“My
lord, there are so many uncharted settlements. It could be smugglers,
it could be....”
— Admiral
Ozzel
Last
week, on its Facebook page, Days of Wonder
released
information and photos about a
Star
Wars: Battle of Hoth
board
game based on
Richard Borg’s
venerable
Commands
& Colors
(
C&C)
game
system.
The news rapidly spread across the adventure gaming hobby internet
landscape. Although stodgy old former reporters like myself might
prefer to wait for some official press release on a website, I could
not ignore this news (though one might argue such announcements on
social media
are
now more acceptable or reliable than
any official communication on something
so
antiquated
as a corporate website). My
production manager at West End Games uttered some colorful sayings in
appropriate circumstances. The buzz surrounding
this
announcement brings one to mind: “Opinions are like [DELETED];
every
body
has one.” (You can fill in “[DELETED]” with your imagined
appropriately common and
arguably vulgar
body part.) I’m sure everyone concerned will debate the game with
every tease
d
bit of news
until well after it’s released. Normally
I wouldn’t wade into forum
discussions
— and I won’t — but I thought readers might care for my opinion
with
some
perspective from a longtime
Star
Wars
fan, a veteran gamer, and
a gamer dad, all
in the context of the business of making money in these uncertain
financial times. I’m
very excited about
Star
Wars: Battle of Hoth,
but, like any game consumer,
I take into account many factors, including personal ones, when
considering whether I would ultimately purchase the game. For
those few who wonder or care, I’m still undecided, but leaning
toward passing on this one.
