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Games Update 1999 #31 1 April 1999
**** Special GAMA Convention Edition ****
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C O N T E N T S
1999 Game Manufacterers Association (GAMA) Convention Notes
7 Years and Still Gooooiinnngg !!
Info on the MELISSA Macro Virus (Don't Panic!)
Tax Time Special Deals Good thru 15 April
I N D U S T R Y N E W S
I attended the 1999 Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Convention in Las
Vegas last week. Doing so offered an eye-opening view of this strange,
little and highly dispersed gaming industry. I'm sure you'll be equally
intrigued by the dynamics of this meeting and the industry itself.
BACKGROUND. GAMA is an trade group organized about 15 years ago to further
the interests of the hobby gaming industry -- the manufacturers,
distributors and retailers of non-mass market games. It owns the Origins
convention, tho it leases it out to another organization that actually runs
it. GAMA currently has roughly 400 members, a fraction of those eligible.
Its membership, judging from attendance at this convention, is
overwhelmingly male, mid-life, and an older version of the gamer stereotype
seen at conventions. Altho this convention was held at a casino in Las
Vegas, it is evidently not the partying crowd.
WHO ATTENDED. The 4-ton gorilla of the industry, Wizards of the Coast, was
present in the form of two key managers and a sizable support staff. About
80 other manufacturers of varying sizes, varying from FASA's 3 product
managers, to a one-person company trying to sell his one board game (called
"Infection"; sound inviting?). Six distributors displayed booths including
the Big 4.
Wargame company's -- or "historicals" as they are called here -- were there
in respectable numbers. Decision Games, Avalanche Press, QED, Columbia
Games, Clash of Arms. Mayfair also attended.
All totaled, 741 people attended. Of these, 88 manufacturers, 39
distributors, and 158 retailers (including yours truly) were represented.
CONVENTION DYNAMICS. The driving force behind this annual convention is,
above all else, the need for manufacturers to gain the focused attention of
a critical mass of retailers. Because the industry is so decentralized, and
otherwise getting a retailer's attention so problematic, the manufacturers
as a group seemed to place a great deal of importance on this gathering. In
fact, the larger manufacturers footed the bill for much of the food (and
all of the beer) thruout the convention.
This year's convention was regarded as well-attended. And the retailers
were judged to be in a positive mood by manufacturers also in a rather
positive mood. This was in stark contrast to the 1998 convention held in
Miami where only a few dozen retailers showed, and the mood was dour.
Retailers, for their part, get a chance to hear about the larger companies'
plans for the next year. In the case of Wizards of the Coast (i.e. Magic &
Pokeman), this was clearly very important to this crowd. Too, retailers got
a chance to meet with distributors they haven't used before and to find out
about such unknown gems as the "Infection" game mentioned above.
For example, I spent considerable time at the Decision Games booth talking
with Callie Cummins. She had proofs of the counter sheets for most of the
next year's S&T issue games PLUS those for the upcoming War in Europe 2nd
edition (ready for the price? $250 list) and Totaler Krieg (Krieg 2nd)
(ready again? $80 list).
I also had my first opportunity to meet Ed Wimble of Clash of Arms,
allowing us to begin negotiations that may lead to Fine Games being able to
again offer the full range of CofA products. I also got an earful
concerning his version of the Clash of Arms libel suit against Jim Sandufer
of Boulder Games. (This case was ultimately dismissed a short time ago;
you'll have to find the bloody details elsewhere.)
POLITICS. Since this was my fist visit, I came with naive but open eyes.
And when the retailers gathered for their divisional meeting, the politics
of the situation became pretty plain. And having devoted years to this
peculiar little industry, its also pretty fascinating.
In a nutshell, here's the scoop. Remember the three categories of members:
manufacturers, wholesalers and retails.
Manufacturers are all to keen on ignoring anything that diverts retailers'
attention from simply seeing the manufacturers' goods. Word to the retail
division's officers was that the main showroom was THE reason for the show.
Thus there was no dedicated demo room, and demos took place *only* after
hours.
The distributors as a group, including the many who did NOT attend, are
said to be between a rock and a hard place. They are terrified of each
other and so don't cooperate. They are even more terrified of the prospect
that Wizards of the Coast will someday bypass them by selling directly to
retailers (or opening their own retail stores as they've done in Seattle).
This was THE nightmare of distributors, as many are in weakened financial
condition. But it also terrifies most of the manufacturers, and all of the
smaller ones, as without access to a nationwide distribution system, these
companies will themselves lose access to the retail market. Thus, Wizards
of the Coast, in the worst case, could bring about the total collapse of
the hobby industry in a very short time were it to withdraw from
distributors.
ISSUES AT THE CONVENTION. One recurring theme at this GAMA convention was
customer service at the distributor level. Retails complained about poor
"fill" rates from distributors. Manufacturers complained that (1)
distributors have all but abandoned "back stock" in favor of very recent or
new product, and (2) that distributors propagate misinformation about
product status.
This came to head during a moderated panel discussion at breakfast on the
last day of the convention. A bigwig at Alliance had to respond to these
complaints rather eloquently voiced by Steve Jackson (in person) and the
senior representative from Wizards of the coast. Since Alliance is perhaps
the worst in all respects in this area, this was *fun* to watch. And they
seem to have gotten the hint judging from a talk I had with their western
warehouse manager later that day.
Another interesting discussion occurred on the first night of the
convention. The senior man from Wizards described how they set production
targets this way (in answer to ongoing shortages of Pokeman):
We get marketing, brand management, finance, operations, and
production in a room and forecast demand [based on our market
research] for two years out. We then set production so that the
secondary market's prices match list until the product goes out of
production....
Immediately afterward, Steve Jackson jumped to his feet with his odd laugh.
He posed this contrasting methodology most manufacturers use in this
industry:
I ask my finance & operations guys to come into my office
and ask them, "Is there any reason not to print 5,000 copies of this
sucker [new game]? Most often, we just print 5,000 copies.
And that, in its simplest form, is this industry at its two extremes.
PROBLEM SOLVING. What was clearly lacking in GAMA (at least within the
retail division I was privy to) were procedural and problem solving skills.
Since this is an entirely volunteer organization which meets twice a year,
its members don't have the opportunity to interact on an ongoing basis or
to work cooperatively towards a goal requiring group effort.
Thus, we saw an odd roll call that took a precious 40 minutes but served no
real purpose. And we saw more than a little whining that *could* have been
transformed into problem identification and goal setting for a problem
solving group. But it just remained as whining.
All agreed, for instance, that getting accurate information from
manufacturers (thru distributors) was important but too often did not
happen. Since all 3 tiers ultimately have the similar goals, their is
plenty of opportunity for real, positive change. Instead, retailers whined
about misinformation for a few days then went back to business as usual. So
the same complaints will be heard next year.
7 Y E A R S A N D S T I L L G O I N G S T R O N G !
Today -- this is no joke -- Fine Games celebrates its seventh anniversary.
Its been a long strange trip. And to think this all came about from my
first speculation when I bought 18 copies of Arabian Nightmare #139 at full
list price. No joke.
I N F O O N M E L I S S A M A C R O V I R U S
This update newsletter was delayed by the untimely advent of the Melissa
virus, a rogue MS Word that seems to have infiltrated many corporate
emailers. (Its shut down the City of Portland's email system for 2 days.)
Here's some information on the virus to help to fend off trouble. First, if
you don't use Microsoft products, specifically Word 97+ *AND* Outlook 97+,
you're safe (but you knew that...). Second, if you receive an email with an
attachment (generally LIST.DOC) and a subject line of "Important Message
From (a name you likely know)", do *NOT* open the attachment. Third, you
can disable automatic Word macro execution. Under the TOOLS menu, select
OPTIONS then GENERAL, and check MACRO VIRUS PROTECTION. Finally, if you use
anti-virus software -- you do use such protection, don't you, update your
virus definition files ASAP. This one slipped thru most products' screen.
Oh, I luv the internet.
F I N E G A M E S N E W S
The Tax Man Cometh, my money goeth. Such is April of every year. So why not
use this excuse to offer the following special deals??
The following specials are valid thru 9pm, 15 April. Orders must be PLACED
by that time, and *must* be paid & shipped no later than Friday, 23 April.
MUST!
All games are NEW except for a handful marked MINT. None have notable
flaws. See our online catalogs for descriptions of what each game covers.
Quantities available vary by title but are always limited and are sold
'first come, first served.'
Avalon Hill (RIP)
ASL Annual '96 $15
ASL Annual '97 $17.50
ASL Action Pack w/o boards $10
WITH boards $20
ASL/SL Boards #7,12,13,14,15,42,43 $5ea
Beyond Valor $36
Croix de Guerre $30
Hollow Legions $22
Kampf Gruppe Panzer II $34
Last Hurrah $15
Pegasus Bridge $28
ASL Solo $25
Atlantic Storm $18
Britannia $21
Geronimo $34
Longest Day $100
Panzerblitz Guide $6
Siege of Jerusalem, 2nd $30
Successors $44
Titan, Arena $14
Turning Point Stalingrad $24.50
We the People $30
Wood Ships, Iron Men 2nd $22
Victory Games
2nd Fleet $25
6th Fleet $28
Tokyo Express $28
Chatham Hill Games
Gettysburg, the Battlefield $12
Centenial 1876 Baseball $14
Clash of Arms
Africa 1880 $39
Chancellorsville (mint) $20
Marching thru Georgia (mint) $17
Component Game Systems
Babylon 5 Wars: 2259 $22
Crown Tactics
High Ground $16
Euro Games
Europa 1945--2030 $27
Formulae De Bungle of the game
AND all 9 expansions AND
1 pewter car set $180
Games Design Workshop (GDW)
Stand & Die $19
La Bataille Moskowa 3rd $40 mint, $45 new
GMT Games
Caesar mint $15
JMG
Personality Game $10
Mayfair
die Hanse $40
Milton Bradley
Small Soldiers $15
Moments in History
Lodz 1914 bookcase boxed $35
OSG
La Guerra de l'Emperor $29
Napoleon at Bay 3rd $32
Speerit Games
Gettysburg 3 Days in July $15
Strange Magic Games
Material World Revised $22
Task Force Games
Grand Army of the Republic $14
World Wide Wargames (WWW)
Rommel at Bay $19
Raid on Richmond $12
Campaigns of the Civil War $10
Xeno
Longstreet Assault $18
SPI
War in the Pacific DC $7.50
cherry mint
OK that last one WAS a joke. It *IS* April Fools. All others are for real.
N E W G A M E R E L E A S E S
As this is a special edition, the normal, lengthy listings of new & pending
releases will not be presented. These will resume with the next, regular
issue of this newsletter.
Note that Settlers of Catan is back in print; this printing is identical to
the previous (4th) edition. It is $24.50.
View the most recent listing of New Game Releases at
.
View the most recent listing of Pending Game Releases (those due within a
few months) at .
Michael Dean
Fine Games for Players & Collectors