All Things Fun!
2010 GAMA Trade Show (GTS) Blog
Follow Ed & Dina's Adventures in Las Vegas as they learn about all the new game releases for 2010!
Page 3
Day Four
Day 4
It started at 1am for us. Ed went to go play some demo games and Dina decided to give the casino a few more dollars. Much to Dina's surprise she ended up winning and evening out her losses.
A little extra sleep was the first order of the day since there were no morning meetings. We headed out for a new dining experience (at least for Dina). Dim Sum anyone? What an experience. The restaurant was called Chang’s and it was a blast. Several Chinese women would come around with carts full of unrecognizable food stuffs in small metal tins. They would then spit out the name of the item asking if you wanted any. Since we couldn’t understand a word of what they said, we took turns saying yes. (Didn't want to be rude!) Some 15 mini-dishes later we had to call a stop to the madness. Even now I'm not sure how long this portable buffet could have gone on. There seemed to be an endless supply of new items coming from the kitchen. There was just no way to humanly try them all. We had a great time, but then we needed to head back to Bally’s for more work.
We got back to the show floor for one last pass looking for any gems we might have missed the day before and taking the time to check out a few things that were recommended to us. The first great item we found was Gaming Paper. This is great for any RPG player just roll the paper over the table, draw your adventure and toss it out when you are done!
Just before we left the show floor Ed played a demo of Ascension. This new game is a whole new spin on the deck building genre (like Dominion and Thunderstone.) It was the biggest hit of the show. Everyone agrees this will be a HUGE hit when it ships later this year!
Then we jumped in the car and did quick tour of Las Vegas comic and game stores.
Our first stop: Maximum Comics! I had met Jay last year at the 2009 Retailer Summit in Baltimore, MD. So it seemed just natural to stop and visit when I was in his hometown! Jay was such a gracious host. He jumped over the counter as soon as we arrived and gave us the grand tour of his wonderful shop. Anyone that shops with us knows that I’m a nut for retail and Jay does his retail right. If you find yourself in Las Vegas you owe it to yourself to stop in and say hi to Jay. (And tell him Ed sent you.)
Our second stop was the Little Shop of Magic. A nice big store that’s almost completely in-store gaming. I met the owner, John a few years ago and it was great to see him still going strong in Sin City.
We then went out to visit Las Vegas’s newest comic & game store, Avatar Comics & Games. This shop was primarily a wargaming miniatures store with a great selection of Games Workshop items. We wish them luck with the new store.
We then hit a store I’ve visited several times over the last ten years, Comic Oasis. The owner Derrick has done some great merchandising with all kinds of video monitors all over the store promoting various products. It’s great to see this store evolve over the years. Another great store!
I had met Ralph the owner of Alternate Reality at a dinner last year in Baltimore and it was great to finally visit his store. He was away on business but the store is such an extension of himself it was like he was there! He specializes in stocking a great selection of independent titles. He has great unique signage and has done an excellent job with branding his store.
As we were heading back to the hotel We drove by this little strip mall and we saw a sign that said “COMICS” so we stopped in to check it out! It was such a great visit. We walk in and in the background we hear Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire playing in the store. (I already like this guy.) Cosmic Comics is a classic comic shop done right. No action figures or toys. Just comics and graphic novels organized and piled high. This guy was great!
At this point it was getting late so we had some dinner. (I’m sure Dina will blog about that adventure later.) And Ed headed back to the hotel to print boarding passes and answer e-mails. As 2am Dina is still off on an adventure.
Heading home with a ton of great ideas tomorrow…
Day 3: Casino 3, Dina 1
