8/06 – This week Yavn's got hot info on VMK's newest game, plus important news about VMK Central at Walt Disney World. It's Tiki Month in VMK now let's "talk Tiki!" Wake up, Yavn – it's showtime!

Ahhh! Buenos dias VMK'ers and welcome to another edition of Yavn Speaks! Hope you're all having a good summer, there's lots to talk about this week, so let's dig in!

Your Attention Please…

First up, I have an important announcement I need to get out of the way… there's really no easy way to say this, so here goes – on September 30th we're closing VMK Central at Walt Disney World. Now hold on, before you get upset and start sending hate mail, let me explain why this is happening…

As time has gone by, we've changed the way Quest, rewards and other parts of VMK work. The game, very much like our theme parks, is always changing. We've always tried to experiment with unique ways of doing things, like in-Park Questing, and we'll continue to do that (for example, we'll still be doing cool stuff in the Parks, like the merchandise cards and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Quest) - but those things won't revolve just around VMK Central. Just because VMK Central is closing doesn't mean the game is going away. VMK is going stronger than ever and we've got some very cool announcements (including one I'm making today) about how VMK will get even better. Yes, I know you'll miss Questing in the real Magic Kingdom, but like I said, this is part of a much larger plan for cooler VMK stuff.

So there you have it, sad news sort of, but you have plenty of time to complete those in-Park Quest. Just remember VMK Central in the Cinema on Main Street at the Magic Kingdom will stop accepting Quest and giving out rewards after September 30th, 2007! Okay, so now that I've taken care of the "elephant in the room" (hey, it must have escaped from the Jungle Cruise) let's talk about some really cool stuff on the VMK horizon.

Thanksgiving in September!

You spoke (boy, did you ever) and we listened. By overwhelming popular demand the next item in the snack cart series is, drum roll please& the brand new Turkey Leg Cart!

It's the snack that eats like a meal!

Of course the next question you have is "When can I get one???" All I can say about that is early September. Sure, we should wait until Thanksgiving to release it but who wants to wait that long?

It's the NEW Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Shirt

Speaking of new items, we've got plenty more on the way – like the new Hawaiian Aloha Shirt – it'll look great with that new Cowboy Surf hat, you'll be able to pick up both of these in the Emporium and then be ready to hit Typhoon Lagoon in style!

Aloha, cowboy!

Surfing isn't your cup o' tea? Then how about some baseball? Just in case you missed them last year, America's pastime returns to VMK, with hat, shirt, pants and shoes – and a stadium room batting clean up! Look for all these items in our VMK shops before September.

Game On!

Remember last month when I promised you the lowdown on a cool new VMK game? Well, now it's time to pull back the curtain on that game and reveal the latest and greatest from VMK Labs. Today I'm proud to announce the VMK Trading Card Game!

Here's a sneak peek at the brand new VMK Trading Card Game!

The best way to describe the game is as a mix between the card games Trumps and War. It's an awesome game that's a lot of fun. This month we'll be releasing a preview version of the game that will teach you the basics of how to play, then over the next few months we'll be adding some more functionality to the game and rolling out more advanced rules. Oh and before you ask, there are some NEW items we created to go along with the VMK Trading Card Game&.but that's for another column…

More News on the Way!

Alright, that should wrap it up for now, hopefully you're still with me and not too upset about the news. Again, remember what I said and don't think of this as the end of an era, but the beginning of something just as incredible. The new items I've mentioned above like the snack cart series, the Trading Card Game, there's lots of great VMK stuff on the way!

Oh, almost forgot to mention, remember our Mickey rewards? We have a few items that were originally going to be released as Quest prizes. What should we do with them now? Do you think they should be sold/rewarded in-game? Or saved for something special, like say, an in-Park event??? Hmmm… Cast your vote and let us know.

Okay, so I have to get back to playing the VMK TCG and testing all the other cool stuff we have in the works. I'm so excited, I want to tell you about – oops, sorry, that will have to wait until next time! But keep checking back here for the latest VMK news because there's some really awesome things on the way!

See you in VMK,
Yavn