| Setting
up for the show - Thursday & Friday |
| The show starts out with a big
room, a stacked wall of wooden tables, tablecloths, pipe, drapes and full
coolers of beer. These are the tools that a dedicated group of show
volunteers and organizers use to make Saturday and Sunday happen. Here,
Sean Kelly checks the tablecloths that Dave Giarrusso is placing. Noting a
slightly lower back-to-front ratio, Sean later ripped ALL of Dave's
tablecloths off and made him start over. CGE organizers demand perfection. |
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Atari2600.com made their first
appearance as a vendor at CGE. Jerry Greiner (sitting) offers sagely
advice to the Cody's as they set their massive display up on the table. I
called Jerry G "Yoda" and had my kneecaps cut off by what seemed
to be a light saber hidden in Jerry's cloak. |
| This was the last time the
floor was going to look empty, so I took this pic. In less than 24 hours
this area would be teeming with rabid gamers. In less than 12 hours I
would be a drunken, drooling idiot. Hindsight is 20/20. |
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Rob Mundo (front) and Brian
Mundo preview the soon-to-be-unveiled Ms. Space Fury game released by
Digital Press. Rob: "I'm gonna go PULP FICTION on yo' ass!"
Brian: "You beat me in a DREAM and you'd better wake up and
apologize!" |
| Rob Fulop scans through the
Digital Press Collector's Guide. Noting that we forgot to mention that he
wrote the Atari 400 version of Space Invaders, he drop kicked the book
across the room and put his foot through the television set. Our
apologies, Mr. Fulop. PS you owe us $425. |
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| The
Alumni DINNER - Friday |
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This has been the highlight
for me for the last two shows. Meeting, greeting, and hosting for the
"Alumni", classic gaming's founders and creators. The three of
us give our little speech to the guests and promptly move along to see who
can drink the most before the show starts the next day. Here, John Hardie
posts the CGE mascot (Corona beer) on the podium as he addresses the
guests. |
| Prior to starting my part of
the presentation, I asked all of the guests to smile for this shot. I
noticed that David Crane (way back to left) and Don Bluth (second table
back to the right) blinked so I had to re-do the shot. Actually, it took
about 36 "takes" until I was satisfied that everyone was smiling
and no one was blinking. |
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Awards are given to
acknowledge outstanding achievements. Some of these are given by this
professional Soccer referee we had flown in from Brazil. Actually, he is
none other than Walter Day of Twin Galaxies, the most complete source for
world records of video games you'll ever find. |
| Oh boy. You can tell it's
PARTY TIME when John's eyes get like this. We did our annual
"crashing of the parties" late on Friday night. Though it may
not have been as big a surprise that we showed up this year, the sheer
number of people who joined us sure had to be. I couldn't get an accurate
count (mainly due to alcohol consumption) but I'd estimate we brought an
entourage of over 16 people to the bash. |
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Several show alumni and media
people joined us as well. John poses with his beer AND Susan McBride (who
did the graphics for the arcade versions of Crystal Castles and Gauntlet,
among others). |
| Our crowd was a little silly.
Here, Van Burnham (far right) tries to outdo Jayson "X-Box Man"
Hill (back turned next to her) by challenging him to a "who can stuff
the most Cheetos in their mouth at once" contest. The scene got ugly
when I barked out a Mythicon joke and Van launched the entire contents of
her mouth at Next Gen's Blake Fischer (in blue). Blake was still cleaning
tiny cheesy bits out of his hair on Saturday when we met up with him again
at the show. |
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pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
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As soon as the food and beer
were gone, so were we. Scott Stilphen (eating) and Dave Giarrusso
(drinking) had just finished checking for hidden beers in the bathroom
when the decision was made to move on to the next event. Unfortunately I
don't have pictures from the "next event" as I believe there are
some lawyers who would like to get their hands on them, and we can't have
that. |
| Showtime!
- Saturday |
| 9am Saturday, the doors open
to the foot-stomping tunes of "8-Bit Weapon". This LA-based
group sounds like your Commodore 64 remixed for a reason. They USE a
Commodore 64 in their music! Great stuff. |
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pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
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There were over 40 coin-op
machines to play at this year's Expo, including some really unusual ones
like Circus, Mappy, and Cliff Hanger, which you just never see in arcades
any more. Special thanks to Blast From the Past, Tim Arnold, and Steven
Hertz for donating machines to play at the show. |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
| Saturday was a busy day. We
projected over 1000 attendees on Saturday alone! |
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pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
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The back aisle of the show is
usually the place where you can get some breathing room, but not this
year. Not on Saturday, anyway. It was wall-to-wall people everywhere.
This, of course, is a good thing. More people to talk to, trade with, and
play against. |
| When creators collide: Seth
Sternberger (from the band 8-Bit Weapon) explains to Jamie Fenton (creator
of Gorf, Bally Astrocade, and Macromedia Director) how to hit that perfect
note. |
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Steven Hertz donated a dozen
arcade games to the show. Where can you still go to play Cliff Hanger,
Astron Belt, and Thayer's Quest anymore? Okay, at Steven's house. But
where else, hm? |
| Steve Woita (right), designer
of the Atari 2600 games Taz, Quadrun, and Asterix among others, shares an
intimate moment with his wife Susan (left) reading through a steamy column
in the latest Digital Press when they are suddenly "caught in the
act" here. Mr. Woita later drop kicked the pile of issues across the
room. |
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Ah, the Digital Press booth.
Isn't it festive? For our 10-year anniversary we had a brand new
ColecoVision game to play (and buy), t-shirts to wear, a limited edition
CD-ROM to peruse, and a mascot to throw things at. Did you see Space Fury
guy walking around? Keep reading... |
| Saturday night, 8-Bit Weapon
plays to a full house. One of their most unusual orginal songs (and one
that kind of sticks in your head as I'm finding out now), is Venus, which
has an operatic vocal performed par excellence by Bridget O'Rell. Bridget
and Seth (in Blue) are an item, by the way. I found this out when trying
to peel off Bridget's cellophane and subsequently taking an elbow to the
jaw. |
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Seth plays off the incident
and shows me his modified Commodore 64 used to create some of the nifty
sounds the band puts out. |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
| After the swap meet we held an
auction where all kinds of goodies went to the highest bidder. It was fun
being on this side of the bidding and not having to compete with the likes
of Marc Oberhauser, Jerry Greiner, or Ian Baronofsky. |
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pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
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Note the DP guys once again
sneaking their way into the front of the crowd. That's Jeff Cooper in the
front row on the right, and Al Backiel just behind the CGE mascot on the
table (the bottle of Corona again), with Ian Baronofsky sitting right next
to him. |
| Showtime!
- Sunday |
| Plenty of great homebrew games
were available, including Joe Grand's excellent SCSIcide. Unfortunately,
Joe would only take Plaza Hotel casino tokens as payment. We understand he
has a bit of a habit. |
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pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
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Space Fury guy checks to make
sure that he is properly represented in the game. Shortly after this
picture was taken, he drop kicked the cartridge across the room and had to
be restrained by Tony Bueno (left) and Al Backiel (right). |
| Digital Press hosted a Classic
Video Game Jeopardy game on Sunday. Joe Alex Trebek Santulli hosted and
really "worked the crowd" into a frenzy! Extra security was
brought in to prevent Joe's many fans from rushing the stage. Extra thanks
to the Vegas SAR team for finding that one groupie in the ceiling panels. |
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pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
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TOO.. MANY... POSSIBILITIES...
I can only hope this picture of Matt Reichert, Lee Krueger, and Dan Blitz
isn't used for evil purposes. By the way, this picture is free to
distribute on the 'net without prior permission from Digital Press. |
| Lots of media coverage at the
show this year. That's Adam Sessler and Kate Botello of TechTv, hosts of
"Extended Play", a weekly gaming show. They're getting some tips
from Keith Robinson (left) on outdoor cooking and just hats in general. |
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Oooh a camera crew! What am I
doing on THIS side of the action?! |
| Brian Prescott selling his two
games, Crazy Valet (CGE Edition) and Vault Assault at the DP Booth,
unaware that his luggage is being rifled through by Kevin Staszkow (left)
and Ian Baronofsky (immediately right of him). Ian finds AC/DC underwear,
which is later raffled off at Tim Arnold's booth to a lucky but
unsuspecting fan. |
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pic courtesy Joe Grand |
pic courtesy Joe Grand |
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As the show's close draws
near, Space Fury guy gets a few songs in with 8-Bit Weapon. He can't sing
very well, but boy can he conquer a planet. |
| Another show come and gone...
but just WAIT until you see what we have planned for next year! Pictured
here (left to right): Brian Mundo, Kevin Staszkow, Scott Stilphen, John
Hardie, Space Fury guy, Joe Santulli, Sean Kelly, Brian Mundo. |
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