Game designer Allan B. Calhamer (b.1931) died on February 25. Calhamer is best known for designing the game Diplomacy in 1959. The game went on to influence policy makers, wargamers, and science fiction authors. Calhamer, however, made his living as a mail carrier in his native La Grange Park, Il, where he died.
Game designer Lynn Willis died on January 18. Willis began working for Metagaming in 1976, when he published Godsfire. Over the next few years, he published games with Metagaming, Chaosium, and GDW. Over the years, he worked in developing Runequest, Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, Ringworld, and many other games. In 1986, he won an H.G. Wells Award for Best RPG Rules for his work on the Ghostbusters RPG published by West End Games. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2008.
The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York is hosting an exhibit from December 15-March 3, 2013 entitled Spacewar! The exhibit examines the first 50 years of video games, beginning with the release of the first video game, Spacewar! in 1962. The exhibit is interactive and each visitor will receive four arcade tokens. Additional tokens may be purchased in the gallery. The games range from Sapcewar! to Child of Eden, including Galaga, Missile Command, and Vertical Force and are on a range of platforms.
Linguist, author, and game-designer M.A.R. Barker (b.1926 as Philip Barker) died on March 16. Barker created the role playing game Empire of the Petal Throne, which was published by TSR in 1975. Additional games and novels based on his world of Tekumel followed, including the games Swords and Glory, Gardásiyal, and Tékumel: Empire of the Petal Throne. As with Tolkien, Barker was a linguist who used his knowledge of languages to sculpt a complex world.
Wizards of the Coast has announced that they will be reprinting the first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rulebooks by E. Gary Gygax to raise funds for the Gygax Memorial Fund, with the goal of erecting a statue to Gygax in Library Park in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The three books, The Monster Manual, The Player’s Handbook, and The Dungeon Master’s Guide will include the original content and artwork, with new cover art, and go on sale on April 17 for prices ranging from $34.95 to $44.95.
Fan artist Bill Kunkel (b.1950) died on September 4 following a fall. Bill’s artwork consisted of satirical cartoons and he also c0-founded the first magazine devoted to video and computer games, Electronic Games. Kunkel worked as a game designer, a comic book writer, and professional cartoonist.
Artist Douglas S. Chaffee (b.1936) died on April 26. After doing artwork for NASA, the US Navy, and National Geographic, Chaffee began working in the gaming industry in the mid-1980s. He worked for TSR, FASA, and several gaming magazines. He was the Guest of Honor at the World Gaming Convention and the Artist Guest of Honor at Dragon*Con/Origins in 1990.
Game designer Charles S. Roberts (b. 1930) died on August 20. Roberts designed Tactics, widely considered to be the first modern board wargame. In 1958, he founded the Avalon Hill Game Company, which produces games including D-Day, Stalingrad, Battle of the Bulge, Gettysburg. His games inspired a generation of later designers, including Dungeons & Dragon’s co-creator Dave Arnason.
The ENnie Awards were presented at GenCon on August 6. Founded in 2001, the awards honor the best in Role-playing publishing.
Judge’s Picks
Diamond Distributors has announced the winners of their Gem Awards for 2009.