Decipher announced this game what, a week ago? And they’re running demos here at the show. This newest salvo in the .hack multimedia assault (anime TV, anime features, PS2 games and now a CCG) has gameplay that will be familiar to players of, well, anything in the medium, but most
Live from Origins 2003: Turns out that Vanna-ing is a career with a future
A little late-breaking news from the awards ceremony: Nicole Lindroos has been named the new chair of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Congratulations, Nic!
2003 Origins Awards winners
I was going to be all smooth and post the Origins Awards results live as they happened from the ballroom, but you can’t get signal in the ballroom… I’d have to sit in the hallway to be online. Well, OK. Game Aid/Accessory: Gamemastering Secrets, Gray Ghost Press Play-By-Mail: Button Men
OgreCave Review: Highthrone
Cedric’s survived his finals, and now that he can concentrate on more important matters, has sent in his review of Highthrone by Mongoose Publishing. What grade did he bestow upon the intriguing city supplement? I ain’t tellin’. Find out for yourself.
Live from Origins 2003: speaking of mad kung fu skills…
Here at the show: Munchkin Fu. Day-amn. The money train keeps a-rollin’ for the Munchkin franchise. This one looks especially sweet to combine with the other two.
Live from Origins 2003: You can change the ending!
Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era is the big new deal from Green Ronin. It’s the first book in their Mythic Vistas line, which is all d20 settings in a not-typical-D&D-at-all-but-still-fantasy vein. The next book in the line, Skull & Bones, is in layout hell right now, but Mindshadows, about
Live from Origins 2003: stock update
Diet Evil Games is doing this thing kind of like Flying Buffalo’s Origins Metagame last year, wherein one buys some play-stock in various participating game companies, and participating in those companies’ events will get them more stock, et cetera. People are only allowed to make one trade a day, because
Live from Origins 2003: No playing volleyball with Hamtaro!
A couple of quick bits: If anyone at the show is reading this, you might want to go to the booth that’s selling all the old booster boxes? With the pink tags on them? Yeah. They have Z-G figures for $5 each. Buy all three and check out an ass-kicking
Live from Origins 2003: When dark twilight creations go to hell
Twilight Creations have yet another When Darkness Comes set at the show, as well as Dante’s Inferno, a boardgame about scraping sinners out of the ninth circle of hell and heading in to fight Lucifer. Each tile on the board has a color that corresponds to a resource, which you
Live From Origins 2003: Simpsons CCG rears its bucktoothed yellow head
Saw a Simpsons TCG demo. The cards are simple, have non-lame quotes on them (not hugely exciting ones either from what I saw), and seem to be aiming for the middle-ground fan, rather than for Simpsons otaku. There is a vague similarity to the Looney Tunes design, but don’t be
Live from Origins 2003: why is it hotter in Oakland than here?
Upper Deck is showing the SpongeBob SquarePants CCG, which looks about like you’d expect for a game where you’re trying to convince the most people to eat Krabby Pattys. A casual look (all I’ve had time for) didn’t reveal any interesting game mechanics, but nothing egregiously stupid, either. However, in
Live From Origins 2003: A free gift from the Department of Homeland Security, just for being you
Played Initial D and HumAliens at the AEG booth. Both card sets look pretty final, although the games don’t come out until September or so. D is definitely the better game of the two from what I saw – the street racing mechanic is very pretty without sacrificing speed. Lots
Live From Origins 2003: the eternal struggle continues
That’s all I’ll say about that. But the good news is I’m comfortably ensconced in an ideal location and have all the net I want for no extra cash. Also, this year I plan to actually sign up for actual events actually. We’ll see how that goes. I only had
Make an Elder God, Win a Kewpie Doll
Yog-Sothoth.com has announced a joint contest with Toy Vault, the folks who made all those stuffed Cthulhu toys. The challenge? Create your very own plush Cthulhu. Yep, Toy Vault wants to pick your brain for variant ideas on Cthulhu and company, and is offering up one of each Cthulhu plush
Topps buys WizKids
No joke. Read the press release. “The acquisition of WizKids represents an important step in our strategy for growing the Entertainment segment of the business as it provides efficient entry to the growing collectible games market.” Anyone else got a feeling we’ll see two or three new licensed games from