4Kids Entertainment, the company that introduced the highly successful Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! CCGs to the U.S., has announced the fall launch of Chaotic, a new collectible card game that can be played both traditionally and online.  Chaotic, which was developed in Denmark by Dracco Company Ltd., will be supported (like Pokemon & Yu-Gi-Oh!) with a TV series debuting this fall on 4Kids' Saturday morning block on the Fox network, which will be produced by 4Kids and APEX Marketing.

According to 4Kids, which is introducing the property at this year's Licensing Show, Chaotic is the first property specifically designed to connect collectible trading card gaming with the many platforms of the interactive technology.  Chaotic's revolutionary feature is its patented alphanumeric code that not only insures that no two cards are alike, but also enables kids to upload and access their personal collection of Chaotic cards stored on the free Chaotic Website.  Once logged on to the site kids can play the game at any time against players from around the world -- and the online game play brings the trading cards to life as the creatures on the cards battle in cyberspace.  The Chaotic Website, which records winners and keeps track of player rankings, can be accessed by computer, cell phones PDAs and some gaming platforms.  The game can also be played in the traditional manner with physical cards.

The animated series follows the adventures of two teenage boys who discover a secret portal to the world of Perim while playing the Chaotic game and learn that the codes on the cards are actual scans of living creatures with special powers.  Since, as is the case with the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, the Chaotic TV series is about the game itself, kids who watch it can learn strategies they can use in their own online and offline gaming.

As ICv2 reported over a year ago (see 'New Yu-Gi-Oh! Series Set for Fall'), 4Kids has purchased (not licensed) the Chaotic game from its Danish developers, which gives the company complete control over the property (and the 'windfall' type profits produced by a successful CCG) -- as 4Kids CEO Al Kahn told his investors and industry analysts: 'This time we are going to make the cards ourselves.'