FREE Vol 3 Issue 10 Oct 09
MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT AND SEGA PARTNER TO CREATE CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE INCREDIBLE HULK AND THOR VIDEO GAMES Marvel.com New York, NY, April 18, 2007 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL), SEGA® Europe Ltd and SEGA® of America, Inc. have expanded their relationship to include the rights to develop and distribute games inspired by Marvel‘s Hall-of-Fame franchises -Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and Thor. Through the exclusive, multi-year global licensing agreement, SEGA will create titles for console, handheld and PC platforms based upon both the classic comic books and planned feature film adaptations of these worldrenowned Super Heroes. The deal follows Marvel and SEGA‘s announcement to create titles based on Super Hero favorite Iron Man, with both game and film slated to be released in May 2008. ―Video games are an ideal medium to showcase the appeal and excitement of our Super Hero franchises,‖ said David Maisel, Chairman, Marvel Stu-
dios. ―SEGA is one of the industry‘s most innovative game developers and we are thrilled to partner with them to bring Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and Thor to the video gaming arena. These franchises represent three of Marvel‘s most popular characters and lend themselves to captivating game play. We have already seen SEGA‘s passion for the Marvel Universe through the early development of the Iron Man video game, and we look forward to working closely with them over the next few years to maximize the potential of these franchises in the interactive entertainment space.‖ Under the expanded agreement, SEGA will develop a title to be based on Marvel Studios' highly-anticipated The Incredible Hulk feature film. Hitting theaters June 13, 2008, the film will return the largerthan-life Super Hero to the roots of the long-running comic series and television show with an all-new actionpacked storyline directed by
Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2, Unleashed). The Incredible Hulk video game will be released in the same timeframe as the film. Games based on Captain America and Thor will follow, though the timing of those feature film projects, currently in development, has not yet been determined. ―We are excited to broaden our partnership with Marvel, a recognized leader and innovator in the entertainment industry,‖ said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America. ―As SEGA continues to create games that are built from the ground up to appeal to Western audiences it makes perfect sense to work with a powerhouse like Marvel. Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and Thor are icons that people are already familiar with and love, so our goal is to give gamers the ability to play out their fantasies by actually becoming these Super Heroes. Fans can now not only watch them in movies and read about them in comic books, but also literally con-
trol their actions through the video games we are creating. We look forward to bringing these icons to life like never before and putting the power in the hands of the fans.‖ For further information on this title please visit www.sega-press.com for Europe and the SEGA FTP for A m e r i c a a t : http://segapr.segaamerica.com. About SEGA® Europe Ltd. SEGA® Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA Europe‘s web site is located at www.sega-europe.com
will work with code-named "Project Natal" and controllerfree gaming in the future. ―With the holiday season right around the corner, it's already time to start looking for entertainment and gifts that everyone will enjoy," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of strategy and business development for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp. "If you're looking for
deep experiences that don't require deep pockets, now is the time to purchase an Xbox 360. We've got the best games, a vast library of TV shows and movies, new music experiences, more ways to connect friends and family, and so much more on the horizon including 'Project Natal'— no controller required."
Xbox 360 Drops Elite Console Price by $100 Xbox 360® today invites you to experience more fun, more entertainment and more ways to connect with friends and family at an even better value. Beginning August 28, the price of an Xbox 360 Elite console will drop by $100, now priced at just $299.99 estimated retail price in the United States. On top of that, the Xbox 360 Pro console will now be priced at $249.99, reflecting a
price reduction of $50, while supplies last. Starting at just $199.99 for the Xbox 360 Arcade console,Xbox 360 puts all your entertainment in one place so you can play games, watch movies and TV shows, listen to music, and, coming this fall, keep up with your Twitter and Facebook social circles, all from your Xbox 360.* And, as announced earlier this year, the Xbox 360 you buy today
Celebrating Nearly 2 Years in Publication
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Classy Jim’s Girls (Parts 1 & 2) Jessica Krawec OGO Publications Writer
I. TOM The dust puffed up as Tom stumbled on the path. He fell to his knees, ripping a patch in the trousers he‘d patched not a week ago. Twilight is never a good time to navigate paths with a stomach full of rotgut, especially with Tom‘s eyes. Work was hard to come by, and the money earned from the rare odd jobs seemed to slip away through his calloused fingers like water. In Tom‘s mind, glasses were an unheard of luxury. Moonshine and a little slice of frail on the odd weekend, however, were as much as of a necessity as food and a nice cot to lay his head on at night. The stumble left Tom unperturbed. He rose and dusted off his knees, heading towards his
destination: Classy Jim‘s. The thought made him smile, an unpleasant look that made most girls in town blush and shy away quickly, awkwardly teetering on their fuck me pumps, skirts fluttering about them like angel‘s wings. To say that Tom was no matinee idol was overly kind. He was tall and wiry, with a rawboned face and scaly red skin from long hours working in the fields - when such work was available. His nose was long and crooked, his eyes a light, watery color unidentifiable due to his constant squint. Stringy patchy hair crept from his raw scalp, growing and receding in patterns that suited a man much older than his twenty seven years. God had given Tom these dubious gifts for his body while overlooking his mind. Tom wasn‘t a classifiable idiot, doomed to a chin raw from constant streams of spittle as he grinned emptily at
his surroundings, in the words of parted mother, brightest bulb in patch.‖
but he was, his dear de― not the the cabbage
So Tom stumbled on his way, swaying from the rotgut he downed at Johnny Pink‘s room, checking his pockets for the odd nickel and dime he‘d won at poker to pay for a little fun that evening. Classy Jim‘s wasn‘t more than a quarter mile away, and his steps quickened as remembered past evenings there. During the summer carnival season, Classy Jim‘s was known as Classy Jim‘s House of Oddities and Amusements. Jim and his motley crew of misfits appeared at the beginning of planting season and left a little after harvest. They gave the little town of Mareth a little cheap entertainment when the weather grew hot and blood grew hotter. Espe-
cially after the fields were bare. After harvest time, Classy Jim and his folks moved their trailers to a more secluded location on the outskirts to accommodate the gawkers who wanted to do a little more than gawking after the sun went down. This was where Tom was heading in the chill of twilight with a few pieces of silver knocking about in his threadbare pockets. By the time the moon rose up over the fields, Tom was swaying by the door and gave the secret code of knocks to enter. II. CLASSY JIM Classy Jim opened the door immediately. Even Tom‘s muddled brain could tell that the title of ―Classy‖ was an oxymoron, and would have used the word had he known it. Jim (Continued on page 5)
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As the Wheel Burns – An interview with Luke Crane Ben Chronister OGO Publications Writer
In the world of Tabletop RPGs, there are those who are very business-like, those who seem creepy and basementdwelling, and then there are gentlemen like Luke Crane. He is hyperactive, driven, intense, irreverent, and just a bit crazy, but in a friendly way. Mr. Crane is the creator of Burning Wheel, a game system that is highly deadly, full of fantasy and imagery, and yet very utilitarian. His books are all of a uniform size, their covers uncluttered by the usual glitz and glamour of so many other more high profile games. These unassuming paper-backs, when arrayed side by side on a shelf, look more like technical manuals than Tomes of Gameiosity. (Gameiciousness?) The Burning Wheel (revised edition) was officially released back in 2005. The two books necessary to play the game, The Character Burner and the Burning Wheel Fantasy Roleplaying System, can usually be picked up in a package for around the $25 mark, which is pretty amazing given the price of the books those ―other guys‖ sell. At Origins, Luke Crane was equal parts showman and phantom. He zips from one point to another faster than the human eye can follow, and then before you could react, you realized he‘s now in front of you showing you the most amazing game you‘ve seen in quite some time. This year, Mr. Crane was doing dances for his newest game, Mouseguard. The roleplaying game is based on the Eisner Award winning series of Graphic Novels by author David Petersen. (Which, dear 4
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readers, if you have not yet picked up, please put down this paper and go buy it. Really. It‘s that good.) Mouseguard uses a somewhat stripped down version of the original Burning Wheel rules, but one neither needs to have played, nor have owned the Burning Wheel books to be able to enjoy Mouseguard. Just as the comic version of Mouseguard is highly enjoyable for readers of all ages, so too is the game. One of the primary reasons for this is the game‘s focus on completing objectives, rather than merely slaughtering monsters. When entering combat, for instance, each side (The GM‘s side and the Players‘ side) determines the outcome they‘re looking for. While this could be ―We want to mercilessly destroy the honeybees that are attacking us,‖ (remember, you‘re playing mice) it could just as easily be ―We want to convince the angry hissing snake that we‘re not that dangerous and it should let us go.‖ That‘s a potential COMBAT OBJECTIVE! How cool is that? I managed to catch Mr. Crane's attention for a moment during the convention and convinced him to sit down and talk. He‘s got an opinion on nearly everything, and there are very few subjects he won‘t discuss. He is notoriously tight-lipped about his upcoming projects, but aside from that there‘s very little that is off-limits. Presented here is a somewhat cleaned up version of our conversation. GAMERS: So, you‘ve produced 6 or 7 Burning Wheel books with several supplemental ,pdf‘s, the Burning Empires book, and now Mouseguard. Does that make you one of the most prolific designers in gaming right now?
Luke Crane: No, Not at all. We produce a game a year. It‘s a very slow, but steady pace. Most gaming publishers don‘t support their line, they support what‘s new. We support our oldest product the most. GAMERS: Who else works with you on a regular basis? Luke Crane: Burning Wheel HQ consists of Thor Olavsrud, (editor in chief) and Katie Bode, my assistant. It‘s the three of us that handle most of the business, the concepts, and hashing out the editing. We also have a dedicated group of play-testers, and Andy Action does our fulfillment. I still do all of the writing, the production work, I‘m the front on all the business stuff. Katy does the grunt work. The support network is vital. I would drown without it. GAMERS: You have mentioned in the past that your favorite games to play are you own. Is that still true? Luke Crane: I love playing my own games, and now that I‘ve got enough of them, and there are enough people, people run my games for me and that‘s fantastic. GAMERS: What games do you enjoy that you didn‘t make? Luke Crane: Inspectors, and Lacuna, both are incredibly elegant. My games are ridiculous and overcomplicated, but these they do exactly what they say. GAMERS: When you were first getting started, or perhaps even before, did you have any particular idols in the world of game design? Luke Crane: I was never really a game designer fan boy because I never used to know game design was something you could do. When I met Jonathan Tweet, (Ars Magica, 3rd ed. D&D) I was just kinda
like, ―Oh, there‘s that guy.‖ One guy, though, was Greg Costikyan (Paranoia). He was at a con I was at, though we were on different tracks. We were on the same train comin‘ back together, I told him, ―I‘m sorry I‘m gonna‘ be a fanboy, but I love your games. But here I have a terrible confession.‖ He looks at me, and here‘s me being a fanboy, geeking out on him, and I say, ―When I played paranoia, we played it straight‖ He laughed, and said ―I‘m sorry.‖ GAMERS note-(Paranoia is a highly satirical game set in a dark, but humorous, postapocalyptic future.) The other fanboy moment was hiring Ian Miller, the artist for the magic burner. I‘ve been a fan of his since I was a kid. GAMERS: Would you do a different game using a different style or design, given how picky you are with the Burning Wheel books? Luke Crane: Yeah, working on Mouseguard was good but very scary. Working in color does not make it easier, but actually makes it harder. The burning wheel books will always remain with those specs; simple evocative art, an instructive layout. GAMERS: How and when did you start playing tabletop games? Luke Crane: 6th grade. . . a summer storm of Marvel superheroes, Paranoia first edition, and expert set Dungeons and Dragons GAMERS: What do you think of the direction Dungeons and Dragons has taken? Luke Crane: 4th ed. is [expletive deleted] fantastic! But I‘m a game designer, I‘m crazy. GAMERS: What about those who feel it‘s too close to (Continued on page 6)
Classy Jim’s Girls (cont) (Continued from page 3)
leaned against the entrance to the trailer, his shirtfront stained with tobacco juice, greasy black hair peeping from under a battered top hat. He gave a brown smile missing the full complement of teeth, and he spat. Classy Jim had grown up in a shack in Missoula, the third boy in a poor sharecropping family of ten. Everyone in Mareth knew he lacked class, but no one knew that Jim was an alias. When he left the dust and grinding poverty of Missoula behind at fifteen riding the rails, he left behind the moniker Leroy Hatton. Unfortunately, the skinny, pockmarked thief that had a habit of diddling his sisters and drowning sacks of kittens on a boring Saturdays while stoned off moonshine stuck along for the ride to Mareth town.
―Hey Tommy boy,‖ he drawled, ―here for the usual?‖ Tommy grinned, and it made Jim shudder, though he hid it as well as he could. ―Huh, getting cold these nights, huh Tom? Well, how ‗bout you come inside and we can see what we can do for you.‖ The inside of the trailer had rusted walls and a plush carpet that may have once been purple. Several rickety chairs and an old fashioned iron bed made up the décor. The chairs were occupied by several bored looking women. Tom smiled again. There were many freak shows out there that took care of their workers, but Classy Jim wasn‘t one to worry too much about the health and happiness of his employees. By day during the summer months, the girls were stared at and
mocked along with the rest; Will the strong man with a taste for moonshine that left him senseless once the crowds left. Fernando, the little Spanish boy who could speak only a few words of English which he used to communicate his wish for a balm to stop the pain from a skin condition that had him titled in sideshow parlance as ―The Castilian Crocodile‖. There were three hard faced ex sailors, (or convicts, Jim never bothered to ask) who moped about the place when not clothed in loincloth to display their exotic tattoos, and of course Old Roscoe, the ancient colored man with an extra leg protruding from his back. The trailers they lived in were dirty affairs with broken doors and leaky roofs. Most of the meager pay the men received ended up going back to Jim‘s pocket under the pretense of ―room and board‖. Despite the privations, Jim‘s male workers had it a lot bet-
ter than the women. They left after the summer months to cool their heels in the local flophouses to wait for the next sideshow season. During the cooler months, men from Mareth proper snuck towards a secluded trailer on the outskirts of town, nervously glancing over their shoulders. They would tread swiftly and stealthily through the woods, looking to fulfill the more perverse pleasures that their upstanding wives at home could not or would not provide. The sort of pleasures Jim‘s girls were forced to provide. Jim was happy to discover this arrangement was even more lucrative than the regular summertime freak show. He grinned as he watched Tom eye his product. (find chapter 3 & 4 in upcoming issues of GAMERS)
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The Origins of My Insanity Victoria Vesey OGO Publications Writer
Origins is a name that, within the gaming community, is a name that invokes fond memories of days on end, poring over cards and dice, running around LARPing, or daring your friends to torture the crowd with their lack of karaoke talents. For me it was a bit like walking into the nerd version of heaven and having no idea how I gained admittance. I walked into the vendor‘s room, to find myself staring at row after row of containers filled with dice, massive heaps of gaming books, towering stands of tshirts with snarky gaming comments, costume apparel to make your fantasy, medieval, geisha and steampunk dreams come true, and an array of people who probably hadn‘t spend this much time away from their computer since last year‘s Origins. In the back of the room some knights had sectioned off an arena to make
it easier to beat each other with foam swords without interrupting the rest of the crowd. In the middle was a layout of tables and chairs for people eager to paint new miniatures or play games. There was an independent publishing company, FirestormInk, handing out new publications and even an impressive Cthulhu around one of the booths selling Lovecraft collections, magazines, and hand-knit Cthulhu monsters so cute even grown men where snuggling it against their unshaven faces. Many of the people I talked to simply floored me with their outrageous but ingenious inventions and crafts, such as the clip-on ears from Tasia‘s Custom Designs, or the Silver Leaf knife they had for sale. Other sections of the convention were filled with tables of miniatures and card game tournaments, with many of them going late into the night. LARPs, such as Assassin, and various drinking games, were being run throughout the whole event.
While I was fascinated at the madness around me, the area which opened up the deepest regions of my sarcastic heart was the art show. Just walking into the spastic array of colors made my mind clear and I proceeded to talk to some of the most interesting people I‘ve ever come across. The list of artists was impressive, with attendees such as Steve Prescott and Chris Pritcherd, who are illustrators for White Wolf. Heather V. Kreiter was launching a series of ―My Little Demons‖, a spoof of the ―My Little Pony‖ children‘s toys. Mike Bocianowki, who is doing the cover art for next year‘s Origins, actually designed his own way of creating watercolors, scanning them into a digital system and still maintaining the look of the original piece. Amul Kumar is a photographer who then digitally adds designs to his work and has a special interest in Venetian masks, which he will happily tell you about for hours. Andy Hopp does interesting and quirky cartoon
characters, and was kind enough to show off his talent by drawing an Atomic CareBear on my shoulder. Artist Scott Frank, a very tall redhaired man ironically won first in show for his miniatures and received a large golden hammer. Alain Viesca won first place in the art arena for his liquor fairies line, and he says he will soon be launching the complimentary set of milk fairies, white, chocolate, peppermint and strawberry, to go with them, apparently his idea of a joke. My favorite works of all were the female fantasy portraits by the beautiful and sassy Echo Chesnik. They were absolutely breathtaking, ranging from princesses to sorceresses to fairies and every other female form, and showed an impressive balance of female power and sexuality without objectification. So, having found my niche, I‘m looking forward to next year‘s event, and I might even pick up one of those cuddly Cthulhus.
As the Wheel Burns – An interview with Luke Crane (cont)
(Continued from page 4)
World of Warcraft? Luke Crane: I think those people haven‘t played. There‘s more teamwork, more character niche protection. There‘s more, ―NOOOOO we need you, you can‘t miss this session.‖ What they‘ve done is stripped out all the things the game isn‘t about. The game isn‘t about freeform roleplay and telling ―any‖ story. It‘s about dungeon bashing, which is undeniably rad. They strip out all the dross, they say this is what the game is about and 6
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made an incredibly robust system. With the last few editions of dnd, the design is so open to interpretation that each group makes up their own game. In this one (4th edition), they said, ―No no this is what D&D is,‖ so anyone who hadn‘t played their game close to it is pissed off. GAMERS: And tell me, how do you really feel about MMO‘s? (Massively Multiplayer Online games) Luke Crane: (gives emphatic thumbs down) Yeah yeah yeah,
social interaction, blah blah blah. We‘re social in an electronic environment; we‘ve gotten very good at that. Tabletop RPG‘s are just better games. Tabletop games are a generation of design ahead of the computer games. With computer games, it‘s about fighting, and you have no choice. Maybe you‘re going to do it in an evil way or maybe you do it in a good way, and that‘s their innovation! There is no moral choice that can
actually skew the game in a different direction. Your choices don‘t matter. Those aren‘t roleplaying games to me. That‘s what the rest of the world thinks a roleplaying game is now; powers, leveling and inventory management. They make millions of dollars, so they get to say what a roleplaying game is now, and they‘re wrong! Luke Crane‘s next book, Bloodstained Stars, (A supplement to his award-winning Burning Empires) is slated for release ―soon.‖ Look for it at Gencon, or at Crane‘s website Burningwheel.org.
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Calendar Of Events
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Spidey Snags IMAX Venues ICV2.com - 09/18/2009 Copyright 2009 GCO, LLC. Reprinted with permission
Hollywood studios put a great deal of effort into scheduling their blockbusters, and the pecking order of potential blockbusters is becoming even more of a factor as competition heats up for the choice Imax and 3D venues where premium ticket prices can drive a film‘s gross into the stratosphere. This is where having a stellar track record really helps a sequel. Case in point Sony‘s Spider-Man 4, which will debut in IMAX theaters on the same day that it rolls out in conventional venues in May of 2011. Sometimes even proven performance is not enough. When Warner Bros. moved Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince from December of 2008 to the summer of 2009, the studio was unable to secure any Imax venues until Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had completed its run on the oversize screens. Competition for the IMAX venues and for 3D-enabled screens is intense during the summer movie season, and it‘s forcing the studios to spread their dimensionally-enhanced blockbusters throughout the year in order to secure enough of the prime venues. While it‘s a
good bet that more and more screens will become 3Denabled, there is still a shortage properly equipped theaters that is likely to be with us for at least a couple more years. This shortfall will be especially evident when a number of 3D films debut in close proximity. As for the giant screen Imax venues, they will remain a limited resource for the foreseeable future with just 273 theaters worldwide at present. According to Variety Disney has announced that its 3D film Tron Legacy will be released in
3D on December 17th, 2010 at both Imax and traditional theaters using Disney Digital 3D. The Mouse House has inked a 5-picture agreement with IMAX and has decided that Tron Legacy is Imaxworthy, even though the original 1982 Tron film, while groundbreaking in many respects, only brought in a mediocre $33 million at the box office. Disney is hoping that the prospect of a new Tron film produced in 3D will be enough to propel the pioneering property that melded movies and video games to success at last. It should be interesting to see if there are enough 3D-capable screens by December 2010 that films will be able to be released exclusively (or nearly exclusively) in the extradimensional format.
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