Daily Illuminator Archive for June 2011

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June 1, 2011:
Sometimes we come up with crazy ideas. Munchkin Rigged Demo was a bit on the loopy side. Cthulhu Dice was a "Really, Steve? A twelve-sider?" moment for many of us . . . read article

June 2, 2011:
Remember our Munchkin Webcomic Contest? We're happy to report we have nearly three dozen wonderfully Munchkin entries . . . read article

June 3, 2011:
Each year since 1954, science fiction fandom has been awarding the Hugo to the best and brightest in speculative fiction. This year, the nominees are the usual gathering of fantastic words and pictures, but a couple of names stand out on the list . . . read article

June 4, 2011:
A traditional unboxing video requires . . . well, a box. But that didn't stop us from making one for the Cthulhu Dice Bag . . . read article

June 5, 2011:
So said Dave Barry, but could that be a good thing? Ask the folks at Squid A Day . . . read article

June 6, 2011:
Huzzah! I've spent large sums of our advertising budget to fund a brilliant idea: the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Renaissance Faire! . . . read article

June 7, 2011:
When we turned the Illuminati BBS into an Internet service provider, back in the ancient days of the net, we called it Illuminati Online, and the domain name was io.com. Yes, back then you could get a two-letter domain name just by asking for it . . . read article

June 8, 2011:
Technically, the Robert E. Howard celebration, Howard Days, takes place on Friday and Saturday, but my plan is to attend on Friday and then drive home Saturday morning . . . read article

June 9, 2011:
In the US, comic creators have the Eisner Awards. In the UK, they have the Eagles . . . read article

June 10, 2011:
Actually, there will be three "First Place" awards in our Munchkin Webcomic Contest -- Best Published Before the Contest, Best Published During the Contest, and Best by Popular Vote. The first two are being voted on by our trusty volunteer squads, the Men In Black . . . read article

June 11, 2011:
Sure, it's late spring . . . technically "early summer" . . . but we'll take it! Once again, the office will be closed the last week of June (the 27th through July 1st) . . . read article

June 12, 2011:
After six years of extraordinary research on Mars and a year of trying to re-establish contact, NASA has ended efforts to awaken the rover Spirit. We congratulate everyone involved in Spirit's success . . . read article

June 13, 2011:
The following is a transcript, dated last Thursday, from Frank Fasttalk -- the stereotypical 1960s executive who sometimes locks himself in one of our offices and starts barking orders -- with his accounting on the creation of GURPS Traveller Classic: Humaniti. "All right. GURPS Traveller. Why haven't we released anything on that yet? . . . read article

June 14, 2011:
Celebrate Munchkin's 10th birthday in style . . . with the new Munchkin 10th Anniversary Shot Glass! Available exclusively from Warehouse 23, this shot glass is black with gold printing and will look sharp on any munchkin's table . . . read article

June 15, 2011:
A new color for our favorite twelve-sided die, a new holiday booster, and a dice bag for Munchkin . . . maybe we can get our Christmas shopping done early this year! Cthulhu Dice Serving Cthulhu is fun . . . except for all those other cultists out to get you. So get them first! Cthulhu Dice lets you drive your rivals mad . . . very, very quickly . . . read article

June 16, 2011:
I'll be completely honest with you guys: I want to design and release a lot of dice. An insane number of dice . . . read article

June 17, 2011:
Within the next few days, we expect to send Munchkin Axe Cop to press. But, since this is US we're talking about, we're still making the occasional serious change when we see room for improvement . . . read article

June 18, 2011:
The committee of the Diana Jones Award has announced the shortlist for its 2011 award. Boiled down from a longlist of 22 nominees, this year the list contains five candidates that in the opinion of the committee exemplify the very best that hobby gaming has produced in the last twelve months . . . read article

June 19, 2011:
We've talked before about how important it is that we keep Munchkin available at all times, but it feels like no matter what we do, we keep selling through a print run before the next printing arrives. I know, it's a terrible problem to have, and one I'm sure any company would love to take on for us, but it really does cause issues when Ross has to tell distributors, "Sorry, no more Munchkin for three weeks." But we may have finally beaten that problem . . . read article

June 20, 2011:
Lab-coat-wearing scientists have independently confirmed that Transhuman Space is one of the most awesome science-fiction worlds ever. However, until now, it has been deficient in what researchers call the "M Factor" -- in laymen's terms, "extensive cool details on creating and running SF mystery adventures." Fortunately, this oversight has been corrected with the release of Transhuman Mysteries . . . read article

June 21, 2011:
Is it time for Origins already? I swear we just finished with the holidays a minute ago, and now we're kicking off the summer convention season . . . read article

June 22, 2011:
I know, I know: we talked about Origins just yesterday. But a couple of new bits of information came in that I thought you'd like to know . . . read article

June 23, 2011:
Since 2008, my old friend Rick Loomis at Flying Buffalo, Inc. has been releasing a game-themed poker deck every year at Origins. He puts hobby personalities on the Kings . . . and this year I'm the King of Clubs! . . . read article

June 24, 2011:
And now, the moment that some of you have been waiting for . . . the winners of our Munchkin Webcomic Contest! We enjoyed doing this . . . read article

June 25, 2011:
These items are in the hands of the distributors, and will shortly be appearing on the shelves of your friendly local game store. Munchkin Cthulhu Crypts of Concealment The eldritch secrets of Munchkin Cthulhu deserve a special hiding place! The Munchkin Cthulhu Crypts of Concealment are sturdy cardboard, sized to hold 500 Munchkin cards apiece! . . . read article

June 26, 2011:
The headline says it all. The Origins Awards for 2010 were announced last night, and Zombie Dice and the Cthulhu Dice Bag both won in their categories . . . read article

June 27, 2011:
With the recent PDF release of the new GURPS Horror (not to mention other monster-hunting goodness), we've been in a fearful frame of mind lately. Thinking about all the terrors that lurk outside our front door has made us nostalgic for earlier eras . . . simpler times when there were also terrifying things waiting to get us . . . read article

June 28, 2011:
Since it's time for vacation, that means that it's time for me to knock some books off of my "read this" list. I try to read as often as I can, but it's during vacation that I get a chance to actually work through a stack and really tear through a list of "should have read by now" books. Zombie Pulp, by Tim Curran . . . read article

June 29, 2011:
By the time you read this the office will be closed for its summer break -- which means those of us over at e23 are catching our breaths and recharging before rushing headlong into the rest of the year. That makes this a good time to see what we've been doing for the first six months of 2011 . . . read article

June 30, 2011:
These aren't up for sale yet, but we wanted to give you a heads-up so you could save your pennies: Munchkin Zombies Water Bottle! For those of us who like to get out and exercise . . . and for the rest of us, who are gamers . . . It's a metal water bottle with the Munchkin Zombies cover art, painted in a beautiful color we're calling Gan-Green, with a carabiner to clip it to your belt, backpack, bandolier, or whatever else you have handy . . . read article

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