Yer actual Ubisoft have signed up as European publishers of the Top Trumps games previously announced by Ironstone Partners. This remains essentially good news, especially as PlayStation 2, PC and – most importantly – Nintendo DS versions have been mentioned for release in the next couple of months. Top Trumps over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection – which I should point out hasn’t been mentioned – would be very, very fine.
But it’s not uniformly good news. You see, I’d not thought it through. Top Trumps is great because of all the licenses – Marvel, The Simpsons, Harry Potter etc – attached to the various editions. But in this case Top Trumps is the license, and the video game rights to the aforementioned properties are with other publishers.
So – “initially,” says the press release – the games will feature proprietary Top Trumps characters. Which brings with it the distinct risk of rendering the games utterly disinteresting. But if they come to some sort of arrangement with Marvel, then you’ll find me frothing at the mouth once more.