I talked to John Kaufeld, PR guy for the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and Origins, today and he told me about something they are doing a little different than last year. On Saturday and Sunday of Origins they are having the Game Fair, a cheaper alternative to the full convention that will allow people to come in and play demos and see exhibitors. Individuals pay $3 a day while families of 4+ pay $10. Thats right, you and your eight kids can get in for $10. 

John said exhibitors will be running a ton of demos on those days, and the idea is to get more people into the con and exposed to some of these great games, which sounds like a good idea to me. The last couple of years the con has seen a downturn in attendence, what with the rising price of gasoline and some unforseen weather-woes. The Game Fair (which by the way Origins has changed from the Origins International Game Expo to Origins Game Fair) should be a good way to draw in people off the street who might not otherwise have attended the full con. All in all I wish GAMA and Origins some luck, because getting more people involved is the best way to support and strengthen the hobby as a whole.

Origins begins June 25 (a Wednesday) and runs through June 29 (Sunday). I will be there that Friday and Saturday, taking pictures and doing interviews. Hope to see you all there.

ME

• Doing a nearly half-hour interview with Fred Hicks about "Spirit of the Century," "Don't Rest Your Head," and a good portion of Indie Press Revolution's offerings at the show. Fred turned me on to a bunch of great games as well as introduced me to several game designers. I felt I was hovering around the IPR booth a lot during my time on the show floor, but there were so many cool people to talk to, I found myself drawn back again and again.
• Doing a demo of "Burning Wheel" with Nathan Paoletta, author of  "carry: a game about war," as our two characters went through the motion of a battle of wills. I had interviewed Nathan a short time before about his game, and later, while waiting to interview Burning Wheel author Luke Crane, Nathan happened by and volunteered to do the demo with me. Playing with Nathan sold me on the game, and I purchased a copy right then, later coming back to find Luke and do the interview.
  (By the way, Nathan killed me in the duel of wills. I will have my revenge.)
  
• Having volunteers at the Pokemon booth ask five-year-old players the spelling of a Pokemon's name so I could cutline a photo I had taken.
• Having people recognize me from last year and asking whether I was still writing a gaming column. From people's reactions at the con, I have come to the conclusion I have one of, if not the only, column about non-electronic games published in a regular newspaper. Sweet.
• Dave Kenzer of Kenzer Co. pulling a six-shooter on me because I asked about the Knights of the Dinner Table podcast. Dave was decked in Wild West style to promote their new game, "Aces & Eights."
  
• Bumping into podcaster Paul Tevis of "Have Games Will Travel"  four times over two days, each time telling him he was my next interview, and the only time I got his voice on tape was when I was interviewing Fred Hicks.
  
• Walking through the convention center around midnight with my non-gaming wife, pointing out the closed dealers room and trying to explain the games of "Werewolf" we tiptoed by. We had been having drinks in the Hyatt bar and were both a little buzzed. I doubt I would have gotten her even that close otherwise.

• Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontiers - Kenzer Co.
• Burning Wheel and BW Character Burner - Luke Crane
• Roanoke - Clint Krause
• The Secret Lives of Ginger Bread Men - Annie Rush
• The Shadow of Yesterday - Clinton R. Nixon
• The Shab-Al-Hiri Roach - Jason Morningstar
• carry: a game about war - Nathan D. Paoletta
• Savage Worlds Explorers Edition - Pinnacle Press
• Pirates of the Spanish Main - Pinnacle Press
• Toolbox - AEG ( A D&D supplement)
• Dictionary of Mu - Judd Karlman
• Beast Hunters - Christian and Lisa Griffen

• Dunwich Horror, Curse of the Dark Pharaoh and The King in Yellow, all Arkham Horror Expansions by Fantasy Flight Games.
• Two Battlegrounds:Fantasy Warfare starter decks as well as the Scenario Booklet, Battleground dice and Terrain Pack by Your Move Games.
• Scallywags and a Pipoglyph deck from Bent Castle Workshops.
• Succession and Space Station Assault, both by Your Move Games.
• A box of Marvel Heroclix Avengers by WizKids Games.

• The Gamers: Director's Cut by Dead Gentlemen Productions
• Fellowship of the Dice by Tough Cookie Entertainment

Made it through the first day of Origins, and man am I tired. I got to meet a lot of people I've been trading e-mails with and reading about online, which was pretty cool. I did about six audio interviews today and shook more hands than I can count. I also twice had to head to our hotel room to drop off books and games I'd picked up. The IPR booth got a lot of my love this year, which is how it should be. I can't wait to try out some of these games on the people back in P-Burg.

My wife and I are getting ready to head out for a few, so I will have to continue my update later. I hope to give a more complete trip report soon. As a passing note, though, we had not one but TWO bomb scares in our area this afternoon as police and fire fighters closed off several streets near our hotel because of suspicious packages. We were watching the local news coverage and looking out of our window at the reporter doing the broadcast from the street corner outside. Fun. 

But it all ended just fine, with most convention-goers being none the wiser. I figure some Origins attendee just lost their luggage or something. I can only imagine them looking at the pictures of the "mysterious" suitcases on the local news and thinking, "Oh God, my name is on my underwear..."

Or something like that.

ME

Well, sufficed to say, things haven't worked out the way I planned this week. I was hoping to use my time at home to write a couple of game reviews, do numerous updates to these pages and basically wallow in all things gaming. But as is, I was pretty sick and uncomfortable the first part of the week, and now I am just tired and trying to get through the last bit of this. My hope is to be back to normal and back to work at the beginning of next week. We'll see how that plays out.

But this doesn't mean I haven't been working on gaming-related projects this week. I've sent out e-mails to several game companies and even gotten a few replies. I exchanged e-mails with Andy Hopp, coordinator of Con on the Cob, a uniquely-named gaming convention in Akron, Ohio, a little more than 2 hours from here. I hope to write an article on the con as we get a little closer to November when the con is held, and I plan to do updates from the convention using my blog and CU.

Now, Con on the Cob may not sound like much compared with GenCon Indy and Origins, two of the biggest gaming conventions in the United States, but I have high hopes for this event. First off, they have booked some really good guests, including Steve Kenson, designer of Green Ronin's "Mutants & Masterminds" roleplaying game. I am really looking forward to meeting him, and hope to drop him an e-mail sometime soon asking for an interview. I haven't had much luck getting review copies from Green Ronin, but I have played M&M, and would love to review the second edition of the game which came out last year. M&M 2e might very well be one of the best super hero roleplaying  games on the market today, and I am a big fan of super hero games.

The convention also will feature as the guest of honor artist Larry Elmore, who is a bit of a legend in the roleplaying community, especially those of us who grew up on Dungeons & Dragons. 

On top of that, the convention looks like a lot of fun. Lots of games and gamers. I am eager to learn a little bit more about the convention and to meet Andy and the other convention-goers.

I will write a little more on my gaming convention plans as we get closer to the season, and hopefully do a lot of show floor reporting wherever I attend. I already know Origins in Columbus, Ohio, CharCon in Charleston, W.Va., and Mid-Ohio Comic Con, also in Columbus, are on my list.

Should be a great year.

ME