Pat Fuge of Gnome Games in Green Bay, Wisconsin comments on Konami's announcement of the Dragon Duel World Championship for Duelists 12 and under (see "'YGO' Launches Kids Championship").

The announcement today about Konami's 12 and under Championship Program is the smartest thing they have done for the product line since they took it back from Upper Deck.  We believe the creation of clear age-defined player groups will remove the age/skill barrier of entry to the game and allow a fresh new year class of Duelists to develop each season, free from the oppressive tournament smothering of the 'expert' teen/adult players.

With the sole exception of Pokemon, no other company has addressed the age/skill barriers of entry to encourage younger players to play for the fun of it with their peers, rather than being tossed in to the mix with the young adult crowd.  

We look forward to refreshing our efforts in promoting Yu-Gi-Oh!  And because of this announcement, we’ll be using this as a launching platform for new player acquisition and development efforts.  We thank Konami for their visionary decision.

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