August 17th, 2003

MAGIC EVENTS AND NEWS

Upcoming Magic Events:

Aug. 24th Type 1 $4 Entry 1pm
Aug. 31st Type 1 $4 Entry 1pm

And, starting in September we're going to go back to our roots a bit. It's time to shake up the tournament schedule with some of our wacky formats like we used to run. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm certainly tired of running mundance Type 1 and Type 2 events. It's time to get crazy! AND...not only that, since it's September and everyone is heading back to school or college, meaning money might be a bit tight, we're going to call it Poor Man's September Magic. And, what does that mean you ask? Well, that means that after our Booster Draft event(see schedule below) all of the entry fees are going down to a buck. That's right, one dollar. $1, not more, not less. Just one of those green things you've got in your wallet. Or four quarters. Ten dimes would even work. It does have to be U.S. currency though. :-) So, without further rambling, Septembers MTG events schedule:

Sept. 7th Booster Draft $12 Entry 1pm
Sept. 14th MOSH/Iron Cross $1 Entry 1pm
Sept. 21st Highlander $1 Entry 1pm
Sept. 28th Chaos Magic $1 Entry 1pm

A couple notes on the events. The MOSH/Iron Cross will be two tournaments, using the same deck. Winner take all in each event, which will be an even split of the entry fees. With all of the events, keep in mind that the prizes are based on entry fees so they won't be too large. But, games are meant to be fun in the first place! If you've any questions regarding what each of these formats are, please e-mail us or stop in the store. We'll have full descriptions of the event rules available.

In other MTG news, it's unfortunatly necessary to remind everyone of the store rules. They are posted in the gaming area, and they are expected to be followed. Most are zero tolerance. In the past couple of weeks, a few individuals have tried to push us on these rules and have found out the hard way, that we are serious regarding them. Two individuals have been banned from the store, and due to someone else sneaking in outside food and drink, the restroom is now off limits during MTG events. It's sad that all must suffer because of one individual and his actions, and while we're pretty sure we know exactly who it is, we did not catch them at it and have no definitive proof that they are the one. We've a lot of good players, and we know it. We're asking you all to keep your eyes open around you and make sure that everyone is towing the rope just as you are. Those that aren't hurt the store and endanger your privelages here.

On a happier note, the newest MTG set, the 8th Edition Core set is doing much better then a typical core set does. People were leery of the new card design, myself included, but everyone seems to be warming up to them. The foil cards, in particula.r I must say are very nice looking. 8th Ed. comes in 15 card booster packs, 40 card precon decks, as well as the 2 player starter. All of the future sets will have the new card faces, the first of which is Mirrodin, due out in October. Little is known about Mirrodin at this stage, except that it is supposed to introduce the first new card type since Legends. Stay tuned for new details of Mirrodin as they become more readily available.


DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS 3.5

Well, it's been out for a few weeks now and is selling phenomenally well. We really weren't expecting a mass converstion to version 3.5 but we've been wrong. So far, we've sold approximatly 4x's our initial order. All I can say is it's a good thing we've a distributor for these within 24 hours of us. :-) If you've not picked them up yet, you might want to take a look. All three of the core books have been revamped and improved taking care of class issues, beefing up monsters and adding some new material. There are also changes to the Forgotten Realms campaign book, Monster Manual 2, and Epic Level handbook. The changes to these books are minimal, and are available in free downloadable format directly from Wizards of the Coasts website.


MARVEL: 1602

I've been waiting for this series for months now and it finally came out this week! Issue #1 is on the stands! Personally, I think this will be the biggest title of the year. Since it's from Marvel, restocks may be problematic so get your copy while they last! Written by Neil Gaimen, author of New York Times Bestsellers, the Sandman comic series, creator of the character Angela from Spawn, scriptwriter for Princess Mononoke and much, much more, this title is a must read. Set in the year 1602, it puts many of Marvel's classic superheroes in the era and is creating an interesting and just great story. Two thumbs up from yours truly....


MINIATURES...EXPANDED!

Just in case you haven't been in the store the past few weeks, we've more then doubled our miniatures offerings as well as brought in additional paints and placed the paint racks next to the miniatures. So far, the expansion has been met with open arms. The next time you are in the store, look to your right as you walk in the door! :-)


LAN PARTY....THE RESULTS

Well we had our promised LAN party a couple of weeks ago, and things went pretty well. We had 14 folks show up, an excellent turn out I thought. We did have a few configuration problems due to a prolific number of switches hooked up all together so that everyone could reach everyone else, but that shouldn't be a problem next time. In the future, we'll be using the 16 port switch I acquired and I think that will smooth out the worst of the problems. Medal of Honor was played like mad, unfortunatly Day of Defeat was too laggy with the number of wtiches, but some other games were played as well. Star Wars Galaxies was played some, plus Richochet, Diablo II, and others. Rowen also provided some yummy spaghetti to keep the LAN'ers energy levels up. Due to the time it takes to break things down, plus a long drive for a couple of folks, we knocked off at about 3am. All in all, folks seemed to feel we should do this again and I think we will. There is little question of if, only when.


GOOD VIBRATIONS

Yours truly was privelaged enough to get to go see the Beach Boys at the SWW Fair Thursday evening. Seeing a classic group like this was a lot of fun. They put on a heck of a show, with lots of light, lots of sound and some good singing and playing. Not limiting themselves to their own material, they also played some other classic hits from the 50's and 60's such as Duke of Earl. They even played a few bars of Barry Manilow's classic "I Write the Songs"....since it was written by one of the members of the band though, it made sense. They were also jokers and all in all, the several thousand folks in attendance had a very good time, including me. I don't know where they'll be appearing in the state, but if you get the chance you might want to grab a ticket! I like hard rock, but I sure enjoyed the Beach Boys!


MANAGEMENT MATERIAL: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

If you were a fan of the General Office edition, then you'll like Information Technology. A fast and fun filled game of passing the buck(or in this case, project) you can learn in moments, this game builds on the original with all new cards, plus some new mechanics. If your friends kept getting you while playing General Office by sandbagging, get ready to clobber them because the new mechanics make this a very perilous thing. Dave Cook and company did another great job on this game, based on their Origins Award Nominated Management Material: General Office edition.


WWW.DIVERSIFIEDGAMES.COM

We've been doing a few upgrades to our website. One of which, is a tie in with our primary distributor's warehouse. We are now able to offer every item they have through our website. Feel free to browse our online store, and if you see something you'd like you may order it there and have it arrive at your home, or come into the store and special order it(if we don't already stock it) and save shipping costs! Unfortunatly, it only focuses on gaming products so no comics are included, but I think you'll find it to be an excellent catalog of gaming products!


WRAP UP....

Last but not least, the bits and pieces and just general rambling section. First, my reminder to everyone that if you need to update your e-mail address or such, just drop me a line. That goes for just not being interested in getting the newsletter any longer because you've given up gaming, lost your mind, what have you(It'd have to be a good reason to not get it, right?).

Summer's winding down, it's almost time for school to begin once more. The last days of summer are upon us. I've always sort of enjoyed this time of the year. The first part of summer is always filled with those things you've been waiting for summer to do, but by this time of the season we've done them all and it's time to just sit back and relax a bit. I can't speak for the rest of you, but I know we've been doing our best to just relax a bit before fall hits and it's time to start gearing up towards the holidays. Take advantage of these last few weeks, they won't last. Grab a friend and play some games while kicking back and relaxing. Enjoy.

We'll talk to you all again soon.... :-)

Brian P. Guenther
Diversified Games

"Life would be more fun, if I could just re-roll ones...."

Diversified News May 26th, 2003 Posted Monday, June 9, 2003 by Diversified Games

5/26/03

MAGIC SCOURGE!

Yep, the final set for the Onslaught block, went on sale Saturday! Big critters, lots of dragons and some nifty new abilities. The contents of this set, unlike many new sets on release, is almost sure to change Type 1 tournament play. Booster packs, theme decks and a fat pack are all available now!


MECHWARRIOR: DEATH FROM ABOVE

....has shipped from our distributor's warehouse! We should have it on the release date, this Wednesday the 28th. So what's new? Why I'm glad you asked! :) Helicopters! How else would you take care of those pesky artillery pieces which were introduced in Fire for Effect? From the air! Or, you can use some of those new mechs which are also in DfA. Light armor, high speed...intended to punch through quickly, knock out your enemies artillery and then be gone before your opponent knows what hit him! This product has been allocated at the distributor level, so we will unfortunatly only be receiving 75% of our order. That should be enough to get us through until the rest of our preorder arrives, but Fire for Effect flew out the door so...supplies may be limited!


YUGIOH!

Yes...that dreaded word. Just wanted to let everyone know that at the moment, we have all boosters for the game in stock as well as the Joey and Pegasus starter decks. Yep, we've got Blue Eyes White Dragon, Metal Raiders, Magic Ruler, Pharoah's Servent and Labrynth of Nightmare. We are expecting the newest set, Legacy of Darkness sometime in the near future. As is the case with Yugioh releases, it'll arrive when the manufacturer is darn good and ready to send it to us and not before! :-(


FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

So did everyone have a great Free Comic Book Day? We gave out a TON of comics, both the "official" FCBD comics as well as many from our own stock for variety. In addition, we gave away Incredible Hulk figures from the Marvel Heroclix game like mad. And, as some of you know, we had famed comic writer of such things as Astro City and Marvels, Kurt Busiek, pop his head in the door to say hello! I wonder what next year will bring?


COMICS ON THE MOVE

FCBD brought a lot of new faces into the store, and that's translated into a rather obvious spike in comic sales this past month. We've had titles selling out much faster then normal, but due to Diamond Comics Dist. three month order window it's difficult, at the very least, to adjust quickly. This seems like the perfect time then to remind everyone we DO run files for folks so that they can make sure they can get the titles and issues they want. What's a file? Simple! It's a list of comics a specific person wants. When each weeks new releases come in, we go through our file customers lists and pull those comics first. That means nobody can grab that last issue of Uncanny X-men or Spiderman before you make it in...it'll be in your file waiting for you. This is a free service we provide to our customers. All that we ask is that, again due to the three month order window, you give us ample time to adjust our ordering should you change your list of titles/issues on your file! It's that simple!


SO WHY'S IT BEEN SO LONG SINCE WE SENT THE LAST NEWSLETTER?

There's been a TON going on around Diversified Games as of late. Some of it you see evidence of, but a great deal you don't. The things you have been seeing are events such as our weekly Lord of the Rings TCG tournaments and WizKids events. We've also been increasingly active in the game industry, which is what you haven't been seeing. For awhile now, yours truly has been a Mentor in the GAMA Mentor Program for new retail stores. Basically, I help new retailers get their stores open and help them avoid the many mistakes and pitfalls that are associated with opening your first business. In cooperation with the GAMA Mentor Program, I recently started an online forum for industry professionals known as the GSRF. It includes manufacturers and distributors, as well as veteren retailers and most importantly, new and beginning retailers. It allows a multitude of individuals to give their opinions and assitance to those same new retailers, as well as talk with distributors and manufacturers regarding their products and services. Getting the GSRF has put a serious strain on my time as of late. Not to mention has been a monumental headache. But, the forum is up and running fairly smoothly now so the worst is over. Or is it? About the same time as I began the GSRF, the current head of the GAMA Mentor Program expressed an interest to me of handing over the program to myself. AND, at about the same time as that I received word from the GAMA Retail Division that I've been appointed to their Board of Directors. Who's GAMA? The Game Manufacturers Association. They're the ones who put on that industry trade show in Las Vegas I go to each March to find out what nifty new games you all have to look forward to for the rest of the year. ;-) They also put on Origins, the second largest consumer trade show in North America. So what else could've gone on you ask? Well, Rowen took a trip to Chicago to visit family and I've been trying to get the kinks worked out of that new POS of ours, plus we've just been trying to get the store in order for summer....never an easy task.


ORIGINS TRADE SHOW

Didn't I just mention that? Yep...I did. Well, I'm going to it. I hadn't planned on it, but things change, right? Due to my involvement in the GRD(Gama Retail Division) I'm rather obligated to show up and attend several board meeting which will be held there, plus assist the show behind the scenes. If you happen to be in Columbus, Ohio June 26th-29th...you might bump into me. I'll be one of those frazzled folks working the registration desk. ;-) We're hoping to minimize the impact it has on the store and it's hours, so don't despair! We'll be cancelling several events planned for that week, but other then that we anticipate things to proceed as usual. Oh...and...just to make you all jealous....I'll be visiting with Dave Cook of Zipwhaa again....AND....Kevin Simbieda, Mr. RIFTS RPG himself.... ;-)


SPEAKING OF RIFTS.....

May 8, 2003 - Palladium Books is pleased to announce it has entered into an option agreement with Walt Disney Pictures to have Jerry Bruckheimer Films develop a live action, major motion picture of the Rifts® role-playing game.

Jerry Bruckheimer Films has produced some of the biggest blockbusters in film history, including such hits as, Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Rock, Con Air, Armageddon, Blackhawk Down, and the hotly anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean. We expect exciting days ahead and look forward to working with Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney.

"Obviously you don't get any bigger or better than these two giants in the film industry," said Kevin Siembieda, President of Palladium Books Inc., "We're thrilled."

In addition to producing, Disney will be handling licensing for the film. Surge Comic Properties' President, Mark Freedman, of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles® marketing fame, is handling the licensing and merchandising based on the Rifts® role-playing game series.

Rifts® creator, Kevin Siembieda, will be present at the Palladium Booth throughout the 2003 Origins Game Convention, June 26-29, in Columbus Ohio, where he will be glad to talk about Palladium's future and taking Rifts® mainstream. This is likely to be the only convention Mr. Siembieda will be attending this year.


WIZKIDS DROPS IN....

Well, it was odd and I'll be the first to say it. I received a call one day about a week and a half ago from Ray at WizKids. Ray happens to be the head of sales at WizKids, and is a person I'm familiar with. I don't KNOW him mind you, but when you are one of the top 5 people in a company the size of WizKids, folks just tend to know who you are. ;-) So, he calls me....he just happens to be in the neighborhood and asks if I'd mind if he'd stop by. Like I'd say NO? Ha! Well...Ray was on his way to the WizKids' home offices near Seattle from Portland and drops in. He shows me LOTS of goodies. Pretty much complete sets of every major release for the rest of the year. Shadowrun...COOL. Mechwarrior....COOL. Crimson Skies...WAY COOL. Heroclix....COOL. Creepy Freaks....WEIRD...but cool. :-) That's all I'm going to say about what's coming up, as I can't say too much yet since the products aren't out. With one exception.....


CRIMSON SKIES

Initially, we almost didn't carry this game. When it was a FASA owned property it wasn't too interesting. Yeah...fighter plane combat in miniature form...nifty premise. Yucky game. WizKids putting it out? Buying boosters of it? Even more yuck. Well....it's NOT collectable...there are no random boosters involved. You buy what you want, and can see what it is in the package. Now I'm more interested....enough that we'll give it a shot at Diversified Games and stock it. Then Ray stops by...explains it better. Ok, now I'm REALLY interested. Think a crazy fighter combat movie from the old silent movie days. You know, the kind where the guy gives the planes controls over to his co-pilot, jumps out on the wing and pulls a pistol and starts shooting at his enemy. Or jumps from his plane to the other guys' and pulls him out of the cockpit and tosses him off, taking his plane. THAT is what Crimson Skies is like. The combat system is really slick too....you each have maneuver cards. You play them face down, indicating the direction your maneuver will take. Each player flips the card over and the maneuver is made according to the card. If you cross paths, you can try to take a shot. Careful though, if you cross paths in the same place you'll have a mid-air collision! This game is on it's way from our distributors' warehouse now and is expected to arrive with our Mechwarrior:DfA shipment this coming Wednesday. Supplies are very limited. But it looks WAY cool. And no, you don't see me this excited very often.....


RIFTS RPG BOOKS

Well, you RIFT players know that Palladium had a pretty hefty release schedule for the next couple of months. Not known for their ability to hit their release dates, we were all pretty apprehensive. While they were able to get Guide to the Three Galaxies, the first Chi-Town book and a reprint of Juicer Uprising done, they announced the other day that the rest of their current lineup has been delayed between one and three months. We'll all have to wait just a bit longer for the nifty stuff they'd announced I'm afraid. :-(


DAY OF DEFEAT VERSION 1.0

Wait a second....they were on version 3.2, weren't they? Well....they were! Some of you know they were purchased by Valve late last summer....the first consequences of that are now apparent. They've redone the game and packaged it for a retail release along the lines of Counterstrike. That release is version 1.0. We've got it installed and gave it a run Saturday evening. Some new levels, some old. All have been cleaned up and tweaked though! Pretty nicely too! Better explosions, sandbags that produce a plume of sand when you fire at them, the ability to drop your primary weapon and pick up another, new gun sites, no bleeding out it appears plus more! At the same time, we were able to conquer the sound problems we were having on our one workstation, Lisa. About the only negative thing I can say about it, is that because it's a bit more graphically intense, lag is a bigger issue. Especially online, or on the larger maps that have more ambient activity. It's a whole lot of fun though still, and an improvement I think over the previous versions. There's something new for you to occupy yourselves with this summer now!


HELP NAME THE GNOME!

We've got a new little fellow hanging around the store in the form of a garden gnome. Only one problem...he doesn't have a name! Well, we've been running a little contest in the store to help us name our gnome. We're down to the finals though, and can't decide! So what're we doing? Well, visit our online forum at http://forums.delphiforums.com/diversified1/start and find the poll we've created with the top picks for names. And vote for one! The person who suggested the name that wins will receive a prize Rowen brought back with her from Chicago. What is it? We're not telling...but...it's not something you can find here! :-)


WRAP UP....

Ok, that's it. I'm done, stick a fork in me.... :-)

Brian P. Guenther
Diversified Games
"Life would be more fun, if I could just re-roll ones...."

2nd Test Posted Monday, June 9, 2003 by pendragon

2nd Test of the scripts

Test Posted Monday, June 9, 2003 by pendragon

Trying to get the CGI problems with this corrected.