View Full Version : Cartoon Action Hour goes hardcopy!


CynthiaCM
10-07-02, 09:54 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Eastchester, New York
October 7, 2002

Z-MAN GAMES TO PUBLISH FIRST RPG

Z-Man Games, Inc. announces today that it will publish its first roleplaying game, called Cartoon Action Hour. Originally designed and electronically published by Spectrum Game Studios, it will be expanded and released as a 192 page softcover book.

Cartoon Action Hour is a roleplaying game system that allows players to create characters in the many different worlds of 80's action cartoons, a fact that appealed to Zev Shlasinger, president of Z-Man Games. "I am a fan of the 80's style action cartoons - I even wrote an episode of the Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers - and with 'retro-toons' being hot these days, it seemed a good choice as the first RPG we publish."

While there are no recognizable licenses involved with the game as of yet, you can still create characters such as giant transforming robots, furry warriors, barbarians with magic swords, paramilitary forces, and so on. A GM develops a series for players to play in, and each game session is an episode in that series.

Cynthia Celeste Miller, president of Spectrum Game Studios says, "We achieved great success with Cartoon Action Hour as a PDF, but lacked the funds to produce a hardcopy of the game, so we decided to search for another company to do it. We found out that many companies do not accept outside submissions - that is until we discovered Z-Man Games. They've been extremely flexible and cooperative with our goals and ideals. We've really enjoyed working with them and look forward to a long, pleasant partnership."

Meanwhile, back at Z-Man Games, Shlasinger finishes by saying, "I think people are going to be surprised at how flexible this system is, while retaining the flavor of the various 80's style action cartoons."

Cartoon Action Hour is scheduled for release in February, according to Spectrum game designer, Eddy Webb. "It's really two books in one - the complete game system, which is massively expanded from its original electronic release, as well as a thorough series sourcebook for GMs and players to dive into called 'Warriors of the Cosmos'." In keeping the game to its roots, it will be supported with a quarterly PDF magazine called After These Messages. Other books in the works include Kids' Action Hour, a sourcebook with simplified character generation rules and ideas on how to play the humor-based cartoons of the 1980's.

Z-Man Games was founded in 1999 and has released such Origins Award-nominated products as the Shadowfist CCG and the B-movie card game line, which includes Grave Robbers from Outer Space. In 2002, they released the first of a new type of game, the playmark book game called, Warchon. For more information, please email zmangames@shadowfist.com

Zev Shlasinger, President
Z-Man Games, Inc.
http://www.zmangames.com

Mary
10-07-02, 05:39 PM
Congratulations :) The game sounds cool! I enjoy RPGs. I'll check your site out.

Johnny Z
10-07-02, 11:44 PM
Great news, Cindi! Guess I gotta go bug my local gaming store come February. :D

So is there any new stuff in addition to what appeared in the PDF? Unless you've got TONS of cool artwork, 192 pages is a bit much space for the original text. ;)

CynthiaCM
10-08-02, 10:37 AM
Thanks, Mary and Jon! :)

There is indeed a lot more material added. More art, more optional rules and basically a sourcebook crammed in too. Hehe.