4dventure Banner: This banner greeted you upon your entrance to Gen Con Indy. Hummm... I wonder what they could be announcing. (It didn't help that apparently the Wizards of the Coast website jumped the gun and changed to its D&D fourth edition mode the morning before the announcement)

Gaymer Guy: This cutie was one of several gaymers showing their pride this year! These shirts, worked up by a group of Chicago Gaymers, looked awesome and all the boys wearing them were great models! If anyone knows where to get one of these, drop me a line and I'll pass on the info.

Beholder: This mustachioed beholder presided over the Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition announcement. I’ll have more news on that later, though.

Bella Sarah Booth: The first castle I've ever seen put the GayGamer Castle to shame, the Bella Sarah booth was pretty, pink, and SWAMPED. Turns out little girls have been waiting years to get in on the TCG craze.

The Eye of Judgement: The infamous Eye of Judgment! Here you can see it at work, making the monsters come alive over their cards. Very neat technology, though the game beneath the makeup seemed kind of simple.

Gleemax: The heckling alien entity behind Wizards of the Coast's online push. This boy and Mother Brain need to hook up.

Gygax and Planet Stories: The granddaddy of D&D hung out at the Paizo Publishing for a good long while, showing off the first book in the new Planet Stories line of vintage fantasy and sci-fi. The first book in the line: The Anubis Murders by Gygax himself. Paizo staffers Josh Frost (sitting) and Erik Mona (standing) attend.

Gygax Signing: One canny gamer dug up an original D&D boxed set and had Gygax sign it. I'm so jealous.

Monarch's Henchman: Best. Costume. Ever. And the dude sounded Just Like Henchman #21.

Starcraft Station: Blizzard was at the show and brought Wrath of the Lich King and Starcraft 2 with them to play! I spent about a half-hour on Starcraft 2 and guess what: It's Awesome! Nukes for the win!

Starcraft Board Game: Fantasy Flight Games had their own version of Starcraft, this time in board game form. Not so much tactical combat, your armies move from planet to planet doing battle. It's got hundreds of pieces. I covet this.

WotC ENnie: At this year’s ENnies Wizards of the Coast won the fan choice award for Best Publisher. A surprised crew of WotC attendees, led by perhaps slightly buzzed brand manager Scott Rouse, took the stage and humbly accepted the award. It was a surprisingly humanizing moment where the WotC crew acknowledged they had made some unpopular decisions this past year but assured the gaming public they wanted to see all the smaller companies do well and have a part in fourth edition. In the back you can see WotC employees Christopher Perkins and Rodney Thompson. Oh, and the ENnies banner kept falling off the podium.

There's still lots more to see and talk about from the show, but I'll get onto that a bit later!