Published Sunday August 29th, 2010 Mary Gazze, The Canadian Press TORONTO - Superheroes, video game characters and trekkers spent Sunday wishing they could get beamed up straight into the FanExpo convention in Toronto. Demand to get inside was so high, hundreds of fans lined up for hours around a city block to try to get into the convention, which celebrates many aspects of nerd-dom. The convention featured the latest in video games, comic books, science fiction, horror and Japanese Anime. Once inside, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder as they navigated through aisles of colourful comic books and plush toys. Many of the fans were happy to wait in line throughout the weekend-long event to meet celebs from TV's original Batman and the Star Trek series, including the man who starred as the original Captain Kirk. "It's worth it because we get to meet William Shatner!" said Robbie Nagle, from Brantford, Ont. "We get to meet all these cool people like Adam West. Who doesn't love the original [...]

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 The latest installment of the Harry Potter saga deals with the hero's efforts to thwart the evil Voldemort's Death Eaters who have seized control of the Ministry of Magic and even Hogwarts school. BURIED This thriller starts with a truck driver waking up six feet (1.8 metres) underground, having no idea of his location, who put him there or why. He has only a lighter and a cellphone, whose battery is draining, to help him. Resident Evil 4: Afterlife The latest sequel in the popular sci-fi series, will see the heroine Alice (Mila Jovavich) continuing her journey to locate and rescue survivors in a world where a virus infection is transforming victims into the Undead. The Town Ben Affleck stars as an unrepentant criminal who leads a group of bank robbers who have built up a reputation for stealing what they want and getting away with it. Secretariat In this feature, the lead character is a horse [...]

September 10-12 is fast approaching, and sponsorship support is rolling in! The wonderful people at Chaosium, Studio 9, Out Of the Box, Midnight Syndicate have already delivered goodies for YOU, our players. There's even more incoming from across the globe, but I'm keeping them secret for now. When they arrive, you'll know in grand fashion. See everyone at our 9th annual gaming convention September 10-12 at the Chinese Commerce Center / Kent Theatre on Coburg Street.

Folks from Chaosium will attend a couple of conventions over the coming weeks. Charlie will fly out to Indianapolis for Gencon, and Meghan took off yesterday for a new German show, The Kraken, hosted and organized by the guys that ran the Tentacles show. Also next week we receive copies of a cool new Call of Cthulhu monograph exploring the cruel empire of Tsan Chan, and new Arkham Country adventures. CRUEL EMPIRE The cruel empire of Tsan-Chan will rise in 5,000 A.D. The liberated Old Ones will teach new ways to shout and kill, and revel and enjoy, and all the earth will flame in a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom. THE CRUEL EMPIRE OF TSAN CHAN offers a future history of the Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan, being an account of the year Five Thousand and the creation of Empire. ARKHAM COUNTRY TALES Our friends at Miskatonic River Press have just released their new collection of Call of Cthulhu adventures, MORE ADVENTURES IN ARKHAM [...]

Welcome to the Theater of Illusion, the legendary stage of magic hidden beyond the threshold of dreams and nightmares. Behold strange and mystifying acts performed by phantom magicians and discover the dark secrets that lie in wait beyond the veil of shadows. Nox Arcana invites you to enter a realm of magic and dark fantasy to immerse yourself in a soundscape of haunting melodies, mystical rhythms and pulse-pounding orchestrations. A lifelong fan of magic, Nox Arcana founder Joseph Vargo was inspired to create a musical tribute to the mysterious realm of illusion. "The setting for this concept album is an old Vaudeville theater, hidden from the outside world, where master magicians gather to display their talents every Halloween night. The 21 tracks take the listener on a musical journey throughout the theater and provide a cinematic soundtrack for the eerie acts that play out on stage. "Our music has always been very popular with magicians, and several professional illusionists have used various Nox Arcana CDs [...]

Published Wednesday July 14th, 2010 Sandy Cohen, The Associated Press LOS ANGELES, Calif. - "Tron," ''Harry Potter," ''The Green Hornet," and Brangelina? In this film publicity image released by Columbia Pictures, Angelina Jolie stars as "Evelyn Salt" in a scene from "Salt." (AP Photo/Columbia Pictures - Sony, Andrew Schwartz This year's Comic-Con has something for everyone, and might even be graced by Hollywood's first couple. No longer strictly the domain of nerds and fanboys, San Diego's four-day pop-culture festival promises film and TV fodder for fans of all kinds, plus video games, toys, collectibles and costumes galore when it kicks off next week. "I can't wait," says filmmaker Kevin Smith, an annual regular considered royalty at the convention. "Comic-Con for me is — Muslims like to go to kneel, what is it, three times a day toward Mecca and whatnot. I do the same thing for San Diego and that massive building... It's a real good source of kind of State of the Union for [...]

Windsor, Wisconsin – Out of the Box Publishing announces the 2010 release of 10 Days in the Americas, the fifth in the award winning 10 Days series, which also includes 10 Days in Africa, 10 Days in Asia, 10 Days in the USA and 10 Days in Europe. In 10 Days in the Americas, players use destination and transportation tiles to chart a course through North, Central, and South America as well as the Caribbean islands— touring by airplane, cruise ship, or on foot. With a little luck and clever planning, you just might outmaneuver your fellow travelers and be the first to complete a ten day journey! Out of the Box is offering free rules variations for the 10 Days games on its website, including 20 Days around the World, a variation that combines four of the titles. 10 Days in the Americas was released on June 28th and is available in specialty toy stores and on Amazon.com. 10 Days in the Americas is [...]

Monographs keep on rolling in: this week we feature an exploration of Call of Cthulhu roleplaying during the Great Depression (a timely book, these days), and a look at the age of the Vikings and their myths and beliefs. CHILDREN OF THE STORM Experts predict that the want and suffering of the Great Depression will create "a generation of cannibals." Panicked people flee their homes to escape a devastating invasion and poison gas attack. Life comes to a standstill as people watch a strange dust descend from the sky. The spread of the Great Depression and the first rumblings of a new World War cause a sense of angst and doubt to grow; fueled by rumors, media, and personal expectations that things will get even worse. Dust storms sweep across the continent, and newsreels show the collapse of Europe and Asia. Adults worry that the next generation will grow up to become criminals and barbarians. No bad news sounds implausible, no crisis seems unbelievable. CHILDREN [...]

It's budding time in the shoggoth den here at Chaosium, and a few of our folks made use of their extra fingers, toes, and other appendages to get a gibbering mound of work done. NEW MONOGRAPHS The holdings of the British Empire included present day Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, and parts of Iran and Afghanistan. It was an area comparable in size to the continental United States, or Europe west of the Ukraine. MYSTERIES OF THE RAJ is designed to provide enough information to set Call of Cthulhu adventures and campaigns during Gaslight India (approximately 1890 a.d.). This book is also available in a PDF edition. DUST TO DUST is a supplement to Ashes to Ashes, a Basic Roleplaying setting that casts the players as mavericks in a fantasy world that is losing a war it doesn't know it's fighting. Hidden demons and their mortal minions manipulate events from the shadows, experimenting with social mechanisms to steer their human cattle to a dark future. [...]

Published Wednesday June 23rd, 2010 The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA - The Man of Steel will walk across America to reconnect with everyday people in a story that will feature actual cities, towns and neighbourhoods submitted by readers. Shown is a copy of the 700th issue of the Superman comic displayed at Fat Jack's Comicrypt in Philadelphia, Wednesday, June 23, 2010. Dan DiDio, DC's co-publisher told The Associated Press on Wednesday The Man of Steel will hoof it across America in future issues as he tries to reconnect with everyday people in a story that will feature actual towns and locations submitted by readers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke Superman, one of DC Comics' flagship fictional heroes, begins his journey next month in Philadelphia, where he'll embark on a 12-issue, cross-country walk — no flying, thank you — through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. Not on the travel itinerary is a swing through the Deep South. Dan DiDio, DC's co-publisher, told The Associated [...]