Lucca Comics and Games (October 28th to November 1st, Lucca, Italy) is one of the major geek-cons in the world, covering anything from comics, manga, action figures, anime, undressed girls (cosplay), RPGs, miniature wargaming, gothic lolitas, modelling, junk food, medieval arts, videogames, cardgames, aikido, boardgames, and so on.

I will be with the Ganesha Games crew (Andrea Sfiligoi and Sergio Laliscia) in the Historical Island wargaming area. There will be demo tables of Flashing Steel (pirates and privateers fighting over treasure on a beach), Mighty Monsters (monsters fighting on Monster Island as a volcano erupts), and Drums and Shakos – Large Battles (an army-level Napoleonic scenario played in 15mm scale). I will demo Zen Garden, the world’s smallest wargame (a small, handmade, play-right-out-of the box, super-condensed version of Ganesha’s core rules, played with 10mm samurai which I will sell only at conventions).

If I find a wi-fi point there will be some twit. See you here after the show with a full report and ton of photos!!! I hope I survive!!!!!

This Sunday I took a break and I went to Terni to test two new games by Ganesha Games: the large battle version of Song of Drums and Shakos and a fast game for tanks. I have got photos to present them but now I haven’t time to do it. My computer passed away the last week. The collapse of HD was fatal. I think that my computer worked in this form since 2003 or 2004. I know, one day all must end. In these days I spent all my free time working on it. It is a real mess because I have to reinstall all programmes and dates, and some of them are lost forever, like a beautiful scheme for Anticamente that I wrote to help me to manage games. I must work on two big websites and now I am stopped. The great thing is that after I will recover my computer, I have to pass a lot of time on it for programming. So, no time for this blog too. And it is summer, but I can’t taste it.

For a report of the day in Terni go on Drums & Shakos blog.

Well, even this time I want to give you something, just because I prepared it before. Again with arenas.

As you can see, this arena is thought like a hole with around only an upper squared surface. There is even a handle to easily transport it, like a suitcase. Maybe all seems more a subterranean arena than a Roman arena, but this is another solution for the “arena project”.

More to read here.

I thought that videogames were something not so interesting in Lucca. Instead they were the big thing in games pavilion! Almost half of the space were dedicated to videogames and seeing the long and beautiful legs from miniskirts of the hostesses you could understand where the money is in games field.

There was space for consoles and pcs, for the WII with its remote control and for the Playstation with its new remote control. A lot of games were on but I’m not so informed about trends and titles.

Before Lucca I didn’t know the 3D for the videogames. I thought that this could be a unnecessary element, but there was a little 20 seats cinema managed by Asus with promos on 3D videogames. They were terrific! It is absolutely a new playing experience, when you have saw this potential you cannot return back! I suppose we find all new titles in 3D format, it is great even for static games. I saw a Civilisation V ad in the 3D area, it is a causality or there is other? The weird thing was to see the people in front of monitors with their technological glasses: it is just an alienating view, but with this glasses all seemed a sci-fi flick about aliens who control the world with subliminal visions…

A lot of videogames to try, but I have only saw other people doing this. There was even a videogame where you and your friends must replicate a band, and another one where you must dance according to the moves on the screen and a sensor gave you points if you are good in this. Like Lara Croft, but this is another story…

Again in Fiera di Roma (but it is in nowhere land, not Rome…). This time with another friend of mine for Enada (show about slot-machine, videogames and other items for entertainment) and Eas (attraction machines). Two international shows in the same place, five hangars to contain the exposition. The access is only for specialized people interested in this business. The ticket is 20euros and the parking is 6euros…

Enada & Eas

Too many videopoker machines and only a few videogames this time. People like more to throw away money than have fun. A very sad thing. In these years I have saw a lot of zombies attached to these machines to spend their days…

Eas is about machines for fun-fairs. There were a lot of Germans because those places are popular in those lands. The new sensation is cinema with moving chairs and 3D screens. They were calling this “4D cinema” or “5D cinema”. How many dimensions!

Only a few flippers remain. An archaeological vision from the past.

The only videogames presented were practically based on the idea of shooting something on the screen with huge arms.

Everyone can buy a Playstation, so this market is narrowed to things that you cannot experience at home. Like this Vulcan machine-gun. A huge shooting machine indeed! And with rotating barrels while you fire!

Even the vintage is a shooting dream…

Free games were available, no coins were necessary. I killed a lot of enemies and when I was dead only a button to push to have a new life in the ongoing game. Here I used two electronic machine-guns made of plastic. Better of Rambo!

My friend Paolo instead liked to ride a motorcycle…

A good show, but we hadn’t the intention to open a fun-fair, so it was only a view on this entertainment world.