Things to Check Out at GenCon

There's a lot more to GenCon than just the exhibitor's hall, and if it's closed, what else are you going to do? Well, here's some ideas:

True Dungeon

While it's far too late to get any kind of group tickets for True Dungeon, you can usually get in alone or sometimes with a friend for a pick up group. True Dungeon creates an environment for players to explore that carries a storyline along with it. There's two sides, a Puzzle side and a Combat side, they're usually pretty similar minus one or two rooms that will have a stronger focus on one concept versus the other. Bring lots of generic tickets, and try to get yourself in. The later runs are the ones that tend to have open spaces.

Video Games Live


Video Games Live is playing at the Conseco Fieldhouse on August 7th at 7:30pm and you can still get tickets for it. It's a showcase of Video Game music from classic franchises performed by orchestras and choirs. While I've never seen it, I have heard some good things about it. Or, if nerdcore is more your speed...

Nerdcorde Entertainment Showcase (NES)

I got the info on this one from one of my new twitter followers, MadHatter. I checked it out and it looks pretty damn awesome, and for the special price of "showing your GenCon badge", you can't go wrong. Show starts at 11pm at the Westin Grand Ballroom II. Check out their site at www.nesindy.com

The GenCon Auction


The GenCon Auction is in its 42nd year, and is always something you should stop and check out. A seller/bidder card will run you $1, but it's free to peruse the items that didn't sell, and sometimes you can find some really interesting stuff in there. They're running two special auctions for charity this year, their normal charity auction on Saturday night, and one for a memorial to be built in Lake Geneva for Gary Gygax with items from his personal collection, donated by his widow. Check out http://www.livegameauctions.com/Genconauction.jsp for all the information.

Costume Contest


The costume contest is always a big spectacle. Starting with a parade that runs through the center on Saturday at 3pm and ending on the GenCon main stage at the Westin Hotel, the competition goes through 70 entrants at 4pm. GenCon encourages people to get there early, or suffer standing room only.


Pajama Jammy Jam (aka The GenCon Dance)


I read a request from another one of my new followers, Jules, to know if there was any kind of "GenCon Prom". Well, here it is, the Pajama Jammy Jam. Saturday night at the Union Station Grand Hall from 9pm to 1am, GenCon is hosting a Pajama Jammy Jam. "Wear you jammies and dance the night away." They're also having a pajama drive, where you donate pajamas for children in need. Check out all the details at http://gencon.com/2010/indy/pm/events/dance.aspx

Got any other events worth checking out? Post them in comments or send them to my Twitter account, @videogamingat30. Just a bit longer until Gencon, and apparently there's a ton to do. And Remember the GenCon motto: "Eat, Sleep, Game. Pick two."

The Best Games Discovered at GenCon

Over the years I've had the pleasure of discovering some truly great games at GenCon. While I'm good at spotting upcoming great games, my wife is truly a master at it. Here's a few games that we've picked up over the years:

Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot


Do not let the name of this fool you. This is a fantastic game that runs like a pop culture version of Nuclear War. The wife stopped and picked this one up at her very first GenCon, and since then we've collected all the sets and almost all of the promos for it (apparently I don't have Horton Hates a Who). Later sets can make the game a little confusing, but they really do a good job with keeping everything together. Pick this one up from Playroom if you have a good sized group (5+).

Mage Knight

I discovered this table top collectible miniatures game the first GenCon that I attended all four days of. At the time I was looking for a replacement to the card games and wanted to get into miniatures, but didn't want to deal with all the rule books and painting and assembly. This was the perfect find for me. Sadly, Wizkids pulled the plug on it after they determined that it wasn't going to be fiscally viable for a couple years and instead focused on HeroClix. Maybe now that they're out from the thumb of Topps, they'll bring back their flagship product.

Betrayal at the House on Haunted Hill

A new twist on terror? Hardly. An awesome tile based game in which objectives are revealed through random occurrences? Heck yes. The basic premise is that a group of people are exploring a haunted house and a series of events take place revealing one of the players to be a betrayer. At that point, depending on the trigger and what room the trigger happened in, the betrayer has to win the game through one of a possible of 40 different means, while his ex-friends try to find a way to stop him. Very high on replayability, just don't let the number of tokens scare you, you'll use a fraction of them at any one time.

Warmachine

My friends discovered this game way way before I did, but after Wizkids pulled the plug on my beloved game, Privateer Press welcomed me with open arms. If you have any interest at all in miniature war gaming, steam punk, or giant mechs, stop by their booth and try out a demo. It's a lot of fun.


Tomb

This used to be quite literally one of our favorite Go-To board games. From the first time I read about the upcoming game, I wanted to try out it's semi-modular dungeon exploring design. The premise is you recruit a party and go into the dungeon to battle monsters and take their treasure. Person with the most at the end wins. Now, I say used to because after we included the expansion to the game, Cryptmasters, no game in my entire library causes us to hate each other as much as this. Give it a whirl, but stay away from the expansion unless you need reason to hate your friends.

Gloom


Gloom is a very interesting card game in which you try to off the entire family through depression. Ok, that sounds morbid, but the interesting part is the clear cards that you play with. You start with a base figure card, and then add cards on top of them, changing their moods and stats. Early runs of the set were a bit hard to read, and that kind burned me on the game a bit. Keep an eye out on their new game, Ren Fair at GenCon.

Heroscape


Want a non-collectible table top hexed based war game with plastic pre-painted figures that anybody can play? You'll find none better than HeroScape. HeroScape debuted at GenCon several years ago and has developed a loyal following. It uses the simple skulls = hits, shield = blocks method of combat that we grew used to from old games like HeroQuest and Battlemasters. At the very least, take in a demo of this game, it's a lot of fun.


Alright, well, I think that's enough for now. Do you have a game you discovered at GenCon that didn't make this list? Comment below or send me a tweet @videogamingat30. Keep following along as we build up to our coverage of GenCon 2010 on site next week. We'll see you there!

The Firsts of GenCon

No matter how long you've been going to GenCon, there's a first for everything there. Some of them will stick in your memory for a long time to come, be they good or bad. Here's some to bring back some memories, and for others to build up the excitement (or apprehension).

The First Time the Doors Open to the Exhibit Hall


That is the crowd I've been in so many times while waiting for the doors to open. There's an excitement in the air as everybody has their day planned so they can get the stuff they really want before it goes to that guy over there who's far less deserving of it than you are, who does he think he is anyway? The flood going through those doors for the first time every year is tons of fun, but Exhibitors, get your stuff together and get there with more than 15 minutes before the doors open. Navigating that dense of geek without proper readiness is dangerous to the uninitiated.

Your First Smell of Indianapolis


Indianapolis in summertime effing smells. There is a point every year that I know that I'm at GenCon, when I cross the street to get to the Steak and Shake, and as I hit the middle of the street, an overwhelming stench hits my nostrils. No, it's not the Con geeks who haven't showered, it's only Wednesday, after all. It's the smell of the backed up sewer system that happens to Indianapolis every summer. I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I hope I don't, too.

Your First Time Getting Put in Jail


Klingon Jail, of course, or as I hear it's called these days, the Fandom Jail and Bail. The Jail has been operating for longer than I've been going to GenCon. For a small donation (which all goes to charity), you can have a group of alien warriors find your friends, take them to jail, and make them recite poetry in the original Klingon, the way Shakespeare always intended. Best $20 I ever spent.

First time Seeing Cardhalla


Cardhalla is a part of the Con that starts off as nothing. As people need a rest or grow bored, they come to Cardhalla and build a huge card city out of spare CCG cards. Near the end of the Con, people come to throw quarters (which are donated to charity, geeks are very charitable) to destroy the town. Make sure to stop by Saturday afternoon to see it before it's untimely demise. A completed Cardhalla is quite a sight to behold.

Your first altercation with a beggar


People, a piece of advice I will give you right now is to travel in groups. The first year GenCon came to Indianapolis, I didn't have any trouble with any beggars. The last time I was there two years ago, it was getting a bit scary. I had a ragged looking man come up to me asking if I wanted to see the "Fastest Man" or some such, and I politely told him I wasn't interested. I then got accused (loudly) of being racist and thinking that he was begging (when in truth he was just running a shell game). Fortunately I was able to escape with the help of friends, but look forward to seeing girls crying on the street, men slumped over in front of the Steak and Shake, and the occasional scary person coming your way. Remember, the Sky Walk is your friend.

The First time the Escalator Stops


At some point during the Con, this escalator pictured here will break. While I've never been able to figure out why, my guess is that an Extra Large T-Shirt is also called a "Gamer's Medium". I'm predicting the first break down will be Friday afternoon, and then again Saturday morning. You've been warned.

First Costume you See


I did a Google search for GenCon Costumes, and had to pick this one because I saw her in person and saw those wings go from folded to unfolded like we see in the picture. I still remember how well done they were. There's a lot of fantastic costumes as GenCon, and gaming spans several different genres, from fantasy to sci-fi, to combat fatigues, there's always something to look at.

The First CountDown

I don't really have a good picture of this one, but the final 30 minutes of GenCon are frantic. Dealers who have been standing on their feet for four days are ready to go, and the Con goers are running around trying to get the last few things they need (and hopefully at better prices!). Stay for the last 30 minutes, as they crowd roars at the end to bring another GenCon to close, it's just an experience that you should be a part of.

Me on the other hand, I've already done that, and will be far on the road out of town to beat the traffic ;). We'll see you next week, but until then, keep coming back to see what other topics we start up, and of course, share your own GenCon firsts with us in the comments or on Twitter @videogamingat30.

Everybody Experiences GenCon Differently

GenCon is upon us, and while not as popular as the ComicCons or E3s of the convention circuit, it is one of the biggest gaming conventions around. I've been going to this Con for nearly 15 years now, and I've had many many experiences there, but I know that everybody's GenCon experience is different. I'd like to take this article to share some of mine.

My first one was when I was 15. My best friend's dad took us to GenCon with him for the day when it was up in Milwaukee. We spent the day wandering the booths in the hall, checking out the Magic booths, and playing those silly dice games where if you roll all 6's or all 1's, you get a high priced card. We even spent a couple hours playing in a sealed tournament at a booth, which is just unheard of these days. We went home at the end of the day thinking that was everything the Con was. We were so, so wrong.

When I was older and had the money, I decided I wanted to stay the entire four days, so I got a hotel room that ended up being 30 minutes away (but fortunately a short bus ride) from the center. I was only 19 at the time, which raised eyebrows at the hotel and almost had them not allow us to stay there, but they gave in since they didn't want to send some teenagers away without a room in an overbooked city. See, the housing situation in Milwaukee was pretty bad, and getting hotel rooms there was extremely hard. This was one of the major reasons that they moved to Indianapolis, but that's a bit of another story there.

Eventually I started really discovering what was going on at GenCon. It's not just about the hall, there's a lot of other stuff going on here. Over the years I've been part of several tournaments for different games (Mage Knight, Warmachine). I've gotten sneak peaks of upcoming titles before they were even announced to be coming to consoles (Dragon Age). I've gotten to playtest upcoming expansions and whole new game concepts with the developers (Killer Bunnies, Tomb, Mage Knight Dungeons) and explored dungeons and felled fantastic creatures by playing tabletop shuffleboard (True Dungeon).

There's another part to GenCon that is what makes it so great. It's the people. I've made so many friends at this convention, I've lost track of their real names entirely. And they've forgotten mine, but I'm surprised every year to have somebody shout out "Video!" to grab my attention. These lasting friendships and memories are going to be with me forever.

Keep with me this week while I post stories about my time at GenCon, and some tips from somebody who's been through the GenCon experience more than a few times. If I somehow attract some readers to this, post your own stories in the comments and share your experiences. Everybody experiences GenCon differently, and I'd love to hear yours.

Final note, I'm planning on spending quite a bit of time in the hall this year checking out the new games and writing up some mini reviews about them. If you'd like to make sure I stop by and maybe give you some free publicity (and give me some content to write), drop me a line at videogamingat30(at)gmail.com. I'm looking for a slew of new table top games to play.

The Ones to Watch For, July and August

The Ones to Watch For

Alright, so let's get back to some video games here, shall we? Here's the games that are coming out in July and August that I feel need to be kept an eye on:

StarCraft II - Wings of Liberty - PC - 7/27/10


I'm not an RTS fan, but Blizzard makes a damn good RTS. I'm a little wary about how this one will be received, especially when we look at how South Koreans play the original to this day in televised matches, but like I said, Blizzard makes a damn good RTS. One last thing stands out in my mind on this, didn't they say that this game was going to be divided into three parts? Is that still true? Hm. We'll see how this one pans out.

Madden NFL 11 - Multi-Platform - 8/10/10
Again, this one isn't for me, but you can't ignore the juggernaut that is the Madden franchise. Every year they put out a new one with a new roster and some new feature and every year it gets eaten up by the fanatics. And the platforms this game is coming out on, look at that picture up there, that's for the PS2. You know, that half dead console all of us have sitting in our basements or little brother's bedrooms? Yeah, it's still getting games, specifically this one. There should be something wrong with that.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days - Multi-Platform - 8/17/10
Nah, not really. I just wanted to see if I could get some cash thrown my way for promoting it. Look forward to seeing crappy ads plastered all over your favorite gaming sites soon to remind you that they can get people fired for posting opinionated reviews. Unless they want to get on the videogamingat30.com action, if you do, send me an email and we'll talk. I like money.


Metroid: Other M - Wii - 8/31/10
The latest reason to dust of the Wii, Metroid: Other M, looks like it could be a great game. Coming from Team Ninja, expectations are high that Samus is going to have some amazing moves and this could possibly bring Metroid into its next generation. Keep your fingers crossed, I'm hoping for the best.

M11 Predictions Revisited

Predictions Revisited

Wrapping up the last bit of the M11 articles for awhile, I wanted to go back and check out some predictions that I had made a couple months back before we started seeing any previews to see how I did. These were made on May 25th, before we knew barely anything about the set, so here we go:

1.) Baneslayer is out - WRONG - One of the very first cards that I predicted to be out of the set was revealed to be in the set a mere few days after I had made the post. They say Baneslayer has become a face of Magic. I say the Baneslayer stands for a lot of what is wrong in Magic. At least I was partially right in that the price has come down to around $30 for them.

2.) Nocturnus is out - RIGHT - Vampires took this loss with a bit of a fanged smile. Losing Nocturnus allows more creative vampire decks to be constructed, and I predict we'll see some very fast, very aggressive decks come out soon.

3.) Path to Exile is Out ... Swords to Plowshares is in - HALF RIGHT - My exact words were "Swords to Plowshares (or something very close to it)", and lo and behold, we get Condemn back. Instant speed, one white, life gain, doesn't exile but puts on the bottom of the deck, and the downside of it having to be an attacking creature isn't all that bad. Look for this to be staple (again) in white decks.

4.) Introducing your M11 Planeswalkers - WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG - Ugh. Who seriously saw this one coming? I understand the idea of putting out a series of identifiable characters in an intellectual property, but seriously, who wants to open the same exact planeswalkers that we had last year, AND those were MYTHIC reprints of RARES from Lorwyn. Waste of a Mythic slot, seriously.

5.) Big Creatures - RIGHT - Look no further than your Mythic Titans to see where Wizards wants the game to go. Many of the creatures in this set are 5 - 8 casting cost, are huge, and have game ending abilities. Unless we see a lot of removal from the Scars block, big creatures will rule the day.

So there you have it. Two and a half right, Two and a half wrong. Not bad for my first round of this. In local MTG news, I managed to pull much better in our local pre-release tournament (not so much in the rares, but much better uncommons and commons) which let me put together a pretty respectable Green / Blue deck and win our 20ish player tournament. Looks like I've still got some tricks in me.

Midnight Release at Pastimes

Midnight Release

My gaming crew was going to go to the Midnight Release event at the local store here Pastimes so despite knowing we had an early morning the next day (the wife had bought me tickets to the Star Wars in Concert event in Milwaukee for my birthday), we wanted to be part of the crowd and pick up a couple Sun Titans.

I bounced around the idea of what it would take for me to stay for the whole thing, and decided that it would have to be something that I could at least get placed with. So we sat at our tables, and I sat across from one of my own players, and we began opening the packs.

This is not how I wanted to start things out.

Suicide drawing options where big creatures determine winners is not going to get me anywhere. I checked over the uncommons and commons, nothing spectacular, and moved on to the next pack.

Ugh. Ok, maybe I can do a sealed mill? I pulled a Jace's erasure too, hmm, let's see what else we've got. Next pack.

Okay! Now we're at least getting somewhere. Admittedly it's no Baneslayer Angel, but 4/4 flying, maybe I can do something with that. Next pack.
Hrm. High priced removal. It would be okay if I had anything good to go with it, but so far I don't. Let's see what else waits for us.
Well, at least I have something to go get that Battle Effigy with now. What's my last pack?

Check, please.

I don't think I've ever opened up a worse 6 packs. My blue was alright, but was severely lacking the all important counters to do anything with or anything in the way of something to do during turns 1 - 3. Black and green looked the most promising with removal, but no bombs to speak of.

So, seeing as I had my Sun Titan and had an early morning the next day, I conceded my first game and dropped out. I have a second Sealed (and hopefully draft) today, that I'm really hoping I have a bit better luck on. We'll find out in about an hour.

Top 5 Cards for the M11 Pre-Release

Pre Release Weekend

With less than a week to go and almost 70 cards still unconfirmed from the set, many wonder what kind of game to play at the pre-release this coming weekend. I've rummaged through the cards we know of, and have compiled my Top 5 list sorted by rarity, and then big gimme card at the end. So, here we go:

5. The Common - Lightning Bolt


Lightning bolt is a staple red card and still shows off its power. Destroy a creature or bolt your opponent in the face, there's no better way to spend R in the game, and there probably never will be.

Honorable Mention - Squadron Hawk

If you can amass a few of these in your sealed packs (and they're common, so maybe yes), you can bring a whole lot of 1/1 flyers onto the field quickly. The reason this wasn't the top pick was because 1. Lightning Bolt is Lightning Bolt, and 2. It doesn't work well alone. Keep an eye out for these guys in drafts.

4. The Uncommon - Awakener Druid
This one was really tough to pick, as most of the uncommons out there suffer from being either very crappy or comboing with other cards to get any use out of them. Turning one of your forests into a 4/5 creature on turn 3 is really good, just hope your opponent doesn't have any kind of removal in hand. Look for this one to be revised as we hear about more cards.

3. The Rare - Vengeful Archon
This is a little pricey, but when it comes to things on their own that are game enders, this fits the bill nicely. A 7/7 flyer for 7 mana, in sealed this isn't impossible to get, and on top of that, you can pay to have your opponent eat the damage that they would be hitting you with.

2. The Mythic - Grave Titan


Six measly mana for this 6/6 monstrosity that creates two 2/2's when it comes into play or attacks? Plus it's black, so it can't be doom bladed? Yes please. Those who pull this guy and get them out will pretty much be cleaning up the boards. I know what I'm hoping for.

1. The first choice - Baneslayer Angel


The queen of the skies continues to hold her title, as a 5/5 flying, lifelinking, first striking protection from who the hell plays demons and dragons anyway bitch goddess. A 10 point swing in life totals is often more than enough to seal a game.


Final Thoughts - From what I'm seeing here is that creatures will continue to reign these events. Look for removal, as a well placed Doom Blade will be enough to cripple any of them (except Grave Titan, but he's cool like that). I'll try to have an updated list this week when we get the rest of the cards, but until then, good luck everyone, may all your opening hands have three land cards in them.