DC Comics and West End Games Team Up for New Role-playing Game

New York NY: Fans of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Women will soon be able to experience the adventures of their favorite super-heroes and villains firsthand in the roleplaying game arena, thanks to an agreement between DC Comics, publisher of the world's favorite super-heroes, and West End Games, the most successful producer of licensed games in the role-playing game industry. The two companies have agreed to develop and publish an all-new program of role-playing games and manuals featuring the heroes and villains of the DC Comics Universe. The first of these games will be available in August 1998 at hobby stores, bookstores and comic book specialty stores everywhere.

"We at DC Comics are extremely happy that our characters will be brought to life in the role-playing world in such an innovative and dazzling manner," says Paul Levitz, DC Comics Executive Vice President and Publisher. "Fans have always identified with DC's characters and these games will bring them closer to our heroes than ever before, allowing them to step into the DC Universe for adventures of their own. "

"The DC Universe Role-playing Game will give comic book fans the chance to create new heroes, as well as to play the part of their favorite characters in order to combat evil and injustice in the DC Universe role-playing world. The games will feature characters and settings taken directly from the best-selling comic books, which provide the foundation and rules for the gaming adventures. DC Comics will work closely with West End to ensure.that the games seamlessly follow the current DC community. "

"Our goal is to create games that capture the fun and excitement of DC Comics without binding systems of other games. " says Daniel Scoff Palter, President of West End Games. "We'll utilize a system unlike any super-hero role-playing game, past or present, to emphasize the thrill of the adventure rather than the rule-heavy procedures of other games. The result will be fast-paced, exciting games limited only by the imagination of the players."

West End plans to launch its line of DC Comics games this fall with a series of books and modules. A full schedule of follow-up titles will follow in 1999 and beyond. "This is a long- term program," says Palter. "The DC Universe is incredibly rich and vibrant. It offers is infinite possibilities for gaming excitement and we plan to cover as much of it as we can. "

DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros., a Time Warner Entertainment company, has a 60- year history of innovative publishing and utilizing its characters to support the marketing of products. From its early alliance with Kellogg's on the classic Superman radio programs, which debuted in 1940, to the first on-line service launched by a major cornics publisher, DC Comics heroes have constantly captured the public's imaginations in a variety of media. In its 25-year history, West End Games has published more than 400 role-playing games and game-related products, including material based on the legendary Star Wars movie series, the hit film Men in Black, and the intemationally popular Hercules and Xena TV series.

Guild of Blades to represent Fat Messiah Games outside the US

"We are proud to announce that will be representing the sales of the entire Fat Messiah Games product lines to all distributors and wholesalers outside the United States." said Ryan Johnson, President of sales and products for Guild of Blades Publishing Group. "We hope that this joint representation will make it easier for our distributors world wide to order both Guild of Blades and Fat Messiah Games products. "

Fat Messiah Games publishes the popular Shapeshifter wizard combat game, Last Frontier and Insectoid.

Any distributors and wholesalers outside the United States looking to order or attain any further information on the Fat Messiah Games products should contact:

Guild of Blades Publishing Group
c/o Ryan Johnson
2002 E. Kalamazoo
Lansing, MI 48912, USA
Phone 1 (517) 371-4909

Archangel Entertainment to publish Dark Conspiracy Next Edition

Archangel Entertainment (an adventure game publisher) announced today that it had concluded an agreement to publish the next edition of DARK CONSP~ACY, the award winning near-future horror/sci-fi game system designed by Lester Smith. Originally released in 1992 by the now defunct Game Designers' Workshop, DARK CONSPIRACY has continued to attract players and devotees in print and on the web.

Ken Whitman, president of Archangel Entertainment, noted "When I first read through DARK CONSPIRACY, it gave me the creeps. I started pursuing the license the next day."

Archangel is joined in this project by Lester Smith, the award winning original designer of Dark Conspiracy; he commented "GDW knew my passion for horror games, so I didn't make much to talk me into designing one. I threw myself into DARK CONSPIRACY, heart and soul, and nurtured the line with fiendish love. I'm excited to see it coming back into print!"

DARK CONSPIRACY originally appeared in 12 products and modules. Archangel plans to revise the game system into a Dark Conspiracy Referee's Guide and a Dark Conspiracy Player's Handbook. Both of these should be available in May of 1998 followed by three follow- on modules by the end of the year.

Games Leader and Television Princess Unite

April 15, 1998 (Renton, WA) Gaming enthusiasts and Xena fans can enter the mythological domain of ancient gods and barbaric warlords in the action-packed Xena: Warrior Princess ™ trading card game, available in May from adventure games leader Wizards if the Coast Inc.

The Xena: Warrior Princess TCG brings to life the adventures of Xena, her sidekick Gabrielle and other popular characters from the top-rated television show, as the fmd themselves caught up in a duel for supremacy between good and evil. The Xena TCG contains 180 cards featuring scenes from the show, many enchanced by colorful quotations.

A quick-to-learn game strategy, the Xena TCG can be played in 10-15 minutes. Competitors face off in battle when one player prevails by emptying his or her opponent's deck of cards. According to Paul Randles, Xena associate brand manage, "In Xena, players challenge their rival with a powerful deck of mythological forces. The fun is in putting the characters into action to defeat your opponent and gain control of ancient lands. "

The Xena: Warrior Princess TCG is the second in the ARC System ™ of games, which premiered with the C*23 ™ TCG and will soon follow up with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ™ TCG. Developed by Wizards of the Coast ®, the ARC System is a new concept in trading card games. Based on popular settings and original worlds, are ARC System games are played with the same simple rules and are fully compatible with one another.

The Xena: Warrior Princess TCG is available in 40-card ready-to-play starter decks with a suggested retail price of $5.99, and 12-card themed booster packs offered at a suggested retail price of $2.49. The game will be available through hobby, game and comic-book stores.

Event Horizon Publications to Publish New Role-playing Magazine

Story from White Knight #6: Gaming Companies not showing for GenCon

Andon Unlimited and Wizards of the Coast believe the companies which are skipping GenCon '98 are overreacting to perceived problems.

Those responsible for the operating the 1998 GenCon Convention believe that several companies have overreacted by choosing to miss the convention. They state that the changes which have resulted in the absence of companies such as Palladium Books, Steve Jackson Games, R. Talsorian, Dream Pod 9, Outpost Games Tri Tac Systems, Phage Press and RPGNet are the results of business conditions, not a conspiracy to drive away competitors.

This is the first time that GenCon has been operated by Andon Unlimited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast. Gary E. Smith, Division Director of Andon Unlimited, said that the changes in pricing, are the result of an attempt to keep the convention from losing money.

"[WotC] inherited the show from a company that was going bankrupt and the show was losing money," Smith said. "The goal is to break even. The goal of any business is to stay in business. This is viewed by Peter [A&son of WotC] as what should be a self-funded marketing operation. We are not under a mandate to make lots of money-just not to lose lots of money." Both Andon Unlimited and WotC wish that the companies which have decided to stay away were going to be at GenCon '98.

"We regret they won't be there," Smith said. "We hope GenCon is a product everyone will want to attend. When you look at this compared to other things, the actual exposure you get is still well worth it."

"They will be sadly missed," Adkinson said. "It's too bad that they feel it's not a good investment for them. Hopefully they'll reconsider and join us in '99. " "Until the show actually starts, I think there is still a potential they will show," Smith said.

Smith attacked several of the complaints which have been directed against the way in which the show is being operated. One complaint is that the increase in pricing make it difficult for small, start-up companies to afford the cost of a booth. He pointed out that there is a smaller booth size than was available in previous years. Also, there is an "entrepreneurial discount" which is available to companies with only one major sourcebook. These two allow some companies to obtain a booth for $305, which is actually a 40% reduction from last year.

In addition, Andon is only requiring a 50% down payment for booths. TSR required payment in full at the time of registration. Smith also contended that complaints about the grandfather policy were baseless. The policy, which is unchanged from previous years, allows a discount if companies made a 50% down payment by the end of February. Andon also pre-solicited companies which purchased 10 or more booths last year. According to Smith, Palladium Books, which complained about the grandfather policy, had only eight booths last year.

"Anyone listing the grandfather policy as a complaint is unreasonable," Smith said. "It's the same as last year." Smith also explained why there is no zone pricing in 1998. In the old convention center, zone pricing was necessary because there were bad locations. There are no bad spots at the new location.

"In the new center, everything is uniform," Smith said. "We have taken a proactive step to put WotC and 5 Rings in the back. We've spread the islands around. Booths will be in front of TSR. There are no bad spots any more. Twenty booths in the front of the hall are still available today. There is no reason for zones."

Smith also pointed out the new features of the show which benefit the companies, and should make the convention run smoothly. Andon is providing access to a database if 100,000 active gamers, which will show companies which games people play. That database will allow companies to do direct mail, and eventually to track email addresses. They also offer a computerized registration process, which should cut down on lines.

"TSR did a fantastic job running events," Smith said. "They did it by keeping the trains running on time. We've done things on a lot more flexible basis. For example, we can add more GM's and tables on the fly." Andon and WotC hope that the changes which have been made to GenCon for 1998 will allow the convention to grow for the future.

"Gencon continues to grow in popularity each year," Adkinson said. "It is the premiere gaming event in North America for adventure gamers while broadening it's appeal to also include more coverage of electronic games."

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