Duel Masters, one of the hottest card games in Japan, is heading for the U.S. and a showdown with Yu-Gi-Oh!.  Like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Duel Masters targets an older demographic than Pokemon and has already spun off a major array of licensed goods in Japan including manga, toys, and videogames.  According to License ! Magazine, Wizards of the Coast, the company that made the Pokemon CCG a major hit, is set to release the Duel Masters CCG in the U.S., while Dreamwave Productions, the publisher of the enormously successful Transformers comic books, will publish a Duel Masters comic book series. 

Because of its graphic style and the audience that it targets, Duel Masters will inevitably be compared with the hugely successful Yu-Gi-Oh!  The problem for WotC and Dreamwave will be to create a separate identity for Duel Masters so that the property doesn't end up playing 'Digimon' to Yu-Gi-Oh's 'Pokemon.'