Re: [DL] Pinnacle sold... (REALLY OT)

[phadris <phadris@mciworld.com>]

Mr. Seyberth raves:

> Without said distribution system in place, guess what will happen
> to the smaller independent game companies?

In this threatening world of stock options and golden parachutes and
Pokemon, I have seen one glimmer of hope.

I'm a board gamer, too, and when the good ship Avalon Hill finally rolled
over and started to sink, I held my breath when Hasbro jumped in and bought
the rights to the wreckage.  Now overall, most of Avalon Hill has been
thrown away and forgotten.  Most of the hobby as I knew it has changed, in
ways I'd never wished for.

But Avalon Hill / Hasbro has released a new game called "Battle Cry!", which
certainly isn't a traditional wargame.  But it's a heck of a lot of fun.  If
this is the vision of what future wargames are to become, then ... I can
live with it.  Shoot, it's been decades since I read a wargame rulebook that
was so clearly written.  AH/Hasbro has also announced their intent to
republish some of the former AH's bigger titles -- not necessarily the
expansion to their former product line I wanted to see, but by golly my
former favorite production house is still alive.

Second, the clever game designers are still alive and well.  Many board game
designers have turned to other companies to see their games come to light.
GMT has suddenly grown from some guys working out of their garage into some
guys working really hard on a bunch of really great stuff out of their
garage.  The games are still coming, just from a different source.  The
shortcoming of this new direction is that prices have crept up a little bit.
But the tighter Hasbro tightens it's grip, the more designers seem to slip
through their fingers.

Times are changing.  Companies that can't change with them will suffer.  I
worry about the demise of my friendly neighborhood game stores as they rely
more and more on selling Pokemon, while WotC now sells Pokemon at
convenience stores (so who needs the hobby shops?).  But deep down within
our culture, there are people who still game, and people who still create
games.  It might be different in another five years, but it will continue to
happen.

Tom Huntington
The Truth Is Yonder