So are you going to come to GenCon, and sign copies of the game book if people buy them?
-Zodo, CI
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Zodo
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GenCon is August 8-11 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I go there every year, though this will be my last year. They're going to move it to Indianapolis which is much closer to me, but because they have to move it to avoid conflict with Brickyard 400, it won't be happening until the semester starts. :p
To describe what it's like, imagine putting 25000 gaming geeks in one small area for four days. Going there helps me establish just how sane and balanced I truly am. There are people who are lost in their own fantasy world, and would not know what to do if they were forced to move out of their parents' basement and get a real job. There are also some people who are hygenically challenged, and some who really should not try to fit themselves into those bodices, or chainmail bikinis, but there's also some nice cheese- and beefcake to be seen as well.
Oh, and there are games too! Games games games! Everything you can think of will be played there, from checkers and Monopoly, to Fuzzy Heroes (a combat game between stuffed animals) and Fairy Meat (a 1:1 scale miniatures game about frolicking and cannibalism).
I'll be there starting on the 7th, to help run some games and work a booth for Sanguine Productions, the folks who make a game called Ironclaw (as well as the companion game, Jadeclaw). I'll also be running my traditional Saturday Morning game of Toon, the Stupor Bowl! (demonstrating that football and cartoon characters just don't mix)
They also have an art show, with work that ranges from the worst of the stuff you see on Keenspace, to Boris Vallejo. (literally. Sometimes he has a piece or two for sale there)
So, that's GenCon in a nutshell. If you are wanting to go, you should talk to the people who make the game you are illustrating for, and they should be able to get you an exhibitor's badge, so you don't have to pay to get in.
If You're there on Wednesday night, I can show you the Safe House, a bar in Milwaukee with a spy theme, including secret doors, passwords, and an exit through a phone booth. Not to mention a piece of the berlin wall, and a machine gun donated by John Wayne.
-Zodo, CI
Consummate Troublemaker
King of the Forum
To describe what it's like, imagine putting 25000 gaming geeks in one small area for four days. Going there helps me establish just how sane and balanced I truly am. There are people who are lost in their own fantasy world, and would not know what to do if they were forced to move out of their parents' basement and get a real job. There are also some people who are hygenically challenged, and some who really should not try to fit themselves into those bodices, or chainmail bikinis, but there's also some nice cheese- and beefcake to be seen as well.
Oh, and there are games too! Games games games! Everything you can think of will be played there, from checkers and Monopoly, to Fuzzy Heroes (a combat game between stuffed animals) and Fairy Meat (a 1:1 scale miniatures game about frolicking and cannibalism).
I'll be there starting on the 7th, to help run some games and work a booth for Sanguine Productions, the folks who make a game called Ironclaw (as well as the companion game, Jadeclaw). I'll also be running my traditional Saturday Morning game of Toon, the Stupor Bowl! (demonstrating that football and cartoon characters just don't mix
)They also have an art show, with work that ranges from the worst of the stuff you see on Keenspace, to Boris Vallejo. (literally. Sometimes he has a piece or two for sale there)
So, that's GenCon in a nutshell. If you are wanting to go, you should talk to the people who make the game you are illustrating for, and they should be able to get you an exhibitor's badge, so you don't have to pay to get in.
If You're there on Wednesday night, I can show you the Safe House, a bar in Milwaukee with a spy theme, including secret doors, passwords, and an exit through a phone booth. Not to mention a piece of the berlin wall, and a machine gun donated by John Wayne.
-Zodo, CI
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Umm...no. It turns out the book won't be out in time for GenCon now, because the other artist didn't pull through with his share of the illustrations. As it also turns out, I'm the only artist they've gotten so far who's gotten the work done on time. Which means I'll get a great job reference, but no book for GenCon.
It will still be published, though, but they'll end up toting it to smaller shindigs and hit GenCon next year. SUCKS. I'll keep people updated on it as more happens, but for now, I'll just put some drawings up on the site every so often...
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Zodo
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From what I've heard, artists missing deadlines is one of the biggest pitfalls of producing games, and missing a GenCon release will hurt that company pretty significantly. This means they need to sit on their stock all year long, including through tax time, until they can sell it at Origins and GenCon next year.
On a happy note, I just discovered tonight that they have changed the dates of GenCon 2003 to late July, instead of Late August, which means that I'll be able to continue going!
Yay! GenCon!
-Zodo, CI
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King of the Forum!
On a happy note, I just discovered tonight that they have changed the dates of GenCon 2003 to late July, instead of Late August, which means that I'll be able to continue going!
Yay! GenCon!
-Zodo, CI
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Yeah, missing Gencon can hurt- on the other hand, waiting for Origins might be a really bad move too. hitting some of the smaller Cons might be the way to go- out here, that means hitting RustyCon, SakuraCon, and a couple other ones. (Rusty is in January). By the time GenCon comes 'round, then, you've built up a tiny bit of "Recognition", plus, they can get input, and announce a "Revised" at Gencon.zodo wrote:From what I've heard, artists missing deadlines is one of the biggest pitfalls of producing games, and missing a GenCon release will hurt that company pretty significantly. This means they need to sit on their stock all year long, including through tax time, until they can sell it at Origins and GenCon next year.
On a happy note, I just discovered tonight that they have changed the dates of GenCon 2003 to late July, instead of Late August, which means that I'll be able to continue going!
Yay! GenCon!
-Zodo, CI
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King of the Forum!
It's not as good as a GenCon announcement, but, then again, it can make it easier not to get lost in the noise of other companies announcing their "Big New Shiny Game", and, word-of mouth has kept more than one game alive. (SLA Industries, for example). It all depends on how aggressive you get between the "Actual" release date, and, the "Big" conventions.
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Zodo
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What can really hurt is that over the course of a year, the market can change significantly. A new type of game can show up and dominate the market, or games in general can drop in popularity. A friend of mine worked at creating a game... and ended up taking a long time doing it he kept on saying that he had a study that said the primary market for an RPG was 12-14. I finally asked one of the people from GAMA what the current main market was, and they said it was 20-22. (ironically, I later asked when my friend got his data, and he said eight years ago... So it was the same crowd of people buying games for the most part).
The other big thing about GenCon is that the booths are expensive, and have to be reserved in advance. If this company reserved a booth to sell their new game, and suddenly don't have a game. They've just spent a good chunk of change to hand out flyers. I can tell you from personal observation and experience that those booths don't really get a lot of traffic.
I hope for the best for this Game Company, and that they make it through the next year.
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So, is anybody besides me actually going to GenCon? This will be the last year it's in Milwaukee, as next year, it moves to Indianapolis!
-Zodo, CI
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King of the Forum
The other big thing about GenCon is that the booths are expensive, and have to be reserved in advance. If this company reserved a booth to sell their new game, and suddenly don't have a game. They've just spent a good chunk of change to hand out flyers. I can tell you from personal observation and experience that those booths don't really get a lot of traffic.
I hope for the best for this Game Company, and that they make it through the next year.
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So, is anybody besides me actually going to GenCon? This will be the last year it's in Milwaukee, as next year, it moves to Indianapolis!
-Zodo, CI
Consummate Troublemaker
King of the Forum