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Saturday, August 12, 2006

August 12th, 2006: misuba says...
Live from Gen Con 06: yes, I can write about things besides story games
  • Pieces of Eight rocks. It’s simple and plays fast, but it still has a lot of depth and even some bluff. No, it isn’t collectible - fixed sets. Above all, it has figured out how to take one of those much-vaunted things that tabletop games can do and digital games can’t - namely, being tactile - and really make it a decisive advantage. It just feels great to hold and use these coins. Highly recommended.
  • Did a demo of The Spoils. It feels a great deal like Magic - like, a great deal. Not even that large of a variation on Magic, really. The one thing it really has going for it in my opinion is stylishness - sorry, Allan, but Hidden Sniper is not nearly as good an example of this game’s flavor as Dragon Catheter. It’s mildly silly, in other words, but still manages to have a lot of hipness in the design and overall look. But yeah, I don’t see this taking off except possibly on the strength of its big cash prizes driving more players to gradually get familiar with it.
  • We recorded our demo of Veritas Games‘ Power Storm customizable game - again, fixed sets, but with the option of buying randomly sorted Draft Packs should you want to rock it tournament style. (Also, if I understood correctly, every full box of Draft Packs represents a full, consistent set of cards. So there’s a non-collectible option there too.) Veritas’ Lee Valentine is a sometime denizen of our comments, and God help him, he’s been listening to us - he’s been doing a lot to make the game accessible not just to players but to retailers. Besides there being three different complexity levels to which you can dial the game, the simplest (which we played) has considerable depth without bogging down. It’s like a fast Euro card game, only with more guys in tights smacking each other in the face. People who like CCG-style play but haven’t got time for the pain, or just want a game with a great superhero feel, need to look for this one. When we get the audio up from our demo, it’ll be a great listen for those who want to know how to sell the game, or just want a raw slice of the Gen Con experience.

Posted in Conventions | 11 Comments

Friday, August 11, 2006

August 11th, 2006: Allan Sugarbaker says...
OgreCave review: Grand Tribunal

We’ve got a new review to squeeze in between all the Gen Con reports. Today Brian gives us his take on Grand Tribunal, the Ars Magica themed boardgame from Atlas Games. If you couldn’t make it to the Best Four Days in Gaming… well, console yourself by reading some of our reviews. EDIT: It has come to OgreCave’s attention that our Æther Source Book review may have contained errors. We have removed the review, and hope to take another stab at it when Æther Gaming Systems completes the revised edition. Our apologies.

Posted in Board Games, OgreCave, Roleplaying Games | Comments Off

August 11th, 2006: Allan Sugarbaker says...
Tenacious preview of The Spoils at Gen Con Indy

Another game is preparing to enter the collectible card game market: Tenacious Games’ The Spoils. The game setting strikes me as a blend of steampunk and fantasy, with some sci-fi anime influences as well. The early art from beta samples we’ve received are high quality, and occasional hardcore combat scenes pop up now and then to get players’ blood flowing (watch for the Hidden Sniper card, for one). Tenacious Games is holding an Open Beta tournament (at Gen Con Indy right now, of course), with all sorts of prizes offered up in events all the way through October 29th, including a $10,000 tournament in New York. The Spoils has its true launch in November, but these tournaments will surely hold importance for the game’s chances. Without enough pre-existing buzz, most retailers will be hesitant to risk stocking another collectible product.
Read More…

Posted in Card Games | 3 Comments

August 11th, 2006: Allan Sugarbaker says...
WizKids brings in Mike Elliott as Senior Designer

Stage one of WizKids’ regrouping after its recent layoffs and product cancellations appears to be bringing in new talent. In a press release today (see below), WizKids announced that Mike Elliott, formerly of Wizards of the Coast, has been brought aboard as the new Senior Designer of R&D. Elliott, who has worked on games like Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon and Duelmasters, will focus on “developing new game lines as well assist in fine-tuning our existing games.”
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Posted in Industry | Comments Off

August 11th, 2006: misuba says...
WizKids announces Pirates Online

WizKids has announced a partnership with MMO-sters Worlds Apart (now apparently known as Sony Online Entertainment Denver) to release an online version of the Pirates of the (Insert Thing That’s Not The Carribbean) CMG in the fall. Coincidentally, the fall is also around when the bulk of retailers will be able to order any new Pirates packs. So… yeah. On the one hand, this is a game that it totally makes sense to play online and I am psyched to try it. On the other, I wonder if it doesn’t take a property the size of Magic to really make a straight online conversion of a CCG sustain itself.

Posted in Computer and Console Games | 3 Comments

Thursday, August 10, 2006

August 10th, 2006: misuba says...
Live from Gen Con 06: home of Elvis and the ancient Greeks

Twice today I’ve played very, very enjoyable subsets (meaning demo games calibrated to different levels of complexity) of John Harper’s combatty RPG Agon. This is the last kind of RPG I thought I would be having a blast playing at the show. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly an indie game that challenges assumptions, but it’s also a crunchy game focused on Greek heroes fighting monsters. The book is gorgeous - look for the big helmet! - and no bigger than it needs to be. Even better is the character sheet, which literally puts absolutely every option a player will ever need to consider right there in front of you, in an incredibly elegant and learnable structure. No tedious poring over the rule catalogs! Death to roleplaying as shopping, just cut to the chase! Piles of awesome. And even if your character dies there’s still character advancement.

Posted in Conventions | 5 Comments

August 10th, 2006: misuba says...
Live from Gen Con 06: let the wild rumpus stop

Random starting notes:

  • True Dungeon seems to be less of a big deal in the con culture this time out. Maybe due to the poor position of the Tavern. Or maybe just because I am hopped up on goofballs. I will probably start hearing more about it when Chris has his run.
  • People are coming away from the IPR/Forge/Wicked Dead booth with big, big handfuls of books. At one point the line was exactly half as long as the line to buy stuff at the WotC booth - I counted. (The only really impressive lines were at Privateer for Superiority, FanPro for I assume CBT Total Warfare, and - this one shocked me - the Order of the Stick guy for his new board game.)
  • People seem to be buying and playing Dreamblade at an impressive clip. Some booths are even selling singles already.
  • I still haven’t gotten to play Mechaton. DAMMIT
  • Also haven’t seen the Viktory II guy. I don’t remember if we linked to this fellow’s exhaustive documentation, floated on the net a few weeks ago, about what-all went into the garage production of his combat game. [Edit: we have now.] Will have to look for him more carefully tomorrow.
  • Already a much stronger presence of video game companies. Pirates of the Burning Seas, yay.
  • “Preorder the Deluxe Edition of Kill Doctor Lucky from Titanic Games and get a limited edition Dr. Lucky miniature!” !!!???

More soon, naturally.

Posted in Conventions | 5 Comments

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

August 9th, 2006: misuba says...
Live from Gen Con 06: Diana Jones likes Irish charity

The Diana Jones Award has gone to Irish gamer charity auctions. I am posting from my phone, which sucks. More later.
[EDIT: Official press release below]
Read More…

Posted in Conventions, Industry | Comments Off

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

August 8th, 2006: misuba says...
Next year’s Gen Con to try to be E3, kind of

So, to recap: the Electronic Entertainment Exposition, another one of those trade shows that can’t seem to remember they’re trade shows and not cons, recently got smacked down by all of its largest exhibitors. As a result, it is ceasing to exist in recognizable form. Along comes Gen Con, which will expand its Indy operations in ‘07 and move the ‘07 So Cal show to Los Angeles from Anaheim. So, look for next year’s Indy show to have a lot more digital action, and for next year’s So Cal to resemble the inside of a pinball machine. Provided that video game manufacturers give Gen Con their business, that is. Have a great time at the con tomorrow, everyone! Try not to panic! (Press release after the jump.)
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Posted in Conventions | 10 Comments

Sunday, August 6, 2006

August 6th, 2006: Allan Sugarbaker says...
A new age of RuneQuest

Plenty of gamers are excited that the new RuneQuest arrives in stores (and at Gen Con) this week, and Mongoose Publishing is making sure players hit the ground running. Aside from the main rulebook being a mere $24.95, multiple support products are in the wings (three supplements in August alone), and the latest issue of the company’s free PDF magazine Signs & Portents contains a free RQ scenario. The Second Age of Glorantha (the “Imperial Age”) looks to be well underway.

Mongoose’s plans aside, Glorantha fans will be interested to see how many of the projects Greg Stafford mentions in his recent RPG.net interview actually see the light of day. With Issaries described as “a holding company of sorts” and basically out of publishing, will Moon Design take HeroQuest in the right direction? We’ve been promised things before (QuestWorlds, anyone? And there was that miniatures boardgame on the Red Moon…).
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Posted in Roleplaying Games | 4 Comments

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