Whew! It's uncanny how a
convention can be so jam-packed with epic fun times that afterwards you may
feel like you need a vacation from your vacation, but I'd argue that this
sensation is the best possible kind of exhaustion. Gen Con 2012 was a glorious whirlwind of
dice, costumes, comics, and laughs studded with exciting developments from
several different gaming companies. It's truly breathtaking what the organizers
are able to fit into a mere 3.5-5 days and is a wonderful evolution of Gary
Gygax's original vision incepted exactly 45 years ago. In that spirit, you can
bet that this is going to be an information-packed post. It's like you're
there! (minus the Eau de Indianapolis)
As mentioned above, the
convention was a sounding ground for major developments and disappointing setbacks. I've grouped
these by company for simplicity's sake.
Fantasy Flight Games (FFG):
These industry heavyweights have had a sizable presence at the convention for
the past few years and 2012 was no exception. In addition to offering a number
of demo tables in the heart of the dealer hall, the company offered gamers a
thorough preview of their pipeline in their "InFlight Review". Though
this seminar bore a strong resemblance to a presentation for equity analysts,
CEO Christian T. Petersen managed to keep attendees at the edge of their seats
as he unfurled the line of games slated for release in the next six months. The
major themes in FFG's pipeline are 1) reimaginings of obscure/niche games, 2)
active partnerships with other game developers, and 3) Star Wars. Mr. Petersen
kindly provided details for the following games:
- The company's resurrection of
the cult classic Living Card Game (LCG) Android: Netrunner was undoubtedly the biggest hit of the convention. How big are we
talking here? FFG sold out of their entire stock of the game, meant to last for
the duration of the con, in a mere 10 minutes after doors opened. In an attempt
to get more product into the halls, an FFG employee drove all night to escort a
second shipment of the game to Indianapolis. Unsurprisingly, this second
shipment also flew off the shelves in a matter of minutes. Those of us unable
to get our fix of cyberpunk dystopia at the con will only have to wait until
September before the game will be released to the larger market.
- An expansion for the board game
Descent titled the Lair of the Wyrm. Lair
will introduce new side quests, 2 new playable heros/monsters, and the new game
mechanic "rumors". The expansion should hit stores in November of
2012.
- Demonstrations for all Star
Wars related games seemed to be constantly wreathed in lines of eager geeks and
a spot at the Star Wars LCG table was one of the most hotly contested seats at
the con. Designed for 2-players, this head-to-head card game will be available
for purchase in late 2012.
- FFG, in conjunction with
Stronghold Games, will release a reboot of the classic
economy-management-in-space game, Merchant
of Venus. The joint venture will feature elements from both Richard Hamblen's
original game as well as the later Rob Kouba edition. Merchant of Venus is scheduled for release in September of 2012.
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| The epic Death Star board for the X-Wing minis game |
- 4 new models will be sold for
Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures. The new minis include an A-Wing, a TIE
Interceptor, Slave I and the Millennium Falcon. All models will be to scale
with the minis presently used in the base game. (which was incredibly fun, but
the majority of this enjoyment was derived from the custom resin playscape FFG
had on hand; subsequent playthroughs on the actual base game were less
thrilling)
- A product of FFG's now
4-year-old collaboration with the legendary Games Workshop will be Relic, essentially a new rendition of
the best-selling Talisman set in the
Warhammer 40K universe. Look for Relic
in late 2012.
- Borderlands, a game featuring the complexities that FFG is renowned
for (diplomacy, backstabbing, resource management and territorial conquest)
will be amongst the first releases of 2013.
- As the sole license holder for
games related to all avatars of the Song
of Ice and Fire series, Fantasy Flight looks to plumb that property for all
it's worth. In addition to its earlier Game
of Thrones-based releases, the company will debut a new LCG centered exclusively
around the HBO series. The LCG is a stand-alone rendition of FFG's existing
living card game, assumes the standard 2-player head-to-head playstyle, and
features stills from the television show. This LCG will be available for
purchase in the next two months or so.
- Fall of 2012 will see an
expansion to the much-beloved Blood Bowl. This expansion, titled Sudden Death,
will feature a new playable league, novel game mechanics, new payouts and 3 new
teams: Vampires, the Undead, and Dark Elves.
- The last entry on the LCG
release front was the planned expansion to the Lord of the Rings living card game. This expansion, the Heirs of Numenor, will build upon
the core game and simultaneously set players up for future cycles of story
arcs. Heirs of Numenor will be
available in November of 2012.
These announcements were
promising, but nothing that we didn't already expect from a major developer
like Fantasy Flight. Mr. Petersen seemed to sense this and, with the panache of
someone who's clearly practiced at this sort of thing, built up to a reveal
that elicited gasps and a standing ovation. What could this possibly be?
Star Wars: the Role Playing Game (RPG)
You read that right. Even if
you'd only just heard of FFG from the above list you can quickly ascertain that
these guys know a thing or two about obtaining and retaining some serious
licensing rights and their relationship with LucasArts is the crown jewel in
that brilliant repertoire. They've put an enormous amount of time and other
resources into developing a comprehensive RPG that seeks to treat the Star Wars
universe with the complexity and respect for the source material that FFG is
renowned for. The game will be released in three successive content-specific
installments:
- Edge of the Empire: Focused on the Outer Rim, bounty hunters,
smugglers and those living on the fringes of the galaxy (Early 2013)
- Age of Rebellion: The inverse of its predecessor, this chapter of
the Star Wars saga will be devoted to those individuals in the Core worlds on
both sides of the Galactic Civil War. (2014)
- Force & Destiny: As the title suggests, the final third of the
series will detail the stories of Force users, both Light and Dark side,
throughout the galaxy (2015)
I received a copy of the rulebook
for the beta of Edge of the Empire
and will be making my way through it in between assignments for school (how we
can have homework before the semester even starts is still beyond me). A full
review on Edge will be forthcoming. If you want to get in on the public beta,
feel free to check out their webpage and indicate your interest. They'd love to
hear from you. Bonus: FFG will offer an application for both iOS and Android
smartphones that will assist with interpreting/converting the custom resolution
dice required for the RPG until the company releases physical versions of said
dice.
Wizards of the Coast (WotC):
Like Fantasy Flight, WotC has a lengthy history and a typically sizable
presence at Gen Con. Given that they are the current caretaker of founder Gary
Gygax's seminal invention, Dungeons &
Dragons, there's a certain onus on the company to outperform in
Indianapolis. If anything, 2012 was to be the banner year for Wizards, as they
were to deliver the convention's keynote address on the heels of their January
announcement that a fifth edition of Dungeon's
& Dragons was in the works. The address disappointed some attendees, as
lead developer Mike Mearls admitted that the playtesting process for 5th
Edition, also termed "D&D Next", was taking far longer than WotC
had anticipated, and the company released nearly all subsequent news in a
series of muddled, occasionally contradictory information leaks. The guys over
at Forbes do an excellent job of splicing these leaks together into a coherent narrative (summary: lots of Forgotten Realms). Still, the giant booth, enormous
Drizzt and Lolth statues, and flashy new play terrain were shiny but left
con-goers bewildered and uncertain where their beloved games were headed.
Mayfair Games (MG): Another titan in the gaming realm, MG offered Gen
Con attendees a chance to preview its new Star Trek themed iteration of its
blockbuster hit, Settlers of Catan. Not
terribly surprising for tabletop aficionados, but what did raise eyebrows was
the caveat tacked tacitly onto Star Trek Catan: that the game would be sold exclusively at Target. Gaming purists are still trying to wrap their heads
around this, raising some of the same questions of authenticity that we chatted about earlier. The next few months, specifically the holiday shopping season,
will speak volumes as to the future of Mayfair, Catan, and perhaps even
tabletop gaming as a whole.
Asmadi Games: The creators of We Didn't Playtest This At All and Fealty came into Gen Con with proverbial guns blazing. The company
had an offering for each of the two gaming subcategories that they've come to
build their reputation around: clever, rapid fire party games and substantive
strategy-based adventures. Representing the former was Flower Fall, a spatial awareness and placement game that could
appeal to nearly all ages. The latter, Consequential, was probably my favorite
playtest of the entire convention. A cooperative hybrid role-playing and
strategy game, Consequential introduces an entirely novel gameplay mechanic:
blending physical play on the board with interactive downloadable content. The
game is the late stages of development and is scheduled to premier at PAX East
2013. In the meantime, check out its Kickstarter for a full description of this unique offering.
There were a number of individual
games I sampled over the course of the convention that weren't mentioned above,
but these will be the subject of future reviews. The con also played host to the first ever Yu-Gi-Oh World Cup and Settlers of Catan North American qualifier. Other Gen Con highlights
included not one, but two hilarious shows from the Damsels of Dorkington
(proving definitively that Gen Con audiences are the best to be had), lots of
noodles from Noodles & Company, and mindblowingly amazing costumes. Check
out our albums on Facebook, G+ and Pinterest for pictures and more notes on the
con.
On the topic of costumes Kel, how'd Aayla Secura turn out?
Short answer: just as I hoped it
would.
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| The finished product |
Longer answer: While I didn't place in the Gen Con costume contest and my body
paint was less cooperative than I would have liked, I met a lot of
incredible cosplayers, posed for a ton of pictures and had all sorts of fun. I
liked being a jedi so much that I might just reprise the costume at PAX East in
the spring. You can never really have too many lightsaber battles :-)
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| Darth Revan's got NOTHING on me |
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