~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Fine Games for Players & Collectors | | 2078 Madrona St., North Bend, OR 97459-2143 USA | ~~~~~~~~ 541-756-4711 10am - 9pm PST M.Dean@FineGames.com ~~~~~~~~~ Quickie Game Update 12 December 2001 HO HO HO !!! Fine Games' Quickie Updates provide late breaking news to keep you up to date. Full details will follow in the next regular Update Newsletter. <<-------------------- Best viewed w/ fixed pitch font ----------------->> C O N T E N T S 1. Last Call (More or Less) on Christmas Shipments 2. End-of-Year Clearance Opportunities 3. Virus Alert 4. Synopsis of Major Industry Adjustments 5. Upcoming Increases in Shipping Charges 6. Holiday Closure Schedule CONTENT 1. This Friday, the 14 December, is about the last day for normal UPS shipments that are must arrive before Christmas, for customers on the eastern part of the US.Customers in the western US have more time. If you need delivery prior to Christmas, NOW is the time to place an order, and everything your order best be in stock. We will continue to ship in the manner you require, normal or expedited, through Friday, 21 December. (We close for the holidays after this time; see #5 below.) 2. As the winds of the gaming industry shift and shift again, we accumulate too many items that have fallen out of favor. Most are perfectly good games, mostly new and unblemished, but we would like to get rid of them BEFORE the end of the year for tax reasons. YOU can seize the day and grab some great buys by reviewing our End-of-Year Clearance Listing. Cut & paste this URL into your browser: http://www.finegames.com/text/cler_lqd.txt. This contains our current liquidation clearance listing of 307 items, mostly new, at the lowest prices you'll see. Help us out; we need to free up $ and space to carry other games. The only catch on this list is that your order must be PAID FOR AND SHIP by 21 Dec. No exceptions. As additional incentive, for each item on this list you order beyond the first, we will give you an additional $1 off. So, order two liquidation clearance items and another $1 off; order 4 items off this list and get another $3 off, etc. 3. VIRUS/WORM Alert Internet Viruses are endemic these days. Still, several worm viruses are making the rounds such that we receive them in large numbers from infected customers. We urge you to consider YOUR vulnerability. The W32BadTrans virus is targeted at Win9x machines. We have received literally dozens of emails from our customers PCs due to this virus in the last 2 weeks. The W32 Magistr and W32 SircamWorm viruses run a distant second. While simple to spot & remove, its still easier to avoid it by running a current anti-virus program. We strongly urge YOU to protect yourself by using anti-viral software. NOW. For more info on BadTrans, see: http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/vURL.cgi/nav108. 4. There have been a few minor changes in the wargaming industry. A fuller report will follow in a later newsletter, but here's the summary version: * Multi-Man Publishers bought the Gamers in September; the Gamers games will continue to be produced. They'll be distributed thru MMP. * XTR, publishers of Command Magazine, filed for bankruptcy in November. There will be no further issues or games, nor any refunds. They're history. * Zocchi Distributors, our favored distributor after Berkeley sold itself earlier this year, collapsed and liquidated its stock in November. We bought up all the games we could... * Games Research & Design (GRD) was sold to Mill Creek Ventures owned by the "answer man" for Europa game questions, and will relocate to Michigan. Ugly. 5. Both UPS and USPS have already announced rate increases to take effect at the beginning of next year. UPS announced a 3.5% increase, plus added fees. A host of other uncontrollable increases (like a 30% increase in electricity) add to this. So, Fine Games's shipping rates will likely increase by about $1 per shipment in 2002. 6. Fine Games will officially close after Friday, 21 Dec., for an annual vacation that extends into the new year. We promise to reopen fully no later than 7 January, and may be back much sooner. Regardless, we'll try to answer emails every few days during this period to keep you informed. We may be less attentive to voice mails, FYI. Hope your Holidays are happy ones, Michael Dean Fine Games Thanks, Michael Dean Fine Games ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FINE GAMES FOR PLAYERS & COLLECTORS The Best in New & Used Historical Gaming Index: Online Catalogs: Michael Dean (541) 756-4711 10am-9pm PST M.Dean@FineGames.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't have a PayPal account yet? Sign up for PayPal and earn a total of $7 in cash & credit.