Facetime way.

This is where I see the Kinect really taking off in the future.  Not with body contortioning video games, but with the ability to play simpler interactive games with others.

Xbox Live and the games available therein have already been one of the drivers behind the system (think of playing Halo or Modern Warfare alone… I shudder at the thought.)  Now we can actually see and interact physically with our online friends, now we can play those games in person (sort of) and actually see and talk to them while doing so.

I foresee a time coming soon where I’ll be able to boot up my Xbox (when I buy one) load up a game of Tichu, Tobago, or Small World, and connect with Olivia if Florida, Dad in St. Louis, and my brother Mike in Mangalore, and play a round or two.  That connection and interaction, that ability to keep in touch with family and friends regardless of distance, that’s where Kinect will really shine.

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The Ticket to Ride World Championship will take place on June 19 in the Musée de la Carte à Jouer (Card Game Museum) in Issy-les-Moulineaux. The national champions will play several games on the various maps of Ticket to Ride – the best of them will then be declared Ticket to Ride World Champion and win a trip for two on the legendary Orient-Express!

The Tric Trac Team and Days of Wonder offer you the opportunity to follow this event live! The championship will be broadcasted on www.trictrac.tv and on our website, on the Ticket to Ride World Championship page.

Of course, if you prefer, you can also attend the Championship in the Musée de la Carte à Jouer. The champions need you to support them!

If you want to encourage your favorite champion, feel free to post a support message in our forum!

Source:  Days of Wonder

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Who wants a free iPad.  I know I do, and if you’re like me you might be able to win one.  Not from us this time, but from our good friends over at Days of Wonder Games.

OK, here are the details in quick form.  They’re going to give the iPad (pre-loaded with their Small World App) away to the winner of the 2,000,000th game on their online gaming area.  They’re already above 19,800,000 so if you’re not signed up with them yet, I strongly recommend you get over there quick.

If you’re not the winner of the 2millionth game, fear not.  The other players in that game each get an iPod Touch.  Alright, good luck to everyone, and get gaming.

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We thought it was cool when someone bought a few Games from Nazi Germany (because of the history.)  Now they’ve found a German game from World War I.  That’s just amazing.

Unterseekriegspiel, or Undersea War Game, is a turn based game in which U-Boat commanders have to attack and destroy British targets to soften them up for a German invasion.  Attacking ports, seaside installations, and shipping lanes, the game flows much like “Chutes and Ladders”

I have to admit I’d love to get my hands on this game, and according to the auction house’s site the expected price will fall between £400 and £600 ($582 and $873.)  A price I might be able to afford…if I didn’t have a car payment.

Since I’m not going to be able to buy it myself, I would like to get a game together with whomsoever does purchase the game.  I personally can’t read German that well (the language in which the instructions are printed) but I’m sure we can find a translator.

So, if you are the person who bought the game, you have the rules translated, and your in or visiting Phoenix, AZ, give me a call and we’ll get a game together.

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I just received an email from Matt over at North Star Games regarding the recent release of their new game Wits & Wagers Family.  Here’s the story from the press release:

Wits & Wagers Family takes the unique trivia-betting game play of Wits & Wagers and makes it more family-friendly.  The simplified, faster game-play and kid-friendly questions level the playing field, providing instant fun for all ages.

But all bets are off! Wits & Wagers Family introduces “Meeples.”  No mass-market type game has had meeples – until now.  Previously found in hobby oriented board games, meeples have been gaining in popularity as gaming pieces.  These cute wooden pieces serve as the perfect family-friendly replacement for the poker chips found in the classic Wits & Wagers game.

Lower price point, easier rules, no poker chips, no gambling, meeples, faster game play, and questions aimed at kids. Wits & Wagers Family has everything needed to bring the award winning Wits & Wagers experience to players of all ages.

It’s been awhile since I played the original Wits and Wagers so I’m not going to claim to be the greatest strategist.  I will say that this looks like an interesting twist on the game, and one that I would be likely to purchase for my cousins and their kids, if not for myself.

Have any of you played the updated version?  I have finally (I hope) fixed the comments, so please leave us some information if you have played.  What are your thoughts?  Is it good, bad, other?  Let us know below.

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We have a copy of Ticket to Ride (USA version) with the sixth player expansion that we’re going to give to one of our lucky readers.  Entering the contest is simple.  Just do one of three things by this Friday (5/14/10) and we’ll draw for the winner.

Here’s how to enter:

• Leave a comment on one of our posts.  You can comment on any of our previous articles, or tell us what you want to see from Games Overboard on this post.  We’re open to your suggestions, so let us know what you think.
• Follow and Reply to us on Twitter.  Say, “Hi,” tell us your thoughts, make a suggestion for a new article, or whatever else you want to say.  Just make sure to keep it under 140 characters.
• Write your own post for Games Overboard and email it to mark@gamesoverboard.com.  It can be about anything game related.*

That’s all you have to do and the game could be yours.  Oh, and in case you’re wondering, if you can have up to four entries in the drawing if you choose to do more than one of the above options.  That’s right, if you do all three we’ll give you a bonus entry into the drawing.

I’ll be drawing the winner this coming weekend, after I’ve had a chance to tally the results.  Good luck to everyone!

*Emailed articles will be considered only if you allow us the option to post them under a Creative Commons non-commercial, share-alike licence.  Works will be attributed to the authors, if posted, so please let us know you’re information so we can give you the compliments you deserve.

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I recently talked about the release of the Apple iPad and all its upcoming game releases, and I’m happy to tell everyone I just got an email from Days of Wonder Games telling me of their release of their first iPad game App.  Small World is now available in the App Store for purchase.

If you haven’t had the chance to play Small World yet, it’s a great game.  The goal is to earn as many points as possible over eight to ten turns (depending on the number of players.)  To earn points you have to conquer territory using your selected race.

Of course there is a twist.  Each race has a special ability of their own along with an attached special ability randomly drawn from the deck.  There are literally thousands of combinations available to the players, and even more with the current expansion packs.

On top of these options, you can’t keep the same race the whole game.  (I’ve tried, it doesn’t work.)  At some point during the game play, maybe even several points in the game play, you’ll have to switch races and let your former group go into decline.

There are tons of options and several strategies available depending on the races and special abilities that come up.  It’s a game that I know will have a place in the closet for a long time to come, and if I ever get an iPad, it will have a place there as well.

If you’re one of those lucky few who already have an iPad in your hands, I would click the link below and buy it now.  It’s only $4.99 and well worth more.

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Recently, like last week, American Mensa, that group for really really smart people, released their picks for this years, Mensa Select recipients.  These selections?  Mensa’s top five board games of 2010.

Now it should be obvious that Mensa people like board games, they’re all just a bunch of geeks like the rest of us, and each year they select their top five brain twisting games to receive the official Mensa Seal of Approval.  Games with this seal typically have better marketing options and have even been picked up by large publishing houses for distribution.

So how do you get your board game into the running?  Simply go to the American Mensa’s Mind Games site and enter.  They’ll be taking new selections in the fall, so get your game together and get ready to bend some really brilliant minds.

And for those of you who would rather play the games than make them, here are the winners from this year:

Anomia:  A fast paced matching card game that requires you to think on your feet.  A game based on, what most would call, common knowledge of random trivia.  Pop music, food, dog breeds, all is acceptable if you can find the connection.  Wild cards in the deck mix up the fun while you try to battle other players in naming the most random thing in the selected category.  (Ages:  10+, 3-6 players.)

Forbidden Island:  ”Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss! The latest creation by cooperative game master, Matt Leacock who created the best seller Pandemic.”  (Ages:  10+, 2-4 players)

Dizios:  A domino game where the goal is to make the most dizzying object of art possible.  Gain points be touching as many other pieces as play allows.  But, of course, there’s a twist, the tile colors are blended and blurred to make playing them harder than you might at first believe.  Basically, it’s dominoes and Blokus with a little Jackson Polluck thrown in to make things fun.  (Ages:  8+, 2 or more players)

If you’re thinking this is just another version of Scrabble, think again.  This is another fast paced game where you try to out-think your competitors.  They flip over a category card and you and your team have to think up a word that fits.  The other team does it’s best to distract you while you decide.  You then pull over the letters of the word toward your side of the street.  Not sure what the end game is, but it sounds like a blast.  (Ages:  12+, 2-8 players)

Yikerz:  First of all, any game that employs the use of rare earth magnets gets an automatic “thumbs-up” in my mind.  Yikerz is a game of removal where you try to clear your tokens from the board before your opponent, all the while avoiding magnetic forces from your opponents pieces.  Create traps to ensnare your opponent with your own magnets, or capture their pieces to force them off the board.  Yup, I love those magnets.  (Ages:  14+, 1-4 players)

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Created by a Middle School Social Studies teacher, the not-yet-released game “King Phillip’s War” has come under fire from Native American tribes whose ancestors played parts in the battles from 335 years ago.  The game, which focuses on the battles led by King Phillip (or Metacomet of the Wampanoag sachem) and the British colonials in New England in 1675-76.

The game from MultiMan Publishing can last five or ten turns and seems to run on the typical dice driven battle scenario game (think Risk.)  It’s the Colonials against the warriors of King Phillip with the goal of each side to capture strategic individuals and locations.

The controversy comes from the ancestors of the tribes involved who believe the game highlights the atrocities brought upon their peoples in the course of the European conquest of the New World.  One of the owners of the publishing company, Curt Schilling (yes, of Diamondback and Red Sox fame, that Schilling) claims the game, while controversial, still highlights a time in our history that is often overlooked in classrooms.

“If everyone intent on keeping historical events stopped at content that might seem offensive, we’d lose sight of the horrific mistakes this nation, the world and the human race are capable of, and that would be a horrific thing,” Schilling said in an e-mail sent through his publicist.

This writer must agree with the ballplayer.  I personally knew nothing of King Phillip’s war prior to the discovery of this controversy.  I was unaware of the existence of King Phillip or of the atrocities on both sides of this conflict, and I would consider myself well versed on this nation’s history.

What are your thoughts?  Am I correct in agreeing with Schilling that the game should be published, and the history of the time exposed?  Or should the publishers pull back the game in order to assuage the anger of those effected by this historical event?  Please leave a comment and let us know.

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What what what????  Scrabble is changing its rules?  How is this possible?  How can such a thing happen?  What is going on in the world?

Well, it’s true.  Mattel has decided that the rules for the game for the first time in 72 years…sort of.

The use of proper nouns has forever been Verboten in the tiled word game, but with a new rule book coming out (as part of a new Scrabble game, Scrabble Trickster) proper nouns, like cities and celebrities, will be allowed.

I have to say that this is not something I’m happy with.  Scrabble has always been one of my favorite easy-to-play, easy-to-explain, games.  I like it because you can play millions of times and never have the same game twice.  Additionally, depending on your competition, you can get some great words out there.  (Yes, I’m the guy who always finds a way to use “qat.”)

Now, with the allowance of proper nouns as part of the game play, there are just too many new options with little additional thought.  There are just too may three and four letter names that can be used.  I’m against it, and would rather see people crack open a dictionary than turn on TMZ to find the words you should be using.

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