I have several proper packs of Pirates of the Spanish Main in my hot little hands now, as opposed to just the promo ship in the schwag bag. The 12-page card-sized rulebook is fairly complete, at least for a two-player game. I hope to get to play tomorrow. These were
Category: Conventions
Origins 2004: need sleep
First, I would like to thank the PR folks with GAMA for helping my registration go so smoothly. Second, I am not even going to try to estimate how big the crowd is compared to last year. It seems like more, but it also seems that I’m always wrong. I
One gamer’s luck at KublaCon ’04
While most KublaCon 2004 attendees are probably thinking back on this year’s show fondly, Merwin ran into a few difficulties. Well, several, actually. Read how even a good con can be painful with a run of bad luck, in Merwin’s Convention Report: KublaCon 2004. Despite how it sounds, he did
Wizards announces activities for GenCon Indy 2004
Just in time to help build hype for Gen Con Indy, Wizards of the Coast has announced its line up for the Best Four Days in Indianapolis. Highlights include the conclusion of the Living City campaign, the D&D Miniatures Championship Finals, an early glimpse (and even a few pre-sales) of
D&D3.5 ruled ineligible for Origins award, voluntarily withdrawn by WotC
According to a noncommitally titled GAMA press release, AAGAD chair Nicole Lindroos and WotC RPG brand manager Charles Ryan came to the conclusion that D&D3.5 doesn’t fully meet the AAGAD’s requirements for nominees, and Ryan made the decision to pull it. “A second or subsequent edition of a game is
Kubla Khan at Kubla Con
Troll Lord Games will be bringing a special limited edition d20 tournament module to KublaCon at the end of May. Called The Temple of Kubla Khan, the adventure is written by Casey Christofferson, author of several books for Necromancer Games. Here’s the description: An ancient ruined bastion and the forces
Hidden treasures of GTS ’04
There were a number of unexpected products lurking in the exhibit hall at GTS last week, which is always refreshing to see. When a product I’ve never heard of appears at a major industry show, it gives me a touch of the wonder I had when I discovered my first
Big exclusives hurting conventions
The GAMA Trade Show was always at least partly about the free swag retailers could load up on. For many game store owners, those products, brought back and plopped on the store shelves, paid for the trip. But with the big giveaway figures WizKids is using as a draw at
GTS ’04 wrap-up: Pirates of the Spanish Main
I was fortunate enough to finally track down Mike Selinker and James Ernest at GTS last week, lead designers of the new WizKids “contructible” game, Pirates of the Spanish Main, announced at the Galactus banquet. After walking with the two of them to the WizKids booth, I watched the two
Live at GTS 2004: Neon Genesis Evangelion, and much more
Games were not only the topic of Wednesday evening’s banquet presentation, they were the activity. Amidst the clusters of green balloons, and accompanied by the sometimes deafening sound of party horns and maracas, retailers were kept on their toes with a word search contest, a guess-the-number of jellybeans contest, and
Live at GTS 2004: Galactus takes GTS, with side of fries
Though they seemed a bit frantic, WizKids managed the horde of retailer registrations for Galactus HeroClix figures with only an hour delay. While the majority of retailers lined up outside the banquet hall to complete their check-in process, a handfull of WizKids employees carted massive pallets of Galactus figures into
GTS Day 3 press mock- uh, I mean wrapup
I only link to to point out that I was right. Also, I didn’t mention it before but I had vague wishes/suspicions that the name Chop Shop might be some kind of obscure shoutout to RoboRally, and now that I’ve heard it involves robots, well dammit, ¡viva la Twonky! We
Live at GTS 2004: Situation Normal at Human Head
Left out of the Green Ronin presentation this morning was Human Head‘s next roleplaying project, Normal, Texas. Scheduled for the end of 2004, the game will be about an everyday little town with ooze monsters, giant spiders, aliens, miniaturized humans, and other freakish goodies. According to Matt Forbeck, head of
GTS Day 2 press wrapup
would be intriguing if it weren’t for the fact that every catalog-like thing that I’ve ever seen Wizards release has contained something that was either misnamed or actually cancelled some time after said catalog went to press. As it is, it’s just funny. Maybe Chop Shop is the boys’ equivalent
Live at GTS 2004: Green Ronin, SJ Games, others announce lots o’ stuff
Staggering out bleary-eyed for the retailer breakfast presentation, I walked toward the banquet hall through the Orleans casino and was suddenly joined by a well-dressed, middle-aged man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He immediately caught me off guard by calmly, matter-of-factly stating “Yeah, the works of Satan are