As far as toolset additions I got confirmation that the new overland map system should be easy to use and will come with several pre built maps, the Sword Coast being one of them. Of course the term easy and toolset in relation to NWN2 is a very much open to interpretation. Visually the game looked pretty similar to the Mask expansion. There are definitely some positives going for Storm even at this stage, the most significant is Obsidian can craft a good story. I just wonder if the NWN2 ship has sailed at this point.

Everything Else

There were quite a few other games on display that I just didn’t have time to meet with the producers. Sacred 2 was there on the 360 and visually looked outstanding; King Bounty’sI also was in the Atari booth. Eve Online had a big booth presence and many displays but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out if they were showing the original game or their new expansion.

Champions Online probably had the biggest crowds gathering to see it; I mean super heroes and Gencon. Finally Warhammer Online was being shown and I think you needed a warhammer to get through the lines to see it, I went back to that booth at least 10 times with no luck. One little tidbit that flew by most was Fantasy Flight Games had a small monitor in its booth and had a video game version of Wings of War, later we would find out this and another of its games, Tide of Iron, will be making their way to XBLA and PSN. If neither of those names means anything--shame on you.

The GenCon people like to say they picked up a lot of the fallout from E3 with their electronic gaming area and I’ll admit that this year was better then last year’s harassment from the Conan booth babes. It was refreshing to actually have producers and writers of these games there who could really talk about their product. Here is hoping next year some of them actually get some outside room away from the exhibit hall.

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