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Games Crowd GENCON Floor

Dungeons, dice, and that funny scent of anticipation mix it up at the country's premiere role-playing convention.

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Once a year, role-playing fanatics strap on their armor, grab their lucky dice, and head to Milwaukee, Wisc, for the annual GENCON convention. Here, fans of pen and paper role-playing congregate to swap stories, sell new products, and meet other enthusiasts.

This four-day convention is much like any other, with a vast showroom floor littered with dozens of different companies (both large and small) huddled into cramped booths, each trying to impress more potential customers than the next. Yet nearly one in 10 attendees is clad in some fantastic medieval or future getup (the other nine are wearing black T-shirts with some sort of fantasy logo on them) and a distinct and unmistakable scent of perspiration permeates the air, making GENCON a truly unique experience if nothing else.

Originally designed for pen and paper role-playing fans alone, the GENCON event is now hosting a growing number of PC game developers looking to generate interest in upcoming titles among part of their target audience.

While GENCON remains ignored by most game publishers, this year show goers felt the presence of the computer gaming industry more than ever before.

This year's participants include both the big and the small. On the big side, the super-developer Westwood Studios is giving one of the first playable peeks to general audiences of its upcoming Blade Runner, a title that was shown only behind closed doors at E3.

The game, which is an unbelievable mix of 3-D graphics and engrossing adventure play, looks to be coming along nicely and seems ready to make its November release date. In fact, one Westwood employee stated, "We're ahead of schedule." I wonder if they know that making your ship date is down right un-American.

Microprose is also showing off its wares, boasting perhaps the most impressive lineup. In addition to MechCommander, X-COM: Apocolypse, and a self running demo of Agents of Justice, Microprose is also showing Worms 2, a sequel by Team17 (the original title was published by Ocean of America).

Like the original title, Worms 2 pits players against each other in a fantastically entertaining turn-based combat match. Unlike the original, this version features nice graphics and well-crafted sound effects. GameSpot awards this title the unofficial game of the show.

Also at the booth were representatives from FASA Interactive, who were showing off not only their MechCommander title, but also talking about its new partnership with Microprose. Apparently Microprose now owns about 9 percent of the fledgling development house and has a deal that entitles the company to publish FASA Interactive's next two titles (MechCommander and MechWarrior 3) and act as a distribution partner for subsequent releases. Who knows what they can cook up together?

Standing within mocking distance of FASA Interactive and its new partners was Activision, ready to show that loss of a license isn't going to keep it from making great games. This go-around, the company was showing its upcoming real-time strategy title Dark Reign (which still looks like it could come out on top in the Christmas deluge of real-time titles), its "no-we-don't-mind-losing-the-FASA-license" title Heavy Gear, and some early looks at the next title in the Zork series, Zork Grand Inquisitor. Although it had a small presence in terms of numbers of titles, the giant scale model of a mech (whoops, make that generic giant robot) was making passers-by take notice.

Blizzard was showing off its new Starcraft - which doesn't look far enough along to make the original October deadline - but still looks great all the same. Conspicuously absent from the Blizzard booth was Lord of the Clans, the first title in the highly anticipated Warcraft Adventures series.

Although they wouldn't be nailed down, sources at Blizzard admit that Lord of the Clans will most likely miss its December ship date and are instead anticipating the game sometime in the first quarter of 1998.

Speaking of big companies, Microsoft managed to rear its corporate head at the show with the newest title to hit the Internet Gaming Zone, Asheron's Call. Self-described as "an epic online role-playing game," Asheron's Call bears a great deal of resemblance to the trouble-plagued Meridian 59 - the major difference being the choice of 3-D characters rather than 2-D. Open beta is scheduled for fall 1997, so mark your calendar and keep a wary eye out for this one.

S.S.I. was also on the floor with an eye more toward selling product than premiering it. Even so, we managed to get sneak peeks at the upcoming Dark Colony, Imperialism, Steel Panthers 3, Panzer General II, Dark Omen (a new Warhammer title), and Final Liberation (another WarHammer title).

The company seemed to be doing quite a brisk business selling its wargames, and one can only imagine how many titles it would sell here if the company would get back into RPG development.

The biggest showing of new titles was by Sierra, whose booth seemed positively packed with sequels and updates. In addition to its new Quest for Glory title Dragon Fire, the company was also letting the public ogle Betryal in Antara, Birthright (a big hit with the Dungeons and Dragons fans here), Half-Life (still the best first-person shooter we've seen yet), Outpost II, Earthsiege III, Lords of Magic, Civil War Generals, 3D Ultra Pinball: Lost Continent, and Cyberstorm II.

It looks like the company is taking no prisoners at Christmas this year, although it remains to be seen whether the public can to handle the release of another handful of real-time strategy games.

Blue Byte had a small presence at the show as well and flaunted its new 3-D helicopter action game Extreme Assault. It also offered fans a peak at the upcoming gorgeous-looking 3-D turn-based strategy game Incubation, which proved a welcome sigh of relief at June's E3 show amidst a sea of Command & Conquer killers.

Koei, makers of such historic strategy games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga's Ambition, displayed its new Sony PlayStation fighting game Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Koei also pawned off its full line of titles, including older Super Nintendo games.

Although it's not in the league of the big boys, ex-Macintosh messiah Bungie showed that it doesn't have anything personal against the PC. Hawking its new real-time strategy game Myth: The Fallen Lords, the company seemed more than ready to test its development skills against those of the other real-time wargame manufacturers. This title looks hot, but if you've been reading our previews section, you probably know that already.

Snack bars strategically positioned next to restrooms flanked either wall of the showroom, while a video arcade was open for business off in one corner. Here fans would cast aside their Magic cards and plant themselves behind speedy computer terminals for a little network action featuring games like Quake and Duke Nukem 3D. Five bucks bought a half hour of game time, while three more dollars bought a full sixty minutes of action. Several honest-to-goodness arcade games including Namco's Tekken 3 and Alpine Racer were available as well.

Many computer game publishers with big role-playing games in the works remained conspicuously absent. Such no-shows include Sirtech (Wizardry 8), New World Computing (Might & Magic 6), Interplay (Descent to Undermountain and Fallout), Origin Systems (Ultima Online and Ultima 9), and Bethesda Softworks (Redguard).

Indeed, computer-related products represented just a small fraction of the GENCON show, with the overwhelming majority of booths on the floor displaying and selling pen and paper role-playing gear, swords, dice, trading cards, miniatures, clothing, and other hobby-shop paraphernalia.

Although the computer gaming industry has yet to embrace GENCON as a significant trade show, those game publishers attending the event agree that it may prove to be the next big show: 80 percent of attendees own personal computers, and all are interested in games. And because GENCON is open to the public while E3 is not, GENCON offers game publishers a chance to take in customers' reactions to upcoming products.

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