ICv2 spoke today with Douglas Freese and Nick Ingeneri, the design team developing Trog, a new hybrid card game.  The concept has some similarities to WotC's new NFL Showdown game, in that the game consists of a trading card game with cards that can be read by an electronic scanner.  Unlike Showdown, however, Trog will carry interactivity onto the desktop and across the Internet.  The design of the game provides for a CCG that can be played as a stand-alone game, just as other CCGs are played.  Unlike other CCGs, the cards will also contain data stored in an electronic format that can be scanned by a proprietary reader connected to a PC.  This will allow the player either to play against the computer as a solo player, or find other players that want to play online over the Internet. 

The initial Trog product is expected to be a package including sixty cards, markers, dice, an instruction CD and the card reader at a $19.99 MSRP, with normal game margins for retailers.  This is similar to the Showdown Starter Set pricing.  Trog's target audience will be 12-14 and up.