First, I would like to thank the PR folks with GAMA for helping my registration go so smoothly. Second, I am not even going to try to estimate how big the crowd is compared to last year. It seems like more, but it also seems that I'm always wrong. I have been here a few hours and the exhibit hall is just about to open - plenty of folks in line - but I have already learned a few things:

• Third World is bringing out a Tom Jolly card game called Necromaster in the fall. The tagline is "play with dead things."

• WizKids is selling more damned Galacti, damn their eyes, and are also giving out sample Pirates of the Spanish Main ships. I have no idea if the game's for sale here, but I can attest that the things are damned hard to put together on two hours' sleep.

• Games Quarterly has piles and piles of their first print issue on a table in my hotel's lobby. My hotel is not conjoined to the con, but is actually closer to most of the action than hotels that are. A lot more events seem to be taking place "off property" this year, including some "sleepover" events in the different hotels.

• Sleepy sleep sleep.