Y2K's Most Influential People in Gaming for the year 2000!

With only 30 days before the release of Games Unplugged at your local retail store, we decided to give you a sneak preview of one of our feature articles. to make it interesting we split up the article and placed it on a few other rpg sites for you to explore and discover. So, on with the article!

Who would be on your list of 50 Most Influential People in Gaming for the year 2000?

Don't rack your brain too hard-most people can't even name 50 guys working in the industry. Whether you have a pretty good idea already or just curious, GAMES UNPLUGGED magazine has done the work for you. In the first issue, which just went to print and will be available in hobby stores everywhere on June 1st, you can find out just who were voted by our panel of insiders to be the kings and queens of the adventure gaming biz.

In that very issue, GAMES UNPLUGGED will also prepare you for Gen Con with a preview of August's top releases. (Does anyone know about the new Star Wars board game from Avalon Hill? You will if you read GU #1!) That, and a special feature on D&D3e, designer's notes on Hero Wars and Lost Colony, a ton of reviews, along with the all-new SnarfQuest by Larry Elmore, returning after a decade hiatus!

For those who can't wait, here are several names from the Influential People list. You can round up more by visiting any of the following sites: Games Unplugged, Gaming Outpost, Wounds Unlimited, and gamesunplugged.com (where we host a webzine of our own). Enjoy, and we'll see you the First of June!

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#5 John Zinser

John started Alderac Entertainment Group along with Jolly Blackburn in the early nineties to publish a magazine called Shadis. Although Jolly has left and Shadis is no more, AEG contines to dominate the RPG market.

How Will He Fare Next Year? John has the ability to make lemonade from lemons. He'll enjoy his lengthy stay in the top 10, we're sure.

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#17. Kevin Siembieda

Kevin owns and runs Palladium Games. His RPG books are steady sellers and always on time.

Next Year? Refusal to play politics keeps Kevin from ascending to a higher rung-meaning another teens-to-mid 20's finish for him.

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#22. Dave Wallace

The owner of The Fantasy Shop, Inc., Dave has served as the Chairman of GAMA Retail Division for the past two years and is a very active small business education consultant and lecturer.

Next Year? As long as he is with GAMA, a 20's placing is assured.

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#25 Mike Searle

Mike is the editor of Inquest Gamer magazine. As one of the leading publications for collectible card games, Inquest Gamer stays hip with irreverent contents, hilarious features, and cool covers that keep the gamers coming back for more. (The price guide in the back of the mag dosen't hurt sales, either.)

Next Year? Being an editor is a hard job, and keeping the job is even harder, but Mike has maintained a wonderful standard for Inquest for a few years now. He needs only to stay employed and for the CCG market to remain hot to shuffle his way upward.

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#34. Jonathan Tweet

Jonathan Tweet is a senior designer for WotC's RPG Division. This veteran led a stellar team in the creation of Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition.

Next Year? His fate (on this list, at least) rests heavily upon the industry's reception of D&D3e.

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#44 James Wallis

Why? James Wallis runs Hogshead Publishing, the UK's largest RPG publisher, and is the designer of games such as Once Upon A Time and The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

Next Year? A creative hard worker who's on the way up the ladder.

Well, that was your sneak preview. If you want more check out these other sites.

Games Unplugged (www.gamesunplugged.com)

RPGnet (www.rpg.net)

Wounds Unlimited (www.woundsunlimited.com)