Wizards of the Coast

It's not just an arcade

Wizards of the Coast in Seattle is a full fledged gaming center. To the left as you enter the doors is a smallish arcade. It didn't have that many games, but it did have Silent Scope, which is a really cool game (you Tribes snipers would love it). Just past the arcade is a Battletech center where you can hop in some pods for good old fashioned Mechwarrior deathmatching. To the right of the front door was a small gift shop guarded by a large dragon. The shop sells D&D materials, Pokemon merchandise, other pen and paper RPG supplies, and of course, a small selection of computer and video games. Downstairs was a much larger area, with a giant section of consoles and networked computers, a conference area, and more. Normally this whole downstairs section is reserved for WotC to hold Magic tournaments, Pokemon competitions, and other wholesome activities. For this particular event, Interplay set up a projector for the presentation and a fully stocked bar. Now that's what I'm talking about!

The LAN

One side of the game center

Everyone and their mother

Apparently, Interplay brought along the entire Bioware crew, which was cool. It's always great to talk to the guys (and gals) who make the magic. There's no passion that quite compares to that of a developer for their game. Chatting with some of them before, during and after the event certainly reinforced that idea in my head; the staff at Bioware are incredibly enthusiastic about Baldur's Gate 2 and it really showed in our interviews. There were so many Interplay and Bioware staff at the event that it was probably a 1 to 1 ratio of developer/publisher personnel to journalists.

This minotaur guards the lower area

One section of the lower floor

You can play your games after supper

After chatting with some of the other journalists I knew (like Elliot from Gamespot and Duane from GamersDepot), as well as the Bioware staff, I really wanted to get at those arcade games upstairs. Unfortunately WotC wouldn't give out any free tokens until after the presentation and after dinner, which was a downer. Just as the natives started to get restless, Interplay began the Baldur's Gate 2 presentation to talk about the game.

Dragon stands watch over the store

Silent Scope!