It’s that time of year, again, and KantCon is nigh. We take time out of our busy schedules to talk a bit about KantCon this year, and what you can expect to see.
We also talk a bit about those who supported KantCon this year!
In the Three Parter, Nathan talks a bit about what he’s into with Hollow Earth Expedition and Slipstream, while Jeremy reviews the Minecraft beta. Ethan wraps things up with a usual shameless plug.
Running time on this episode is 131 minutes.
About Hollow Earth Expedition
Explore one of the world’s greatest and most dangerous secrets: the Hollow Earth, a savage land filled with dinosaurs, lost civilizations, and ferocious savages! Players take on the roles of two-fisted adventurers, eager academics and intrepid journalists investigating the mysteries of the Hollow Earth. Meanwhile, on the surface, world powers and secret societies vie for control of what may be the most important discovery in all of human history.
Set in the tense and tumultuous 1930s, the action-filled Hollow Earth Expedition is inspired by the literary works of genre giants Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The subterranean action is powered by Ubiquity, an innovative roleplaying system that emphasizes storytelling and cinematic action.
About Slipstream
Beyond the black holes lies the Slipstream, a pocket universe of shattered worlds, desperate aliens, and savage monsters. Ruling over the shattered isles is the diabolical Queen Anathraxa, who some say is close to finding a way to escape this interstellar prison.
Strap on your rocket pack, charge your ray gun, and prepare to blast off into the the most wild and exotic Savage Setting yet—the Slipstream!
Slipstream is a pulp science fiction Plot Point™ setting for the award-winningSavage Worlds Roleplaying Game™ in the style of Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and the rocketeering heroes of space opera.
About Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox building indie video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus “Notch” Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released on May 17, 2009, with a Beta on December 20, 2010. Official releases for iOS and Android are currently in development to be released later in 2011 along with a full version of the game; the Android release will be temporarily exclusive to the Xperia Play. A version of the game for the Xbox 360 with Kinect support is under development by 4J Studios.
The game is focused on creativity and building, allowing players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world. The game has two variants – free Classic and paid Beta – where Classic is focused entirely on construction with unlimited material supply, whereas Beta requires players to acquire resources themselves, and contains mobs, player health, and additional features and items. The gameplay is heavily inspired by Infiniminer by Zachtronics Industries, Dwarf Fortress byBay 12 Games and Dungeon Keeper by Bullfrog Productions.
The game is currently in development and Beta is the only continuously updated version of the game. Minecraft was developed for about a week before its public release on May 17, 2009, on the TIGSource forums, where it gained a considerable level of popularity. It has been continually updated and patched since then, and while it was still in alpha release, it garnered several hundred thousand sales and received critical notice and acclaim from many reviewers. It passed a million units sold on January 12, 2011, less than a month after reaching Beta. By June 13, 2011, the game had sold 2.5 million units.
About KantCon
KantCon is a new gaming convention for tabletop hobby gamers in the Kansas City area, created by tabletop hobby gamers in the Kansas City area. The only available gaming conventions and large gatherings of gamers in the Kansas City area are limited to the beginning of the year, and the end of the year, in March and November, respectively. As most gamers are increasingly busy, in school, or have children in school, there is a void of a centralized gaming convention in the summer months in Kansas City. KantCon will fill that void with three days of tabletop fun in the form of tabletop role-playing games, card games, board games, and miniatures games.
The first KantCon was held in 2009 at a home in Shawnee, Kansas. It was an invitation-only event born out of the organizer’s inability to go to Gen Con, the largest gaming convention in the United States held every August in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The name KantCon was decided on because the organizer couldn’t go to his yearly con. Therefore, his “Can’t Con” became KantCon.
Approximately 30 people came to KantCon 2009, and over $1,500 worth of products donated by participating gaming companies Wizards of the Coast, Rio Grande Games, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, and others were given away to the 30 attendees over the course of the weekend. Several games were run for those attending, and a fun time was had by all.
Everyone asked if it would happen the next year, so plans were made to open it to the public and to get a public venue to see if there was an interest in a summertime gaming convention in the Kansas City area.
On July 9-11, KantCon 2010 was held at the Johnson County Community College Regnier Center. Over the course of the three days, 110 gamers came from as far away as Mt. Gilead, Ohio to participate in role-playing games, card games, board games, miniatures games, and the kind of camaraderie that all gamers love and enjoy.
Over $3,000 worth of donated product from various game companies across the world were raffled off and awarded to players at the convention, supplemented by vendors like Gamer Ground in St. Louis, Missouri, Secret Skeleton Miniatures from Lenexa, Kansas, and Black Blade Publishing from Wichita, Kansas who came out and sold miniatures, dice, books, and other products to convention attendees.