Ninjato

First, it's pure Euro but looks pretty cool. I am watching out for this. I have no Ninja games and that is a shame. Shinobi was my favorite video game as a kid, Sho Kosugi was my favorite movie star, I had books on ninja's, magazines, I loved Storm Shadow. Ninja ninja ninja. I just like the word. Lone Wolf and Cub revitalized my Ninja fascination once I was older and I've always wanted a good Ninja board game. Hopefully this is it.

They just... look... cool.

The real point of this though is that I noticed, again, that Drakkenstrike has already posted a review of the game. This is garbage. The guy is becoming a promo machine, I noticed that Z-Man has his Earth Reborn review posted on their site. "Review" is hardly the right word mind you but that's what they call it anyway. Z-Man is giving him early copies of games to drum up excitement for their stuff.

Fair enough, people watch it either way I guess but I would rather have seen either Barnes, Vassel, Matt or someone with some pedigree get them. It's such a shame. What is the appeal? Is it just the video editing or do people really find the man to be engaging? I have never been able to watch a full episode as he just bores me to tears. The stuff I have watched is pure fluff and totally useless.

I've only seen about one minute of one of his videos (so my opinions and facts could be glaringly incorrect), but it seems like a smart decision by Zev. His videos aren't reviews; they are "component breakdowns," or whatever. They are popular, get hits for new games, look stylish, and here is the biggest positive for a publisher, no bad pub! He doesn't review the game, so there is no risk of him slamming the game and hindering sales. If I was making a game, I think the smart business decision would be to get it to him first, especially if it has nice components.

I agree that it would be better for us gamers if there was someone reviewing it, but it is up to us to look out for our interests. I'll gladly wait and see what the reviews look like. I would never buy anything based on Drakkenstrike's videos, because he doesn't do the kind of analysis that I want. What he does is make Cult of the New folks drool over a game's components and help drive sales. Nothing wrong with that and the sheep that buy for that reason get what they have coming to them.

The real Ninjas are dead, Jon, and I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Ninjas Versus Pirates is a blast. Get that one, for sure.

FOR THE LAZY: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50768/ninjato (Link to game page)
boardgamegeek.com/video/8356/ninjato/dra...ents-breakdown-video (Jeremy Salinas' video)

<EDIT>
Watched the video (well, most of it) but I passed out a little so I don't know what I missed. I'm thinking that the new AEG game Ninja will be better, honestly, based on what I know.

www.l5r.com/ninja/