We received the following: November 6, 2003 What happens when you combine the games you've always dreamed of with the art of wargaming? The best damn thing to happen to the strategy market since the CRT. You also get a joint marketing venture partnership between two of the industry's premiere companies: Eagle Games (http://www.eaglegames.net) of Illinois and Shrapnel Games (http://www.shrapnelgames.com) of North Carolina. Besides sounding like something you'd find in a Dilbert strip, what exactly is this joint marketing venture partnership? Essentially Eagle Games and Shrapnel Games are joining forces to sell, distribute, and market their products. Consumers will be able to purchase Eagle Games via Shrapnel Game's online store, The Gamer's Front. Both companies will also include their partner's product information in their games. Shrapnel Games will also handle distribution of Eagle Games to the retail sector via the newly formed arm of Shrapnel Games, Shrapnel Games Distributing. Shrapnel Games Distributing will service game and hobby shops worldwide, specifically the "mom and pop" stores rather than the large, megastores like Wal-Mart or CompUSA. The distribution arm of Shrapnel Games is currently concentrating their efforts on the distribution of Eagle and Shrapnel products, however, Shrapnel Games is very eager to add new partners with quality strategy and conflict products. Needless to say the founders of both companies are ecstatic at the opportunities presented by this historic occasion. Tim Brooks, president and founder of Shrapnel Games, had the following to say about the partnership: "I am very excited about the relationship we are forging with Eagle Games. I believe this to be in the best interests of both Shrapnel and Eagle Games, as we both are in the same markets and by co-marketing our games, we make sure that our customers are aware of Eagles great products and of course, the opposite is true. We are looking forward to working closely with Glenn Drover and the rest of the Eagle Games Team." Glenn Drover, founder and president of Eagle Games, remarked, "Eagle Games is extremely happy to be working with Shrapnel Games. Shrapnel's support for the PC strategy gamer is outstanding. The new partnership coincides perfectly with the launch of our first PC game (War! Age of Imperialism) and the launch of the boardgame version of Age of Mythology." About the Companies Shrapnel Games was founded in 1999 by Tim Brooks, a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a degree in Business Administration. Tim, who always had a passion for war and strategy gaming, had grown frustrated with the mainstream world of computer game publishing. Wargames were slowly becoming extinct thanks to the infatuation of publishers with glitzy but shallow titles. Rather than see his passion turned to memories Tim pulled himself up by his bootstraps and did something about it. Shrapnel Games is now recognized worldwide as one of the finest publishers of award- winning computer war and strategy titles on the market. Recently Shrapnel Games has ventured into the world of boardgaming with Mark H. Walker's Lock 'N Load: Forgotten Heroes Vietnam, and now Shrapnel Games is forging into the realm of distribution. Eagle Games, like Shrapnel, was also formed in 1999, by founder and president Glenn Drover. Like Tim, Glenn has always had a love for gaming, along with a fondness for history. He graduated from Marquette University with a degree in History and Political Science wanting nothing more than to design computer games for a living. However his entrée though into computer gaming turned out to be a sales position for MicroProse, not as a designer. Glenn then took advantage of his ten years as a regional sales director for industry leaders such as MicroProse, Maxis, and Activision, to learn the ins and outs of the business end of the gaming market. Armed with this knowledge and his desire to design, Glenn struck out on his own and created Eagle Games. Eagle Games, with their high production values and impressive content, quickly became a fan favorite around the world. In 2003 the Eagle Games tabletop port of Sid Meier's Civilization won an Origins award and boardgame of the year from The Wargamer.com, and recently Eagle Games has just released their first computer game, a PC conversion of War! Age of Imperialism. Back to 4th Quarter 2003 List of News Items Back to Master List of News Items Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com