Here are 17 top titles for the video game fans on your Christmas list Published Saturday December 3rd, 2011 BY DAVID WYLIE POSTMEDIA NEWS No matter who you're shopping for, there's likely a video game out there that will make him or her smile. From games that teach you to dance to games where kids can interact with a baby tiger or bear, here are 17 of the best video games you can give this holiday season. Toe tapping titles Rocksmith, $80 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC) Rocksmith is the evolution in music games. Plug any real electric guitar into your video game console and learn to play notes and chords - rather than just hitting coloured buttons. The game teaches several dozen popular songs and a handful of mini-games teach specific guitar skills. If you need a guitar, a bundle that includes an instrument will set you back $200. Dance Central 2, $50 (Xbox 360, only with Kinect) Got groove? You will after playing [...]

Have a Great Thanksgiving Everyone here at Chaosium wishes you a safe, sane, and filling Thanksgiving holiday. It's hard to believe that we are in the 2011 holidays already! Have we been dreaming? . . . H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands Back in print for the holidays in a paperback format, H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands provides everything needed for Call of Cthulhu or Cthulhu Dark Ages investigators to travel down the seven hundred steps, through the Gates of Deeper Slumber, and into the realm of dreams. Includes a travelogue of the Dreamlands, a huge gazetteer, Dreamlands character creation rules, over thirty prominent NPC's, over 60 monsters dwelling within the Dreamlands, descriptions of the Dreamlands gods and their cults, six adventures to help jump start a Dreamlands campaign, and a fold-out map of the Dreamlands by Andy Hopp. Recent Releases COLONIAL TERRORS — a Call of Cthulhu campaign taking place in New England just prior to the American Revolution. The investigators are patriot smugglers. In this Age of Enlightenment [...]

A Chaosium Halloween-in-France Sale! Charlie is heading off to France for a small show called Chimeriades. France has always been a good market for Chaosium books and games, and especially for Call of Cthulhu. While the boss is away, those of us left behind thought it a great time for a CHAOSIUM SALE! Here is your chance to save Big Bucks. Starting now and lasting until Charlie's return plane lands, we are offering a MONSTROUS DISCOUNT of 30% OFF on Chaosium titles and knick-knacks throughout our online catalog. It's been some time since our last sale, and we've added a number of new titles and monographs since. Colonial Terrors Colonial Terrors is a Call of Cthulhu campaign taking place in New England just prior to the American Revolution. The investigators are patriot smugglers. In this Age of Enlightenment great progress is made in science, politics, and philosophy. Many, but not all, of the shackles of previous eras are shaken free. This is a land where [...]

Almost done with Convention Season! For the Halloween weekend, Charlie will be heading off to the south of France to attend Chimeriades, and to again barbecue on the grill they built for him, to talk to some of our French fans, and visit with some of our European licensees. The Magic Book Magic pervades many worlds of Basic Roleplaying, for in the game every adventurer — every character — has the capacity to manipulate invisible powers. Though the beliefs of the user shape his or her approach to magic, all magic works by certain principles which stem from the life force of the user. Life force flows in natural currents throughout the uni¬verse. Its different forms and shapes are determined by perception. The Magic Book explains the mechanics of three independent magic systems (Spirit Magic, Divine Magic and Wizardry) and details Ritual Magic, a system common to shamans, priests and wizards. Here is The Magic Book PDF version. The Gods Hate Me The Gods Hate [...]

Sit-com is most-watched TV program this side of the border Times & Transcript Published Thursday October 13th, 2011 Big Bang is making a lot of noise this year. That's the most logical explanation for the phenomenal - and continuing - supernova-like performance of The Big Bang Theory, Canada's most-watched TV program in the present time continuum. Not just most-watched comedy, or most-watched sci-fi sitcom, but most-watched program. Period. More than 3.6 million Canadians tuned in last week, placing Big Bang atop the ratings charts - ahead of Survivor, ahead of The Amazing Race, The X Factor, Grey's Anatomy, CSI and (thankfully) even a certain sitcom starring Ashton Kutcher in lieu of Charlie Sheen. Why, it's almost enough to make one think Star Trek is cool again. Star Trek is germane because, in tonight's Big Bang episode, The Russian Rocket Reaction, the gang pays homage - again - to Star Trek: Next Generation with a party at Wil Wheaton's house, with Wheaton playing himself. Brent Spiner, [...]

Fantasy game card players gather for championship [here] Published Thursday October 13th, 2011 laura lyall SAINT JOHN - Fantasy card players in the province are prepping for the ultimate battle. This year, Saint John's Gamezilla is hosting the 2011 State and Provincial Championship of Magic: The Gathering in New Brunswick. Gamezilla has hosted the event for the last six years, and the event is currently run by a company of Magic: The Gathering judges. "It's a collectible card came, collectible strategy. It's kind of a cross between poker and Dungeons and Dragons, where you've got the fantasy element but the tactics and the thinking that would be involved are similar to a poker game," said Sandy Lindsay of Gamezilla, a Magic player and judge. But while poker has only 52 cards, Magic: The Gathering has over 11,000. Registration begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Gamezilla. Players are randomly paired up, while the numbers of rounds played is based on attendance. The final [...]

Canadian marks milestone of the popular One-Man Star Wars Trilogy Published Friday October 14th, 2011 By MIKE DEVLIN Postmedia News Charles Ross is feeling the pressure as he nears a major milestone in his career. Ross is known for his inspired masterwork, One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, which the Victoria resident first performed during the 2002 Toronto Fringe Festival. Thousands of performances later, Ross ranks among the most popular solo performers in the world. Next year marks the 10th anniversary of OMSWT, an hour-long show in which Ross alone plays the characters from the franchise's first three films. There isn't much the 37-year-old Prince George native hasn't done during his decade-long hit streak, so he's considering some drastic measures for next year's anniversary - such as putting the bit to bed. "What else could I possibly do?" Ross said prior to a recent performance in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "If I could do this show for George Lucas, there would be no point in doing the show [...]

Published Friday September 16th, 2011 Postmedia news An astronomical discovery that would make Luke Skywalker homesick is making waves this week - a faraway planet with two suns. Photo: Postmedia This artist's rendition is of Kepler-16b, the first planet known to definitively orbit two stars. The planet, in the foreground, was discovered by NASA's Kepler mission. A team of experts used the NASA Kepler space telescope to discover the planet, which orbits around two stars - similar to Tatooine, the fictional home of Skywalker in the Star Wars films. In this case, however, the discovery doesn't get the Hollywood treatment in terms of a name. Its name is the far more prosaic Kepler-16b. Nick Gautier, Kepler project scientist with NASA, said although the planet would not support life, it would offer similar views that were seen in Stars Wars when Skywalker gazes out at his planet's horizon and sees two setting suns. "This is the first definitive detection of a circumbinary planet and is the [...]

WOW what an event that was. Check out our facebook site for the pics that are pouring in. As soon as things settle down here at work, I'll get them posted here for your perusing pleasure.

Whew! Our annual gaming convention is just a few days away, tables being delivered, sponsor prizes rolling in, Chaos Chili to be made, added all the new links to our sponsors to the scrolling banner to the right... BUSY BUSY BUSY to make your gaming weekend as perfect as we can. A mighty big thaks to all our volunteers, hardcore fans and our sponsors for making this happen every year, and making it an event worth attending. We will be opening the doors at 6PM, but set up volunteers are always appreciated. See you all there, and as the Chaosium Rep for the region, I'm looking forward to devouring your soul in Call of Cthulhu (;,;). -Chaos Marmoset