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No updates available, No longer supported.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It is important to note that this product is not supported by Wizards of the Coast and that all updates and patches have been removed from their website. Also it is not really a game. The old Microprose {Duels of the Planeswalkers} game was more entertaining and the main benefit of this software is the additional cards and card art which have the potential of being used in a non profit community supported play group for those folks that don't plan on subscribing to MTG online.

M:TGIE tries to be all things to all gamers

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: June 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia (M:TGIE) promises a lot. It claims to be a playing tool, an encyclopedia, and a deckbuilding assistant all in one. That's a pretty tall order. Is Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) up to the challenge? Let's find out!

The M:TGIE's interface takes up the entire screen. It's a black background that doesn't lend itself to skipping between programs, even though much of the system relies on a Web browser. My preferred weapon of choice is Netscape, so it's possible the interface works better with Internet Explorer. After a couple of extraneous and irritating animations (that you must skip through every time you load the program), you have a choice of five sections:

Magic Online

This section allows you to find an opponent and begin an online game of Magic: The Gathering. It's not quite the same experience as playing a non-virtual game. Essentially, this is just a virtual gaming table.

Like so many other attempts to duplicate in-person, face-to-face gaming, the gaming table is a poor substitute. While it does standardize some aspects of a face-to-face game, like not having to worry about getting soda on your cards or the size of your gaming table, it's not going to replace the card game any time soon. Of course, WOTC knows this, or they wouldn't have created M:TGIE. But at least you don't have to worry about running out of counters anymore.

All the typical elements of virtual gaming are evident, including the ability for coin tosses and dice rolls, so you don't have to guess if your opponent really got a Heads on that last flip. There's also a list of parameters you can set for prospective players, which help ensure you play the game the way you want to play. You won't find an AI computer opponent with this program though.

Beyond the awkwardness of a virtual interface, which takes some getting used to, the biggest problem with this section lies in its communication tools. M:TGIE doesn't provide for audio interaction (although it does have a chat window). This isn't usually an issue with most games, because there are plenty of other shareware programs that you can use to work around it. The problem, however, is that M:TGIE is not Windows friendly. Switching between windows is laggy and can cause the program to crash. The window doesn't minimize either.

Still, considering the chaotic nature of most Magic: The Gathering games, the controlled virtual environment may be a welcome reprieve for gamers with high blood pressure.

Deckbuilder

The Deckbuilder is a fabulous feature for collectors, because it allows you to see what cards you still need. This is also where you can create your own virtual decks. The ability to print data about each card is very useful, but you can't print the pictures. No surprises here - if WOTC did this, you could probably create your own cards at home. But you can print a list of your entire collection, as well as the details of each individual card (including the quotes!).

Let's face it, the best part of collecting is gloating over the value of your Black Lotus. Although WOTC doesn't officially endorse any particular pricing list, they've given you the ability to download pricing lists on the Web. What they didn't give you was the ability to sort or display the prices in any useful way. So if you want to figure out the value of your deck, you'll have to look at each and every card individually. If you're a collector like me, this can take a very, very long time. Still, it's faster than looking up the value of each card, which is something I simply wouldn't bother to do (I'm the lazy collector-type).

There are also a few problems with the Deckbuilder section. Some views do not display correctly on screen. The search view appeared to be broken, as I was only able to display the upper left part of the search window. Patches and updates to the program didn't fix the problem.

Encyclopedia

This is the real meat of the encyclopedia. This section tackles the daunting task of giving you access to every Magic card ever printed. Almost all of them, anyway - there were no Guru cards that I could find. Useful features include the ability to make your own notes about each card, additional information from WOTC about background information on each card, why it was created, its intended use, or strategy tips. One particularly useful feature is the ability to zoom in on the artwork. I didn't think this mattered much until I began to notice the subtle differences between the seemingly endless editions of Magic: The Gathering cards. The only way to determine which cards you have is to carefully scrutinizing those graphics. It's also amusing to see how the game has changed for the better, and how some obviously abusable rules were clarified in later editions.

Strategy Library

The strategy library is a storehouse of articles and writings to help with your game play. It includes rules and formats, articles, the history of the game, and organized play. Don't get too excited though, as this isn't proprietary information - it's all available (and linked to) WOTC's Web site. This guarantees the information is kept up to date, but it makes for an awkward interface that doesn't mesh well with your Web browser.

Magic Links

This is where the true value of the M:TGIE becomes clear. With the speed that WOTC produces cards, this encyclopedia would be rapidly outdated in a matter of months. But just a few simple downloads, and -- voila! - my encyclopedia was up to date. This also included updates to the card pricing, ensuring the latest and most up to date values.

Conclusions

The M:TGIE tries to be all things to all gamers, and only achieves some of them successfully. As an interactive gaming tool, it's a novelty. As a collector's assistant, it's invaluable. As a reference, it's less successful due to the broken search function and awkward Windows interface. Most importantly, the Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia utilizes the full power of the Internet, ensuring that its shelf life will be measured in years rather than months.

If you want Magic on the PC this is the one...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The Magic the Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia is a very useful tool to stay up to date with the latest expansions. It features an vast library that covers all cards ever printed in the original language (english) and covers every single edition for this game, including Unglued. It features the ability to play online or on LAN. Sadly this feature is not as useful as one might suggest now. Several little problems or missing features make it quite hard to play a decent game. The most disappointing thing about the Online play funtcion is, that you can only play duels. One of the most eagerly awaited things by the magic online community is a program that enables them to play large multiplayer games. Sadly WotC did not implement it. Nevertheless this one is a keeper, and woth the ... you have to pay for it. I just hope that WotC does better next time :-)

Were Are They All????????????????????

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 23
Date: May 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Why is everything I want (this prouduct included)at Amazon.com out of stock. You would think that a site that sells so much would not be able to sell so much without keeping the items in stock(could sell much more and make much more if they did; hint hint) My rating of the game is not accurated because I don't have it because it is out of stock!!! HINT HINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent tool for MTG Players!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Whether your a Magic Veteran or a Newbie, this is an excellent tool for any player of Magic. It contains all the cards ever made and has FREE downloads of newly released sets. There is online play to go decktesting, see if your newly created deck holds up against the nets best. A deck builder, to fine tune your deck before you go spend your money on card singles. It also analyzes your deck, not enough mana, too much mana. it's just an excellent tool for deck building and fine tuning! Cause we all know how expensive Magic can get. The search engine is great for finding that card that you need. A detailed picture of the card (exact picture of the card to be exact) is also available. Invest in this, and you'll end up saving lots of money. Grade:A+ GAMER247 is OUT!!!!

Great for online play, only good for searching...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: April 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The first thing to say about the Magic Interactive Encyclopedia is: absolutely great for playing online! Having the chance to play with every Magic card ever made, seeing even their pictures on the play table, is a fantastic experience for an expert Magic player like I consider myself. The game interface is simple and easily understandable for everybody that already knows Magic The Gathering. A lot of fun, it's a promise! But there's a problem, a big one: if you want to search through the database for some specific cards using the categories the programmers have prepared... well, you'll probably have an headache! The program isn't a good one if you were looking for a big help searching the right cards for your deck. I use the deck builder together with a free downloadable database, very good to find quickly the cards you need.

What can I say? Are you looking for a Magic The Gathering program to play online with players all around the world? Well, this 4-stars program is surely for you! But if you're not a wannabe online player... You better forget this software. You can download better useful databases without paying for them! And they'll work even better than the MTG Encyclopedia...

Love the Card Game, Hate the software

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: March 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I love the card game but have little time to play. So I purchased the game to play online. I have had nothing but problems getting the game to work. The tech support is no existant and the patches dont help. This is very frustrating. I can recommend the card game, but not this defective software

Magic the Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This software should still be in beta testing. Even with the patches it constantly crashes and has errors. When I asked for tech support with the second patch, they say to uninstall the program and NOT install the second patch. The game is great, but the programmers and tech support people should be fired!!

This Thing Kicks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is the best thing to buy if you play MtG. I've always wanted a huge book or something to look up cards but i found it on my computer(kick).I think this is the best thing WotC has done yet besides creating magic itself. People this is like the invention of bread for magic players around the world.

GO GET IT!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 17
Date: August 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is a must for any magic player! You don't need to have those paper version of magic encyclopedia any more! There are updates on the web for new sets, ruling and pricing, too. One point to note that it requires quite a lot of computer memory and resources, I personally view it using my Pentium II-350 and found it quite slow. Not sure what is the best configuration but you can give it a try and see. Strongly recommended you to buy.

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