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Boardgame-Age
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)BattleMonkey
Member
Gencon sounds like it is improving. For a while it was growing into an anime convention with all the anime/manga companies, events, and costuming, but it seems they have really cut back (thanks to the dying anime industry). Also the less presence by video game companies pimping their wares. A return to actual gaming it seems which is great, many were concerned with the growing precense and show floor space being taken over by these other things for a while.
I think the only area with electronic video games (ie consoles) was the second floor of the ICC. I can't recall any video game publisher in the dealer hall 100% dedicated to video games. I think Konami had a few stations set up to demo some of their video games but they also had their CCGs set up as well. There were also a couple of dealer booths showing off how they use computers with the board games/dungeon crawlers/etc. And there were a few anime booths in the dealer hall, but I think all the actual anime events were held in the Westin Hotel.BattleMonkey said:
So yah, I'd definitely say there is no where near an over abundance of video games/anime. Though as a video gamer, I do wish a couple of the bigger publishers would have made an appearance... Bioware and a couple of other publishers were in attendance in 2009, which I really enjoyed.
AstroLad said:
Being from Indiana, I was actually thinking about checking out Origins next year. Does it emphasis certain aspects of gaming (rpgs/board games/card games/miniatures/ccgs/etc) over others? I'm mostly a board game player and I thought I'd heard Origins emphasizes miniatures gaming?
I am unfamiliar with Essen. Where and what is that?
sparky2112
Member
ToddG15 said:
My kids and I were shocked, actually. Quite frankly, we liked the 'mix' of gaming much, much more in previous years. Boardgaming and CCGs have always been huge there, so it's not like it was much-improved this year, so why ditch the videogaming? Was that a deliberate decision, or did the vendors just decide to drop GenCon from what I'm sure is an already packed schedule for them?
While I'm purely speculating... It did seem there were a few spaces in the dealer hall conspicuously empty and with the other video game oriented events at Gencon, my guess is that the video game publishers just didn't wanna come out this year.sparky2112 said:
I really thought Bioware would have been in attendance, since they showed off Dragon Age: Origins last year and they recently announced DA2 for 2011. They could have also shown off The Old Republic. There's always next year...
Edit: Placed a CSI order today for Descent and Well of Darkness.
BattleMonkey
Member
sparky2112 said:
Lot of the gamers were complaining past years about how the con has been growing to have more non gaming related stuff taking over floor space. I don't think it really is the reason why there was less this year and probably more to do due with more publishers not thinking it was worth their time and also I think PAX is getting to be a better place to go instead for video games. The video games and such were apparently moved to side locations this year for the most part so perhaps the organizers were on purpose trying to keep the main floor for the gaming companies.
Anime was also growing and lot of anime/manga related events were going on with cosplay and shit too, but the decline in that seems to come from the death of the US industry, only one studio showed up to Gencon this year for example.
The ironing is I went to Pax East this year and spent about 90% of my time on board-gaming related stuff. They had a really great setup even if it wasn't huge. Tons of space to play games, a solid and free library, and some decent demos and small tournaments. Then again I'm super bias though; I'd way rather play some game I've played a million times before with new people (or learn a new game) than spend a few minutes with an unreleased demo of a game I don't care about.BattleMonkey said:
Gatekeeper
Member
I had a longer post but the browser crashed.
I picked up Magic, Magic and more Magic. All for the shop. Not as many board games as I'd like to have picked up, but some people were willing to spend more than I.
GenCon is fine the way it is. This year was fantastic. It was never growing into an anime convention.
Origins sucks. Continually dropping attendance, poorly managed. Major publishers having been pulling out.
I picked up Magic, Magic and more Magic. All for the shop. Not as many board games as I'd like to have picked up, but some people were willing to spend more than I.
GenCon is fine the way it is. This year was fantastic. It was never growing into an anime convention.
Origins sucks. Continually dropping attendance, poorly managed. Major publishers having been pulling out.
lostzenfound
Junior Member
Is there any kind of online boardgame database? Somewhere I could organize games by universal similarities or differences. Like, all games that are dice-based, card-based, etc.
lostzenfound said:
boardgamegeek.com lets you search on just about anything. Categories, mechanics, genre, publishers, game designers...
edit - unrelated to reply, but related to the thread - after reading all the chatter on Dominion in this thread, I picked it up the other day. I had heard of people playing it 6-handed, and was disappointed to learn that you need the base game + intrigue to play with 6. I went back out and got Intrigue, and I really like the game. For some reason I always passed it over thinking it was a different kind of game entirely. I must have mixed it up with another game with similar boxart or something.
I love games like this that are very simple mechanically, yet change drastically depending on which elements are in play at any given time. Will probably pick up other expansions once I spend more time exhausting the stuff I already have. hoping to be able to get a few games in tomorrow night.
yeah boardgamegeek is like the best database of anything ever. it can almost be overwhelming though. if you are looking for something specific, i'd suggest trying out geeklists too and then if you are digging down on a specific game, check out the reviews and forums for each gamelostzenfound said:
sparky2112
Member
Flynn said:
Well, that's really all there ever was from a videogame perspective, and there was hardly any elbowing; there was quite a bit of extra space at one end of the floor this year. Like I said, board gaming and CCGs never really suffered - if anything, I think they were LESS impressively represented this year than years past - could be the economy or whatever.
Still: Paper/plastic/dice games and videogames lived quite well side-by-side in years past, so it's a bummer (for those of us who go both ways) that videogames have fled the festivities.
XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
So I guess Fantasy Flight's taking a shot at creating a Sid Meier's Civ board game. The last one was pretty horrible, so they should hopefully be able to do better. Initial impressions on BGG make it sound like this one's based more on Civ Revolution, which is probably a good thing for a boardgame adaptation.
That being said, I'm not sure if it'll be able to hold up against Through the Ages.
That being said, I'm not sure if it'll be able to hold up against Through the Ages.
BattleMonkey
Member
ToddG15 said:
For playing games it still is good I hear, it's that the various game publishers are putting less emphasis at the show and if anything pretty much care mostly about Gencon. Lot of gaming companies can't afford to do many shows a year so most want to save up for the big one as it's the place you have to be in the industry. The show will of course suffer without the heavy publisher support running booths and such but it still draws in lot of varied gamers for actual gaming. Your just going to have less cool stuff to do like see and try new and upcoming games.
BattleMonkey
Member
Flynn said:
Conventions are expensive to do and often take time off development for publishers. If anything they likely just found Gencon to not be worth it, especially with how big PAX has grown in recent years and become a new major player in the video game convention circuit. With E3, Gencon, PAX, etc things were likely getting crowded and Gencon just is being seen with least priority for their products.
blindrocket
Member
I got BSG for my birthday just last month.Captain_Spanky said:
BSG would fit the bill for what you want as well.
Played Big City and Agricola for the first time today.
Big City was a fairly simple game, but definitely the sort of game I could play two or three times in a row. Forgetting about the Churches lost the game for me, but it was still a very close game (3 players).
Agricola is a lot of fun and reminds me a bit of Puerto Rico. Managed to win with only two negatives (1 unused space and no wild boars). I'll likely end up buying it in the next month or so.
Big City was a fairly simple game, but definitely the sort of game I could play two or three times in a row. Forgetting about the Churches lost the game for me, but it was still a very close game (3 players).
Agricola is a lot of fun and reminds me a bit of Puerto Rico. Managed to win with only two negatives (1 unused space and no wild boars). I'll likely end up buying it in the next month or so.
platypotamus
Member
Flynn said:
Thanks! Always prefer to see impressions from folks I "know" from this thread, and as soon as you said it was from the Twilight Struggle duo I had gone on high alert. I wonder how high it will climb on bgg's rankings?
AstroLad said:
Delicious.
On that note, anyone here going to be at PAX Prime? I've only got a Friday ticket, but supposing I'm not dying of swine flu again, I'd be down for some gaming.
XiaNaphryz said:
The last one soured me on Civ as a board game so much it took me months to work up the courage to pull the trigger on TTA. Now I just can't imagine a game doing better.
****
I think I already know what's in my next CSI order, and my wife probably won't let me make it for like 6 months
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Surprisingly enough, Target has the original version. I know which version you are referring to so it's definitely te original one.Evlar said:
AstroLad said:
Yeah, it's actually possible to play a solitaire game too. It's not like with most games where you play a solo round to learn the rules, but you're only half playing since you're just playing against yourself.
AH actually works as a solitaire game. Pick 2 or 3 characters and go.
Flynn said:
Arkham with all the expansions is a hateful game. I much prefer the base game, personally, and don't mind the small (card-only) expansions, but once you start in with the board expansions, the game kind of falls apart for me. If someone I know wanted to plahy with them all together again I'd probably just go home.
I played AH with Dunwich at Gencon with 8 players (of various experience levels) and a dedicated GM. Nearly 4 hours later, we're still in the first game with no real end in sight, so we just decided to unleash the Ancient One, just so everyone could see how that combat worked. The GM was really surprised we lasted the entire game, as the previuos group lost in the first 30 minutes. :lolFlynn said:
Captain_Spanky
Member
Arkham Horror is great, both as a roleplaying experience and a boardgame. It's very flexible in that regard.
platypotamus
Member
I will say that (at this point) I wish they had resisted the temptation to have cards of cost 7. I really enjoy 7 being the number of lameness (with only 1 buy anyway). Looks like we'll have 10 at least if colonies are in play.
Gatekeeper
Member
Plat,
I'll be at PAX Prime for the whole weekend. Running some demos for an as of yet unannounced game. I'd love to get in some late night gaming sessions.
I'll be at PAX Prime for the whole weekend. Running some demos for an as of yet unannounced game. I'd love to get in some late night gaming sessions.
BattleMonkey
Member
Anyone play Neuroshima Hex? How is it? Box and name had me intrigued but the game contents don't really seem to convey the same awesome.
platypotamus
Member
Sweet, really hoping to get some board gaming in on the day I'm there. We'll see how that works out.
finally put together my prosperity order thanks to glory to rome getting re-released
1 - Glory to Rome Board Game (New, Board Games, Cambridge Games Factory) at $16.99 each
1 - Through the Desert Board Game (New, Board Games, Fantasy Flight Games) at $23.99 each
1 - Agricola: The Goodies Expansion (New, Board Games, Lookout Games) at $38.99 each
estimated release date is august, 2010. date subject to change.
1 - Dominion: Prosperity Expansion (New, Board Games, Rio Grande Games) at $27.99 each
expected release: august 31, 2010. date subject to change.
1 - Glory to Rome Board Game (New, Board Games, Cambridge Games Factory) at $16.99 each
1 - Through the Desert Board Game (New, Board Games, Fantasy Flight Games) at $23.99 each
1 - Agricola: The Goodies Expansion (New, Board Games, Lookout Games) at $38.99 each
estimated release date is august, 2010. date subject to change.
1 - Dominion: Prosperity Expansion (New, Board Games, Rio Grande Games) at $27.99 each
expected release: august 31, 2010. date subject to change.
Glory to Rome and Caylus will be here tomorrow. I'm probably getting in over my head with Caylus but I enjoy Carson City, which I've seen compared to it.
Battlemonkey, do you have an iPhone? Neuroshima Hex is getting a release on it pretty soon, so that may be a cheaper way to test the waters. I'll probably pick it up, the videos I've seen look like quick fun.
Battlemonkey, do you have an iPhone? Neuroshima Hex is getting a release on it pretty soon, so that may be a cheaper way to test the waters. I'll probably pick it up, the videos I've seen look like quick fun.
platypotamus
Member
I expect mine would look like:
Prosperity
Jaipur
Founding Fathers
Fresco
But I can't put one together for awhile
Prosperity
Jaipur
Founding Fathers
Fresco
But I can't put one together for awhile
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Anybody have any thoughts on Kingsburg? I was thinking about picking it up along with Agricola goodies.
Very fun game. We were super into it a few months ago. Bear in mind that it's much simpler than gric and more on the level of a stone age. The mechanic is basically that you roll dice and can then choose among many different resource sets. You also buy buildings that modify your points and abilities and there are several other little elements that keep the game interesting. I'd put.it right below stone age but just barely.joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
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