This is a very interesting program, one which came out of an industry discussion you may recall about the effect of electronic products on the game industry. The retailer positions ran the gamut, from those who thought it hurt the industry (my initial thought), to those who thought it could only help (my eventual position), believing that the market for electronic products is not the same as print. I think most store owners put this in the category of irrelevant and moved on, which is why, I think, so few people jumped on board with Catalyst. Hopefully, that will change when we start reporting positive results.
As a retailer, I can either embrace the future and see if I'll be part of it, or put my head in the sand and wish it into the cornfield. The landscape is changing and as much as I'm troubled by the "long tail" of role-playing games, which infinitely divides the small community into smaller and smaller pieces, I have to think such enthusiasm might energize the community and keep it vibrant. It may even build the community. I'm sure there are shades of gray I'm missing here.
There's still the potential that the future of role-playing games will not involve retail stores, as we're already seeing with Dungeons & Dragons DDI replacing books for some D&D players. PDFs, ironically, play a much smaller role than this new medium, although online piracy is still rampant. One thing I've noticed is that younger role-playing gamers are more comfortable with the idea of electronic products. The fact that I'm even noticing younger role-players may be hope in itself, as the D&D target market of 12-year olds has failed to materialize, at least for us. In the end, if the community grows, even if it grows around us, instead of us at the center, it's still a good thing. Businesses don't deserve anything. We need to stay relevant to our customers or find something else where we can make a contribution.
| Product list (bold items are not available in print) | |||
| Eclipse Phase | |||
| CAT21000 | Eclipse Phase Core Rulebook | $ 15.00 | |
| CthulhuTech | |||
| CAT23000 | CthulhuTech Core Rulebook | $ 30.00 | |
| CAT23001 | Vade Mecum | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT23002 | Mortal Remains | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT23200 | Dark Passions | $ 15.00 | |
| CAT23300 | Damnation View | $ 25.00 | |
| Shadowrun | |||
| CAT26001 | Street Magic | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT26002 | Augmentation | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT26003 | Arsenal | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT26004 | Unwired | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT26005 | Runner's Companion | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT2600A | Shadowrun, Fourth Edition - 20th Anniversary Core Rulebook | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT26101 | Running Wild | $ 20.00 | |
| CAT26102 | Seattle 2072 | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT26201 | Corporate Enclaves | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT26202 | Feral Cities | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT26301 | Emergence | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT26302 | Ghost Cartels | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT26500 | Shadowrun Missions #00: Everyone's Your Friend | FREE | |
| CAT26501 | Shadowrun Missions #01: Ready, Set, Gogh! | $ 3.95 | |
| CAT26502 | Shadowrun Missions #02: Block Wars | $ 3.95 | |
| CAT26503 | Shadowrun Missions #03: Burning Bridges | $ 3.95 | |
| CAT26504 | Shadowrun Missions #04: Monkeywrench | $ 3.95 | |
| CAT26600 | Digital Grimoire | $ 3.95 | |
| CAT26601 | Bad Moon Rising | $ 3.95 | |
| CAT26602 | The Rotten Apple: Manhattan | $ 3.95 | |
| BattleTech | |||
| CAT35001 | Total Warfare | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT35002 | Tech Manual | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT35003 | Tactical Operations | $ 30.00 | |
| CAT35004 | Strategic Operations | $ 30.00 | |
| CAT35005 | A Time of War: The BattleTech RPG | $ 10.00 | |
| CAT35100 | Starter Book: Sword and Dragon | $ 12.00 | |
| CAT35100a | Record Sheets: Sword and Dragon | FREE | |
| CAT35101 | Starter Book: Wolf and Blake | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT35122 | Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrades | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT35130 | Technical Readout: 3075 | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT35203 | Handbook: Major Periphery States | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT35240 | Masters and Minions | $ 25.00 | |
| CAT35302 | Jihad Hot Spots: 3072 | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT35302a | Record Sheets: 3072 | FREE | |
| CAT35303 | Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players II | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT35303X | Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT35304 | Jihad Hot Spots 3076 | $ 18.00 | |
| CAT35600 | Chaos Campaign | FREE | |
| CAT35601 | Jihad Turning Points: Luthien | $ 4.95 | |
| CAT35602 | Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon | $ 4.95 | |
| CAT35603 | Jihad Turning Points: Tharkad | $ 4.95 | |
| CAT35604 | Jihad Turning Points: Sian | $ 4.95 | |
| CAT35700 | 25 Years of Art and Fiction | $ 25.00 | |
