PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GOLD RUSH GAMES TO RELEASE BUSHIDO 3RD EDITION RPG
7/12/94
Gold Rush Games recently announced that they have reached an agreement with Paul Hume and Robert Charette, the designers of the Bushido roleplaying game, to publish an all new, revised, third edition of the game. The Bushido 3rd Edition Roleplaying Game is currently scheduled for a late 1996 release.
Bushido 3rd Edition will incorporate historical elements of the previous edition, but with more emphasis on the "chanbara," or samurai film, genre. Included in the core rule book will be an extensive overview of the culture, society, geography and political makeup of Nippon, as well as guidelines for advanced campaigns and experienced characters.
Bushido is set in the exciting world of Nippon, which is based loosely on the period of Japanese history known as the "warring states" period (15th to 16th century). The world of Nippon is populated by strange legendary and mystical beings, as well as powerful political figures, honorable samurai, as well as other dangerous and shadowy figures, such as the underworld yakuza and the nefarious ninja.
"The second edition of the game, published in 1981, has been out of print for over a decade," said Gold Rush Games president Mark Arsenault. "Of the few games that have been published in the medieval Japanese genre, Bushido is far and away the best. It still has a loyal following, to this day, evidenced by the various asian-based and historical roleplaying newsgroups on the Internet."
After the release of the core rule book, Gold Rush Games plans to release a number of support products, including sourcebooks, campaign books and adventure books. "We fully intend to support this game," Mark said.
On a related note, Gold Rush Games has begun seeking both talented authors and artists for the Bushido line. "We already have more than a dozen support books in the planning phase to follow the release of the core book. We need authors and artists who can write and illustrate those products."
Bushido 3rd Edition will offer an expanding campaign world for players to experience. 1996 will be a hot year for long time Bushido fans and newcomers alike. And 1997 will be even hotter!"
For additional information, contact Mark Arsenault at Gold Rush Games.
May 6th, 1996
For Immediate Release
An Open Letter To Bushido Fans From Gold Rush Games
We are writing this letter in response to concerns about the status of the Bushido 3rd Edition Roleplaying Game. We have been asked questions based on misconceptions, such as why we are no longer publishing the game and why we lost the license. (Neither of these things are true.) While it has always been our position that business dealings, especially disagreements between companies, should remain private, the growing number of comments and questions surrounding Bushido has prompted us to make this statement.
Fantasy Games Unlimited has made a claim of ownership to the publishing rights for Bushido. However, as we have previously stated publically, Gold Rush Games holds publishing rights to the Bushido game. Because of this disagreement about the publishing rights for Bushido, and the potential for future problems, we have handed the matter over to our attorney. We are hoping for a speedy resolution of this matter.
We would like to assure everyone that we have not lost the license to publish Bushido. Gold Rush Games has a signed licensing agreement with Paul Hume and Robert Charrette, the owners of Bushido. Gold Rush Games has every intention of publishing the Bushido 3rd Edition RPG, and we have scheduled it for release in 1997.
We would like to reiterate that it is not our desire to bring this matter into the public arena, but we feel it necessary to make clear our position on this matter, and to assure our fans, customers, retailers and distributors that we have no intention of cancelling production of the Bushido 3rd Edition line.
Respectfully,
Mark Arsenault President
July 16, 1996
GRG TO RELEASE SENGOKU
As you may be aware, Gold Rush Games had announced plans to publish a new edition of Bushido, rewritten and updated by Mark Arsenault and based on the work by the original authors Paul Hume and Robert Charrette. However, Scott Bizar (representing Fantasy Games Unlimited) threatened legal action. Although we believe we have clear title to the game, our interest is in producing games, not in pursuing legal action. Therefore, we've decided not to produce Bushido. Instead, we are designing a new game of Japanese roleplaying, tentatively titled Sengoku, which will be published in 1997.
"Sengoku" is the Japanese word for "warring states," referring to the tumultuous period of Japanese history between the 16th and 17th centuries. Sen goku is inspired by the popular Japanese samurai action movies (known as "chambara") and Japanese history. Flashing swordplay, daring feats of courage and honor are all staples of Sengoku. And Sengoku won't lack any of the "flavor" of the genre. We are making great efforts to capture the "look and feel" of the period, from the artwork to the overall design of the book. Also included will be more source material than you can shake a katana at! Tips on running adventures, rules for long term campaign-style play, mass combat rules, a flexible magic system and more.
"Sengoku is a big step forward," said Gold Rush president Mark Arsenault. "We're developing the system from the ground up so we have a great opportunity to create a game system that accurately reflects the chambara genre."
Japanese historians will also be thrilled with Sengoku. While there will be a certain fantasy element in the game, all of the traditions, terminology and equipment are drawn straight from 16th century Japan. Players will have the option of adventuring in the gritty, realistic feudal or Tokugawa Japan (such as the settings of Akira Kurosawa's legendary samurai films, such as Throne of Blood, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Ran) or in a fantastic, mythical Nippon, complete with mystical creatures and powerful kami!
Development is already under way on Sengoku, with contributions from Paul Hume. In addition, all of the supplement books GRG had originally planned to produce for Bushido 3rd Edition (like The Middle Kingdom, Shadows of Nippon, and Gaijin) are now being planned for Sengoku.
What's more, Gold Rush Games will be supporting Sengoku by a vairety of means, including a dedicated Sengoku web page and a free preview copy of Sengo ku in .PDF format (to be released next year).
So grab your dai-sho and tip your sake cup! Sengoku is coming in 1997. Roleplaying may never be the same.
GOLD RUSH GAMES ANNOUNCES AUTHORS
September 13, 1996
(Elk Grove, CA) Gold Rush Games, publishers of the Heroic Adventures line of licesed Hero System adventures, has announced the names of the authors assigned to several upcoming projects.
Greg Stolze has been assiged as author on the upcoming Usagi Yojimbo RPG (scheduled for release in December). Greg has a number of writing credits, including a supplement for Everway.
"Greg is a long-time fan of Usagi Yojimbo and a talented author," said Gold Rush president Mark Arsenault. "We're very excited to have him writing the Usagi book. I've seen portions of the manuscript and I am very pleased. The fans will be very happy with this book, whether they are Usagi comic collectors, gamers or both."
Gold Rush Games also announced the development team for Sengoku: Chambara Roleplaying in Fuedal Japan, due for release in Fall of 1997. The samurai roleplaying game is being jointly developed and written by Paul Hume, Dorian Davis and Mark Arsenault. The trio is currently developing the game system and background material.
"We're using the Fuzion game system for Sengoku," said Mark Arsenault, "but there are several of genre-specific rules that we need to develop. Fuzion is a great building block, but we need more to really flesh out the game and bring the rchambara 'feel' to the game."
Paul Hume is probably best known for his work on the Bushido (FGU) and Shadowrun (FASA) roleplaying games. Dorian Davis is a Japanese historian, presently residing in New Zealand.
For additional information, please contact Mark Arsenault at Gold Rush Games.
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