Gencon Indy is next week. Gencon is the big, national game convention where many new games are announced or released. It's the biggest gaming event in the world and every gamer should make a pilgrimage to Gencon at least once in their life, a gamer Hajj of sorts (without trampling and fires). If you happened to notice rather sparse releases in the last week or so, some of it is because publishers are holding out for Gencon.
After Gencon we should see a deluge of new games. The most anticipated games this year are from Fantasy Flight. Middle Earth Quest, Chaos in the Old World, Chaos Marauders, Rogue Trader RPG and Battlestar Gallactica: Pegasus are all due sometime after Gencon (FFG doesn't do dates). A lot of companies sell their games first at Gencon before release, arguing it's the only way their small companies can cover the expense of going. This tends to annoy the game trade, especially those stores within driving distance of the con. It has a minimal effect on California stores.
Some companies are more responsive to the game trade and work hard to release games before Gencon, allowing the game trade to share the excitement, rather than be recipients of it (or victims). The Shadowrun Special Edition rulebook is due out on the 11th, two days before Gencon starts. The Pathfinder RPG from Paizo, the most anticipated RPG release of the convention, has a street date of the 13th, to coincide with Gencon. The Pathfinder print run is already sold out (knuckleheads), so reserve a copy with us, if you want it.
If you know of something else that's coming out at Gencon, please leave a comment.
