Gen Con report delayed

I had hoped to post my Gen Con wrap-up today, but some of the photos are blurry. I will try to work some magic on them over the long weekend and post it next week.

Paramount DVDs from the Warner Archive

As part of Tuesday's wave of new DVD releases from Warner Archive, two out-of-print titles return to availability. One of Boris Karloff's last films (and director Peter Bogdanovich's first), Targets, and the last Hammer Frankenstein film, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, were previously available on DVD from Paramount. Rights for these and other movies licensed to Paramount have transfered over to Warner Brothers, and the first batch became available this week.

Although no new remastering was done on these transfers, the good news is that the original extra features from the Paramount DVDs are on these new Warner MOD discs. I missed both the first time around, so I'm very glad to see these films available again.

Tomorrow: my Gen Con 2013 report

8th Blogiversary

This past weekend marked the eighth anniversary of this blog. It doesn't seem like so long, yet at the same time, it feels like a worn, comfortable old reading chair that has always been around.

I would like to thank everyone who takes time out of their schedule to read my crude scribblings here and post comments. Feedback is always welcome. With luck, I'm hoping to break out of the creative slump I'm in at the moment and post more original content soon. Two RPG-related reviews are still in the works, and reports from Gen Con will be on the way. I would also like to bring back the Cult Classic of the Week movie reviews.

Kaijuville started as a place to post just for myself and my local gaming groups, and I'm thrilled to have had readers from all over the world -- not counting the spambots. Regarding the statistics, I've had just over 40,700 page views since Blogger started keeping track internally, and closing in on 500 posts. I look forward to many, many more. Thank you!

"Keep watching the skies!"

Gen Con 2013 Preview, part 2

Continuing from part 1, very brief notes of new (and new-to-me) games on my list and making their debut at Gen Con 2013.

Pelgrane Press might get the majority of my cash this year. I mentioned 13th Age previously. Owl Hoot Trail is Kevin Kulp and Clinton R. Nixon's fantasy spaghetti western RPG using a simple d20+stat+skill system. I knew that Double Tap, the expansion book for Night's Black Agents, was in development, but being on the Gen Con release list came as a surprise. It's now my #1 must-have purchase of the show.

Catalyst Game Labs recently released the PDF of Shadowrun 5th Edition, and I hope to flip through the book at their booth. The Spell Card and Gear Card decks could be pretty neat as well. Despite owning several Cyberpunk 2020 and CyberSpace supplements, I don't have the rulebooks, and I've never played in a cyberpunk game. SR 5e has me interested again.

Catalyst is also showing off Alpha Strike, a fast-play tactical miniatures game set in the Battletech universe. I'm always curious about more minis games.

One of Chronicle City's new products is The Demolished Ones, which seems like a bizarre steampunk/horror/noir mystery RPG/setting combo. It has all the elements to be really interesting.

I'm hoping to pick up a copy of Monstrosities from Frog God Games. It has been available for a while and from everything I've read, it might be the best of the OSR monster books. At some point either at Gen Con or through my FLGS, I'd like to get a copy of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG as well. I keep hearing enough praise for the game, and it could be fun to try out with our group.

With such a short list, I'm sure to have missed out on something. Take a look at the list of must-see booths and events at RPG Blog II.

If you see me at the convention, please say hello!

Gen Con 2013 Preview, part 1

Gen Con officially opens one week from today, and I am putting together some notes on my top priorities to see and do, products to look over and investigate, and must-have products to buy.

Renaissance Deluxe is a d100/BRP ruleset for historical or fantasy gaming in the black powder era and has received great reviews. I have skimmed the free SRD, but I find that to really learn a system it helps me to have it in print so I can flip from page to page. This is a book I will be looking at closely -- d100, the historical era -- all in my wheelhouse. It's based on OpenQuest, and the second edition of that book will be arriving around September.

13th Age seems to be a hybrid of d20/D&D 4e with less emphasis on the tactical grid and some indie/story-game elements added. It has been very popular in the online gaming community since the pre-order period and the physical books are now making their way to general public release. Some others in our local gaming group are curious about it as well, so I need to check it out.