GenCon 2012: What I’m Looking Forward To

I wish I could say I was looking forward to going. Alas, it’s not in the cards for me this year. (Maybe I rolled a critical miss!) Truth is, I’ve never been to GenCon, the nation’s biggest non-video gaming convention held each year in Indianapolis, Indiana. But, each year there are certain things I look forward to about GenCon, even though I won’t be there. The convention starts tomorrow and continues through the weekend. Here are some things I’m looking forward to about it.

One neat thing about GenCon, is that a lot of the serious gaming bloggers do go there and then blog about what goes on. So during, and immediately after, GenCon, a lot of gaming news filters through the internet to me. Since there are many, many vendors selling and demonstrating new games at this convention, people often blog about games they’ve never even heard of before, but got a chance to play at the con. Most of these I’ve never heard of either. Each year, GenCon blogging usually makes me aware of one or two interesting games I hadn’t seen before.

GenCon is also an event where the big game companies hold product seminars to discuss what new games are on the horizon. This year I’m most interested in hearing any news from Fantasy Flight Games in relation to their Lord of the Rings card game, their new line of Star Wars products, and any new games they might be adding to the Android universe. I’ll be interested to hear any news on what AEG has in store for the Legend of the Five Rings RPG, and I’m also curious for any news on the forthcoming 5th edition of D&D from Wizards of the Coast. Z-Man Games is another favorite publisher that might have some cool stuff coming out.

Another exciting thing about GenCon, is that most game companies try to have a few major new releases ready for the convention. This year, I’m looking forward to the release of Android: Netrunner and Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game. I’m not certain if I’ll buy either of these games (Who am I kidding? I’ll probably buy both!), but it will be nice to hear other gamers’ impressions of these games once they’re on the market.

So, that’s pretty much what I’m looking forward to about GenCon 2012. I’ll be posting a follow-up article in the coming weeks to share what I enjoyed about GenCon 2012 through the media, and maybe one of these years I’ll actually be there myself.