Pre-Gen Con Goodies

Two of the books I’m looking forward to most at Gen Con are Hobby Games: The 100 Best and 40 Years of Gen Con. I had a tiny hand in each of them, just enough that I don’t have to pay for copies, but I’d be happy to hand over my cash for either.

For the first, Jim Lowder collected a who’s who of game designers and asked them to each write an essay about their favorite game. On the product’s page, be sure to scroll down and click on the “Author List” link for a breathtaking array of talent.

For the second, Robin Laws interviewed dozens of people about their Gen Con experiences, from Gary Gygax right down to yours truly. This makes for a gorgeous coffee-table book that would do any con-going gamer proud. Robin has also provided online the DVD-extras equivalent of interview-snippet MP3s. This includes James Wallis‘s account of the origins of the Diana Jones Award, for instance. The best of the lot, though, has to be Peter Adkison’s rousing tale of the creating of the theme song for Wizards of the Coast.