OgreCave

The folks at Gamer Dome noticed recently that Fantasy Flight Games has pulled materials from it’s award-winning Midnight RPG series from its website. This probably has something to do with the upcoming U.S. DVD debut of the Midnight Chronicles, a film set in the dark world of the Midnight RPG setting. The Midnight Chronicles blog reported the release of the French version of the DVD on June 10, 2009. ICv2 reports that the U.S. version of the DVD will be available in September with an MSRP of $14.95.

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In case you’re looking for something to do this holiday weekend, you might be interested to know that the second year of the Windhammer Prize was announced last month and will be accepting entries this fall.  The contest is designed to encourage creativity within the realm of solo gamebook writing, and there is a cash prize.  To check out some of last year’s entries and get a better idea of what this is all about, visit this link.

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It can’t be seven years already, can it? Paizo Publishing is holding a little celebration sale in honor of the company’s seventh anniversary: seven products are on sale for seven days at $7 apiece - the 7-7-7 sale. The Harrow Deck, our selection for Best Accessory in last year’s Ogre’s Choice Awards, is among the discounted products, as are some Pathfinder and Game Mastery materials and The Anubis Murders by the late Gary Gygax. Paizo’s sale ends on the 7th, so your time to strike is now.

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Thursday seems like a good day for another new review, and Andy has us covered with his review of Master of Rules by Z-Man Games. Find out if you should pick up a copy for your summer travels or your next game night.

So it turns out that the sort of person who both uses Twitter and goes to gaming cons apparently forgets all about the former once they’re playing things at the latter. I am as guilty of this as everyone else. Fortunately for us board game fans who missed Origins, this dude Ted Cheatham took some photos, taped some audio, and put the one over the other. The result is a bit richer than a straight podcast but not so demanding-feeling as video interviews. Right on!

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Privateer Press has plans for a new futuristic sports-ish board game called Grind, which at first glance seems like an offshoot of the WarMachine game. The new game will come “with several highly detailed plastic components, including six Runner steamjack figures, four Crusher steamjack figures, 32 interchangeable weapon arms, two spiked pillars, and the Grinder ball” (whatever that is). Along with a full-color gameboard and custom dice, Grind may become a rules-light entry point to the WarMachine universe. We’re promised more info from an official website launching this Friday.
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The Games Workshop Ltd. miniatures game Blood Bowl is now available for the PC, Nintendo DS, and Sony PSP.  Wikipedia reports that the portable versions of this game are missing career league play and other functionality that is available in the PC release. For those who can’t wait for their local store to carry this product, a downloadable version is available for purchase for $49.99.

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Not content to win the 2009 Origins Award for Best Card Game, Dominion has now also won this year’s Spiel des Jahres. The card game that takes the collectible card game side-activity of card drafting and makes it the game’s central activity is at the height of its popularity right now. The first expansion, Dominion: Intrigue, was shown at Origins this past weekend, and should be in stores soon. I know several gamers who’ve ordered it already - and you probably do, too.

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Today we’re joined by Dennis, who provides his take on Kung Fu Fighting by Slugfest Games. This card game is fast becoming a go-to favorite in local gaming circles, so if you haven’t checked it out yet, see what Dennis has to say, and go try it out for yourself. And if his write-up puts you in the mood for other martial arts themed games, don’t forget our Games of the Ninja 2008 feature.

We’ve known the nominees for a while now, and resisted judging too harshly for having a t-shirt in the “Game Accessory” category. This year’s winners were awarded in a ceremony overseen by James Ernest last night at Origins. A notable winner was the Mouseguard RPG for Best RPG, despite being up against the Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition Player’s Handbook and Trail of Cthulhu. (I could say it “eeked” out a win, but then I’d feel ashamed.) Serenity Adventures won for Best RPG Supplement, and Magic: The Gathering - Shards of Alara was named Best CCG Supplement. As many expected, Dominion took the title as Best Card Game, while Pandemic got he nod as Best Board Game. Click below for the full list of nominees and winners.
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Today Upper Deck Entertainment signed a multi-year licensing deal to use characters from the Marvel Universe. Covered products will include trading card games (TCGs), miniature games and trading cards. The agreement also includes rights to develop products based on Marvel’s upcoming films. The first products are expected to be released in January of 2010.

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Catalyst Game Labs is continuing its quest to fulfill BattleTech fans’ every wish by bringing back the out-of-print illustrations for several mech models. The press release has more:

In 1996 numerous images originally licensed from several Japanese anime sources were retired from use within the BattleTech universe. Those illustrations formed the bedrock of the BattleTech 2nd Edition and BattleTech 3rd Edition Box Sets and were generally considered “fan favorites” across the board. These images—such as the Warhammer, Marauder, BattleMaster, Phoenix Hawk and so on—became known as the “unseen.”

After much blood, sweat and tears, Catalyst Game Labs is exceptionally pleased to announce the return of these “unseen” images.

New versions of some of the “Unseen” mechs will show up in upcoming BattleTech books. The return of these image rights will be particularly useful for Catalyst’s BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction, which is already being previewed here.

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I’ll go out on a limb and say that the increasing uptake of Twitter amongst the gaming community is gonna make this season’s con coverage a little easier to generate. I’m not at Origins myself this year - it’s Go Play Northwest for me, starting tomorrow - but the #origins2009 hashtag is already well populated with product pics and general chatter. Need a gander at the Shadowrun 20th Anniversary rulebook? Look, a dude has you covered! Want dozens of “sitting down to play ___” notices? Sure, why not! I’m not sure why Twitter is the right place at the right time, but it’s pretty exciting to see gamers suddenly start using the internet the way we should have been six years ago. I can’t wait for the flood of tweets from Gen Con.

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It seems like anytime a BattleLore enthusiast talks about the game these days, they bemoan Days of Wonder not getting around to releasing the Heroes set. Well, today the game’s current publisher Fantasy Flight just announced a release date for BattleLore: Heroes. According to FFG’s website, the expansion will include “10 unique Hero figures, a Rules booklet, 110 Skill, Artifact, and Landmark cards, and much more”. Several previews are planned at the company’s website, and the Cleric is already on display along with the abilities of Riding, Chant, and Herbal Remedy. At a pricetag of $39.95, FFG will release BattleLore: Heroes this fall.

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Early today, Cubicle 7 announced its upcoming Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space RPG has finally chosen when to appear - October 2009. This must mean the company has sucessfully jumped through the BBC’s licensing hoops, and won’t need to go offline again anytime soon. The new game will be a full-color boxed set release (!) drawing upon images from the current TV show. You may begin celebrating, if that is your inclination.

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To keep our flow of reviews moving along, we offer Demian’s review of Genji from Z-Man Games. The attractive card game gives players the opportunity to win the hearts of Japanese princesses through poetry - but how much challenge does the game offer? Click through to find out.

Avid roleplaying gamers, prospective game publishers, and anyone even mildly interested in how the wacky tabletop game industry functions should take note of a new column launching today over at RPGnet. Michael Fiegel, creator of the Ninja Burger phenomenon and co-author of Hellas, has begun HELLAS: From Alpha to Omega, a four-episode column detailing the trials and tribulations of publishing the impressive 300-in-space RPG. Fiegel starts his tale in Theogonia, wherein the disastrous Games Expo helps cement a new project. RPGnet will reveal new episodes of the Greek sci-fi game’s story over the next three months. Whether you like the concept of Hellas or not, you owe it to yourself to have a read. (And if you haven’t heard our PAX ‘08 Audio Report episode with its Hellas interview, you’d be doing yourself a favor by listening to it now.)

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Time to get dressed and head out the door, ‘cuz today is Free RPG Day 2009. As you heard in our recent Gaming News Update interview on the subject, this year’s event has shaped up quite nicely - all that remains is to find a participating store and get yourself there. Let us know how the festivities go in your neck of the woods.

(Oh, and other companies often make special offers of free downloads and such today, so if you spot any, let us all know about those, too.)

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