Tuff Stuff's Gamer Fall 1996 - 2 - X-Files CCG: Mention
MILWAUKEE MADNESS
THE
STARTER
BOX
GENCON 1996
Have you ever been to a basket-
ball game, or seen one on tele-
vision? If so, you probably can
picture a basketball court in
your mind. Only instead of envisioning
your favorite slam-dunk artist at work,
imagine it covered with tables and chairs.
At these tables, in these chairs, picture
people playing all kinds of games - card
games, board games, role-playing games,
you name it. Now take that picture and
make it 10 times bigger, and you'll have a
pretty good idea of what I saw in August
at my first Gen Con.
I'd been to gaming conventions of
various sizes before, but nothing like
this. Gen Con is the industry's premiere
event, drawing more than 30,000 game
hobbyists for four solid days of gaming
in downtown Milwaukee, Wis. (motto: "A
great place on a Great Lake").
THE
STARTER
BOX
GENCON 1996
Have you ever been to a basket-
ball game, or seen one on tele-
vision? If so, you probably can
picture a basketball court in
your mind. Only instead of envisioning
your favorite slam-dunk artist at work,
imagine it covered with tables and chairs.
At these tables, in these chairs, picture
people playing all kinds of games - card
games, board games, role-playing games,
you name it. Now take that picture and
make it 10 times bigger, and you'll have a
pretty good idea of what I saw in August
at my first Gen Con.
I'd been to gaming conventions of
various sizes before, but nothing like
this. Gen Con is the industry's premiere
event, drawing more than 30,000 game
hobbyists for four solid days of gaming
in downtown Milwaukee, Wis. (motto: "A
great place on a Great Lake").
The Con literally filled several city
blocks. Game publishers, distributors, writ-
ers, and artists occupied the vast exhibit
hall of the MECCA Convention Center. The
rest of the space - the Center's second floor
and several adjacent buildings, including
an honest-to-God basketball court-was
filled with gaming gamers, some proving
their prowess in tournaments, some sam-
pling new games with hired hands, and
others - probably the majority - just play-
ing for fun with friends old and new, from
dawn to, well, dawn again. Gaming con-
ventions are not for the weak.
Those Gen Con attendees who took
time to venture into the exhibit hall were
rewarded with tons of promotional give-
aways and the opportunity to sample
dozens of games, including NXT Games'
and the United States Playing Card
Company's "X-Files" CCG, in stores now,
and Wizards of the Coast's "BattleTech"
CCG, coming in November. I was suffi-
ciently impressed with the look of "Battle-
Tech" that I immediately asked the folks at
Wizards if they'd provide art for this
month's cover. As you can see, they said
yes. (They also offered us some neat prizes
for a "BattleTech" contest. See p. 72.)
blocks. Game publishers, distributors, writ-
ers, and artists occupied the vast exhibit
hall of the MECCA Convention Center. The
rest of the space - the Center's second floor
and several adjacent buildings, including
an honest-to-God basketball court-was
filled with gaming gamers, some proving
their prowess in tournaments, some sam-
pling new games with hired hands, and
others - probably the majority - just play-
ing for fun with friends old and new, from
dawn to, well, dawn again. Gaming con-
ventions are not for the weak.
Those Gen Con attendees who took
time to venture into the exhibit hall were
rewarded with tons of promotional give-
aways and the opportunity to sample
dozens of games, including NXT Games'
and the United States Playing Card
Company's "X-Files" CCG, in stores now,
and Wizards of the Coast's "BattleTech"
CCG, coming in November. I was suffi-
ciently impressed with the look of "Battle-
Tech" that I immediately asked the folks at
Wizards if they'd provide art for this
month's cover. As you can see, they said
yes. (They also offered us some neat prizes
for a "BattleTech" contest. See p. 72.)
For more on this fall's releases, check
out this issue's contents. And perhaps
I'll see you at Gen Con '97.
PROGRESS
Let me fill you in on what's happening
with Gamer. First of all, we're now a quar-
terly publication. That means you can look
for our next issue right after Christmas.
Unfortunately, the new schedule forced us
to call this issue "Fall 1996" after we called
the last one "Summer/Fall 1996." Sorry for
the confusion, but this is definitely a new
book. If you're not convinced, just flip
through our pages.
Which brings me to my second item.
This month, we debut a slightly different
look and a new designer, Paul Seward.
Paul's a recent graduate of Virginia Com-
monwealth University. He has pitched in
on previous issues of Gamer, but this is his
first crack at the entire book. Paul's re-
sponsible for the medieval "leather, steel.
and stone" feel of this issue's interior, so
forward all kudos (and complaints) to him.
out this issue's contents. And perhaps
I'll see you at Gen Con '97.
PROGRESS
Let me fill you in on what's happening
with Gamer. First of all, we're now a quar-
terly publication. That means you can look
for our next issue right after Christmas.
Unfortunately, the new schedule forced us
to call this issue "Fall 1996" after we called
the last one "Summer/Fall 1996." Sorry for
the confusion, but this is definitely a new
book. If you're not convinced, just flip
through our pages.
Which brings me to my second item.
This month, we debut a slightly different
look and a new designer, Paul Seward.
Paul's a recent graduate of Virginia Com-
monwealth University. He has pitched in
on previous issues of Gamer, but this is his
first crack at the entire book. Paul's re-
sponsible for the medieval "leather, steel.
and stone" feel of this issue's interior, so
forward all kudos (and complaints) to him.
Finally, my thanks to project editor
Mike O'Connell, whose legwork and copy
editing were instrumental in this issue's
completion. As a freelance writer, Mike was
a major contributor to our previous issues.
We're glad to have him on board in an ex-
panded role. Keep up the good work, man.
That's it for now. See you next year.
Doug Scoville
Managing Editor
