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Tuesday, July 29, 2003
No longer live from Gen Con: the real photo gallery is pending, ho ho
But in the meantime, this cat has a decent one. The first couple are broken for me, but just keep scrolling. Suddenly I’d really like to know what BattleBall is.
Not very live from Gen Con: corral those electrons
Those interested to hear another outside perspective on the big news of Gen Con, and a good summation of the show’s big PC gaming announcements, can check out this convenient index of GameSpy’s coverage. This quick rundown of the WotC-licensed PC games coming out over the next while is particularly interesting.
I hated to do that… but it’s the law of the West
Word on the Cheapasses mailing list is that the preview version of One False Step For Mankind sold in limited quantity at GenCon is not only a surprisingly strong game for the neglected-of-late Cheapass box line, but it’s not that cheap for the money! The board and cards are in full color, but the price is the same as that of Great Brain Robbery, Captain Park, and other recent boxed titles. This epic battle between Old West towns determined to colonize space features an auction mechanic and, according to one longtime Demo Monkey, some aspects of tactical wargaming(!!!). Look for the final version to ship to stores in a month or so.
On having one’s priorities straight
You know, I guess I can forgive the White Wolf folks for having let the creativity of the World of Darkness product line flag a bit over the last few years… because as Jane reports over at GGA out of fear of offending the tender souls among you in the Cave’s audience, they clearly know how to live.
Rio Grande Games for Everybody
A new Rio Grande Games newsletter has just been made available, and it looks like a good variety of new products are on the way along with many, many reprints of out of stock titles. If you have small children and want to expose them to German boardgaming as soon as possible, you may appreciate Gulo Gulo, a game involving the theft of eggs from vultures, or Capt’n Clever, a simple game of treasure-hunting pirates. For older gamers, there’s also Lord of the Rings: The Duel, which simulates the famous battle between Gandalf and the Balrog, and the re-release of Ricochet Robots with new boards. For more details, check out this PDF file.
Monday, July 28, 2003
It’s totally different - the character’s hair is black and white, see? Totally different.
“Duel Masters, one of the hottest card games in Japan, is heading for the U.S. […] 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.’ ” Yeah, that’s a challenge all right. The other-CCGs department at WotC certainly looks to be flailing right now.
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Live at GenCon: Eberron errors
While finishing a final tour of the exhibit hall today, I ran into Keith Baker, winner of WotC’s D&D setting search contest with his land of Eberron. Apparently, there’s considerable online buzz already about what little information WotC has released, particularly the lightning train image, and the “strong presence of lost-world creatures such as dinosaurs.” According to Baker, the press release could’ve used some rewording, as dinosaurs exist on Eberron but hardly in an all-pervasive manner. Also, there’s the issue of the “diverse cultures” which site the examples of Dwarves, Drow, and Orcs. Umm… I think we’ve heard of those before. Not the best examples of what WotC wanted to convey.
As for how it was to work on the project, Baker was upbeat. “It’s been a lot of fun, very exciting. There have been compromises, of course. Out of all the [entries] I submitted, I never would’ve guessed that WotC would choose that one. However, it’s been toned down in some ways since reaching the 125-page draft.” Baker grimaced. “I just wish it wasn’t a whole year away.”
Live from GenCon: Party Hard
Afterhours Saturday night is the time for the kinds of raging parties you only read about. Several LARPs had their culmination last night, in all their costumed, face-painted glory. NASCRAG crowned their mad-cap role-playing tournament winners and celebrated with an awards ceremony. Perhaps the snazziest affair was the White Wolf party, following on the heels of their “The World is Ending” pronouncement that morning.
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. Actually I don’t feel that fine. Time for a full disclosure here: I stayed up all night and drank myself silly, sang karaoke, watched shirtless teenagers frolic in the fountain in front of the Hyatt, and wound up dried and wrung out in the hotel restaurant trying to force down a huge plate of not-quite-ripe fruit. And so it’s possible that my memory may be less than eidetic.
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Live from GenCon: World of Darkness ending. Make travel arrangements now.
So yeah, the World of Darkness is coming to an end, as Mike mentioned. I find myself looking at White Wolf with a bit of admiration after hearing their plans, and how long they’ve been secretly building toward Gehenna, the Apocalypse, the Ascension, or whatever you want to call it. Between now and next March, an array of products will wrap up events in the official timeline, including a hardcover each for Vampire, Werewolf and Mage. The wrap-up storyline will include various options Mike Tinney, President of White Wolf, let slip a number of other details during the Q&A session after the tongue-in-cheek intro film.
- “As for Adventure, you will see that again.”
- “There will be a Dark Ages core feature for Changeling, as well as a Time of Judgement wrap-up book.”
- “Exalted will not be affected, and will continue getting support.”
- Mind’s Eye Theatre will have a Time of Judgement book; the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle game will get a Time of Judgement set , but will still continue with more product releases.
Apparently, the White Wolf guys started celebrating their announcement early, since some of the staff later admitted to being drunk from the night before when the press conference was held.
Live from GenCon: Gothica stakes its claim
Human Head had their new d20 supplement, The Redhurst Academy of Magic, prominently on display. The “widescreen” format of the book looks good, though it’s hard not to notice that the cover text is designed to be equally readable when seen vertically or horizontally (wouldn’t want to get the retailers all riled up like that oddly-shaped Nobilis now, would we?). But the booth’s demo tables are occupied by the company’s upcoming board game release, Gothica: Dracula’s Revenge, set to reach stores in October. Like a cross between The Hills Rise Wild and Space Hulk, Dracula’s Revenge pits the infamous Count and three of his cohorts against Van Helsing and nine of his fellow vampire slayers. Gameplay is fast and simple, allowing strategy to reign rather than rules confusion. Once the interchangable board pieces are ready (the demo had a static board), we’ll be seeing missions, new victory conditions, and possibly even campaign rules, I’d imagine. Human Head plans a line of Gothica releases themed around mummies, werewolves, Frankenstein’s monster, and so on. All this from a game Matt Forbeck thought up 12 years ago for Grenadier which never saw print.
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