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Thursday, April 24, 2008
Seen and heard at GAMA Trade Show 2008
Since I’m borrowing a machine yet again – man, I need a laptop – I’ll give you a quick braindump of things seen and heard at the GAMA Trade Show ’08 this year. I’ll post more when I can sit down longer, and we’ll discuss everything in detail next time we record an Audio Report episode.
Many of the show’s exhibitors and attendees missed the show schedule addendum, which explained room costs had been negotiated lower for next year (yay!) by agreeing to hold both 2009 and 2010 starting on and during the week immediately following Easter Sunday (What?!?). Nearly everyone I spoke with thought the move was beyond a bad idea – doesn’t anyone remember the final nail in Gen Con UK’s coffin a couple years ago? Reportedly, GAMA is now rapidly backpedaling on this announcement.
Now on to the games:
- James Ernest and Mike Selinker have their fingerprints all over the show this year. Steve Jackson Games is bringing out Lord of the Fries: Third Edition, a boxed version which has a minor rules tweak and a new menu. Paizo Publishing was showing off a new version of Falling featuring the popular goblins from Pathfinder products. Paizo also plans a card game called Yetisburg, a comedic historical-ish design for two players by Mike Selinker and Joshua Frost, and yes, it has yetis wearing Civil War uniforms. Duncan Toys is working on finalizing Warball, another Selinker design. Not the game you played during PE in grade school, it’s a cross between Marbles and a CCG, with metal miniatures cast inside certain rare marbles. There’s at least two other Ernest and/or Selinker titles I’m forgetting, too.
- Yes, Upper Deck’s World of Warcraft CMG looks outstanding. Especially the dragon. My players had better watch their backs, as I’ll be springing some of these goodies on them eventually.
- Looney Labs will have Monty Python Fluxx this fall. Yes, it will use Creeper cards - including a lot of spam. Done deal.
- Twilight Creations, the Zombies!!! folks, will bring us Humans!!! in July. The game will be playable alone or in combination with Zombies!!, which should be sweet.
- Steve Jackson Games should have the Munchkin boardgame ready by Origins. Though I’m not a Munchkin fan, I’m cautiously optimistic.
- Privateer Press’ Monsterpocalypse looks great, nearly ready for its fall release – two big monster figures and their powered-up versions, multiple buildings and support units, all in each collectible one player starter for $29.99. Kinda wish they were two player starters, but the game’s enjoyable enough that I might buy in anyway.
- Fantasy Flight, quite possibly the show’s MVP, was showing off all sorts of lovely figures from Dust Tactics, while giving away starter sets of the Mutant Chronicles CMG - frighteningly gorgeous figures. Amidst other announcements, the company has plans for both a Battlestar Galactica boardgame and a Gears of War boardgame. The Anima RPG is finally due out this summer, after being delayed again to catch up with Spain, which just released the game’s second edition. As predicted, Talisman: Fourth Edition will be designed to receive expansion sets, which may not be a bad thing – after all, the game’s best version, Talisman: Second Edition, had plenty of expansion sets.
- This fall, Flying Frog Productions will release A Touch of Evil, a boardgame with the same style as Last Night on Earth, that can be played competitively or cooperatively. An original CD soundtrack will come with the game, and the supernatural beast is randomly determined each session.
- Yes, Valley Games had a pre-production version of Titan. Production value on this one is great, and will have some added reference charts to speed gameplay.
- Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd has scheduled three books each for Serenity and Battlestar Galactica. Serenity Adventures comes in June, followed in August by Six Shooters & Spaceships, and the Big Damn Heroes Handbook in September. BSG fans will get Colonial Military in September, Ships of the Fleet in November, and Battlestar Galactica Adventures in January ’09. A new Tom Wham boardgame, Dragon Lairds, arrives next month, and the Demon Hunters RPG, based on the film by Dead Gentlemen Productions, will ship any day now.
- D&D 4e is here. But since we all knew it would be, even Wizards of the Coast doesn’t seem to be making a big production out of it. Odd, that.
I’ll get more posted when I can, though at this rate, it may have to wait until after the trip home.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
OgreCave reviews: Battue, MagnetX, Marvel Heroscape
A trio of boardgame reviews just went live on the site, each catering to slightly different tastes. First, Lee has a detailed look at Battue: Storm of the Horse Lords from Red Juggernaut. Then I’ve thrown in my review of MagnetX by relative newcomer PsyX Games. Finally, Lee gets the heroes brawlin’ by checking out Hasbro’s Marvel Heroscape. Enjoy ‘em, and we’ll see what else we can post before our GAMA Trade Show ‘08 coverage takes over next week.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Audio Report - Them’s heretical words!
Round two of today’s catch-up episodes, this early February show muses on the future of the Dark Heresy RPG (which became clearer soon after show time), upcoming con season, the WoW CMG, and more. Mike also gives us a primer on Vincent Baker’s latest game, In a Wicked Age, and we’ve all been keeping busy playing things. Again, thanks to everyone who emailed asking when we’d be back - the answer is, now.
Audio Report - Back in the saddle again
The OgreCave Audio Report is getting back up to speed with this, the first of two shows being fired off today. We’ve been talking, you just haven’t been able to hear it. Here’s the proof: our first Audio Report of the new year, recorded back when OGLs and inroads to Starbucks were all the rage. Thanks to everyone who emailed their concern over the extended, unintentional hiatus - my dead paperweight of an old machine caused considerable delays, but we’ll be all caught up fairly soon. Meanwhile, have a listen, tell us what’s on your mind, and welcome back.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Free Ingenious for PCs, today only
Spread the word: until the end of today, a site called Game Giveaway of the Day is - you guessed it - giving away downloads of Reiner Knizia’s Ingenious for PC. This is a widely acclaimed game in its original, non-electronic form, so boardgame fans should strongly consider grabbing a copy while they can.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
BTRC peddles disease with updated wargame
Looking for a cheerful, lighthearted game to take your mind off things? Or would you rather play a disease and wipe out a continent? Yeah, me too, so BTRC’s Black Death [EDIT: a new version, apparently, not an entirely new title] seems right up my alley. For 2-6 plaguers - er, players - the goal is to kill off the population of 14th century Europe faster than the other competing diseases. Billed as “a different sort of conquest than your average wargame”, this PDF-only game looks as well made as any print wargame, with the advantages of zero shipping time and a $8 pricetag. Take a look, and pick one up if you’re willing to admit just how twisted you really are.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Remember, kids, stealing genes doesn’t make you cool
Suave-looking straight-up 2D adaptation of Space Hulk for Windows. Free, free, free. I don’t know about network play, though.
Friday, February 22, 2008
FFG licenses Black Industries and Sabertooth stuff, and more
Okay, I think this justifies the word “huge.” (And not just because it’s a PDF link.) Everyone’s always clamoring for the old Games Workshop board games, and if Fantasy Flight really now gets to have them across the (um) board, instead of piecemeal, that’s exciting, but sadly the deal does not include Space Hulk or any other games with minis elements. The Sabertooth part is mildly surprising but, like their games, not very exciting. The portion of immediate interest is that there will be new-product support for Dark Heresy. Now the only thing to worry about is whether the core book will be available at the same time as the support.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Board Game Geek now geekier, so you don’t have to be
I’ve always wanted to get more use out of BoardGameGeek.com but have been stymied by its user interface. Well, they’ve given the front page and controls a nice overhaul - I’m not sure how recently - and I’m finding the site a lot more pleasant to use now. (Unfortunately there still doesn’t seem to be an easy-enough way to quickly tell it what games you own… from what I can see, there is an “export collection” feature but no way to import. So you’ve got to hit the page for each and every game you own, check a little box that says “I own this,” and repeat for the rest of your life collection. Bad show, BGG.)
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Hasbro pays $77MM for Cranium
The story. The deal hasn’t been approved by Cranium’s shareholders yet, and apparently the $77 mil “would be used to cover Cranium’s outstanding debt and to pay its shareholders.” Those shareholders are venture capitalists, including a firm co-founded by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz - recall the famous story of one of the Cranium founders pitching Schultz during a mountain-climbing trip, and the presence of Cranium games in every damn Starbucks there is. The linked article reminds us that Hasbro paid $325MM for WotC nine years ago, which either says that Cranium makes a lot less than it seems to or that venture capital is not really that awesome for a game company to have. On the other hand, going into debt and being forced to sell for $77 million beats a lot of game-industry outcomes I can think of. On the other other hand, Cranium’s founders will be leaving after a transitional period - I’m sure they’ll cry all the way to the bank. Maybe they’ll cook up a new game venture.
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