We found Gen Con to be well organized and fun. I thought the layout of the Dealers’ Room was perfect, the location of the art show ideal, and general use of space good.
Gen Con appeared to be just as well attended as last year. Personally, it seemed like there were more people than last year. Not 85,000 like the newspaper reported (that’s the system of counting the daily attendance numbers, i.e., people who had four day passes are counted every day), but I’d believe 28,000 to 32,000. In short, a nice crowd and still the biggest and best hobby gaming event in North America (if not the world).
We can’t speak to that, because, as usual, most of us were trapped at the Palladium booth. I didn’t hear a lot of complaints, though a few people grumbled that there weren’t more “official” Rifts® and other Palladium RPG events sponsored through Gen Con. That’s something our Megaversal Ambassadors might want to think about now, as official events to get into the pre-registration need to be submitted in February or March.
We did run a number of short games and demos (1-2 hours) at the Palladium booth for Robotech®, Dead Reign™ (zombies), Beyond the Supernatural™, and other Palladium RPGs. Most of which seemed to be enjoyed and appreciated by everyone who participated. Jason Marker ran a Robotech® and a Beyond the Supernatural™ game that were fantastic. Josh Hilden ran 2-3 Dead Reign™ games that had folks shouting, squirming in their seats, and firing imaginary shotguns at the zombie hordes. James Brown, Jason Richards, Lonnie Langston, and Mark Oberle also ran RPG events at the booth. A typical game lasted 1-2 hours and everyone seemed to have a great time. My apologies if I left anyone out.
While people were plentiful, the availability of cash varied with everyone. Sure there was the occasional $100-$400 sale, but most sales were 2-3 book purchases. Cash seemed tight for most people, but sales were solid. Palladium saw the same trend as most exhibitors I spoke with: Thursday was the big sales day, Friday’s sales were lower, Saturday’s sales were about the same as Friday’s, and Sunday’s sales were about 30% less than previous days. The big surprise was that 80% of sales were placed on a credit card (50% is the norm).
Much to our delight, the Rifts® anthology book, Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs™ was our best selling item at Gen Con, edging out Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® Deluxe Hardcover edition by ONE copy. This is exciting for us because Tales of the Chi-Town ‘Burbs™ was a labor of love and we’d like to do more books like it.
We enjoyed a lot of positive feedback on this book of short stories, including the fact that Jason Marker’s story, Be Careful What You Wish For..., is reported to have given some people nightmares. Jason took great pleasure in the news. A good number of the people who worked on the book were present at the booth, so depending on timing, many fans got their book signed by Jason Marker, Josh Hilden, Mark Oberle, Jason Richards, Kevin Siembieda, and Wayne Smith.
If distributors and online sales follow Gen Con’s lead, you may be seeing more works of prose fiction (short stories and novels) being released.
Of course, there was a lot of excitement about Robotech® and upcoming releases. Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® Deluxe Hardcover was our second best selling title of the convention, and if you combined the sale of the Manga and Gold Edition with the deluxe hardcover, the RPG was Palladium’s top selling RPG. Several people commented on how much they liked the manga size and were delighted to hear the sourcebooks were coming soon (September and October).
The sneak peek material and talk about the Macross Saga sourcebook created a great deal of excitement, as did talk about the Masters Saga. Folks want more Robotech – actually, they want more everything!
Rifts® Ultimate Edition and Rifts® back stock titles were our best selling role-playing game line, with numerous fans stopping by to ask about the status of Dyval™, Dimensional Outbreak™, Heroes of the Megaverse®, as well as what else was planned for Rifts®. They were happy to hear we have all kinds of books in development, not just for Rifts®, but for The Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited™, Nightbane®, and Beyond the Supernatural™.
We sold several dozen copies of The Rifter® #43, the Erick Wujcik tribute and third annual swimsuit issue, and a surprising number of BTS-2, Nightbane® and Heroes Unlimited/After the Bomb® titles.
Okay, I like zombies too, but man oh man, there is an unbelievable amount of excitement for Palladium’s zombie RPG scheduled for an October 2008 release. A zillion people came up to the booth to ask if Dead Reign was out yet, or when it would be available. This may be the most highly anticipated book among fans since Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® or Rifts® Ultimate Edition. Long live . . . er . . . crawl zombies.
I had the privilege of following David Arneson’s heartfelt and funny acceptance of his ENnies Lifetime Achievement award with a presentation on behalf of Erick Wujcik. If you recall, Erick was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the ENnies Award people in time for his 57th Birthday Bash this past January in front of his family and 150 friends. It was a wonderful thing the ENnies people did to get the award to Erick for that event and they have my lasting gratitude for it.
As for the ailing Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, he looked weak and grey in his wheelchair, but the moment he was helped to his feet at the podium to accept his award, all of his famous warmth and wit came bubbling out with the vitality of a young man. I was glad to be in the audience for the experience and honored to speak about my dear friend, Erick Wujcik, immediately after. Erick and I were inspired by the works of Gygax and Arneson, so I’m sure Erick was happy to be included among such good natured company. I kept my comments brief and worried, afterward, if they might have been too brief. I guess not, because a number of people came up to me the next day to tell me what a good job I did. Words spoken from the heart are easy I guess.
I didn’t hang around for the rest of the awards, though I’m happy to report that my pals, Jolly Blackburn and Dave Kenzer of Kenzer & Company, took Silver in the Best New RPG category with Aces & Eights, their thick, juicy Wild West RPG.
It was great to reconnect and catch up with many old friends, including the lovely Lisa Hall, the indomitable Shawn Hall, James Brown, Doug Lamberson, Tyson McBride, Larry Elmore, Steve Plagman, Dennis Hughes, Zachary Houghton, Jason Richards, Mark Oberle, Josh Hilden, Lonnie and Bill Langston, Amy Ashbaugh, Paul Deckert, Apollo Okamura, Mike Hummel, Jerry Grayson, Milton Griep, Jolly Blackburn, Dave Kenzer, John Zinzer, Steven Wieck, Andre Duda, Peter, Mark, Jay, Sean, and many others.
Tyson McBride deserves special mention because he came to Gen Con dressed up as a Coalition Officer. Another great costume, Tyson! Oh, and speaking of costumes, don’t forget we’ll be hosting our second Costume Contest at the 2009 Palladium Open House on Saturday, May 2, so come dressed to kill (or at least to win!). And this time we’ll have better scheduling and real gifts.
It seems to be an unpleasant tradition nowadays, I returned from Gen Con and quickly fell ill. (I hate that.) At first, the doctor thought it was the flu, but it seems to be a lingering respiratory infection that has knocked me out for most of this week and probably the weekend. This “bug” prevented me from getting my Gen Con Report posted sooner (sorry) and from going into great elaboration (I’m beat and need a nap).
For more Gen Con moments as they come to me, check out Murmurs from the Megaverse®. In addition to Murmurs posted earlier, I will try to add a few over the weekend.
Meanwhile, stay excited about Palladium, know we have great product coming all Fall, and keep those imaginations burning bright.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer & Artist
Robotech® The Macross Saga™ Sourcebook – September (on schedule)
Robotech® The Masters Saga™ Sourcebook – October (on schedule)
The Rifter® #44 – Monster Extravaganza – October (on schedule)
Dead Reign™ (Zombie) RPG – October (on schedule)
Rifts® Dimension Book™ 11: Dyval™, Hell Unleashed (Minion War™) – Fall
Rifts® Dimension Book™ 12: Dimensional Outbreak™ (Minion War™) – Fall
Rifts® Heroes of the Megaverse® (Minion War™) – Fall
Heroes Unlimited™/Rifts®: Armageddon Unlimited™ (Minion War™) – Fall or Winter
Mysteries of Magic™ – Fall or Winter
Nightbane® sourcebook – Fall or Winter
Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™ – Winter
And More . . .
If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you have to give it a try. Good stuff, we promise.
The Deluxe Hardcover and Gold editions of Robotech®: The Shadow Chronicles® RPG have arrived at the Palladium warehouse and are available now. We think the books look great.
The Deluxe Edition has been completely redone and laid out as if it were a new title to best suit the larger size. It is filled with additional artwork throughout, offers superior reproduction of toned artwork, better paper stock, larger type-face, and some additional text, including two Haydonite spaceships, three UEEF ships, space combat rules and a handful of additional vehicles. Some of you requested a larger, hardcover edition of the core rule book and we’re happy to comply.
The 8½ x 11, Collector’s “Gold” Hardcover Edition of Robotech® looks fantastic! Kevin Siembieda has personally glued in all of the signed and numbered, color signature sheets himself. The cover is rich, classy and impressive. Everyone who has seen it, wants one!
In final production! The mecha, vehicles, weapons and characters that made Robotech® famous. Giant mecha, alien invaders, heroes, villains and fun. Looking fantastic.
Never before revealed mecha designs, stats and information about Earth’s fighting forces and the invading Robotech Masters. Artwork has been assigned and writing is half done.
Dead Reign™ is a game of survival, rescue and revenge. Player characters are both the hunted and the hunters as they battle the creeping doom that is the living dead and pray for salvation.
The Rifter® is your doorway to unlimited imagination and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new heroes, powers, weapons, magic and adventure for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider.
Dates: May 1, 2 & 3, 2009.
Time: 9:30 A.M. till midnight (or later; all night gaming at hotel).
Attendance: Limited to around 320 or so gamers.
Cost: $40 per person for the weekend (Friday, Saturday & Sunday), or $16 per day for Friday and Saturday, $12 for Sunday. Available on a first come, first served basis.
V.I.P. Thursday Tickets: Sold out in 13 hours. Sorry.
Space is limited and Palladium may need to book rooms in a second hotel, so book your room NOW to get this great price and location.
Hotel information:
Kevin Siembieda – publisher, writer, artist & game designer
Wayne Smith – editor-in-chief of The Rifter®
Alex Marciniszyn – editor, writer and researcher
Jason Marker – writer, editor, and freelancer coordinator
Julius Rosenstein – writer, proofreader and Game Master
Kathy Simmons – sales, marketing and cook extraordinaire
Josh Hilden – writer and co-creator of Dead Reign RPG
Brandon Aten – writer (tentative)
Carmen Bellaire – writer
Braden Campbell – writer (tentative)
Matthew Daye – writer & podcast host of Gateway to the Megaverse®
Carl Gleba – writer
Jeffry Scott Hansen – writer
Mark Oberle – writer
Chris Perrin – writer & podcast host of Echoes from the Rifts®
John C. Philpott – writer
Jason Richards – writer
Joshua Sanford – writer and co-creator of Dead Reign RPG
Josh Sinsapaugh – writer
Taylor White – writer (tentative)
Nick Bradshaw – artist
Kent Burles – artist
Mark Dudley – artist
Mark Evans – artist/cover painter (tentative)
Mike Majestic – artist
Allen Manning – artist
Brian Manning – artist
Apollo Okamura – artist/cover painter
Chuck Walton – artist
And more to be announced . . .
To order tickets, click here: Weekend - Friday - Saturday - Sunday
© Copyright 2008 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.
This press release may be reprinted, reposted, linked and shared for the sole purpose of advertising, promotion and sales solicitation.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.