Classic Gaming Expo 2K5 Photos and Ramblings

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By William Cassidy

Last year I wrote up an article about Classic Gaming Expo (CGE) 2004, replete with my thoughts on the show and the best pictures my el cheapo digital camera was capable of dredging up. So this year, I thought I'd do it again. Same show, same layout, same camera... but if CGE has taught me anything, it's that repetition is the sincerest form of flattery. I think. Anyway, here's an article. It's a bit more bloggy than last year, so beware.

From the upper floors of the Hyatt, you could see San Francisco Bay and even watch planes land at the International Airport. Disappointingly, none of them fired 3-way homing missiles or picked up floating power-up capsules upon descent.

This is the view of the Atrium level at the heart of the Hyatt Regency. Many rooms overlooked the Atrium, so that guests could gaze upon the hotel deli and dream of $8 turkey sandwiches.

This is just a general shot of the show floor that I snapped in an idle moment after a whirlwind session of Bonk's Adventure. The Messiah booth (makers of NEW NES hardware) is in the forefront; Digital Press's is behind Messiah.

My CGE experience was somewhat different this year since I had an "inside" job for the first time. Since I came up with Chris Neiman, the guy who sets up the Intellivision portion of the Museum, I signed on as a member of the Museum staff. Chris and I set up the Inty portion of the Museum, about 95% of which is from Chris's personal collection. Seriously, Chris is the Intellivision MAN. You can't begin to imagine all the Inty stuff he has. Chris has Set up the Intellivision portion of the Museum for years, so he's got it down to a science. He really did most of the work; I mostly just carried boxes around.

This Sylvania table is the closest thing to an Intellivision store kiosk currently in collector hands. You know you're a hopeless case when you think a logo-emblazoned table is cool. Just call me hopeless, then.

Where else but the CGE Museum can you see not only a boxed Atari Video Music, but a framed Video Music advertising poster? It's totally groovy, or mondo, or whatever kids used to call it in the '70s.

A Vectrex display kiosk in the Museum, complete with working Vectrex and boxed Veccy carts! I want this.

My CGE highlight happened on Friday while we were setting up. I was kind of just kicking around, waiting to see if Chris needed my help with anything, when Museum coordinator Larry comes up and asks my help moving something heavy. Turns out that the person who needs help is Al Alcorn, and the thing he needs help moving is the original Pong machine. Yeah, that one. Andy Capp's bar, overflowing coin box, the whole bit. So together with Mr. Alcorn and another DPer whose name I don't remember (sorry!), I ended up got to carrying in The Original Pong, all the time freaking out that I'm going to drop it or otherwise damage it irreparably. We brought it in OK, though. Y'know, I'm just a weak computer programmer so heavy lifting isn't exactly my forte, but when it's something like that I don't mind. Moving Pong #1 was an unexpected honor. Thanks for the opportunity, Larry.

THE Pong machine. I helped carry this into the Museum, and I'm likely to be bragging about it for the rest of my life.

Al Alcorn, creator of Pong, stands next to the machine that (really) started it all. Thank God I didn't drop it.

At one point, the Odyssey Museum display got into a fistfight with the Pong machine over who infringed on whose copyright. Pixels flew everywhere.

Incidentally, Larry deserves a big hand for coordinating all the Museum setup and storage every year. He spent nearly all his time answering questions and arranging security and running home to raid his collection to fill gaps in the Museum displays. His chipper yet sarcastic facade never once wavered, although I got the feeling he was near suicide several times during the weekend. Glad you hung in there, Mr. Anderson.

SMS treasures at the Museum. The thing in the front is a store demo unit, or a big postal scale – I forget which.

Atari Stunt Cycle and Video Pinball: '70s video entertainment at its finest.

Classic video game books in the Museum. I want these.

It was great to finally meet some of the folks who I'd only known as online forum handles before. Drexel923, Lady Jaye, PDF, DrWily008... I could go on. I'm a bit introverted by nature but I made more of an effort to be outgoing this year. My main regret is that I kept breaking my word about where I was going to be! I assured Lady Jaye and Cav I'd be at the Digital Press (DP) party, but I couldn't make it because the group I went to dinner with wanted to go sightseeing in San Francisco, and I didn't make it back until the hour was too late and I was too tired. Then, on Sunday, I told everyone I'd go to the DP Sizzler dinner, but that didn't work out because I had to break down the Museum and didn't finish until it was too late. So my apologies everyone, I wasn't trying to avoid you, it just kinda worked out that way.

Joust and Scramble attract throngs of admirers while poor Donkey Kong Jr. languishes alone and unplayed.

Intellivision Madness: Super Pro Gifting

On Sunday at the Intellivision booth, Keith Robinson started tossing unsold Coleco handhelds into the crowd. Chaos ensued.

Just think: most of the games in this photo were considered antiques before this kid was even born. Feeling old yet?

This year, I was really struck by the dichotomy of the whole classic gaming hobby/show thing. On the one hand, it's all about games. Fun things. Things you enjoy. Yet, the show is largely about work. There's a lot of setup and coordination (that I had a VERY small hand in this year). Many of the dealers make their livings based on the sale of classic games, so they are naturally concerned with supply, demand, pricing and so on. Nearly everybody is very passionate about games and there's sometimes a lot of vitriol over whether this guy is hoarding ROMs, or if that guy is charging too much for that cart, or if these people are hurting the hobby by releasing that game, etc. Taken together, all that work and effort and concern tends to get in the way of the whole point of the show in the first place: having fun with old video games. I can really understand why the organizers want to take an extra year off to recharge, and maybe to find "the fun" again.

John Hardie holds up one of the Boxes O' ~~Crap~~ Mystery at the CGE Auction. Not many know this, but hardy Mr. Hardie was a 98 lb, 4' 2" weakling before finding a Mushroom in one of these.

At the CGE Auction, Messiah's Carrie Strahle holds aloft the Golden Mario Idol, found beneath a desert ziggurat guarded by ferocious Chain Chomps. It sold for $260. That's 1,040 games of Defender, people!

"And from on high, the Lord did bestow upon the faithful a Miracle. A miraculous keyboard that interfaced with their NES units. And the people rejoiced."

I spoke with Joe on Friday, and I got the feeling that he feels a little bad about canceling the show next year. Maybe he thinks he's letting us down, but he shouldn't feel that way. He and the others have done a LOT of work to keep the show going, and they deserve a break. Take all the time you need. We'll be there when the show returns.

This table at the back of the Museum was dedicated to advertising standees and unusual promo items. I love this kind of stuff – it really recalls the era in which these games were made.

You have to wonder, did Atari Basketball ever really challenge Kareem, or was he just being modest?

These Tron and Battlezone posters sat next to the Museum entrance and were easy to overlook. My eyes, ever attuned to all things Tron, spotted them immediately.

But I don't mean to imply that this show was NOT fun – heck no! I think I had a better time at this year's show than ever before. So many great games. I mean, here's a quick list of the games I played over the weekend:

Arcade: Pleiades, Spectar, Scramble, Asteroids Deluxe, Q*bert's Qubes, Space Firebird, Astro Blaster, Ms. Pac-Man, Mouse Trap, Defender, Millipede, Donkey Kong 3, Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
Vectrex: Art Master
2600: Vanguard, Ixion (unreleased proto)
O2: Pick Axe Pete, P.T. Barnum's Acrobats, Mr. Roboto (new homebrew)
Intellivision: Snafu, Skiing, Tennis
TG16: Bonk's Adventure
SMS: Kenseiden
Saturn: Bust-A-Move 2
CD-i: Hotel Mario
NES: 1942, Punch-Out!!

And that's just what I can remember. It's but a tiny fraction of the games that were available.

I'd been waiting 22 years to see a working Targ machine. This one actually contained Spectar, Targ's sequel, but close enough.

This beautiful Pleiades cabinet could have been mine for just $995. Believe me, I was tempted.

Virtual Boy: all its graphics are red, it gives you eyestrain, you have to get into an uncomfortable position just to play it... why it never caught on is beyond me.

Mr. Roboto is a new Odyssey² homebrew, so I'm all over that. Between Jarett (PackRatVG), Earl (PDF) and I you had about the most collective O2 excitement you'll ever see concentrated into that one room. Mr. Roboto plays like a cross between Archon and Tron Deadly Discs – believe it! It's really, really good. I'm so glad that Packrat is around to support the small O2 homebrew scene. Jarett is a nice guy, but I too was surprised by how young he is. Or is that how old I am? Anyway, I beat Jarett in the one game we played, so I guess there's something to be said for 25 years of O2 experience.

Ted Szczypiorski's Mr. Roboto, the newest Odyssey² homebrew, received its first public demonstration on Sunday. Domo arigato, Mr. Szczypiorski.

Jenny and Alex boldly proclaimed their love on the Type & Tell screen, but they probably didn't count on my splashing photos of it all over the Internet.

The addition of tabletops to "free play console row" was welcome, because it reminded you how not fun they are. Then you could save your money for something important, like Hotel Mario for the CD-i.

I'm actually pretty good at reining in my spending and this year was no different. I picked up Bust-A-Move 2 (Saturn) and Puzzle Bobble (Super Famicom) for the wife, Famicom Binary Land for me, some miscellaneous manuals, NorthWest Classic Games Enthusiasts' DVD of "How to Beat Home Video Games," an N64 memory card and that was about it. I inched ever closer toward deciding to buy a TurboDuo, but my inherent cheapness won out yet again. It won't last, I'm sure. My biggest "score" was a gift from my friend Ben, who gave me his old PlayStation 2. He doesn't need it since he uses an import console now, and he knew I'd probably never get one on my own, so he gave me his out of generosity, and to spread the gospel of Gradius V. What a fine fellow.

The keynotes, as always, were interesting and instructive. I've heard many of these guys speak before, but it's always a treat. My favorite moment was when one of the Imagic guys (I forget which) brought out the original model for the Star Voyager spaceship and presented it to the game's programmer. It had been lost in his attic for years, but he finally found it and brought it to the show. In the end, that's what I really love about CGE – its ability to pull all these old treasures out of their hiding places and give them the spotlight once again.

The Star Voyager model, freshly unearthed from an Imagic attic.

Game journalism legend Bill "Electronic Games" Kunkel shares pearls of wisdom with Odyssey² and science fiction soundtrack legend Earl "Phosphor Dot Fossils" Green. That's a lotta legends.

The Museum included lots of cool Vectrex goodies, including unusual and prototype hardware. I want... ah, you get the idea.

I'm already looking forward to CGE 2007. Two years is a long time to wait, but I'll survive, somehow.