July 22, 2011: Not Enough Hours Between 9 and 9

When you read this I will have (hopefully) survived the first full day of San Diego Comic Con. I had a great time, saw friendly people, bought too many toys, and blah, blah, blah. You know -- a day at San Diego Comic Con.

As I write this, though, it's the morning after "Preview Night," that intense night when everyone is rushing from booth to booth in a mad dash to get the newest exclusives. "There is no running in San Diego Comic Con," the annoying voice on the PA proclaims as an army runs by. Yeah, no running. Sure.

But after about an hour of "no running" announcements I started to notice something that was a bit distressing: I hadn't shut my mouth since the hall opened. Without even realizing it I had been answering questions and showing off Zombie Dice and Cthulhu Dice. And pointing at Munchkin Conan the Barbarian when asked "what's new?" Yes, SDCC was real and it was already stepping on my throat.

But an excellent opening night and a surprise to find out that so many people who stopped at the booth hadn't tried the dice games.

I feel better prepared for today after last night's "you're at a con!" message sank into my head. So I'm off for the first full day. Wish me luck (just use a time machine to go back to yesterday when I wrote this) and keep an eye on the @sjgames Twitter account (and my own personal Twitter account) for more immediate updates from the show.

-- Phil Reed

Borders Closing

As you've probably read already, Borders Books has lost its fight for survival. The remaining stores will start their liquidation sales soon -- I'm told that some will begin as early as today (Friday).

We're very unhappy about this. Borders was a good customer, and when Borders closes its doors, some 11,000 people -- many of whom are book- and game-loving geeks, just like us -- will lose their jobs. There is no bright side here for SJ Games or for the hobby.

There's a tiny bright side for you, the gamer. A lot of good games will be on sale cheap. Somebody's going to buy them, and it might as well be you.

-- Steve Jackson