I have now started the Gen Con 2014 Preview...
• Speaking of USAopoly, while the publisher was demoing and selling new releases Tapple and CrossWays at Gen Con 2013, it had a number of other future releases on display, including Risk: Plants vs. Zombies, a two-player-only game due out September 2013 that features a double-sided game board and three play modes: mission objectives, tower defense, and total domination. Nice touches include the brain-shaped playing area and the stupid funny tagline: "Get ready to soil your plants!"
Other late 2013 releases include Monopoly: The Walking Dead - Survival Edition, Risk: The Walking Dead - Survival Edition, and Monopoly: My Little Pony. BleedingCool.com posted details of these first two titles in June 2013, and while Monopoly: TWD sounds like a straight port, Risk: TWD incorporates the undead into gameplay, putting walkers on the board to provide another obstacle for everyone in addition to the living players.
As for Monopoly: My Little Pony, well, I guess My Little Pony just continues to be a thing for a decent-sized percentage of the population as the My Little Pony: Collectible Card Game is also in the offing, due out November 2013 from Enterplay, LLC and apparently available for demo games during Gen Con 2013. Dang! That's yet another thing I missed, seeing only the banner for the game in a post-midnight stroll through the open gaming area. For a description of the game and a disturbingly shaky video demonstration, head to this MLP:CCG first impressions report on Everfree.
• To return to "normal" games for a bit – and of course I use the word "normal" to mean "not normal at all but more likely to tweak BGG readers in a good way" – unbeknownst to me U.S. publisher Cryptozoic Entertainment unveiled DC Comics Deck-Building Game: Heroes Unite during the middle of Gen Con 2013 to show it off and let people play demo games. Learning about this on Tuesday, Aug. 20 means that I can't show off any pictures, but I can provide this prod for those at the con who did play. Perhaps they can tell you more about what's included in this Q4 2013 release, which can be played as a standalone game or combined with the original DC Comics Deck-Building Game. The heroes included in the set, by the way, are Shazam!, Hawkman, Red Tornado, Nightwing, Black Canary, Batgirl, and Booster Gold, with Starfire being available as a preorder bonus from CZE or a brick-and-mortar game store.