Well Gencon is bigger and Origins is on the fast track down hill. They are mostly the same, though Origins is now the ugly step child. It also depends on what you are looking to play. There are lots of board games, Demoing, and war gaming at both. There are not many CCGs at Origins any more or other things to do. This keeps getting smaller very year. Origins does offer free entry for Teachers though ( which I am one) And it is only An hour trip for me, so I go to both.

Please note that the above is merely an opinion. While the Dealer Room has gotten smaller, there have been just as many board games, and the Board Room has gotten bigger the last three years. So for a boardgamer, Origins gets better every year.

So here are some facts:
There is miniature gaming, the food is easier to get at Origins,
and parking/access is much better, too, using the skywalk. GENCON's skywalk is mostly handicap hostile.

When I say that I more financially they have been in trouble for some time now. This is not an opinion but a fact. As far as some parts getting bigger it is true, but in a whole it has got smaller.

IS this really something people look for to decide if they are going to a con.

Can you remind me which convention filed for bankruptcy again?

But seriously, I haven't been to GenCon, although I would love to go.

If you are a boardgamer, you will LOVE Origins.
There is the largest open board gaming outside BGG.con and WBC that I know of. It is incredibly friendly, with a ton of food options - including some of the best food I've eaten in my life. While vendor numbers have dwindled, I don't mind, because the board gaming companies (except a couple) are there in full force. So yes, RPGs, miniatures, and CCGs have dropped. Who cares. Board games are still there in full force.

I hear that GenCon is bigger, with a better display room and a decent amount of open gaming. So I can't disparage it.

But I will highly, highly recommend Origins - it's a friendly, fun time of gaming.

I think it was only the California Gen Con that needed money.

I agree that you should go Origins if you are a board gamer. Last year you could even get in for Three dollars to play and demo. I was just saying it depended on what he plays.

I went to Origins last year, and GenCon the year before. Keep in mind that I'm basically into: playing + learning eurogames, and buying eurogames. That said, I found I liked Origins ALOT more than GenCon- yes GenCon is larger, and it had a great boardgaming room, but alot of the larger was due to other things like roleplaying, LARPS, etc.

Origins was more boardgaming focused so they still had everything in a smaller package. As for purchases, Origins was better, as they had good selection and better pricing (especially if you're a teacher, which I am). My only complaint about Origins is that they moved the stupid date to just too early for me to able to go....weird, since they seem to want to draw educators, but we're mostly all still teaching that last week.

Gen Con is FAR superior. Origins only offers a big room for open play, while Gen Con has far more game events, special events, the dealers hall is 3-4x larger, there is just much more to do. There is also more new releases and opportunities to try new games in the dealers hall. Origins has been dying for the last few years unfortunately. Many big game companies opt out of going to Origins anymore, which is a shame.

I prefer GenCon.

GenCon is the larger affair and I tend to make only one significant convention trip a year. This is also the one time of year where I make it a point to buy as much as I can afford, therefore the larger dealer area is superb. To top it off, the auction is massive and you can get some seriously rare items for good prices.

GenCon has some astonishingly large gaming rooms. I can't compare it to the rooms at Origins but if Origins can boast larger board game rooms I just can't imagine they'd have enough people or games to fill it. It was actually a chore to walk through some of the rooms at GenCon because of the size.

Also, as stated, there are more events at GenCon and not just for board gaming.

I have to stand up for Origins again. The reason they have been strapped for cash a little is because two major vendors pulled out : WotC and WK. No Magic or Clix will reduce size and population if that's all they're there for. Speaking of hurting, GenCon Indy was the con up for bankruptcy this year and under lawsuits. The way I read it, a portion of GAMA is taking it over this year, so I'd say they're hurting a little more than Origins.

However, I do present the following:

1. Admission was cheap for Origins. They started a "Fair-only" pass this year which amounted to a $3.00 a day armband that got you into the vendor hall and demo area. You couldn't play in tournaments, but if you are mainly there to try new games and buy some new ones, this was an incredible price. I was able to bring the wife this year and she picked out some games, too. I easily spent more at Origins last year than in past visits due to those armbands. I was also able to invite quite a few friends that were strapped on cash to afford a $40.00 pass. One of them used that to bring his two sons with him and then still managed to buy a game in the hall. Yes, the vendor hall was smaller this year and they had some strange vendors, but there were the usual favorites there with their new lines and I got to meet some very interesting designers like Dominic Crapuchettes while playing Cluzzle. I missed Evil Stevie's Pirate Game again this year, however...

2. As others noted, last years Origins was FUN. I had a better time there than I did at GenCon the year before. A friend of mine refuses to say he did because he's a miniatures gamer and GenCon is still king for that over Origins. It really depends on why you go.

3. The miasma of armpits and ass that hung around the WizKids tournament area and the information booth is gone since WotC and WK left. I'm not saying that those gamers are what was causing it, but it's extremely convenient, especially when it was prevalent for the three+ years prior. A couple of years ago, my wife was meeting us for dinner one night at the con. I had her call me when she got to the escalator. When she called, I just counted 1... 2... "Oh my god! What is that?? Oh, Jesus!"

If you're bigger on board games, go Origins. If you like CCGs or Warhammer/WarMachine, go for GenCon.

I respectfully disagree - I was there last year while I was working with FFG and there just didn't seem to be a whole lot of gaming going on compared to GenCon.

Did you go to the board room? I know that Fantasy Flight is a GIANT at GenCon, and barely present at Origins, but open gaming at Origins rocks.

What big game companies were those? Are we talking ones that cater specifically to the CCG crowd? I seem to remember EVERY major board game publisher being represented this passed year.

Fantasy Flight was only there in a limited way, and Days of Wonder was missing. Every other major publisher of board games (skipping the giants like Hasbro and Mattel) were there. In fact, Mayfair and Rio Grande had some pretty hefty booths - those vacated by WotC and Wizkids.

Origins = Gamers Convention
GenCon = Dealer/Publisher/Game Company Convention

Let me explain.

You go to the Origins Game fair to play games. It’s that simple. Origins has more gaming space than you can shake a stick at.

GenCon is where you go to buy things. It’s become the trend for all of the major gaming companies to roll out all of their new product and introduce all of their things to come at GenCon. You'll spend more time in the Dealer Hall at GenCon than you will gaming. All of the companies are running demos of all of their latest games, and sometimes even a few prototypes. There are also a TON of vendors at GenCon that will have damn near everything you could possibly want.

Now, does this mean I think GenCon is better because I wrote more about it? Not at all.

I do my best to attend both Cons. Both cons provide ample opportunity to get your game on. If you are "Cult of the New", then GenCon is definitely going to appeal more to you. If you are more into RPGs, CCGs, or Mini's, GenCon is the place to go.
If you like board gaming, or historical minis, both are great, but Origins outshines.

Edit: I suk at spealing

And thanks for the clarification on that!

I go to Origins every year, and have been to Gencon the last 2 years.

If I had to choose between the two, I would make my decision based on factors other than which con I thought was better: price, or which one my friends were going to, or time of the year, or whatever. There are things I like about each one better than the other. For example, I love wandering through the dealer room over and over again; so Gencon's much larger dealer room is a real plus for me. On the other hand, I really like a lot of historical games (and, truth be told, the people that tend to play historical games), and Origins has more historical miniatures gaming, and even a weekend long set of seminars on various topics (usually relating to various wars).

At the end of the day, if you are reasonably outgoing and like games, it's hard for me to imagine not having a good time at either one. Unless other things really are completely equal, I'd choose based on other criteria than which one wins the popularity contest in this thread.

I'll throw my $.02 in here. Last year I went to all of Origins, and Saturday at GenCon. These to date are my only convention experiences, so I have a single year comparison here. but,

1) Origins seemed to be better for open gaming. I know GenCon had something similar to Origin's board room, but it did not seem as well organized or established with library, etc. I'll admit it's possible I didn't really understand the system, but there you go, Origins took no understanding.

2) Yes, the dealer's hall is smaller at Origins. But it felt like 90% of GenCon is CCGs. I did as much boardgame demoing at Origins as I did at GenCon. I did purchase more at GenCon, but that was more to do with being in a slightly improved financial situation and the fact that I got 7 free games at Origins last year.

3) Crowds. I'm not a crowd guy. I don't like being jostled just trying to get from point A to point B. GenCon was packed. If you like that, great, but I always felt pressured to get where I wanted to go. Some of that was only being there for 1 day, but Origins was more relaxing.

4) Origins is cheaper. The $3 armbands have already been mentioned. For GenCon to charge what they do just to let someone into the Exhibitor hall, where all they do is make more money, is preposterous. Can you imagine a family of 4 walking down the street in downtown Indy, seeing "Game Convention", and asking about tickets? You really gonna make them pay $150 to come in and browse the dealer's hall? This is the primary reason I will probably not be going to GenCon this year.

On a related note, I only went last year to GenCon because I got a "Yu-Gi-Oh" badge which was $20 or $30 and was buy one get one free. So my wife and I went. I would not pay full price for 2 tickets to get into the deler hall where all you get is retail pricing. Where is the motivation? Perhaps this is why they needed bankruptcy protection.

I can honestly say I enjoyed both. However, as a board gamer, Origins was head and shoulders above GenCon for me. I don't care about mini's, CCGs, RPGs, LARPs, etc. I'm a board gamer. Origins is the place for me.

A few data points:

CABS has run the Origins Board Room for the last three years (before that there was no Board Room). Approximate number of Board Room ribbons sold:
1st year: 200
2nd year: 400
3rd year: 800

Attendance was up at Origins last year, largely due to the new armband program.

GenCon filed for bankruptcy in the last year, mostly due to a dispute with Lucasfilms over a charity auction. They successfully emerged from bankruptcy protection (as most companies do), and all is apparently well.

I attend Origins. I do not attend GenCon. That's pretty much because I live in Columbus, Ohio, where Origins is held. Having said that, I enjoy going to Origins immensely, and do not feel like I am missing out.

I've been attending Gen Con every year since 1995. I started off as a Magic player, we then shifted our focus to D&D, and the last couple of years have been all about board games for us. I spend most of my time in the dealer's hall browsing, shopping and playing demos. Mayfair runs a program where you get a coupon for 50% off one product for playing 5 demos at their booth. Consequently their booth is always jumpin.'

As for Origins, I've only been there once, 1999 I think. We were still MtG fans then (autograph hounds in particular.) Going to Origins was like finding a turd under the Christmas tree. That was 10 years ago and my interests have shifted quite a lot since then, so it would probably be a different story if I were to go now.

I have to completely agree with that. We've been to every Origins since it's been in Columbus and every GenCon since it's been in Indy (and the last in Milwaukee before that).

Our group is more into shopping and quick demos, so GenCon works much better for us. If we were more into con gaming, then I'd say Origins.

For open board gaming, the CABS run Origins room seems to be much better organized and run than GenCon's open board gaming room. We've run into some long lines trying to check something out (or in) at GenCon.

YMMV.

They do the same for both shows. It's how I bought Station Master and Hey, That's My Fish. I'm not sure how they'll handle the ribbon program with the $3.00 armbands this year, however. I think they got a little overwhelmed last year with no way to mark if someone had gotten the discount once already during the show as they could just go and get another armband and get another set of ribbons. My bet is only bagde holders will qualify this year.

With getting married and the arrival of my son, I've not been able to return to Origins in the past few years, but I miss it. I still attend Gencon every year.

Origins is a place to go to play games. It is, in a way, the largest of the little conventions. Local conventions are awesome places to get together with people and play games. They don't always have a lot of other things going on, but hey... who cares? We're board game players, so there's always something to do! Go play a game. And Origins offers lots of opportunities to play and if you have a down minute, you could wander through the modest dealer's area - which is pretty good compared to Local Univeristy Cafeteria Con XII.

Gencon is a big experience. Yes, you can play games all day every... but you'd be missing the massive, impressive trade show dealer's room. And the auction. And art show. And the miniatures painting. And, and, and... Gencon transcends "place where we play games" to being a huge happening with something for any taste or style.

If you can, you should go to both. They are different enough from one another to find things to enjoy at both. When we went to both, we used to say that we loved going to Origins because there was no guilt over missing big parts of the convention while playing games all the time... and we loved Gencon because we had so many other things to do besides just play games all the time!