Kingsisle Entertainment started out with one simple goal in mind: make a game for younger players, and make it work on any setup. The company knew that
Harry Potter and collectible card games were all the rage at the time so it decided to make a magic-school-inspired turn-based MMORPG. I admit that when I first heard the name and saw the screenshots I was not so much impressed as I was intrigued. I liked the fact that the game could run on an elderly machine, and I really wanted to get my hands on a new turn-based adventure.
Josef Hall, V.P. of Development, and
J. Todd Coleman, V.P. and Creative Director, were two of the people behind
Shadowbane, a game that always stuck out -- so that was a bonus. But no one guessed what success would truly mean to the company. It has claimed
millions and millions of registrations, thousands of in-game items, and as can be seen in the voting from last week, a
very passionate audience made up of gamers from all age groups. If you look at what has happened to Kingsisle, you will need no further proof that the "kid's" market can lead to
a lot of success.
Of course, kids are not the only players of
Wizard101. The game boasts grandmothers, uncles, aunts, parents who play with their children, and weird staff writers at Massively. Yes, I've played the game before and have always kept up with it. Unfortunately, the maximum level I achieved was around 12 or 13, and that was quite a while ago. It should be noted that I have played every game mentioned in the vote, some of them residing in a special place on my desktop. My idea was to list off several games that Massively readers might not be familiar with, regardless of size, and take them into a game they had never even considered playing. Every game I picked was unique and wonderful.
In the end, though, there can be only one.
Wizard101 took the vote to town, easily. It should be no surprise that the next few installments of this series will more than likely be jam-packed with comments, votes and passionate debate. If you've never seen hundreds or thousands of younger players all screaming at the top of their lungs, prepare yourself. I might be wrong, of course, but I think things would have gone down a much quieter path if
Anarchy Online had won. What have I gotten myself into?
So here we are with the next vote. I decided to start with the basics: boy or girl, which school of magic, and which mount to get around on. Later on I will be asking for your help in determining what strategic roads to go down, what quest lines to explore, and what sorts of items to go after. I will also be streaming some of my gameplay once per week, so readers can give me advice, watch me fail, and know when to join me in the game!
There are some rules, however. First,
you must behave in the comments section. No name-calling, hair-pulling, or spamming comments. If we don't play nice, I will turn this article around
right now and we can talk about
Anarchy Online instead. Second, tell your
Wizard101 friends and family to come vote. I don't want to mess this up, and I need everyone's help!
So, cast your vote below!
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Beau Hindman is your puppet. Make him dance, if you'd like. Over the next several weeks, he will be your guide through whatever game you choose, through whatever activity you command him to participate in. Follow him on Twitter or Raptr to see when he might be playing, then go in game to shoot bullets at his feet!
