Subject: News From Upperdeck About YGO 2004-2005 Hi, I would just like to share this news article with you..... By Jake Bales The Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship marks the end of a journey for the world's top competitors and the start of a new journey for the Yu-Gi-Oh! players everywhere. Yu-Gi-Oh! is the most popular trading card game and is enjoyed by millions of fans around the world. It would be easy to be happy with that success and take a break to enjoy that accomplishment. But, that's not going to happen. Never just satisfied with the status quo, Upper Deck is planning a huge amount of new and improved Yu-Gi-Oh! activities for 2004 and beyond. Included in their plans is an extensive tournament and league structure as well as cool programs for judges, demo teams, tournament organizers and convention volunteers. The focus is around a modern tournament system that includes excellent web support, new user-friendly tournament software and a worldwide ratings database that will allow players to compare their tournament experience and skill level with players from around the world. Upper Deck Entertainment (UDE) is so serious about investing in the future of Yu-Gi-Oh! and future UDE games that they are hiring the best people in the business to help them do it. Former head of the Wizards of the Coast's DCI, Jeff Donais, is one of Upper Deck's newest employees. One of his first tasks is to develop the next generation of Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament programs. "Some of the things I'd like to see include a nationwide Scholarship Tournament Series that awards kids great prizes and scholarship money to help their parents pay for the best schools possible," Donais commented, "Playing Yu-Gi-Oh! is the most fun you can have, but it's also the most rewarding game you can play." "For older and more experienced players, we'll develop an extensive worldwide Regionals and Nationals system so competitive players can prove how good they are. There are a few surprises in Yu-Gi-Oh!'s future that players and organizers will be very happy to see. I'll make an announcement about those later this year. With Upper Deck's commitment to Yu-Gi-Oh! and support from our friends at Konami, I'm certain Yu-Gi-Oh! will remain the most-popular game for a long, long time. Players can be very confident that when they buy a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards they have a serious promise from us that we'll support the game for many years to come and that their investment is secure. It's just going to get better and better." The Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament system is also becoming more and more international. The Organized Play Manager of Europe, Ann Van Dam, spoke to Yu-Gi-Oh!'s success, "Yu-Gi-Oh! launched in Europe to tremendous success and we plan to support the players and store owners who love the game. We want players to learn that Upper Deck Entertainment provides the best support of any game company in the business. It's a goal that we are serious about achieving and we'll spare no expense to meet it. We listen to our players and will make sure that they have a fun and rewarding time playing Yu-Gi-Oh! forever." In addition to Yu-Gi-Oh!, Upper Deck Entertainment is also about to launch the highly-anticipated Marvel Trading Card Game. The game is easy-to-learn, but hard to master and will probably be a second game for many Yu-Gi-Oh! Players, since it's perfectly designed to be easy for a Yu-Gi-Oh! player to learn. Also, some people tell me that the skull lair and kycoo and bazoo rulings have changed to just monsters. Is this true? email: vze39myj@verizon.net