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4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Encyclopedia Promises to Be a Hit, December 2, 1999

By

"cbs4242" (Dayton, Ohio) - See all my reviews

The release of Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia fills a gaping hole in the marketing strategy of Wizards of the Coast (WotC). The game offers players of the card game the chance to build their dream decks with every Magic card ever made. It also allows them the chance to play on-line against other Magic players from around the world. One smart move by WotC was to keep the on-line gaming experience free. Their previous attempt at a Magic computer game not only was filled with bugs and had a *very* limited card selection, but to play on-line you had to pay an on-line gaming service. This was a hidden charge that immediately turned many potential purchasers toward other games. The on-line gaming interface is very open. That is, it enforces no rules of the Magic game. Just like real life, it is up to the players of the game to determine the outcome of cards based on their own knowledge of the rules. While some may consider this a flaw in the program design, I believe is was a very wise move. First, it allows maximum expandability of the game. As new card sets come out, the game will not have to be "patched" to work with the new cards. Second, it keeps the size of the game small. If the rules and strategy for every card had to be programmed, the size of the program would rapidly spin out of control.

Some of this game's wonderful features include: larger-than-life images of all Magic cards in existence; the ability to search through the database by every conceivable combination of factors; the ability to edit, test, save, and distribute decks you create; the ability to access the latest Oracle rulings on every card; future expansion sets to the real Magic game will be available for download for a small fee to the Encyclopedia, so this program will never be obsolete.

Some cautions: the game has no computer opponent so unless you are playing on-line against someone, all you may do it create and test decks and use the program as a reference; there is currently no support for parallel cable connection games -- all games must be over the internet; I have a computer which just meets the minimum requirements as stated on the box (P100, 32M RAM) and the program runs *painfully* slow, but it runs well on a faster computer I have. Think twice before buying unless you have at least a P200 or 64M RAM; Also note that while the box states 30M of hard drive space is needed, the minimum install option actually requires 75M. I'm assuming this discrepancy arose because the box was printed before the software was totally complete; Finally, and most importantly, this is a program for those already familiar with the Magic: The Gathering card game. While rules are available within the program, they will be minimal help unless you already know what you're doing.

Summary: Overall this program is a dream come true for die-hard Magic players. It is well designed, well implemented and very upgradable. WotC and Saltmine Creative did a *fantastic* job. I expect this game to make some serious waves in the Magic community!

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GO GET IT!, July 10, 2000

By

iVan Wong - See all my reviews

This is a must for any magic player! I have been waiting for this for soooooooo long. I don't need to have those paper version of magic encyclopedia any more! There are updates on the web for new sets, ruling and pricing, too. One point to note that it requires quite a lot of computer memory and resources, I personally view it using my Pentium II-350 and found it quite slow. Not sure what is the best configuration but you can give it a try and see. Strongly recommended you to buy.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must have for any magic user, May 17, 2000

By

Jeffery T Martin - See all my reviews

The MTG interactive encyclopedia, is a must have for any MTG player Veteran or Newbie. with great online play features (No fee, and your matched up with some of the best MTG players out there!) Deck building, and testing features you can't go wrong. buy this product!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars One could do better...
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Encyclopedia. The problem with it is when you compare it to Apprentice. Read more

Published on October 6, 2000 by table table table

4.0 out of 5 stars Cool
Very nice as a database of existing cards and as a deck builder (I can finally conceive a deck from start to finish without going through thousands of cards first). Read more

Published on August 9, 2000