The 30's! - 2012 Day 1

It's the end of the year again, and that means it's time for the 132nd Annual The 30's! Awards Show!  The 30's are a fairly random grouping of "Best ___ of 2012" with some commentary about the gaming industry while we're at it.  The rules are that your product needed to be released or discovered by VideoGamingAt30.com in 2012 to be eligible for one of our highly prestigious awards. If you or your product are selected for any of our categories, you may contact us at videogamingat30(at)gmail.com and we will make you up a fancy certificate and ship it off to you. 

Best Indie Game of 2012

FTL wins best Indie Game of 2012, hands down.  FTL started as a Kickstarter (we'll talk about that later, spoil alert) that funded and released and became something that people were just talking about.  FTL is a rogue-alike game with the difference being that you are traveling space trying to reach the end while being chased by a fleet of enemy ships. No two games are ever the same, and death is permanent, so you really need to be sure you want to send your crew to check out that abandoned station.  This is a really fun game, and we here at VG30 highly recommend picking it up.

Best Method of Bankrupting VG30

To date, VG30 has backed 20 projects on Kickstarter, having discovered it in February for the Order of the Stick reprint drive.  Since then, we just keep finding more and more projects that we want to be a part of and to date there's only been one instance of being a bit sorry we backed so much into.  That's going to be...

Biggest Disappointment from Kickstarter

Yes, Zombicide.  This was my biggest Kickstarter to date (soon to be surpassed by Kingdom Death), and it just fell flat of expectations.  The mini's are great, the materials are great, the concept is interesting, but it just doesn't hold up to expectations.  The game doesn't scale at all and begs for house rules to make it work.  The scenarios are presented in an absurd order, the first one that they give you is one of the HARDEST scenarios in the game to win, and the presence of the nigh unstoppable Abomination early in the game will all but cause player to flip the table in disgust.  Some people really like it though, so take this with a small grain of salt.

Best Experience with Kickstarter

Truth be told, we haven't had a completely positive experience with any project on Kickstarter yet.  Sure, there's projects we liked, like FTL and Order of the Stick, but so far there's been something off about all of them. Usually it's missing their ship dates.  This is totally reasonable as many of these are first time game creators who are trying to bring their dreams to life and don't know how finicky the production and shipping business can be.  Others don't update for months on end (looking at you Mobile Frame), or didn't follow their demo schedule at Gencon (Agents of Smersh) or sold their product at a convention before I had my copy of it (Zombicide).  Some continue to miss deadlines (Escape from the Temple Curse / Order of the Stick [get well, Rich!]) for fairly good reasons, but it's still not a 100% positive experience that I would recommend to anybody.  My best advice for Kickstarter newbies is to expect what you're backing to fulfill about 6 months later than they say they will and you won't be disappointed.

Best Board Game of 2012

Lords of Waterdeep takes Best Board Game of 2012.  After Wizards released terrible board games like Return to Castle Ravenloft for a couple years, my hopes of having a good game released were cut to nil and I left them for dead.  In comes Lords of Waterdeep, an amazing Euro style board game with Western elements that are blended in perfectly.  This has become a house favorite, and I can see if joining the ranks of introductory board games like Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan.  Everybody should give this one a try.

The 30's! continues tomorrow, where we'll get a little bit more Video Game oriented, promise!

Assassin's Creed 3 - Review

In my previous post, I mentioned several things about Assassin's Creed that was driving me nuts.  The monetary system is an unnecessary grind, the combat is rich with ever respawning guards that hinder your escape, and Connor is a novice of an assassin.  Now that I've finished the game, do I feel the same way?

All of that and more.

Say what?

Assassin's Creed 3 picks up where Revelations left off, with the main character, Desmond, knowing where the next part of the puzzle is because of time he spent at the end of Ezio's lifespan in the Animus, a machine that allows you to relieve ancestors memories. 

The twist to the beginning is very well done, and I don't want to spoil anything here for anybody that hasn't picked it up yet, but it's very evident as soon as you start playing in the animus.  Once you become a full fledged assassin, the game takes a turn into the sub-ordinary for the series. Gone are improving the town, and building a stronger armor and weapon set.  Now you can hunt wild animals for seemingly no reason at all other than to show that you can.  Sure, you can sell their parts, but for a pittance unless you have tons of bear skin.

I shall carefully hunt my prey for less money that I would get for pickpocketing a guard

Combat is still dodgy.  And by dodgy I mean that you will still counter-attack the entire game.  This is expected at this point in the series, but what's not expected is the seemingly endless supply of guards.  As you're forced into combat, the guards take more notice of you and if you so happen to hit level 3, well, good luck getting anywhere in town without having an army chasing after you.  It's not that it's so much different from previous versions, it's that there's SO MANY guards roaming around now, and they instantly spawn nearby and rush into combat.

There are some beautifully done moments in the game, particularly the sequences that replaces the old tomb raiding with new interactive exciting scenes that aren't impossible to do on your first try.  Additionally, I really liked the sequences with Desmond this time around.  More like this, UbiSoft.  To counter this, there are some particularly horrible sequences involving chasing characters that run exactly as fast as you do, so you have to either know the route they're taking, or hope the eventually trip up on somebody.  Good luck with those.

There are some amazing bugs in the system, and some of which I think were done on purpose.  The first such instance I ran into was immediately after speaking with Sam Adams, he tells me to follow him to an underground route.  Except he doesn't move.  No, you're expected to lead him to the route that is heavily guarded and you're either forced to leave him on the streets while you take the rooftops, or you'll be in combat the entire time.  Other bugs include becoming stuck on terrain, falling through terrain, missing eagle vision points and an over abundance of not explaining how anything in the game works.  This game needed another two months of polish before it was sent out.

I did try my hand at multiplayer, and it was fairly decent, much like previous iterations of the series.  I can't speak TOO much about it, but VG30 contributor Brian has asked that I mention that it's very well done.

Assassin's Creed 3 is a series of really cool events strung together by a story that doesn't hold at all true to the Brotherhood, side missions that fall flat, and an ending that feels like the studio was told to get it done quick because they have to ship.  Ubisoft, I expect much much more from your teams than what's been offered here, and I certainly expect more from the Assassin's Creed license. 

Assassin's Creed 3 - Status Update

After my 7 month old crawling daughter has gone to bed, I've been able to put in an hour or two of Assassin's Creed 3 in every night for the past couple of weeks.  As VG30 readers will know, Assassin's Creed is one of my favorite series, and I need to add that as a disclaimer because so far I'm really unhappy with this one.

I have no complaints about the beginning of the game (Chapters 1 - 6), I think it's clever and well done, and to avoid spoilers I'll simply say that it really goes down hill when you become a full fledged assassin.  Since I'm only about a third of the way through the game, I'm going to keep this limited to the top few things that are driving me nuts.

I Miss Banks

In previous Assassin's Creed games, you go around town improving it buy purchasing banks which then build interest for you over time so you're able to keep up with the latest weapons and armor.  There's nothing like that in this game.  Instead, you have to have people build you things, and then go to stores and sell them, or setup convoy systems that earn you about as much as you'd get from killing one guard.  It's a terrible system from what I've worked with so far, and is just cumbersome to the whole game.

Combat Sucks

Alright, that's not ENTIRELY true, as the block, parry, and counter system works pretty well in the new system.  There's two very big problems I have with it, though.  The hidden blade is worthless in combat.  In previous games, using the hidden blade was difficult, but could clear a group of guards in seconds with well placed hits.  In this version, you have to stab somebody 6 - 7 times in a combat cycle before they die.  I don't know if it's too elegant a system for a savage to use, but I've had to switch to sword play for every combat.

Second, and this is a real deal breaker, it is next to impossible to end open combat without running away.  Just this afternoon I was sneaking up on a guarded chest, when I was spotted.  In old games, no problem, take out the 3 - 4 guards, maybe a passing wandering guard group if things are going really poorly, and when they're dead, you're done.  There's an elevated alert status, you might have to rip down a few posters, but you're essentially safe.  In this game, guards will come from BLOCKS away to assist.  And they respawn.  And they keep respawning.  After fighting off 15 guards, there were more looking for me, so I had to retreat into a haystack where I was eventually on the risk of being found because there's ALWAYS one who breaks away and check the hay stacks.  I understand that I'm fighting an army and probably need to change tactics a bit, but this makes me feel like a complete novice of an assassin.

Connor is a complete novice of an Assassin

I really hope this game moves towards a "I understand the creed now" story in the very near future.  Right now Connor is naive and I've literally yelled at the screen "Nothing is true!  Everything is permitted!" when he's gone on a "holler than thou" speech to various people in the storyline.  He feels like an Episode 4 Luke Skywalker still stuck on Tattooine whining about power converters.  Damnit Luke, there's so much more that's happening that you don't understand yet!  It's so discouraging after playing the bad ass that is Ezio. 

Three things that are making me not want to finish this game right now.  I'll be back with a full review when I finally slog through this.

The Ones to Watch - October 2012

October is already here, and it's always a big month for gamers.  This is the month that many publishers elect to release their big name titles for the Christmas shopping season.  Traditionally we get one to two titles in September, three to four in October, and then one to two in November, and sometimes we see a December straggler.  Let's take a look at the Ones to Watch for October.

XCOM : Enemy Unknown - Multi Platform -Now Available

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is the sequel to XCOM: UFO Defense, which I'm betting many of the current generation of players have never even heard of, but gamers 30+ should be familiar with.  This one follows the same game play, which is 3/4 overhead RTS / Turn Base style, and is probably not going to do well with today's audience.  XCOM enthusiasts are excited about it though, so it's worth keeping an eye on.


Dishonored - Multi Platform - Now Available

Choose your own assassination.  Do you go in stealthy, or guns blazing?  Or do you possess a rat to attack your enemies with?  Dishonored reminds me of Hitman with super natural powers in a first person perspective.  It's Bethesda, so you know there's going to be some interesting ways to play (and likely lots of bugs..), but we shall see if it matches the hype it gained at E3 this year.


Resident Evil 6 - Multi Platform - Now Available

The reviews are in for RE6, and the general consensus is "Don't bother".  Choppy controls, and game play that tries to be too ambitious, making it lose something special in the process is what awaits the poor souls who have picked this one up.  If you're an RE fan, there's little I can do to try to persuade you, but try to look at that "6" and not see a giraffe in a rather compromising position.  Yeah.  You can't unsee that.


 NBA2k13 - Multi Platform - Now Available

One of the few sports games that VG30 nods it's head to, NBA2k13 is supposedly an excellent addition to the franchise, but they've polished the game so much in previous years, it can't jump it's own hurdles anymore.  Don't forget, it's "Better With Kinect".


Doom 3 BFG Edition - Multi Platform - 10/16/12

Hey guys, remember us?  We're id software and we made awesome games like Doom!  What's Rage?  Never heard of it!  Remember Doom, though?  Yeah!  It was awesome!  So we finally put out an edition where the future has lights attached to their guns!  Amaz... wait, where are you going?  Please come back!  I'll throw in a "Lost Mission"!  Wait! PLEASE!  WE'RE STILL RELEVAAAAAANT


Assassins Creed 3 - Multi Platform - 10/30/12

My personal pick for the month, Assassin's Creed 3, stars a new assassin, and is sure to answer some questions and ask whole new ones about the Brotherhood and the Templars.  We're working our way to a modern day game, slowly but surely.  What will this game have in store for us?  We shall see, but I'm betting I'm going to play the crap out of it.


Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Multi Platform - 10/30/12

Need for Speed has been around since 1994, and doesn't show any signs of slowing down.  This revisit to the Most Wanted license allows players to run through cities in licensed vehicles and is sure to appeal to street racing fans. 


Next Month

Next month the Wii U hits store shelves, so we get to see if Nintendo's gambit pays off.  It won't be settled by the end of the month, of course, but keep an eye open on store shelves to see if you can find one.  If you can, then it's doing worse than the Wii.

Halo 4 hits with it's new development team.  Can a studio that's not Bungie make a Halo game?  I'm holding off to see what it becomes.

What I've Been Playing - 10/1 - 10/9

Skyrim

I'm currently 20 hours into Skyrim and still really enjoying it.  It's starting to feel familiar to me, like Fallout did.  I see the appeal of this game, and am sorry I had so many other things going on that I didn't get to spend more time with it.  It's recommended for sure.

Quarriors

Quarriors is one of the games I like to break out when we only have four people for game night, so it's not something that comes out often.  It's like a deck building game, but with dice, and the games are always different, because each die has different cards that you can associate with them, giving them new powers and abilities.  It's a lot of fun, and currently 50% off at Think Geek.  Go check it out.

Lords of Waterdeep

I had picked this one up because of the praise that the board game community has given it, and was not disappointed.  If you're looking for an entry level euro style game with some American flavor, then it's definitely worth checking out.

Escape from the Temple Curse

I received my Kickstarter copy of Escape from the Temple Curse in, which is a cooperative real time dice rolling game where you run around a randomly generated temple activating crystals to get out before rocks fall and everyone dies, which happens after 10 minutes.  It's a quick fun game that I look forward to breaking out with more players.

What I've been Playing 9/23 - 9/29

Skyrim - PC

Playing Skyrim almost a year after it's release is the very heart and soul of VG30.  I purchased it during the Winter Steam Sale, tried it out a little bit, and left it to be.  I've recently gotten into the game and am enjoying it very much.  There's still a lot of "Hey, I'm going to go check out that cave that happens to be on the way to my next destin.. OHGODTHERE'SAGIANTMONSTERINTHEAGHGHGPBLBEL ... dead but it's been mitigated by hitting me enough times to teach me to stay on the main story path.  You'd think after playing Fallout 3 and New Vegas that I would have learned this lesson by now.  Nope.

Double Dragon Neon - PS3

I tried out Double Dragon Neon on the PS3 expecting an HD remake.  It was pretty close right up until I walked into a pagoda, had it rocket into outer space, and I began fighting a skeleton samurai with just TERRIBLE puns like "Time to make a MARROW escape!".  It's not a bad game, and I'll probably be sinking some time into it as I grow tired of...

Scott Pilgrim vs The World - PS3 

Another side scrolling beat em up, this one follows the movie in a 16-bit retro style game that's fun to play, but very shallow so far. 

Zombicide - Table Top

We played our first game of Zombicide last weekend, and lost pretty badly.  An abomination popped out with about 10 other zombies, which was really hard to recover from in Scenario #1.  Permadeath didn't help matters much, but from what I'm being told the scenario we played is extremely challenging.  We need to try it again with scenario #10 from what I'm hearing on the Board Game Geek forums.

Castle Panic - Table Top

I enjoyed playing Castle Panic, but there always felt like there was a correct move to make above all others.  Maybe it's just the way the pieces fell in our game, but I'd definitely like to give it another play.

Other Thoughts

Roxio has a HD recorder that's just been released that we would love to have to be able to start putting up video reviews and our own screenshots.  Hopefully it's something the blog can swing in the future, right now it's not in the cards.

Borderlands 2 looks like a lot of fun, but I've decided to take a pass on it for the time being.  The reason for this is in the original Borderlands, I only played with friends, and with my current baby schedule this isn't something that's really possible.

Return to Ravnica will be pre-releasing this weekend, and it's the second set in a row that I won't be buying a box of because of not having the time / money to play in standard any more.  I have been getting more into EDH/Commander, but am still playing in the pre-releases this weekend. 

Space Marine - Review

SPACE MARINE

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine is the best description that I could offer somebody SPACE MARINE on how not to introduce a popular franchise to a new generation of potential players.  This sounds harsh , I know, but Relic / THQ does little to introduce this extremely vast and richly detailed universe inside of the game. 

I have a background in table top gaming.  I was a a national champion in Mage Knight, and a Press Ganger for Privateer Press.  I actually have a set of Warhammer 40k sitting in my closet right this moment, but I've never played it, and I think this is the problem.  They expect the people who are playing this game SPACE MARINE to already know this universe, and for somebody like me, I didn't know why I was doing anything.  The game tells me to live my life for the Emperor.  Who's the Emperor?  The game tells me for an achievement I have to duke it out with 10 'Ard Boyz.  What the hell is an "'Ard Boy?"  The game doesn't make any effort to teach you anything about its universe, and was a big miss for me.

I looked him up on a Wiki and apparently this is the Emperor, but I still don't care

So if the game isn't teaching us anything about it's universe, we have to devolve SPACE MARINE the game into a 3rd person hack and slash / run and gun game.  As that, it still fails.  Well, let me elaborate on that, after an hour of that, it fails.  

This is pretty much the entire game.

SPACE MARINE starts off very promising, it teaches you how to regenerate health by using brutal finisher moves, gives you some neat weapon upgrades, and even a jet pack for a little while.  Once you're finished with the jet pack, you have played everything that this game has to offer.  To call every combat a minor variation of the last combat encounter you experienced 2 minutes before would be an insult to the words "minor variation".  It's the same Orks coming at you over and over.  Sometimes there's a sniper, sometimes there's a couple guys with rockets, but it's the same fight and there's very little you have to be worried about while playing.

So why am I saying SPACE MARINE over and over in my review?  Besides being the title of the game, it's by far the most common phrase I heard the entire game.  You see, every time you run into a pack of enemies, one of them inevitably shouts "SPACE MARINE" in a British accent, and comes charging at you.  The first few times you don't notice, but it gets annoying not only fighting the same enemies, but hearing the same things.

From a non Warhammer 40k fan, the story is awful and the ending is worse.  To be fair, I checked with a 40k fan who also played the game, and he loved the ending to it.  This really goes to show you how much they needed to bring players into their universe.  This is a fun hour long romp squeezed into a 10 hour package, and there's little to keep you going if you're not a fan.  You should probably keep clear of this one, there's better ways to spend your free time.

Space Marine.

What We've Been Playing - 9/1 - 9/9

With Gencon over, we've been trying hard to get at least initial playthroughs of our newest toys to get a feel for them before trying to write reviews.  The past two weeks we've had games of Seasons, Lords of Waterdeep, Cosmic Encounter, Mage Wars, Smash Up, Seven Sisters, Elder Sign, and I can't think of what else and there's still a half dozen games we have yet to even open.  Otherwise..

FTL - Faster than Light

FTL - Faster than Light is a space Rouge-alike that VG30 supported during its Kickstarter campaign.  This is a fantastic game that at least bears checking out a "Let's Play" video on Youtube, but it comes out next week on Steam and GOG.  Highly recommended.

Dungeon Fighter Online

I've recently begun playing Dungeon Fighter Online again after taking a small break, and still enjoy the game immensely.  There's a version of this on Xbox Live, but I really couldn't get into it with such limited options.  Give this one a spin, it's free to play and is a lot like a MMO meets the old 90's arcade side scrolling beat 'em ups.

Dead Space

Slowly making progress in Dead Space, starting to find the controls scarier than the game, but still moving forward slowly.  With the recent announcement for Dead Space 3... well, we have a lot of catching up to do.

Bloodrayne

Just Cause 2

I tried getting into Just Cause 2, but it's too over the top in one way, and not fantastic enough in another.  I know plenty of people that would enjoy this one, but it's just not for me.

Space Marine

Finished up Space Marine, hope to get a review up soon.  Short review:  1 hour game squeezed into a 10 hour box.

The Ones to Watch - September 2012

Con season is over, September is finally here, and that means it's the best time of year - when all of the kids go back to school.  Also, it's game season, which comes in a close second.  Let's take a look at September's Ones to Watch

Borderlands 2 - Multi Platform - 9/18

The most unfair, yet factually acurate, thing I could say right here is "Borderlands 2 is brought to us from the same studio who brought Duke Nukem Forever into existence."  Borderlands was a fun game when it was released a couple years ago as a FPS meets Diablo style game.  It wasn't a bad game by any means, by the majority of people I played it with say the same thing: "It's not a single player game."  I had the most fun playing with other VG30 contributors, and quickly lost it's spark as they out leveled me.  While I will personally not be partaking in this one (at least not until the Game of the Year edition eventually hits), plenty of other people will be, and the game looks good. 


Mists of Pandaria - PC - 9/25

Saying World of Warcraft's popularity has waned over the last couple years is no surprise, but is still the number one MMO by a large margin.  In this edition of the game, the new race, Pandarians, are joining the adventure with new combat styles and of course, all new adventures to go on.  This really feels like WoW is reaching for lore before unveiling their new MMO, especially when they're going to lore that they made up as an April Fool's joke.  This isn't quite like making a game based on the Secret Cow Level, but it's not that far off, either.

Aaaand that's it for the ones that everybody needs to pay attention to.  As honorable mentions, It's Kirby's 20th anniversary, so Nintendo is re-releasing Kirby's Dream Land, and it's also Street Fighter's 25th Anniversary, so Capcom has a large pack that can be purchased compiling all of the different street fighters released over the years.  Fifa 13 is coming out, so expect Xbox Accounts to be hacked like crazy again. 

Q:  Why does VG30 rarely have Table Top games in the Ones to Watch?

A:  Board game companies are plagued with manufacturing and shipping delays, so it's next to impossible to properly gauge when a board game is coming out.  Typically we have it narrowed down to a certain quarter, but even then it can be delayed (we've been waiting for Galaxy Trucker's next expansion since January, and Cutthroat Caverns for well over a year).  Also, there's just too many manufacturers out there to keep track of for a small site like ours.  Sorry, we'll have to stick to the Gencon updates.

Gencon 2012 Wrap Up

Gencon 2012 has been over for a couple weeks now, the attendance tally's have been counted, the money counted, and without a doubt it was a hugely successful convention this year.  With over 41,000 attendees this year, game companies were able to get their messages out, and their newest games flew off of the shelves at an unprecedented pace.  Every game that we flagged as a One to Watch that was present at the show ran out of their supply within an hour of being made available.

Let's go over a few experiences we had at the convention this year.

The Will Call Line

This picture is from 2011, where the Will Call was not ready to handle the sheer number of people coming in to pick up their badges and tickets.  2012's Will Call was massively improved, despite losing 2/3rds of my tickets for about two hours on Wednesday.  They were able to find them with minimal hassle to myself.  Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the Sunday Family Fun Package, in which a line stretching from Will Call to the 500 Ballroom appeared, causing people to stand waiting for reportedly two hours before being able to get their (severely discounted) badges.  Hey, speaking of two hour waits...


Scotty's and RAM have Two Hour Waits for Seating

I know my friends are tired of me beating this dead horse, but why are we gamers still putting up with a two hour wait for cold food and warm beer?  There are DOZENS of great places to go eat in Indianapolis, but because these two restaurants somehow say they're catering to gamers by printing our some paper menus with gamer terms on them and playing Captain America on the TVs normally reserved for sports, people flock to them.  It doesn't make sense.  Gamers, you need to go out and explore and find better places to eat.  On Wednesday night we walked by the RAM, and I stopped to ask a group how long they'd been waiting, sitting on the sidewalk.  They said just over an hour.  I tried not to laugh, thanked them, walked ten feet to a Japanese restaurant and was ordering food within 15 minutes.  Not only are the waits long, but one of the waitresses at the RAM was quoted on Twitter "I don't think a lot of people are ordering salads this week" after a gamer had placed his salad order. We deserve better than this. 


Pay to Play Demos

This is the first year that I actually had to pay to play an hour demo for games.  Usually I just head to the hall and grab a seat at a booth and learn how to play a game. I try to keep out of the hall on Saturday due to the high traffic, so I booked some time with a few different companies to try out their games in a more intimate environment.  I don't know if this is how things have worked in the past, but it was new to me, and I'm not sure I'm thrilled with it.  Arcane Wonders were able to run non stop demos for free, but other games had to charge, I don't really get it, and don't really like it.  We'll see what happens in the future, but I sadly think this is the way it might go in the future (if it hasn't already).


The Future of Gencon

Gencon 2013 has some mighty big shoes to fill next year, but I don't think they're going to have any problems doing it.  The rising attendance and the popularity of Geek and Sundry and their amazing ability to bring designer board games to retail stores are great for the hobby, but 2013 is going to be the year of Kickstarter.  Gencon 2012 had a LOT of booths with that I was able to immediately recognize from Kickstarter:  Zombicide, Seven Sisters, Farmageddeon, Relic Kights, Agents of Smersh, Sedition Wars, D*Day Dice, these are just SOME of the ones that were either funded or are currently being funded on Kickstarter that were in attendance this year.  Next year is going to be crazy, and it's going to draw the fans like never before.

So hey, um, Gencon... can I book my hotel room now?  I've got a feeling it's going to be tough to get one in February.

Gencon 2012 Pictures

People always like to check out photos from Gencon, so here's the ones I took over the weekend. 

Mice and Mystics looks fantastic and I can't wait to pick this one up for my group

The Gumball Machine at the Steve Jackson Booth was Booming all weekend

Thor on a Pink Unicorn with a Rainbow in the backround.  Srsly?

I picked up a puppet for my daughter this year.  She's going to pick out her own next year.

If anybody wonders what you had to do to get all the drow dice, this is is.  Or wait until Sunday when they were all given out at the Wizards booth randomly

This is probably 3/4 of what I picked up at Gencon 2012 this year

Fresh Meat was NOT for sale at Gencon, but they showed me what they had and it looks fantastic.

My wife hates walking over the grates in the sidewalk, so I sent her a pic since she couldn't make it this year

The Magic World Cup stage was very impressive to watch

These are the two Drow Dice I earned fair and square.

AEG's Give Aways just keep getting better

The balloon Dragon was impressive when fully built

Viva Java and Heap were both fun to play

 

The man at this booth is amazing and was able to find several relatively unknown cards for our group

Mice and Mystics in action