I've had a number of inquiries about how long I intend to do the Demise and Rise series of podcasts (I think for both "okay, we get it - do something else" and "I like it" reasons).

I got into this not really knowing how many owners/former owners I would be interviewing. My thought is that as long as they are saying different things (reasonably so) and I can vary questions a bit from person to person, it should remain interesting. At one point, I had a huge list of retailers to seek out, with both of the retailers I've lamented losing on my docket (both of the former owners seem to not be interested in talking and I understand completely).

However, I think things are running their course and I'm pulling back from that very ambitious list. I have two more significantly different people I am going to pursue (one who is not a local retailer but who should have an interesting perspective on the subject and another that has a lot to offer, I think) but if those don't work out, I'll close up the series and move on to other 'special' shows in between session reviews. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all the interest and feedback.

Here is the third in the Demise and Rise of the Friendly Local Game Store series. In the first two volumes of this series, I spoke with a former game store owner and a new game store owner. In this volume, I speak with David Laufle, who is in the process of selling his store The Game Zone in Pasadena, California.

David's store is a well-liked, well-stocked gathering place for the Pasadena gaming community. We discuss his thoughts on how game retailing, the clientele, and the industry in general have changed over the fourteen years he's been in the business.

For more information on the genesis of this series, please see BGB Volume 19, Part 1 of "The Demise and Rise of the FLGS".

Show Notes

Games mentioned:

Dungeons and Dragons    Chainmail    Blitzkrieg    Panzer Leader    Tactics II    Magic: The Gathering    Settlers of Catan    Yu-Gi-Oh    Pokemon 

Other links:

Rio Grande Games    WizKids    Games Workshop    Boardgame Cafes    Pasadena    Cupertino (iTunes lives there)    Boardgamegeek    ConSimWorld    Starbucks    World of Warcraft    Tournament of Roses Parade  

Two innovations mark this session review show. First, I've added a second voice. I had intended to record this show after one of our big Saturday game days at my house. But when the place cleared out, my good friend Matt Grimaldi, who previously joined me for the Power Grid: In depth show, was still around and ready to play another game. So, I suggested he join me for the podcast instead. Matt had played all three featured games with me so he's added his commentary, too. We didn't plan the format ahead of time so this is a bit more freewheeling than usual (it was also after midnight and although Matt was hopped up on a latte, I wasn't) but hopefully this works and if the feedback is good, we'll do it again. If the feedback is bad, well, I'll just dump Matt and get some new friends. Matt, if you're reading this - I'm just kidding! Ish. ;)

The other new thing about this show is that BGB session reviews will no longer feature a full rules description if there is another good podcast out there that has already explained the rules entirely. I mean, we have at least three excellent shows that normally explain rules in their entirety (Boardgames with Scott, Snoozefest 'Splains Boardgames, and The Vintage Gamer) and at least one more that occasionally does (the still-brilliant inspiration for Boardgame Babylon, Boardgames To Go). If one of these or another podcast has already done it, I will just direct you there (as I do here for Scepter of Zavandor) and we'll call that one an "In brief" session review.

Thanks for all the recent feedback. I'm working to get responses to everyone. I do respond to every bit of feedback I receive because I really appreciate listeners taking the time to let me know their reactions to the show - negative or positive. Please keep it coming!

By the way, this picture is for those folks who have said that I should include a picture of myself on the web site. I guess I never really noticed that I was not in the pictures - I'm usually behind the camera. My wife Christina was kind enough to take this picture of me to end the mystery. Unfortunately, due to a poor crop job here, you can't really see my nice Z-Man Demo Team t-shirt's logo. Ah, well.

Next up: Part 3 of The Demise and Rise of the FLGS, featuring David Laufle, the owner of The Game Zone, in Pasadena, California.

Show Notes

Street Illegal    Glory To Rome       The Scepter of Zavandor          Outpost     Puerto Rico      Hacienda          Thurn and Taxis    6 Nimmt!

Other Links:

Z-Man Games     Cambridge Game Factory    The Fast and the Furious

Snoozefest 'Splains Zavandor   Andreas Seyfarth    Carl Chudyk

Jim Hlavaty       Heinrich Glumpler (http://www.erlkoenig.net)

Yes, after somewhere around forty e-mail messages to Apple, they finally reinstated Boardgame Babylon to the iTunes store, although they messed with my search keywords. Ah, I'm just glad the show is available again for easy download. Download numbers have actually stayed pretty strong but I think that's due to all the...uh...publicity on the Demise and Rise series lately.

I have two episodes in editing right now - a session review done with my good friend Matt Grimaldi (the pro-Power Grid voice in the Power Grid: In depth show) and also Part 3 of The Demise and Rise of the Friendly Local Game Store.

Sorry to all that were inconvenienced by this crazy issue. Resubscribe and I promise never to try and change the URL again!

I find it hard to believe I'm still talking about this on the blog but iTunes STILL hasn't resolved the whole feed issue. I mean, I got this almost-humorous e-mail the other day from one of their techs saying he'd fixed the URL but considering they deleted the entire podcast from their servers, I don't know that this was possible...

But they say they are looking at it and I was trying to have faith in Ruben, the second level tech, who is the first person after talking to, I think, 1,356 different people at Steve Jobsland, that has actually said he might be interested in solving the problem. Of course, now he has conveniently gone on vacation and someone else is now taking it over. Now they say they are really, really, for-real deleting the podcast now (so I can resubmit it) so we'll see how it goes. If I can stand it, I may describe the whole delightful Catch-22 situation at some point on the podcast. We'll see if it is interesting enough, I'm still hopeful but honestly, I think direct downloads or subscribing to GOBLIN is the best way to go at the moment. Sorry!

Okay, enough whining. Head over to the awesome Spiel By Web and join one of the games of Hacienda that I have started and join me for a game! They are called BGB Babylon 2 and 3. I had a chance to be a Beta tester on this implementation and I think the SBW boys have done a terrific job on it.  Unlike the magnificent Mr. Siggins and the mighty Mark Johnson, I think Hacienda is a hoot and would love to play it with some listeners. The password for the games is: babylon.