The wonderful world of Jack Chick and Chick Comics brings you...Halloween.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2005
State of the Industry 2004: Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me
State of the Industry 2004: Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me
"And in that spirit, let's drill down and focus on the RPG numbers. Usually, the top five spots in the Comics & Games Retailer list are reliable, in two senses: the companies occupying them don't shift around a lot, and the sales numbers are big enough that it's defensible to say that even the C&GR figures bear some relation to reality. If the RPG business is as shrunken as it might be, however, neither assumption is going to hold. Keep that in mind as we go forward. Unquestionably, however, the number one company in the market is Wizards of the Coast. One distributor quoted in ICv2 said that 'Dungeons & Dragons sells four times World of Darkness and World of Darkness sells four times everything else.' C&GR gives Wizards a slightly less commanding, but no less apparent, lead, with a little less than 43% of the core hobby RPG market, again roughly the same as last year. White Wolf likewise held a decisive second place, with strong sales for the reimagined Vampire and new World of Darkness core books driving a good second half of 2004. By C&GR numbers, the Wolf actually improved its standing, to 22% of the market in 2004.
"Similarly, the revised GURPS 4th Edition books rode full-color hardbacks (and commensurate price increases) uphill to 5% and a bit of the RPG market in 2004; again, ICv2 concurs that Steve Jackson Games is Number Three with a (6d large piercing attack) bullet. C&GR lists AEG at fourth place with 4%, FanPro at fifth and Palladium in sixth with around 3.5% each. ICv2 forbears to give numbers, but lists the next three as Mongoose, Green Ronin, and Hero. If I had to guess, I'd say it's most likely Mongoose at fourth (call it 3.5% or 4% of the market) and the rest of the second tier (FanPro, Palladium, AEG, Hero, and Green Ronin) in a cloud of dust somewhere down there in shouting distance of 2%. Fantasy Flight and Kenzer and Eden may have 1% each at best; the rest are bouncing around down there among the drow and suchlike. Of all the Bottom Not Two, FanPro might take a jump up this year with Shadowrun 4th Edition in August, and I've learned not to count Kevin Siembieda out, but I think Steve will be able to hang onto third place in the RPG sector as Mongoose begins to spread its energies into card, board, and miniature games."
"And in that spirit, let's drill down and focus on the RPG numbers. Usually, the top five spots in the Comics & Games Retailer list are reliable, in two senses: the companies occupying them don't shift around a lot, and the sales numbers are big enough that it's defensible to say that even the C&GR figures bear some relation to reality. If the RPG business is as shrunken as it might be, however, neither assumption is going to hold. Keep that in mind as we go forward. Unquestionably, however, the number one company in the market is Wizards of the Coast. One distributor quoted in ICv2 said that 'Dungeons & Dragons sells four times World of Darkness and World of Darkness sells four times everything else.' C&GR gives Wizards a slightly less commanding, but no less apparent, lead, with a little less than 43% of the core hobby RPG market, again roughly the same as last year. White Wolf likewise held a decisive second place, with strong sales for the reimagined Vampire and new World of Darkness core books driving a good second half of 2004. By C&GR numbers, the Wolf actually improved its standing, to 22% of the market in 2004.
"Similarly, the revised GURPS 4th Edition books rode full-color hardbacks (and commensurate price increases) uphill to 5% and a bit of the RPG market in 2004; again, ICv2 concurs that Steve Jackson Games is Number Three with a (6d large piercing attack) bullet. C&GR lists AEG at fourth place with 4%, FanPro at fifth and Palladium in sixth with around 3.5% each. ICv2 forbears to give numbers, but lists the next three as Mongoose, Green Ronin, and Hero. If I had to guess, I'd say it's most likely Mongoose at fourth (call it 3.5% or 4% of the market) and the rest of the second tier (FanPro, Palladium, AEG, Hero, and Green Ronin) in a cloud of dust somewhere down there in shouting distance of 2%. Fantasy Flight and Kenzer and Eden may have 1% each at best; the rest are bouncing around down there among the drow and suchlike. Of all the Bottom Not Two, FanPro might take a jump up this year with Shadowrun 4th Edition in August, and I've learned not to count Kevin Siembieda out, but I think Steve will be able to hang onto third place in the RPG sector as Mongoose begins to spread its energies into card, board, and miniature games."
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Ken Hite's Out Of The Box: GAMA Trade Show
A lot of this is probably already known, but some may not be. Ken's always got the good inside information on things.
Ken Hite's Out Of The Box: GAMA Trade Show
"GAMA Globulin Injection: GTS 2005 Con Report
"Vegas, baby, Vegas. This year, I cleverly got my cold in London, and shook it well before the show started, so I was able to nearly kill myself instead with drink and late nights. That's how it's supposed to work. The game industry, meanwhile, has yet to kill itself with anything, and if the general tone of blinking tentativeness is to be believed, we may have finally found the floor on this elevator. Nobody was so bold as to predict terrific new performance this year, but everybody seemed to think they'd be back next year, which is something.
"It's especially something, because the Riviera, the new home of the GAMA Trade Show, is a dive. Everybody I talked to expressed amazement that they actually missed the seedy, distant, rundown Orleans compared to the shabby, amateurish, uncomfortable Riviera. Unfortunately, there was similar agreement that the convention facility at the Riviera was, in fact, worlds better, and the GAMA staff did rather better than simply not screw up a good thing on their end. My personal business at the show was fair to middling, but it's a rebuilding year for those of us who have pretty much priced themselves out of the pure writing market. At the show, I assisted freelance superstars Matt Forbeck, Aaron Rosenberg, Keith Baker, and legal mastermind Brian Lewis with the freelance seminar track -- we presented the same seminars twice, during show floor hours the second time, neither of which struck me as particularly clever. Oh well, no doubt the 20 attendees (total, of all four seminars) benefited from the individual attention, and one of them was nice enough to buy us dinner Wednesday night, so it worked out well for me. I don't have attendance figures for the show as a whole, although it seemed about the same as last year -- call it 800 to 1,000 'buyer badges' and leave it at that for now.
"Among the buyees, it was also about the same, although White Wolf's booth was more aggressive, and Games Workshop was there primarily plugging their Black Library fiction line and the upcoming Warhammer Fantasy Role Play relaunch (designed by Green Ronin, shipping at the end of this month), rather than scattering orks all over the place. After several years absent, Palladium was back; Kevin Siembieda assured me that Splicers (their new, interesting sounding game of biotech war) had come out last year, and that a review copy was on its way. I likewise assured him that a review of the new edition of Beyond the Supernatural was also on the way, and we parted friends as always. Taking Palladium's crown this year as the most interesting non-attendee was Chaosium -- rather than buy a booth, Charlie Krank and Dustin Wright hit the corridor outside the hall for about five hours, met with everyone they needed to see, and left again. Let us devoutly hope this practice doesn't catch on at other shows, as I could be left with nowhere to store my swag pile.
"The Magic May Return
"The biggest news of the show was probably the Shadowrun 4th Edition announcement from FanPro. The setting jumps to 2070, the rules all change (of course), and we get a new Matrix to fly around in in our big black trench coats. Sounds exciting, as this will be the chance the FanPro folks have to truly reinvent the setting and make it their own. It's due to bow at GenCon, so get your pre-reg badge now. (This assumes you weren't already pre-registering to line up for your GenCon release copy of Mage: the Awakened from White Wolf, of course.) The other big debut at the show was Peter Adkison's new game, Clout. It's designed by Jesper 'Hills Rise Wild' Myrfors, and it's basically tiddlywinks or marbles, only with poker chips. I played it at the show, and it's fun enough, although unlike James Ernest's 'bocce skirmish minis' game Diceland, I didn't find myself writing variants on it the instant I started playing. Take that for what you will.
"Also, City of Heroes returns to the adventure game market from whence its creators sprang, to spawn a new CCG (from Alderac), and a new RPG (from Eden Studios). The CCG is due in November; the RPG will be out in July, according to the current word on Eden Street. This will accompany their Army of Darkness RPG, in time for the fourth movie in the 'Ash' series.
"And Many Many More
"Sovereign Press announced a non-d20 Firefly RPG, called the Serenity RPG, and more interestingly, a new Tom Wham card game, Dancing Dragons, both expected this summer. West End has TORG 1.5 coming out as a bridge to the upcoming TORG 2.0 release. WizKids gave away Dark Phoenix (I think), and was pushing both their clicky and foldy empires (pulp space combat game Rocketmen: Axis of Evil debuts this fall), along with a new game with a modular board. Speaking of pulp, Pulp Hero is the big GenCon release from Hero Games, which will be nice to see. Fantasy Flight was hitting their board game lines hard -- I wangled a copy of 'Axis & Allies & Orcs,' or War of the Ring, and was promised a new Arkham Horror boardgame by May. They'll also be revamping their 'Sauron won' setting Midnight for a second edition, 3.5-compatible release in May.
"Ann Dupuis of Grey Ghost is almost entirely sure that this summer we'll have that Deryni Adventure Game at long last, as well as a huge 320-page hardcover 10th-anniversary FUDGE RPG core book. Steve Jackson Games had Munchkin life-counters to give away, more Munchkin to plug, and the upcoming SPANC card game to demo. A discreet copy of GURPS Infinite Worlds was visible at the booth, for discerning cognoscenti."
Ken Hite's Out Of The Box: GAMA Trade Show
"GAMA Globulin Injection: GTS 2005 Con Report
"Vegas, baby, Vegas. This year, I cleverly got my cold in London, and shook it well before the show started, so I was able to nearly kill myself instead with drink and late nights. That's how it's supposed to work. The game industry, meanwhile, has yet to kill itself with anything, and if the general tone of blinking tentativeness is to be believed, we may have finally found the floor on this elevator. Nobody was so bold as to predict terrific new performance this year, but everybody seemed to think they'd be back next year, which is something.
"It's especially something, because the Riviera, the new home of the GAMA Trade Show, is a dive. Everybody I talked to expressed amazement that they actually missed the seedy, distant, rundown Orleans compared to the shabby, amateurish, uncomfortable Riviera. Unfortunately, there was similar agreement that the convention facility at the Riviera was, in fact, worlds better, and the GAMA staff did rather better than simply not screw up a good thing on their end. My personal business at the show was fair to middling, but it's a rebuilding year for those of us who have pretty much priced themselves out of the pure writing market. At the show, I assisted freelance superstars Matt Forbeck, Aaron Rosenberg, Keith Baker, and legal mastermind Brian Lewis with the freelance seminar track -- we presented the same seminars twice, during show floor hours the second time, neither of which struck me as particularly clever. Oh well, no doubt the 20 attendees (total, of all four seminars) benefited from the individual attention, and one of them was nice enough to buy us dinner Wednesday night, so it worked out well for me. I don't have attendance figures for the show as a whole, although it seemed about the same as last year -- call it 800 to 1,000 'buyer badges' and leave it at that for now.
"Among the buyees, it was also about the same, although White Wolf's booth was more aggressive, and Games Workshop was there primarily plugging their Black Library fiction line and the upcoming Warhammer Fantasy Role Play relaunch (designed by Green Ronin, shipping at the end of this month), rather than scattering orks all over the place. After several years absent, Palladium was back; Kevin Siembieda assured me that Splicers (their new, interesting sounding game of biotech war) had come out last year, and that a review copy was on its way. I likewise assured him that a review of the new edition of Beyond the Supernatural was also on the way, and we parted friends as always. Taking Palladium's crown this year as the most interesting non-attendee was Chaosium -- rather than buy a booth, Charlie Krank and Dustin Wright hit the corridor outside the hall for about five hours, met with everyone they needed to see, and left again. Let us devoutly hope this practice doesn't catch on at other shows, as I could be left with nowhere to store my swag pile.
"The Magic May Return
"The biggest news of the show was probably the Shadowrun 4th Edition announcement from FanPro. The setting jumps to 2070, the rules all change (of course), and we get a new Matrix to fly around in in our big black trench coats. Sounds exciting, as this will be the chance the FanPro folks have to truly reinvent the setting and make it their own. It's due to bow at GenCon, so get your pre-reg badge now. (This assumes you weren't already pre-registering to line up for your GenCon release copy of Mage: the Awakened from White Wolf, of course.) The other big debut at the show was Peter Adkison's new game, Clout. It's designed by Jesper 'Hills Rise Wild' Myrfors, and it's basically tiddlywinks or marbles, only with poker chips. I played it at the show, and it's fun enough, although unlike James Ernest's 'bocce skirmish minis' game Diceland, I didn't find myself writing variants on it the instant I started playing. Take that for what you will.
"Also, City of Heroes returns to the adventure game market from whence its creators sprang, to spawn a new CCG (from Alderac), and a new RPG (from Eden Studios). The CCG is due in November; the RPG will be out in July, according to the current word on Eden Street. This will accompany their Army of Darkness RPG, in time for the fourth movie in the 'Ash' series.
"And Many Many More
"Sovereign Press announced a non-d20 Firefly RPG, called the Serenity RPG, and more interestingly, a new Tom Wham card game, Dancing Dragons, both expected this summer. West End has TORG 1.5 coming out as a bridge to the upcoming TORG 2.0 release. WizKids gave away Dark Phoenix (I think), and was pushing both their clicky and foldy empires (pulp space combat game Rocketmen: Axis of Evil debuts this fall), along with a new game with a modular board. Speaking of pulp, Pulp Hero is the big GenCon release from Hero Games, which will be nice to see. Fantasy Flight was hitting their board game lines hard -- I wangled a copy of 'Axis & Allies & Orcs,' or War of the Ring, and was promised a new Arkham Horror boardgame by May. They'll also be revamping their 'Sauron won' setting Midnight for a second edition, 3.5-compatible release in May.
"Ann Dupuis of Grey Ghost is almost entirely sure that this summer we'll have that Deryni Adventure Game at long last, as well as a huge 320-page hardcover 10th-anniversary FUDGE RPG core book. Steve Jackson Games had Munchkin life-counters to give away, more Munchkin to plug, and the upcoming SPANC card game to demo. A discreet copy of GURPS Infinite Worlds was visible at the booth, for discerning cognoscenti."
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Palladium Books GTS Report
And yes, the Palladium perspective on things...always guaranteed to be an interesting interpetation of facts:
"Heroes Unlimited™ RPG is Palladium’s second best selling role-playing game line. We already knew that, but we were pleased to have numerous retailers confirm it. They also told us they wanted more HU2 products because Heroes Unlimited™ was selling like crazy for the last year with no sign of letting up. Good news, indeed.
"When we asked why they thought this was, most said, 'because Heroes Unlimited™ is the best super-hero game on the market.' When we said we thought all the super-hero movies being released lately had a lot to do with it, they surprised us with saying, 'No. Maybe the movies get gamers to think about playing super-heroes, but they buy Palladium’s Heroes Unlimited™ because it’s the best...most fun to play.' We heard that almost word for word, over and over again from at least a couple dozen different retailers. Super cool!"
Enjoy the read.
Palladium Books GTS Report
"Wayne Smith and I attended the GAMA Trade Show last week. GAMA stands for Games Manufacturers Association. The organization puts together an industry show attended by store owners and managers from around the country (US & Canada) – a few are from as far away as England, France and Singapore.
"Publishers and manufacturers like Palladium set up a booth to display our wares and then we wait to chat with retailers and talk about out latest releases, upcoming products, sales, and gaming in general. This year, GAMA hosted 541 stores and 2200 attendees.
"Here’s the Palladium perspective . . ."
"Heroes Unlimited™ RPG is Palladium’s second best selling role-playing game line. We already knew that, but we were pleased to have numerous retailers confirm it. They also told us they wanted more HU2 products because Heroes Unlimited™ was selling like crazy for the last year with no sign of letting up. Good news, indeed.
"When we asked why they thought this was, most said, 'because Heroes Unlimited™ is the best super-hero game on the market.' When we said we thought all the super-hero movies being released lately had a lot to do with it, they surprised us with saying, 'No. Maybe the movies get gamers to think about playing super-heroes, but they buy Palladium’s Heroes Unlimited™ because it’s the best...most fun to play.' We heard that almost word for word, over and over again from at least a couple dozen different retailers. Super cool!"
Enjoy the read.
Palladium Books GTS Report
"Wayne Smith and I attended the GAMA Trade Show last week. GAMA stands for Games Manufacturers Association. The organization puts together an industry show attended by store owners and managers from around the country (US & Canada) – a few are from as far away as England, France and Singapore.
"Publishers and manufacturers like Palladium set up a booth to display our wares and then we wait to chat with retailers and talk about out latest releases, upcoming products, sales, and gaming in general. This year, GAMA hosted 541 stores and 2200 attendees.
"Here’s the Palladium perspective . . ."
Sunday, March 20, 2005
The Dave Trampier Wormy Archive.
This is an archive of the Wormy comic strip that ran for years, back in the day, in Dragon Magazine. Full of old school D&D references, and was always a pretty funny comic. Between it and SnarfQuest, they were two of the main reasons that I picked up Dragon so many years ago. Enjoy...
The Dave Trampier Wormy Archive. [link removed since the website seems to have disappeared from the net. 12/10/10]
[Edit: I've also closed comments for this post. I post links when I come across something interesting on the internet, if the site I link to goes down I don't find further links to the same material.]
The Dave Trampier Wormy Archive. [link removed since the website seems to have disappeared from the net. 12/10/10]
[Edit: I've also closed comments for this post. I post links when I come across something interesting on the internet, if the site I link to goes down I don't find further links to the same material.]
Saturday, March 19, 2005
GamingReport.com -- GAMA Trade Show Anouncements
Some of the many products that were announced at the GAMA Trade show this year. It looks like it is going to be a big year for the industry. Amarillo Design Bureau has too new iterations of their Prime Directive game coming out this year, one being a d20 version written by Jonathan M. Thompson and the other being a version for WEG's d6 system and written by the creator of the d6 system, Scott Paltier.
GamingReport.com -- GAMA Trade Show Anouncements
Its nice to be able to finally talk about some of these things, having inside information sucks if you can't share it.
GamingReport.com -- GAMA Trade Show Anouncements
Its nice to be able to finally talk about some of these things, having inside information sucks if you can't share it.
Science fiction author Andre Norton dies
Science fiction author Andre Norton dies
"MURFREEBORO, Tenn. Science fiction author Andre Norton, who wrote the popular 'Witch World' series of books, died today at her home in Murfreesboro. She was 93.
Her death was announced by friend Jean Rabe, who said Norton died of congestive heart failure.
"Norton was born Alice Mary Norton on February 17th, 1912 in Cleveland. She penned more than 130 novels during her career of nearly 70 years.
"The 'Witch World' series, which detailed life on a planet reachable only through metaphysical gateways, included more than 30 novels.
"Her last complete novel, 'Three Hands of Scorpio,' is set to be released next month.
"The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America recently created the Andre Norton Award for young adult novels, and the first award will be presented in 2006.
"Rabe says Norton requested before her death that she not have a funeral service."
"MURFREEBORO, Tenn. Science fiction author Andre Norton, who wrote the popular 'Witch World' series of books, died today at her home in Murfreesboro. She was 93.
Her death was announced by friend Jean Rabe, who said Norton died of congestive heart failure.
"Norton was born Alice Mary Norton on February 17th, 1912 in Cleveland. She penned more than 130 novels during her career of nearly 70 years.
"The 'Witch World' series, which detailed life on a planet reachable only through metaphysical gateways, included more than 30 novels.
"Her last complete novel, 'Three Hands of Scorpio,' is set to be released next month.
"The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America recently created the Andre Norton Award for young adult novels, and the first award will be presented in 2006.
"Rabe says Norton requested before her death that she not have a funeral service."
Whedon Woos "Wonder Woman"
Whedon Woos "Wonder Woman"
"Joss Whedon has tackled ghastly aliens and dastardly vampires. So, why not work on something Wonder-ful?
"The Buffy the Vampire Slayer mastermind has officially lassoed the writing and directing job on Warner Bros.' big-screen version of Wonder Woman, the studio announced Thursday.
"'We are excited about working with Joss,' Warner Bros. Pictures President Jeff Robinov said in a statement. 'He brings great energy and creativity to the process.'
"Added Whedon: 'Wonder Woman is the most iconic female heroine of our time, but in a way, no one has met her yet. What I love most about icons is finding out what's behind them, exploring the price of their power.'"
"Joss Whedon has tackled ghastly aliens and dastardly vampires. So, why not work on something Wonder-ful?
"The Buffy the Vampire Slayer mastermind has officially lassoed the writing and directing job on Warner Bros.' big-screen version of Wonder Woman, the studio announced Thursday.
"'We are excited about working with Joss,' Warner Bros. Pictures President Jeff Robinov said in a statement. 'He brings great energy and creativity to the process.'
"Added Whedon: 'Wonder Woman is the most iconic female heroine of our time, but in a way, no one has met her yet. What I love most about icons is finding out what's behind them, exploring the price of their power.'"
Sunday, March 13, 2005
D&D re-enactment vid remixed to Bon Jovi tune
Lightning Bolt!
D&D re-enactment vid remixed to Bon Jovi tune
"Someone posted [this Stileproject] video clip of adults dressed up and re-enacting a Dungeons and Dragons melee to our forums, then decided to remix it in slomo to the tune of Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory.
"The result is fantastically humorous. An homage to all things geek." [via Boing Boing]
D&D re-enactment vid remixed to Bon Jovi tune
"Someone posted [this Stileproject] video clip of adults dressed up and re-enacting a Dungeons and Dragons melee to our forums, then decided to remix it in slomo to the tune of Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory.
"The result is fantastically humorous. An homage to all things geek." [via Boing Boing]
Black Crawling Systems Archive
Black Crawling Systems Archive
"The Black Crawling Systems Archive was founded by Brian Oblivion. Originally a Boston based BBS from 1990-1993, Black Crawling Systems moved to the web in '93 and had a home at LØpht where Brian was a member.
"When LØpht ceased to exist on December 27, 1999, the Black Crawling Systems Archive soon followed.
"We really liked this archive and could not bear to see it die. Although some of the files may be outdated, and may only pertain to Americans, most of it will always be relevant and interesting to everybody. Not to mention its historical significance in our culture. "So, we've scrounged up a fairly complete mirror of it and put it back online. It is pretty much the way it was when it died. We've cleaned up all of the HTML and hunted down many of the files that were missing. We're still missing a few, so if you find any of those, please let us know. We had a difficult time finding a decent copy of the "Cellular Telephony Utilities" section of the archive, so we decided to merge what we could find with our own collection of cellular files while keeping it as much like the original as possible.
"We may add to this archive from time to time, but only when a file meets the old-school spirit of the rest of the archive. Many respects to the former LØpht for their enormous contribution to the scene. Long live the BCSA."
"The Black Crawling Systems Archive was founded by Brian Oblivion. Originally a Boston based BBS from 1990-1993, Black Crawling Systems moved to the web in '93 and had a home at LØpht where Brian was a member.
"When LØpht ceased to exist on December 27, 1999, the Black Crawling Systems Archive soon followed.
"We really liked this archive and could not bear to see it die. Although some of the files may be outdated, and may only pertain to Americans, most of it will always be relevant and interesting to everybody. Not to mention its historical significance in our culture. "So, we've scrounged up a fairly complete mirror of it and put it back online. It is pretty much the way it was when it died. We've cleaned up all of the HTML and hunted down many of the files that were missing. We're still missing a few, so if you find any of those, please let us know. We had a difficult time finding a decent copy of the "Cellular Telephony Utilities" section of the archive, so we decided to merge what we could find with our own collection of cellular files while keeping it as much like the original as possible.
"We may add to this archive from time to time, but only when a file meets the old-school spirit of the rest of the archive. Many respects to the former LØpht for their enormous contribution to the scene. Long live the BCSA."
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