Jordan Weisman Prepares To Unleash Nanovor
This creature has two too many of everything.
Jordan Weisman has a strange habit of utterly revolutionizing the gaming industry in incredibly profitable ways. Since founding FASA, creating Battletech, founding Wizkids and basically creating the entire genre of collectible miniatures gaming, he’s been busily forming a new company. What’s he got cooking this time? Probably not what you expect.
Weisman’s new company, Smith & Tinker (it’s a Wizard of Oz reference) has been around since 2007, quietly hiring programmers, 3D artists and game designers, including some former Wizkids standouts. Very little information escaped their secret headquarters, other than a press release announcing that they had acquired the electronic gaming licenses for Mechwarrior, Shadowrun and Crimson Skies. But their latest announcements don’t involve any of those properties.
In April, Smith & Tinker will release Nanovor, a collectible card/multi-player online/alternate reality game based on microscopic lifeforms that live in all electronic circuits. Players will collect the creatures, evolve them into new forms and fight online battles against each other using custom handheld devices. The concept is vaguely reminiscient of Pokémon, but with even more potential to utterly infiltrate every moment of 12-year-olds’ lives. Game Trade Magazine has some more info on how the game will work. The Nanovor game will be accompanied by novels, graphic novels, online cartoon episodes and a computer game.
Perhaps even more intriguing is Lost Souls, another Smith & Tinker property. A series of three novels about preventing the end of the world before the 2012 Mayan apocalypse will combine with websites and a tabletop board game to create a very multimedia experience. Publishers Weekly has more info on Lost Souls.
To be honest, if Jordan Weisman wasn’t involved, Nanovor might not make it into our radar screens here at Robot Viking. Lost Souls does sound cool, and alternate reality games can be a lot of fun. That said, I’m fairly confident that Smith & Tinker didn’t buy the Mechwarrior and Shadowrun licenses because they look pretty on a shelf. If these are the types of interactive, multi-platform games S&T is creating…well, you’ll know more when I do.
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March 23rd, 2009 4:47 PM
Wait, they’ve been hiring programmers? Where do I apply? While I hate video game programming (specifically graphics engines) this sounds like fun, and right in line with some of the game design work I do in my free time. I WANT IN, DAMMIT! Do you know how tedious things get after the umpteeumth CRUD application?
March 23rd, 2009 8:32 PM
Still looking for a 3D artist, but I guess not a programmer any more: http://www.smithandtinker.com/jobs/
March 24th, 2009 1:03 PM
This could be quite entertaining, but I might be entering Warhammer 40k, so I’m gonna be the cheapass.
March 24th, 2009 5:20 PM
I’m having a hard time thinking of something I wouldn’t give for a properly done Mechwarrior/Battletech “electronic game.” I would give them lots and lots of money. I still play “Ghost Bear’s Legacy” on a Win95 emulator.
June 28th, 2009 12:47 AM
Interesting stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/nanovor