If you didn't have a chance to attend the GAMA Trade Show in Reno earlier this month, Rick from Game Trade Media has you covered: he interviewed a ton of manufacturers during the show. Check out part 2 below and stay tuned on our website for more to come!
 

 

GAMA Trade Show Gaming Content Part 2


WizKids Introduces Letter Go and Endless Pass

Discussion with Chris Wilson


Arcane Wonders New Release Line-Up

Discussion with Tony Gullotti


Steve Jackson Games - Munchkin CCG and Munchkin TMNT

Discussion with Hunter Shelburne


Fireside Games - Remnants and Grackles

Discussion with Justin DeWitt


Catan Studio - Q3 Release Catan: Rise of the Inkas

Discussion with Ian Birdsall


USAopoly's Thanos Rising

Interview with Andrew Wolf


Greater Than Games - Spirit Island

Discussion with Paul Bender


Don't forget to check out our interviews highlighted in GAMA: Part 1 !

Stay tuned for more content from the GAMA Trade Show launching this week and next!

The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design has announce the winners of the 2015 Origins Awards

The awards are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design to companies for outstanding games in the industry. For the 40st Annual Award cycle, the Awards had 12 categories: Best Roleplaying Game, Best Roleplaying Supplement, Best Board Game, Best Children’s, Family & Party Game, Best Gaming Accessory, Best Miniatures Rules, Best Miniature Figures Line, Best Historical Board Game, Best Historical Miniature Rules, Best Historical Miniature Figures Line, Best Traditional Card Game, and Best Collectible Card Game.

Congratulations to this year's Origins Awards winners!

Best Board Game

Sheriff of Nottingham [AWG DTE01SN] - Arcane Wonders

Best Card Game

Splendor [ASM SPL01] - Asmodee

Best Children’s, Family & Party Game

The Hare and the Tortoise [IEL 51159] - Iello

Best Collectible Card Game

Magic the Gathering: Khans of Tarkir [WOC A74560000] - Wizards of the Coast

Best Game Accessory

Wings of Glory Mat [AGS WGA502B] - Ares Games

Best Historical Board Game

Heroes of Normandie [IEL 51134] - Iello

Best Historical Miniature Figure/Line

Sails of Glory Series 2 - Ares Games

Best Historical Miniature Rules

Sails of Glory [AGS SGN001A] - Ares Games

Best Historical Miniature Rules Supplements

Battleground Europe [OSP BTC009]- Osprey Publishing/Warlord

Best Miniature Figure Rules

Golem Arcana [HBS GA001] - Harebrained Schemes

Best Role Playing Game

Dungeon & Dragons Player's Handbook [WOC A92170000] - Wizards of the Coast

Best Role Playing Supplement

Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual [WOC A92180000] - Wizards of the Coast

Fantasy Flight Games has announced an upcoming merger with the Asmodee Group™. Please read below for their press release and a short Q&A on the subject of the merger.

FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES® TO MERGE INTO ASMODEE GROUP™

Asmodee – a leading international publisher and distributor – and Fantasy Flight Games – a worldwide recognized hobby games publisher – announced the pending merger of the two companies. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Asmodee Group of game companies will gain access to Fantasy Flight Games’ strong sales, operational and marketing infrastructure in North America, as well as Fantasy Flight Games’ almost-20 years of expertise in game development and multi-language game manufacturing.

Fantasy Flight Games will benefit from Asmodee’s impressive distribution and marketing reach in Europe, greatly improving its product placement and organized play initiatives across the continent.

“I am delighted to welcome Christian and his team to the Asmodee Group,” said Stéphane Carville, CEO of Asmodee Group. “Fantasy Flight Games is a highly reputed publisher within the gaming community. It has demonstrated its ability to create great games and to establish fantastic relationships within the hobby games market and large entertainment companies. Together, we will continue to bring unique, innovative and high-quality games to gamers worldwide.”

“Fantasy Flight Games has enjoyed tremendous growth over the last 10 years,” said Christian T. Petersen, CEO and founder of Fantasy Flight Games. “By joining forces with Asmodee, we’ll be able to continue that growth, expand our international marketing capabilities, and create additional career opportunities for our terrific staff. Most importantly, we can do this while staying true to our vision of creating great products for the global hobby games market.”

Fantasy Flight Games will continue to operate out of its Roseville, MN headquarters, where its hardworking creative teams will keep creating those ambitious and narrative hobby games experiences for which Fantasy Flight Games has become known. Christian T. Petersen will continue as the CEO of Fantasy Flight Games while also becoming a significant shareholder of the combined entity. No staffing changes are anticipated.

Asmodee and Fantasy Flight Games Merger Q&A

A few questions related to the Asmodee and Fantasy Flight Games (“FFG”) merger have been anticipated and replied to below.

How will FFG’s and Asmodee’s product lines be affected?

FFG’s new and existing product lines will continue to be developed by FFG and sold under the FFG logo. FFG will stay a fully independent publisher in the Asmodee Group, and intends to keep creating the best games possible. A few of FFG’s products, whose identity may be deemed a better fit under a different Asmodee Group brand, may transition within the group.

Similarly, Asmodee’s existing and new products will continue to be developed by Asmodee’s creative staff and/or affiliate studios, and published under the Asmodee, or the independent studios’, logo. Those Asmodee games deemed a great fit for FFG may transition to FFG’s catalog.

The Asmodee Group has close business ties with a number of important board game publishers, such as Repos, Matagot, Ystari and others. How will the merger impact those relationships?

The union gives Asmodee and its partners access to FFG’s strong logistical and operational presence in North America, as well as access to FFG’s proprietary development tools and manufacturing infrastructure. Beyond those advantages, the identity, product development, marketing (such as website and convention presence) and sales representation of Asmodee’s close publishing partners will be unaffected.

FFG has many important intellectual property licenses. How will these be affected, and will other Asmodee partners and affiliates be able to take advantage of those licenses?

FFG expects to retain all of its licensing relationships, and will work with both Asmodee and its licensors to extend licensing potential to those parts of the Asmodee Group that makes sense for the overall product strategy and the individual license.

How will North American hobby market retailers and distributors be affected by this merger?

There are no immediate plans to change any of FFG’s or Asmodee’s hobby market retailer or distributor relationships in North America.

Most game retailers outside the U.S.A purchase FFG’s product from international distributors, many of whom translate and publish FFG’s product in their local languages. How will these distributors work with the combined entity?

For the foreseeable future, it is anticipated that current and upcoming FFG products will continue to be localized and sold by FFG’s existing international partners. Asmodee intends to work with those same distributors to broaden product availability, marketing presence, and organized play support where possible.

When should international players expect to see improvements to FFG’s organized play programs?

While incremental progress will happen sooner, players should expect that it will take more than a year for all intended improvements to be implemented.

About Fantasy Flight Games and the Asmodee Group

Fantasy Flight Games is a leading hobby games market publisher in the board, card, roleplaying, and miniature game categories. Fantasy Flight Games’ best-known titles include games based on licenses such as Battlestar Galactica, The Lord of the Rings, Sid Meier’s Civilization, and Star Wars, as well as proprietary titles such as Arkham Horror and Descent: Journeys in the Dark.

Asmodee Group is a leading international games publisher and distributor with operations located in Europe, the United States, and China. Asmodee’s best known titles, either published or distributed on behalf of key publishing partners, include Ticket to Ride, Splendor, 7 Wonders, Dixit, Takenoko, Abyss, Timeline, Dobble, Jungle Speed, and Werewolves of Millers Hollow. In some European countries, Asmodee also distributes trading card games such as Pokemon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!.

The Doom that Came to Atlantic City

Cryptozoic Entertainment has released details on its version of The Doom That Came to Atlantic CityDoom skyrocketed in notoriety last month when its original publisher, The Forking Path Co., revealed that it would not produce the game despite successfully funding it with Kickstarter campaign that raised over $120,000 from backers.

Cryptozoic will publish the board game under its flag in 2014 and at least one of the coveted 'stretch' goal items, miniatures by sculptor Paul Komoda, will be standard issue. Doom allows players to assume the role of Lovecraftian Great Old Ones, returned to Earth to unleash doom upon humanity. Players fight to steal cultists, destroy homes, rip holes in reality and call down the ultimate Doom.

Featuring 8 custom playing pieces, 8 Mythos Role cards, 45 Chants cards, 24 Gate cards, 16 Tome cards, 4 reference cards, 50 cultists, 40 gate markers, 60 homes, 8 resorts, 8 tentacles, 2 custom dice, a game board, and rules, Doom is now available for pre-order in our store.

http://www.shopofmagic.com/News/13-03/RobotechRPGTactics.jpgPalladium Books is collaborating with Ninja Division, which combines the design talents of Soda Pop Miniatures and Cipher Studios, to produce its Robotech RPG Tactics game.  Ninja Division is the designer of Super Dungeon Explore, Anima Tactics, and other games. 
 
Robotech RPG Tactics, which is planned to release in 2013, will feature miniatures that can be used for either the stand-alone tactical game or for the Robotech RPG.  Factions will include the United Earth Defense Forces, defending earth from alien annihilation, and the Zentraedi Armada, trying to recover an alien artifact and enslave humankind.