I must admit that some games on Xbox Live Arcade are certainly much more enjoyable than their $60 counterparts. Some of these include board games that have been given the digital treatment, with Catan and Carcassonne being two good examples despite the lack of publicity. Publisher Merscom decided to up the ante by introducing yet more board game-based titles on Xbox Live Arcade. This is made possible after hooking up with Dr. Reiner Knizia, and their combined efforts won’t just be exclusive to Microsoft’s console, but will be made accessible to the Nintendo DS and PC as well from next year onwards.

Most people (yours truly included) would not have heard of Mr. Knizia before, but he is actually a much loved German board game designer with more than 400 games and books to his credit. Check out his pedigree and tell me you ain’t awed by the sheer size of it all – four-time winner of the German Game Prize, three-time winner of the Austrian Game Prize, winner of the 2006 Spanish Game Prize, winner of the 2004 Swiss Game Prize, three-time winner of the French Grand Prix du Jouet (roughly Grand Prize of Toys/Games), winner of the 2001 Dutch Toy of the Year Award, two-time winner of the Japan Board Game Prize, two-time winner of the International Gamers Award, holder of nine spots in the USA Games 100, and holder of 14 spots on the BoardGameGeek top 100.

With such a rich history behind, it is inevitable that his creations will be closely scrutinized by many. The first games will be expected to be available early next year, so no need to chuck away that DS Lite nor Xbox 360 just yet.

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