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I thought the age of Magic: the Gathering was over, particularly when miniature wargaming collectibles ala Mage Knight started to take off. Sure, collectible card games (CCGs) were still being sold, but I didn’t think most people actually played them anymore.

Apparently, I was wrong, and the wrongness doesn’t stop with the announcement of the World of Warcraft (WoW) trading card game that will tie-in with the PC game. No, even the innovative game Spore, with plans to release in 2007, will have a CCG tie-in if Electronic Arts has their way. I didn’t realize we were still in 1993, playing four-square in the schoolyard while the nerds showcased their ueber-decks, but even if we’re not right now, we will be quite soon.

Don’t get me wrong, from a robber-baron standpoint, the ideais ingenious: get people hooked on a game, and when they’re away from their computers, make them play the tie-in “mini-game”, such as on the playground, at the office, or on family camping trips. The scary thing is, for people who want to keep their lives in such places norma and geek-free, they’ll find their game experience sub-par compared to those who surround themselves in all-things-branded-accordingly. Such, for instance, will be the case with WoW gamers, who will be able to make aesthetic changes and gain novelty items by collecting game cards.

As an acquainance recently pointed out, things like WoW aren’t just computer games anymore; they’re economic templates. And, they’re templates aimed at sucking gamers into a lifestyle. While addictive for sure, unlike traditional vices as cigarettes, however, they’ll limit social interactions with those outside of one’s gaming clique, and that’s pretty scary in a Lucas/Roddenberry fanboy kind of way.

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