Protospiel North News 2012

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Sunday Round Table @ 2:00pm

Sunday's round table discussion centering on Kickstarter now has a time. It will run from 2:00pm until 3:00pm in the Cabinet Room. Marquis Coté is leading the discussion along with Jey Legarie. If you have any questions about Kickstarter or self-publishing, please join us.

Time Change for Saturday's Round Table Discussion

Saturday's Round Table Discussion on the hobby game industry has a new time. It is now scheduled to run from 2:00pm until 3:00pm. It still takes place in the Cabinet Room. Sorry for the late change and notification.
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Are You Ready?

It all starts with a big bang this Friday night! You've dusted off your old prototypes, spruced up your new favorites, and have a bunch of great ideas that need some exposure - great! Bring it all - it's better to have too many choices than not enough.

This year, we are in the Pavilion A room for the entire weekend, not just Friday night like last year.
**Thanks, Mikael!**

Please come see me when you arrive for your official Protospiel North registration.

There will be a brief orientation at 7:00pm Friday night for first-timers and a quick last-minute news update.

And then, let the games begin!

If You Are New To This...

I know a bunch of you are new to this experience, so please be sure to read the Protospiel North FAQ. Additionally:

  • Bring as many game designs as you can. You won't get them all to the table, but you never know when inspiration is gonna bash you over the head.

  • Bring whatever you need to tweak your game: paper, board, pens, tools, spare pieces, etc. You'll be able to fix things or add something on the fly or between play-tests. Also good for making changes before you forget them.

    • Above all, if you need something - just ask! That's what I'm here for.

    Scheduled Events


    Saturday 11:00am - 2:00pm : Games for Kevin & Doc
    I will be individually emailing specific times to those who signed up for this. Each time slot will be for 20 minutes.

    Saturday 5:00pm - 6:00pm : Round Table Discussion
    This will take place in the Cabinet Room and is open to anyone who is interested. Leading the discussion this year: Ross Fleming, Josh Cappel, Sen-Foong Lim, Kevin Nesbitt & Richard "Doc" Diosi. Just like last year, we will talk about various aspects of the hobby game industry. The discussion is mainly precipitated by your questions, so bring some good ones!

    Sunday 12:00pm - 1:00pm : Round Table Discussion
    This will take place in the Cabinet Room and is open to anyone who is interested. This discussion will focus on Kickstarter and everything related to it. Leading the discussion: Marquis Coté. Anyone who has thought about getting crowd funding should attend, as Marquis has been involved in a number of successful Kickstarter campaigns.

    ***Food Drive Announcement***

    Again this year, there is a food drive taking place in the HammerCon Registration area. Any non-perishable items you can bring for the Hamilton Food Bank donation box would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

    ...and bring some prototype/game pieces to trade!


    See y'all on Friday!
    Cheers!
    F>

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    The "Hit Me" Update (Only 21 Days to Go!)

    P-North Registration:

    To those of you who registered recently, thank you! I know more of you are waiting to sort out your schedules, no problem. But we are well on our way to surpassing last year's turnout. Nice!

    Publisher News:

    I am happy to make some "official" announcements about publishers who will be attending P-North this year. I would like to thank them all in advance for coming out. They are here to see what you have to offer, so don't be shy about making contact with them during the event! Good rapport between designers and publishers will help grow P-North every year.

  • Marquis Coté from UniForge Games (Ottawa) will be making the rounds, looking at prototypes and talking with designers. Here is a link to the company's site:
    http://uniforge.com/games/ if you want to see what they have been up to lately. They will also be running the Games For All vendor booth as part of HammerCon.

  • Kevin Nesbitt, co-founder of Valley Games and Stronghold Games, and Rich "Doc" Diosi will be attending on Saturday only to discuss their new Canadian publishing company and to view prototypes. Since Kevin and Doc are limited for time, I am scheduling "show and tell" sessions - see details in the "Games for Kevin" section below. Kevin & Doc will also be making the rounds, but signing up will guarantee you get time with them.

  • Ben Castanie of Snakes & Lattes Cafe (Toronto) is looking to publish games as part of his constantly expanding game business juggernaut. Ben is a huge "patron of the arts" and has been very supportive of local designers, including monthly designer nights at the cafe. http://www.snakesandlattes.com/

  • And last but not least, Ross Fleming, who runs Lion Rampant Imports and Tartan Grizzly Publishing (Hamilton), will be be back from Essen. I highly recommend getting Ross to evaluate your game: he's been in the business for at least 20 years now. http://www.lionrampantimports.com/ & http://www.tartangrizzlyproductions.com/

    • Publishers who are with us in spirit:

    These guys couldn't be with us due to scheduling conflicts, but you should know that their doors are always open to game submissions. They are also awesome to deal with!

    • Stefan Brunell of Asmodée (Montreal): Stefan tells me he is more than willing to look at rules for new games and help new designers prepare suitable submissions to Asmodee. Here's his contact email: s.brunell@asmodee.com - and mention Protospiel North. Asmodée is looking for more family and light strategy games of exceptional quality. http://www.asmodee.com/

    • Christian LeMay of Le Scorpion Masqué (Montreal) is looking for games that are easy to explain but with a good dose of originality. You can contact him at info@scorpionmasque.com. Please mention P-North. Here is his link to a submission form (in French): formulaire and their website: http://www.scorpionmasque.com/en/home-page

    Games for Kevin:

    First of all, as with most publishers, Kevin Nesbitt is looking for the best games out there. Since this could be just about anything, I asked him to narrow it down a wee bit. Here's what he had to say:

    "I can tell you that we will never turn down an excellent game, ever. An exception to that rule would be a game that is offensive or if morality would prevent us from producing it. To be more specific though, I can say that children's games or RPGs are something I would suspect would have to be extra special for us to produce it. Those are particularly tough markets. Other than that, it's pretty much wide open, and that includes wargames (as Doc and I are both avid wargamers). A note about wargames though: I doubt we'll ever print a traditional "hex-and-counter" style wargame; we'd prefer something with more modern mechanics such as area movement or something more clever than a CRT for resolving combat."

    If you have a game ready for publishing that Kevin really needs to see, tell me and I will add you to the "show & tell" schedule. Plan that these meetings will take place Saturday morning and I will let you know the exact times a few days before the event. Thanks for your cooperation!

    RoundTable Discussions:

    So far, two are in the works, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Exact times haven't been determined yet. But probably around lunch time. Personally, I don't mind if we grab some food and bring it to the meetup. I know it's tough to break away from play-testing so lunch time seems like a good compromise!

    • Saturday Roundtable: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Hobby Game Industry but Were Afraid to Ask
      Talk leaders: Ross Fleming, Josh Cappel, Sen-Foong Lim, Kevin Nesbitt

    • Sunday Roundtable: Kickstarter Me Up
      Talk leader: Marquis Cote
      If anyone else has Kickstarter experience, please let me know if you want to be a discussion leader for this one, thanks!

    Passport Contest:

    Snakes & Lattes will be providing some awesome game prizes for the winners of the Passport contest. Expect more details on what this contest is all about closer to the actual event.

    Piece Trading (in the Mediterranean):

    I'd like to do some piece trading. I have collected a lot of game pieces over the years, not all of them suitable for my own prototyping needs. I figure I'm not the only designer with a bunch of cool bits, so let's trade! Anyone who has something they want to trade, bring it with you and let's see if we can't make a deal.

    HammerCon Newsletter:

    Sign up for the HammerCon newsletter if you haven't already (http://www.hammercon.ca/) to get updates about everything else that is happening outside of P-North.

    Lest We Forget:

    With so much going on, let's not forget that Protospiel North is about designers playing each others' games and providing constructive feedback! If you need help developing a game, or you can't get a part of your game working the way you'd like, we've all been there and we can help! So, bring those awesome prototypes and WIPs and share the fun!!!

    More to Come!

    So, that's everything for now! There are a few things that will be resolved and updated in the week before the event, so expect at least one more update. As always, if anyone has questions, suggestions, issues with anything and everything, please let me know!

    Cheers!
    F>