Happy New Year
Dane of War would like to wish all my readers a very prosperous New Year.
Celebrations at this time have been largely tainted by the global financial crisis and my thoughts go out to all those affected by the disaster. Here’s hoping that we can all somehow pull our way out of this.
Gaming has been interesting as always, and in many ways more-so this past year. 2008 saw the continued success of TCGs like Yu-Gi-Oh!, which love-it-or-hate-it, have generated a budding interest in gaming for thousands of young people. It’s my hope that they will mature into traditional roleplaying and wargaming games to keep the genres alive.
Companies like Warlord Games have proven themselves to be the most successful of the year, while the older, more traditional companies like Wizards of The Coast, Games Workshop, and even Rackham have had continuing problems both in sales and public trust thanks to rising prices, less-than-popular new editions of their systems, and lack of support for their old ones.
Small, indie publishers like Two Hour Wargames and Louis Porter, Jr. Design continue to release some of the best and least expensive product out there for wargaming and roleplaying, drawing more and more fans who are looking for quality product at low cost.
What do I see for the coming year? More of the same. It’s even entirely possible that some of the bigger companies may cease to exist.
As far as this site goes, many of you have noticed that I have started giving advertising space here. That’s one of the most obvious changes to the site. Rest assured, however, that this will no way interfere with the integrity of the site itself.
There’s going to be some other slight aesthetic changes as well, although the basic design and color scheme will remain the same.
I’d also like to take the time to make a small announcement about something you can look forward to in 2009, Dane of War Publishing.
Dane of War Publishing is the game publishing arm of Dane of War. It’s an area that I’ve had my eye on for a while. By launching this new division, I really want to announce to this community that this is an area of interest that I’m serious about, and I want to look at all opportunities.
I’m no stranger to self-publishing, having had a good deal of success with it in the 90s. With the continued advances in the world of PDF-based gaming, I think that the time is right to launch my own business.
Stay tuned to Dane of War, bringing you all the news from the world of roleplaying, wargaming, boardgaming, and random geek culture.
2009 promises to be an exciting year!
