This has been the sixth Origins that I've been to, and I'm pleased to say that it was the best one yet!
Last Origins I decided that I would game as much as possible, going for new games that I haven't played before. This year I decided to go the reporter route, and see how much video I could get. I got quite a bit - actually, and have posted a good portion of it up on Youtube.
This list is a compilation of those videos, along with some of the things I enjoyed from Origins itself.
There's really no reason to come in Tuesday, but I like doing so because I can do some shopping in Columbus (the Easton mall is great), and play games with the others who come in early.
This year I ended up going to bed early so that I could handle the crazy times of the rest of the convention.
Best game of the day: Steam. I really enjoy this game, love the basic version, and think that it will be my game of choice of this genre. Age of Steam is fun and all, but Steam is far friendlier, which puts it ahead in my book. Too bad there's no wooden locomotives (although I hear they may be in the works).
Really looking forward to the podcast review of Origins. I was lucky enough to attend when it came to Fort Worth Texas in 1995. Joe Steadmon RETURNS! Always liked the Joe-Man's cohosting. We will miss Sam though. Is it possible to have Joe call in a segment or two? Thanks again for all your work Tom.
You know, I never did get around to playing the Battletech game. I think it would have been a blast, but I also think I would have liked to play it with friends.
But this is why I like Origins so much. I know that WBC and BGG.con likely have more boardgamers at them (although frankly the Board Room at Origins is so big that I don't think I'm missing that much), but Origins has other things you can do.
From the Battletech demos to collectible card games, to watching people whallop each other with swords - it's just fun to wander around and see and do different things. Next year I might try something different - just because!
I remember being pretty young and seeing a contest in Nintendo Power magazine where you could win a trip to the FASA Battletech Center in Chicago. They had pictures in the magazine of the cockpits, and back then the whole virtual reality thing was so new, it just sounded incredible to me. I was enthralled with the idea and not too long after I got my license I drove up there with a friend of mine just so we could play the game (it's only about a 5 hour drive from where I live).
This wasn't exactly a pre-planned trip, and we had a lot of trouble locating the place. Eventually we went into a library where an extremely helpful librarian came up with the idea of looking up the FASA corporation in a directory of businesses (ahh, the days before the internet was everywhere). So we called the actual FASA corporation and they gave us directions on how to get there.
That was probably in '93, and back then the gaming stations weren't so much like pods, more like big bulky boxes...but in my opinion they also looked much more like part of a mech. The interiors were pretty intimidating...there were toggle switches all around the viewscreen, foot pedals, a throttle, joystick for torso movement, and various readouts for damage and ammo. This is what they looked like with the door back slid open, but they would shut you in while you played:
Unfortunately, the majority of the functionality was considered to be too complex for first-time visitors, but we did happily purchase an operations manual and take it home to study up on the game.
Years later, the Battletech Center moved locations and became part of a more conventional arcade, and these models were replaced with the ones shown in the video (and thankfully updated software). I'm not sure if they still exist in an arcade somewhere or if they just tour the convention circuit. Most home consoles and computers are more impressive these days as far as graphics go, but it's still tough to beat the immersiveness you get from climbing into one of these things.
The Dave and Buster's in Utica Michigan has the BattleTech simulator at various times. It must be on a rotational schedule as the one in Cincinnati had it when I was down there too.
One of the best parts of Origins - actually, the best part, was hanging out with the other guys who help put the Dice Tower together. No, not everyone was there (miss you - Sam, Moritz, Jim, Giles, and the rest!), but there were more of us in one place than ever before.
It was tremendously fun, and since we work together on the show - it was like a gathering of good old friends, even though many of us had met for the first time.
I saw a LOT of people wearing Dice Tower ribbons (and we did hand out 1500 of them, so that makes sense), and hopefully we gained some new listeners at the show.
One of the great things about Origins is meeting all the designers and publishers personally. Jay Tummelson has really outdone himself each year - with the free games and drinks in the Board Room (I mean, $16 for a free game, all the drinks you wanted, and the possibility to win more games - not a bad deal).
Of course, Jay is doing well with Dominion winning the big award (and the Origins award for that matter!), and he deserves it.
The Wits and Wagers tournament is always my favorite event of the convention, and the Northstar people were generous enough to allow Eric and I to host it.
I also must hasten to mention the Dice Tower dinner we had. 30+ people, and every family went home with a free game thanks to Funagain! This dinner has always been one of the highlights of the convention for me, and it's fun to simply sit and eat with people who enjoy the show.
You and Eric did a great job hosting the event, and it gave all us North Star people a chance to relax and just have fun at the event. I could not think of a better way to introduce Wits & Wagers Expansion Pack 1 to the public.
The miniature displays are amazing. I remember my own setups when I played Warhammer 40K, and how proud I was of it - and it's nothing compared to what people put up at Origins!
Eric was constantly checking out the Stargate setup, but never did see it in play. I was curious about the Ghostbuster game myself. Either way, it's like going to a museum. Except here they actually let you touch the displays. Play with them, even!
Yes, these are expensive tables. But the medium sized ones (@$2000) seemed very reasonable, and I would seriously consider one if I lived in the States.
And WOW, that's an awesome dice tower. I can't tell you how much I want one. I told Eric and Jim that I wanted it for Christmas, but they both seemed very noncommittal about it. Maybe they're getting me a Sultan table instead.
So many extra things to pick up at Origins. I want to get these tables, the 3D terrain for Descent, tons of dice, and more.
The custom dice for the Dice Tower, incidentally, really came out great, and I managed to get about 400 of them in circulation. Maybe I'll be able to get some more for next year.
I'm not sure about the footage your referring to off hand but if you would like to make some 3D descent terrain you might want to check out Hirst Arts. http://www.hirstarts.com/cavern/descent.html
I'm not sure about the footage your referring to off hand but if you would like to make some 3D descent terrain you might want to check out Hirst Arts. http://www.hirstarts.com/cavern/descent.html
The context in which is was mentioned implied they were for sale "I want to buy the tables, 3D descent terrain, dice....".. But thanks for the link. If only I had that kind of time and patience...
Lots of great games and publishers were at Origins.
But something I thought was really neat at the event was that in the Board Room, you could find pretty much ANY game being played.
Yes, there were quite a few games of Dominion being played (probably more than any other two games put together). Tons of Steam, Tales of Arabian Knights, and Race for the Galaxy also. But I saw obscure games being played, from German titles that will likely never be printed in English, to old American games from the 70's. There was a constant giant Arkham Horror game constantly in play, and hundreds of others. It was amazingly entertaining, and I think you could pull out any game, and people would play it.
I had a good time, bringing in my personalized Faces party game, and everyone seemed to have a good time in it. Specifically, one game - involving the demure Steve Avery - literally had people screaming why their face was the correct one to pick.
The Dealer's Room was smaller this year, with fewer exhibitors showing up.
And yet I thought it was better than previous years!
While the total amount of exhibitors was down, it still felt like a majority of the booths had to do with board games. Lots of great games and companies were there.
Rio Grande and Mayfair had the largest booths, but pretty much everyone seemed to have a decent sized booth. You could go in and play demo games the entire time in this place, and still not have enough time.
Some really great games, and really nice people. I wanted to get more interviews in, but just didn't have the time to interview everyone.
Yes, you shouldn't miss Rio Grande, Mayfair, FRED, and Z-man. But always check out the smaller booths. You never know when you'll find a gem of a game.
Party games are coming into vogue, and Northstar is capitalizing on that - but you'll see some other companies with party games, also.
Speaking of Northstar, they had a pretty interesting contest on Saturday that I was involved in, but there are no pictures of that coming from us! I'm still trying to scrub the memory of it from my mind. It was interesting and fun, but... Wow.
CABS did a fantastic job supporting board games in general, and they made the Board Room as fantastic as it was.
I also want to say some thank yous to everyone I played games against.
One thing at Origins is that it's easy to get stuck with one gaming group and have such a great time that you play all your games with them. I deliberately move around, playing games with different people. And so I met a LOT of folks, and had a lot of people talk about how they enjoyed the show.
I also appreciated how many people came up to me and asked about Clara. It was certainly appreciated.
I played against lots of fun people, but I think Richard, Steve, and Jenna were my favorite opponents (although seeing Joe die in Werewolf was both amusing and fun).
There's so much more to talk about, and I'll likely do so in the future on the show. I just wanted to thank everyone who was involved - especially the Reeds and Eric who helped me put these videos together.
What a great convention! And I made it through the whole thing without talking about the North Market. (which I ate at seven times).
Yes hats of to CABS and Rio Grande Games. The Board room was amazing. It was nice meeting you as well. My buddies were walking out the door and spoke to you. I was trailing them and said wait I know you. Looking forward to playing you sometime in the future
This is an awesome press cover of the event, thank you for spending your precious gaming time to do this! Being european, it's nice to see in depth how the american convention are. Good work!
And those incredible gaming tables, oh my! A must see!
Thank you very much,Tom! That gives a very good idea of what the convention is like. A couple of thoughts for the future filming though May I suggest that whoever films either moves the camera about three times slower (I know it feels like it's pretty slow when you're actually filming, but it still has to be MUCH slower...) or just pauses/stops between different scenes and keeps the camera stationary... That would really make watching it much easier. Looking forward to more of your fantastic video and written game reviews!
Posted Thu Jul 2, 2009 4:34 am
May I suggest that whoever films either moves the camera about three times slower (I know it feels like it's pretty slow when you're actually filming, but it still has to be MUCH slower...) or just pauses/stops between different scenes and keeps the camera stationary... That would really make watching it much easier. Looking forward to more of your fantastic video and written game reviews! 
