Brainwaves

Jamie is back on the road so it’s Oliver and Iain behind the mics this week. They bring you news from across the industry on failed kickstarter companies, Hasbro’s finances, Pokemon running out of cards, and Wizards hiring the Pinkertons! All this and more on episode 120 of Brainwaves.    Headlines   Wizards saddles up with the Pinkertons https://twitter.com/GateGeek/status/1650025390050537473?s=20 https://www.polygon.com/23695923/mtg-aftermath-pinkerton-raid-leaked-cards https://gizmodo.com/magic-the-gathering-leaks-wizards-wotc-pinkertons-1850374546   Hasbro and Mattel Strike Deal https://corporate.mattel.com/news/mattel-hasbro-enter-licensing-agreements-to-launch-monopoly-barbie-edition-transformers-hot-wheels-transformers-uno   Hasbro Financials https://investor.hasbro.com/financial-information/quarterly-results https://hasbro.gcs-web.com/node/35691/pdf   Updates   Zak S Returns https://twitter.com/boymonster/status/1647678950590779392?s=20 https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2022/03/on-zak-sabbath-smith

The team are all back together once more to bring you the best in Tabletop Gaming News. This cast they cover the passing of a legend, UK companies buying up others, ongoing issues at Mythic, and more!     Headlines   Klaus Teuber Dies https://twitter.com/settlersofcatan/status/1643252209033904128?s=20   Dan Thurot’s Piece https://spacebiff.com/2023/04/04/klaus-teuber/#more-23970   Naylor Games buy ITB assets https://naylorgames.com/blogs/blog/naylor-games-buys-all-assets-of-itb-games-and-a-plan-for-saving-its-projects   News   Mythic in trouble https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1162110258/monsterpocalypse-board-game?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=Monsterpocalypse   American Tabletop Awards https://americantabletopawards.com/   Paizo releases ORC https://twitter.com/paizo/status/1644418516869578752?s=20   Kenya Chess Controversy https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/africa/65280560?at_format=link&at_link_type=web_link&at_campaign_type=owned&at_medium=social&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_l

Iain isn’t around this week, but never fear! The dynamic duo of Oliver and Jamie are here to the rescue with the latest in Tabletop News. They revisit Wyrmwood, visit Nebulas, and give Warhammer the stamp of approval in episode 118 of Brainwaves.    Headlines   Gizmodo investigates Wyrmwood https://gizmodo.com/wyrmwood-gaming-doug-costello-bobby-downey-1850237181   Episode 116 https://giantbrain.co.uk/2023/02/27/brainwaves-episode-116-bank-wyrm/   Nebula Games Award https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/news/dnd-radiant-citadel-nebula-award   New GAMA board members https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/53682/new-gama-board-members-announced?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter   News   Irish board game factory shuts https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2023/0322/1365695-waterford-jobs/   One of a kind Yu-Gi-Oh card being sold https://kotaku.com/yu-gi-oh-rarest-card-tyler-the-great-warrior-sale-price-1850282728?utm_campaign=Kotaku&utm_content=1680193809&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&

  It’s Episode 117 of Brainwaves, bringing you the best in Tabletop Gaming News. This episode we cover companies going green, liquidations, closures, AI art, boardgame films and much more!    Headlines   Games Workshop Goes Green https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/03/07/recycling-trial-announced-new-life-for-old-sprues/   Green Games Guide  https://www.greengamesguide.com/   Forest of Pangaia   ITB liquidates https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/itbboardgames/sub-terra-ii-infernos-edge/posts/3744854   News   Meeple Perk Shuts https://twitter.com/MeeplePerk/status/1631286462137135104   Cubicle 7 Enter Financial Times 1000 List https://www.ft.com/ft1000-2023 https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/53536/cubicle-7-makes-ft-1000-list   Paizo’s Stance on AI Art https://twitter.com/paizo/status/1631005784145383424 https://www.pathfinderinfinite.com/   Trans Rights Bundle on itch https://itch.io/b/1753/ttrpgs-for-trans-rights-in-florida   Hallmark Boardgames Film https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/game-of-love/about-

It’s Jamie’s last cast for a little while and it is full of news. From Wyrmwood handling of sexual assault allegations to Hasbro bank troubles and companies not delivering on time. There are even two pieces of Monopoly news, just for Jamie.    Headlines   Wyrmwood Gaming Sexual Assault   The Wyrmwood video mentioned in this piece has since been taken down.   Their statement is below   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gQCyOyruqCWFRq1yGcufTLZjxo3Msz0S/view https://www.thefandomentals.com/wyrmwood-gaming-allegedly-terminated-employee-to-cover-up-sexual-miscondust/   Andrew’s videos   https://twitter.com/Andy_Morocco/status/1627178756639956995?t=QLzZIwM3Re7bqfDEEVk7OQ&s=19   https://twitter.com/Andy_Morocco/status/1628745116230815745   Some collated timelines https://twitter.com/Scotty_Kess/status/1628417973823193093?s=20   Holy Grail Games   https://holygrail.games/   Hasbro slapped by Bank of America   https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2023/02/hasbro-slapped-by-bank-of-america-for-destroying-customer-goodw

I've been invited to my first international convention. In April I'll be over in Sweden at Gothcon. To get me ready I invited Pontus Wolke and Hampus Nordin from the convention committee to tell me what the gaming scene is like in Sweden and what I can expect at the convention.    Gothcon Website Pontus' Twitter   Discord: https://discord.gg/3bMx2HK75r Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegiantbrain Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giantbrainuk/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegiantbrain Website: https://giantbrain.co.uk/ Email: giantbrainuk@gmail.com

Iain and Oliver are back in the studio while Jamie takes a break from the cast. The team of two bring you updates on the Open Gaming License, Hasbro layoffs, UK companies in trouble, a downturn in the fortunes of the German games market, and much more in episode 115 of Brainwaves.    Headlines   Wizards reverses course https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1439-ogl-1-0a-creative-commons   Smart Party Episode https://smartparty.wordpress.com/2023/01/23/ogl-omg/#more-1838   Hasbro lays off staff https://www.gamesradar.com/hasbro-to-lay-off-1k-staff-with-dandd-publisher-being-one-of-the-few-to-show-strong-growth/   ITB in more trouble https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/inside-the-box-board-games/news/inside-the-box-claims-unpaid-staff-missing-pensions https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/itbboardgames/sub-terra-ii-infernos-edge/posts https://www.secondgategames.com/ https://www.nutspublishing.com/eshop/index.php   Updates   Victoria Mann https://medium.com/p/167ec2795418   News   Serge Laget dies https://faidutti.c

The team are back after a bit of a break! In this first episode of the new year we cover all the latest with Wizards of the Coast OGL announcements and have two interviews: one with Linda Codega who broke the story and one with Jon Hodgson who runs Handiwork Games. It’s our biggest piece yet on the show and we hope you enjoy it.    Not only that but we report on a new RPG union in Europe, Gil Hova shutting up shop, GW share prices and the largest monopoly collection in the world!    Headline   WIzards of the Coast updates the Open Gaming License   Linda Codega Pieces   Linda’s Twitter https://twitter.com/lincodega   The piece that broke the news https://gizmodo.com/dnd-wizards-of-the-coast-ogl-1-1-open-gaming-license-1849950634   The 1.1 leaked document https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BXYQJ0ulww7BoZhjMHrZgQ5YrjfPRIma/view   OGL announcement cancelled https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-ogl-announcement-wizards-of-the-coast-1849981365   Wizards response  reaction https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-ogl-lice

It’s the final episode of Brainwaves! For this year at least. The team are back in the studio to discuss racism in RPGs (again), AI art causing a stir, Wizards changing the Open Gaming Licence, and much more in Episode 113 of Brainwaves.   Headlines   Mythic Polynesia  https://twitter.com/mr_orgue/status/1602122837623382019?s=20&t=71lQaIfq-32saosyN0JUSQ https://twitter.com/_Boganova_/status/1593114267519430658 https://e-tangata.co.nz/reflections/moriori-still-setting-the-record-straight/   Frank West steps down from GAMA president role  https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/52725/new-gama-board-president-steps-down On Stage with Frank West https://giantbrain.co.uk/2022/05/23/on-stage-with-frank-west/   Tabletop Games break half a billion  https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/kickstarter/news/tabletop-games-raised-one-and-a-half-billion-dollars-on-kickstarter   News   DnD moves beyond Race https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1393-moving-on-from-race-in-one-d-d   Wizards announces changes to the OGL https://www.

The newly forged trio return to the mics to bring you the latest and best tabletop gaming news. From AIs turning their minds to Stratego, Wizards fending off accusations, all the way to gaming related candles! All this, and more, on episode 112 of Brainwaves.    Headlines   AI masters Stratego https://twitter.com/DeepMind/status/1598392039992958982 https://www.deepmind.com/blog/mastering-stratego-the-classic-game-of-imperfect-information https://www.gravon.de/gravon/stratego/stratego.jsp   Games Industry Conference Cancelled https://www.gic-uk.co.uk/   Wizards executives push back https://dicebreaker.com/categories/roleplaying-game/news/dungeons-and-dragons-under-monetised-says-executives   Updates   Dicebreaker Awards announced https://www.dicebreaker.com/events/tabletop-awards-2022/news/tabletop-awards-2022-winners   Teburu is back, maybe? https://gamefound.com/projects/xplored/vampire-the-masquerade-milan-uprising   News   Ed Pugh dies https://www.reapermini.com/   https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/52

It was my great pleasure to be joined On Stage by Flavien Loisier for our last interview of the year. Flavien is the General Manager of Hachette Boardgames UK and it was a fascinating chat covering setting up the company, the challenges of handling a hit, state of the industry, and future plans.    Twitter Account https://twitter.com/HachetteBGUK   Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hachetteboardgamesuk/   Main Website https://www.hachetteboardgames.co.uk/

Jamie and Iain discover that Oliver Kinne has been drifting around the spacetime continuum inside the HQ. Not sure what to do about this situation they invite him to become a permanent member of the team, he has to pay down his tea debt anyway.  Together the newly expanded Brainwaves team cover trouble at Hasbro, Pandasaurus Games acting like dinosaurs, Embracer letting go, AI conquering diplomacy, Catan Cookbooks, and much more in episode 111 of Brainwaves.    Headlines Hasbro loses the magic https://www.polygon.com/23458064/magic-the-gathering-overprinting-hasbro-stock-downgrade   Heroscape failure to fund https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/2022/11/16/23462750/heroscape-reboot-cancelled-hasbro-haslab-failed   Hasbro looks to sell E-One https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hasbro-puts-entertainment-one-film-tv-unit-up-for-sale-1235264107/   Pandasaurus games act like dinosaurs https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/pandasaurus-games/feature/pandasaurus-games-workers-allege-toxic-workpl

Iain and Jamie are back after a little break to bring you a bumper crop of tabletop gaming news. From unions in the states to law suits in the world of chess the news never stops, and neither do we.    Headlines   Union formed at US retailer https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/52534/union-formed-game-retailer?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter https://twitter.com/NkgUnited   Welcome Asmodee  https://welcome.asmodee.com/   For whom the bell tolls https://twitter.com/gabrielledrolet/status/1590065270781267968?t=BILiAAoPqbs8a4YYf-QKKg&s=19 https://twitter.com/dorrismccomics/status/1590035578724052992?t=BthaYHwyHoyPEx-_kAxOkw&s=19 https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/259248/golden-bell-affiliated-projects-and-companies   Episode 53 - https://giantbrain.co.uk/2020/07/20/brainwaves-53-meddling-wizards/   Updates   Nielsen sues Carlsen  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63338375   News   999 games head dies  https://www.999games.nl/nieuws/sad-news   DND studio head steps down https://comicbook.

Autumn has truly arrived in Scotland but that hasn’t stopped the Brainwaves team from venturing out to find the best in Tabletop gaming news. This episode we cover moves at the top of Kickstarter and Hasbro, licenses expanding, chess imploding, and fellowships being awarded!   Headlines Kickstarter new CEO https://www.dicebreaker.com/topics/kickstarter/interview/kickstarter-ceo-everette-taylor-blockchain-tabletop-future   https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/exclusive-everette-taylor-named-kickstarters-new-ceo-fast-company?src=aff-ref&trk=aff-ir_progid%3D8005_partid%3D10078_sid%3D_adid%3D449670&clickid=y1I0ZATKgxyIWOzxncVdtQiSUkDQ9J1NE31WzM0&mcid=6851962469594763264&irgwc=1   Dungeons and Dragons new head  https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/hasbro-dungeons-dragons-senior-vice-president-dan-rawson/   Lego DnD https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/e080b760-93c0-410d-bd49-5fc32726de9c   Renegade Games expands licensing with Hasbro https://renegadegamestudios.com/blog/ren

Iain and Jamie are back behind the mics to bring you the choicest cuts of tabletop news. This episode of Brainwaves they cover the unfolding controversy in chess, companies expanding, people moving, witch trial inspired games and more!    Headlines   Chess world deals with cheating allegation fallouts   Fide official statement https://www.chessdom.com/fide-publishes-the-official-statement-on-the-carlsen-niemann-case/   Magnus Carlsen Statement https://twitter.com/magnuscarlsen/status/1574482694406565888   Late Night https://www.chessdom.com/stephen-colbert-jokes-about-the-latest-accusations-against-hans-niemann-in-his-late-night-talk-show/   Grandmaster loses commentating role https://kotaku.com/chess-grandmaster-scandal-womens-grand-prix-ilya-smirin-1849590949   Naylor Games announces future  https://mailchi.mp/368aac5f437d/mobsitters-robot-royale-available-again-free-delivery-to-celebrate-11538620?e=ffab906ec6   Updates   Star Frontiers Delisted https://twitter.com/jedion357/status/1572610022680698881?s=20&

In our latest On Stage interview Iain is joined by Jon Hodgson of Handiwork Games. Jon has had a long career in tableop RPGs. He started off as a freelance artist but has had creative director, art director, and Deputy CEO. He has worked on huge franchise titles like Lord of the Rings and Doctor Who but has left all that behind to establish his own company. Jon was kind enough to come over to the GB HQ to talk about his career, establishing Handiwork Games, the rise of AI art, and more besides in this wide ranging interview.    Links to some subjects discussed   Travelling Man https://travellingman.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKu9Pj1KYtNuhfe9oiGYF2r5VDGgjU1fD_I9dxSTtiEVRmOnx7tzbsaAjhPEALw_wcB   Kev Walker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kev_Walker   Wayne Reynolds https://www.waynereynolds.com/   Ralph Horsley http://www.ralphhorsley.co.uk/   SLA Industries https://nightfall.games/sla-industries-2nd-edition   Dead of Night https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/81572/Dead-of-Night   Midjourney https://www

The team are back to bring you the latest in tabletop news. This episode they lay out the history of nuTSR and Wizards of the coast before bringing you the latest developments in the case. Alongside this they look at cheating controversy in the world of chess, Origins shaking up the Awards, Gamefound announcing new initiatives, and more on this episode of Brainwaves.    Headlines   Wizards files injunction against nuTSR https://twitter.com/NoHateInGaming/status/1568288911297847296?s=20&t=pfVPMt8_j-g6yv2X1pY9tA https://twitter.com/BrainClouds/status/1568280027917074435?s=20&t=pfVPMt8_j-g6yv2X1pY9tA   nuTSR financial data breach https://www.enworld.org/threads/nutsr-financial-data-breach.691241/   https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-full-glorious-history-of-nutsr.684697/   News   Chess cheating https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/09/chess-hans-niemann-hits-back-over-cheating-controversy-in-st-louis   Origins Awards changes categories for 2022 https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/52145/gama-changes

Iain and Jamie are back from Tabletop Scotland their bags bursting with the latest in tabletop news. Join them in the studio as they cover card games raking in the bucks, Kickstarter making changes, Wizards faltering once more, and a new segment covering jobs, events, and opportunities in the community.    Headlines Ebay puts its cards on the table https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ebay-has-entered-into-an-agreement-to-acquire-tcgplayer-301609889.html   Kickstarter employs new head of games https://www.polygon.com/23328798/kickstarter-new-director-of-games-interview-blockchain https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/news/kickstarter-change-up-their-games-team-is-this-a-sign-of-changes-ahead/   Fandom exits RPG market https://www.geeknative.com/145845/cortex-sold-legends-of-grayskull-shuttered-and-dragon-prince-rpg-transferred-as-fandom-exists-tabletop-roleplaying/?utm_content=buffercc2c5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer https://www.cortexrpg.com/ https://store.talesofxa

Iain and Jamie are back in the studio to bring you the latest tabletop news. This episode we cover all the Dungeons, all the Dragons, all the awards, and all the rock music?   Headlines   Wizards announces the future of DnD https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1313-wizards-presents-recap-catch-up-on-all-the-d-d https://giantbrain.co.uk/2022/04/18/episode-96-pyramid-scheme/   Bits and Mortar https://www.bits-and-mortar.com/   Tabletop Gaming Awards finalists announced https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/News/tabletop-gaming-awards-2022-finalists-announced   Harvey Awards choose boardgame https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/51895/2022-harvey-award-nominations-announced   Ennie Award Winners https://ennie-awards.com/2022-results/   GAMA elects new officers https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/51940/gama-board-elects-new-officers   News   Embracer throws its arms around LOTR https://embracer.com/release/embracer-group-enters-into-agreement-to-acquire-ip-rights-to-the-lord-of-the-rings-and-the-hobbit-literary-works-by-j-r-

Iain and Jamie are back behind the mics to bring you the hottest tabletop gaming news. This episode they cover finances of the industry, new conventions, current conventions running into porblems, and when chess robots attack! All this, and more, on episode 104 of Brainwaves.    Headlines   Record Sales for Wizards of the Coast and the hobby at large https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/51714/record-sales-quarter-wizards-coast   WOTC New Studio https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-07-25-wizards-of-the-coast-opens-austin-based-studio-skeleton-key   ICv2 hobby game sales https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/51774/hobby-game-sales-up-one-third-2021 https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/51813/new-hotness-supply-drives-board-games   Ben Riggs https://twitter.com/BenRiggs_ https://misdirectedmark.com/2022/07/21/mastering-dungeons-the-secret-history-of-the-secret-history-of-dungeons-dragons-author-ben-riggs/   Games Expo announces new industry event GIC https://www.gic-uk.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR2nhOXFqojC-Y-wKyx