W. Eric Martin: “We’ve Got a Really Big Shoe Tonight”

There have been an amazing number of tributes posted to Rick in the past couple of days, and along with the “hate to see you go"s and the “hope all is well"s are a few comments about the “really big shoes” that I have to fill. I’m embarrassed to say I had never noticed that Rick suffered from gigantism. My bad.

Anyway, I’m as surprised as any of you to find me in the editor’s seat at Boardgame News. Admittedly I did dream of one day holding such as position, and that dream dates back to my very first writing assignment, a 1997 article for Games Magazine about non-American game shows.

My wife and I had lived in the Netherlands for the first six months of 1996, and during that time we watched a lot of wacky Dutch television. We learned a bit of Dutch by watching a subtitled Jerry Springer, discovered a new way to use fried eggs, and enjoyed the hell out of Over de Roooie, a game show in which people on the street could earn 1,000 Guilders (about $650) for doing whatever outrageous task the host presented to them. A woman asked strangers if she could kiss them on the butt, people pulled their neighbors together in the street for a spontaneous chorus, a man had to find a flasher in the shopping district, and a woman invited passers-by to eat jelly candies from between her toes. Sweet, sweet memories.

Subsequent trips to Germany and France enlightened us about bizarre game shows across Europe, and when we returned to the U.S., we pitched the idea to Games. R. Wayne Schmittberger, bless his heart, bought the idea, and two years later, after finally finishing my Mathematics degree, I started writing full-time.

The next few years were a blur of forgettable trade and business articles. Oh, sure, I got to interview celebrities such as Colonel Sanders’ personal secretary and explore the ramifications of Asian fleece imports in the pages of International Fiber Journal, but something was missing from my professional life, a little something called “a fun and satisfying career about topics that interest you.” I contributed a steady drip-drip-drip of articles to Games over the years, and those successes only left me wanting more.

In addition to the occasional paycheck, Games also provided my first taste of Eurogames. I picked up Lost Cities and played it with my wife, but more importantly I played it with my best friend in between rounds at a Magic prerelease tournament. A fellow geek saw me playing, mentioned Unity Games (a loose association of game groups in New England), and recommended checking out BoardGameGeek.

Within days I was at Mark Edwards’ house in Attleboro, Massachusetts, ogling his giant closets filled with hundreds of games that were foreign and enticing. This, I promised, would someday be mine!

After I finished disposing of Mark’s body, I had an amazing new collection of games and it only grew bigger as the years passed. In addition to writing for Games—along with Psychology Today, Woman’s Day, Men’s Fitness, AOL and many others—I start appearing in Knucklebones, and that magazine’s mixed approach of mainstream and Eurogames inspired me to pitch games to other magazines.

In 2006, I placed pieces on Reef Encounter in Scuba Diving, Primordial Soup in Discover, Brawl in Grappling, Walk The Dogs in The Bark, and The Great Chili Cook-Off in Chile Pepper. I started a bimonthly game column in Coffee Magazine. I felt that mainstream acceptance of Eurogames was within reach, and determined to help the process along, I started Fun and Boardgames in October. The FAB site is aimed at the casual player, like the folks from Craigslist who have been showing up at my house for game night, and I was ready to put a few years into building the site with the goal of someday being able to stop writing about printing techniques and instead devote all of my energy to games.

Now I need a new goal.

Rick created an amazing resource in Boardgame News, and I couldn’t imagine not having it around. Like hundreds of other readers, I checked the Essen Preview at least once a day from August to the moment I left for Europe. Gone Cardboard is the encyclopedic clipboard that you wish your game store owner had on hand. The site features a diverse array of writers with unique points of view and is a joy to read day after day.

My new goal is to keep it that way, providing convention coverage in the months ahead of Toy Fair, GAMA, and the Gathering, bringing you Nürnberg previews starting in December, and keeping the site as fun and as informative as ever.

I still plan to run Fun and Boardgames since the readership of these two sites has minimal overlap and I want to do what I can to keep bringing new players into this hobby. FAB takes only an hour a day, though, which means I’ll be spending most of my time on Boardgame News. What should I do with all that time? What have you wanted to see on BGN that hasn’t yet appeared? Are there features you want to see? Do you want more previews, more pictures, more podcasts, more publishers, or more of something that doesn’t start with P? Let me know in the comments section of this column or write me through the “Contacts” page to the left.

Rick’s gigantic plates of meat are indeed a tough act to follow, but I hope you’ll give me a chance and support the site as Boardgame News enters its second year. Good night, and good gaming to you all.

Join me next Tuesday when I talk about being an omnivore…

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