Name your CGE "moments"

[Starcade]

I made this topic because I want to know everything there is to know about the show, because from what I hear from DP, this show 0wnz, and I just wanted people to tell their special stories about the show, like an extra rare item bought, trades completed, funny stories, ect. Thanks everyone!

[digitalpress]

Here's a unique one. Not a reason to go to CGE, but a very vivid "moment".

It's CGE 1999 and I'm standing at my booth, peddling DP Guide 5. I had the opportunity to meet several game designers who I was proud to share the book's contents with ("Hey, Mr. Crane! We think Dragster is one of your finest and most underappreciated games!"). Along walks one Mr. Joe DeCuir, who at the time I really didn't know by name.

He introduces himself as one of the "early Atari designers" and begins to flip through the book; I ask which "early Atari titles" he worked on and he states "Combat" and "Video Olympics". Cool, eh?

Not really.

He opens the book first to "Combat", where an early error in our information showed that Larry Kaplan designed the game. Here is where I discovered first-hand that this was not the case.

"Kaplan had NOTHING to do with the game", DeCuir says.

"No? Well... heh. Our book is ONLY as good as the information we've gathered, sir! Thank you, and we shall correct it".

He names the group that ACTUALLY designed the game (which includes himself) and as I'm scribbling the names down in my perpetual "list of things to fix in the guide", he thumbs over to the Video Olympics entry in the book. He notices at about the same time I do... there's one of them there "unsmiley faces" next to it.

Allow me to quote the "editor's comment" that Joe DeCuir, designer of Video Olympics READ aloud in front of me, the editor:

It was called “Pong” at one time, and these “olympics” include hundreds of variations on Pong, basically. I guess they couldn’t do a pong version of track & field events, and who can forgive them for leaving out the equestrian or bicycling? The heartless bastards! Hey, it’s just a few squares moving around, and a slightly smaller square moving between them, so don’t get on my case about these numbers. [Gr: 1, So: 1, Ga: 4, Ov: 2].

Well there really wasn't anything I could say that would undig the hole I had dug for myself here, so I simply said "that's MY opinion - not the world at large". Then I think I crawled under the table, which suddenly felt like part of a tiny prison just for me, right there at CGE 1999.

But you know what? Here's how cool DeCuir was.

"So... would you like me to sign something for you?"

My eyes darted around for something to sign and naturally I didn't have a SINGLE fucking COMBAT cartridge around... but there was the show program. It was Len Herman's, who was sharing the booth with me. Len, if you're reading this and I never told you, this is how Joe DeCuir's signature ended up in your show program.

I have LOTS of CGE stories, from a vendor, organizer, and even attendee point of view. But I'll let someone else add something here next!

[Sniderman]

Personal CGE moments, eh? OK, here are some highlights:

CGE 2001 - my first one:
- Meeting Don Bluth and having him sign my Space Ace DVD. I think I said to him, and I quote, "Guh." It's funny, I don't get tongue-tied around celebrities (I've met a few), but personal heroes floor me.
- That was the year I brought the Venture II-Treasure Chest editions. Sold 19 to friends - for $20 each as I remember. Placed number 20 up for auction later that night, expecting a similar ending bid. Ended at $240 or so. About crapped myself. And used that money to buy much more CGE-related materials.
- Played Cliff Hanger for the first time since 1986. Over and over again for nearly an hour with no one waiting to play. For free yet.
- Sat in on Joe Decuir's Atari 2600 Programming seminar. Learned a ton of applicable stuff for many projects.
- Helped man the Classic Gamer Magazine booth (RIP) and enjoyed BSing with the gang there and those who stopped by.

CGE 2002 - last year:
- The first night, I went up to where the CGE dinner was wrapping up, just to give my hellos to everyone. Joe taps me on the shoulder and I turn around. I'm face to face with David Crane - creator of damn near every cool Activision game ever made. Joe introduces me to yet another childhood hero. I say "Guh" for the second year in a row. Dammit.
- Had my wife with me. It was great to finally see her somewhat excite about my hobby. Plus, she actually played the sit-down Night Driver game - a game from her childhood.
- The Homebrew Section of CGE Museum was all mine. Happy to help stock the museum.
- Saw the beta of Dragon's Lair 3D months before anyone else did. Ha! Sadly, still waiting for the PS2 release.
- Dig Dug Drop.
- Live concert by The Minibosses. Please, in the name of all that is holy, tell me they'll be there again this year.

I could go on, but these were personal "Yeah doggies!"

[Starcade]

Guys, these are fantastic, please keep em coming!!

[retrogmr]

CGE 1999:
- Having the pleasure of being recruited into the DP crew
- Watching John Hardie start tossing carts into a pile in front of the CGE Services booth the last night of the show selling everything for 25 cents each. I personally think this one was a much more dangerous situation than the Dig Dug Drop last year. Somehow a Berenstain Bears ended up in that stack :P

CGE 2002:
- Peddling NES/SNES/Genesis games at the DP booth like I had some clue about 8 and 16-bit gaming. Thanks to that nameless guy who kept me occupied and interested with an in-depth discussion about why the Turbo Express is such a cool portable. Also spent much time debating Beavis and Butthead with Dave G aka Arcade Antics.
- Getting to help set up the museum. How often do you get to hold hundreds of prototypes, one of a kinds and pieces of history in your hands?
- Dancing around like a white guy in a Pac-Man costume to the Minibosses... wait, that white guy in the Pac-Man costume WAS me
- Not having a drink sprayed in my face as a result of a Daphne vs. Kimberly debate (inside joke)
- Meeting so many of the cool people that make this forum a great place to hang out.

Lots of hard work, but a ton of fun. It's a must-attend event!

[portnoyd]

- Live concert by The Minibosses. Please, in the name of all that is holy, tell me they'll be there again this year.

Agreed.

My favorite is bringing my Bart vs The Space Mutants cart up to Gary Kitchen for him to sign, and him groaning "Oh god! I thought no one remembered this."

Hehe, wait til I come this year armed with Captian Planet. And the fact that I played through the whole damn game when I was younger.

dave

[MegaManFan]

Meeting Don Bluth, and getting his autograph.
Meeting Al Alcorn, and getting his autograph.
Meeting Don Daglow, and getting his autograph.

Hmmm.. anybody sense a pattern here?

I also remember going home with about $250 worth of stuff - complete in the box shrinkwrapped Atari, ColecoVision, and Intellivision games (most of which I've opened). I even went to Joe's Atari2600.com booth and bought a loose copy of Rubik's Cube for $50, and my wife bought me a pair of Sega Master System 3-D glasses CIB at another table for $40.

I remember meeting fellow collectors, hobbyists, and enthusiasts. I remember Jerry Jessop letting me post with his Computer Space. I remember playing Wizard of Wor and Super Pac-Man until my fingers turned blue. I remember being stunned to see a working Space Ace, and how much nostalgia it brought back to play it again.

I also remember nearly being trampled in the Dig-Dug Drop.

I do remember meeting Cassidy Nolen and drooling over his rare carts.

Too many memories to name them all really. All I can say about the CGE is that it was a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to go again!

[Anonymous]

CGE 2k2 (the only one I attended)

- The Pre Show Party at Atari Age's room woohoo!
- The Post show dinner with the DP crew
- The Auction. Two of the items I sold went for over 500 dollars total, when I was expecting to get about 30 dollars apiece for them! they paid for my whole trip!
- Unrelated to the show at large, I had a blast driving down. 30 hour drive from Seattle to Las Vegas, I did it in one shot, without sleep

[DDCecil]

CGE2002:

- When I first got there, I bought my DP Guide 7, and then went to the CGE Services booth. There a man said "Hello" to me, and I said "Hi" in a very light voice back. Soon, someone goes up and says "Mr. Warshaw! Please sign my copy of Yar's Revenge!" All of a sudden, my jaw dropped. This is the man who made Yar's Revenge? Holy crap! I soon ran out of the place, went downstairs, got my Yar's Revenge, and went up to him and said "Would you sign this for me?" He said yes. The first time I had ever met anyone famous.

- Holding that $600 River Patrol at the Atari2600.com booth, and seeing all those other rare carts.

- The museum was great. Seeing that Sega Master System Kiosk was a great memory, as that was probably the only thing in the museum I had ever owned one of before.

- The auction was great. What I couldn't believe was my brother bidding and winning that Dragon Ball GT. Where'd he get that kind of money?

[slapdash]

The Jump Rope Girls.

Almost as good as Girls Jumping On Trampolines.

Mmm...

[punkoffgirl]

The whole event last year was a bunch of firsts for me:

1st time at CGE
1st time on the West Coast
1st time flying by myself (heck, it was only the 2nd time I'd ever flown!)
1st time staying in a hotel by myself
1st time in a casino
1st time meeting MANY of my Roundtable friends: Nate, Mat, Tim, Dave G, Larry, Keith, Chris K, Kevin, Lia.. (and anyone else I may have omitted!)


Memorable moments included escorting Larry around in the Pac Man costume, watching the pig-piling madness that was the Great Dig Dug Drop, chatting with a much inebriated member of the Minibosses, the post-show dinner and conversation with Nate , and the limo ride to the airport VERY early Monday morning with Scott, without whom I never would have stayed awake to catch my flight.

[Dan Iacovelli]

in 2000(being my first one),
playing tempest coin-op against Fard(and lossing might I add)
seeing the museum and seeing peopleple from DP and such.
in 2002(my second one)
listening to live (and loud) music
buying two homebrew games for the 2600
did dug drop (man that was nuts)
buting a jaglink for the jaguar for only 7.00
playing wizard of wor
and seeing more people people from DP and such.

I also enjoyed listening to the keynotes
Dan Iacovelli

[toddrogers]

Well there are so many GREAT expieriences at the past 2 CGE's that ive been to. Like meeting Ron Corcoran and his Family... and the Dark Unicorn Production team.....and all of the people with D.P. But it doesnt stop there here is an instance.

CGE2K2--- I was running the DRAGSTER competition and had a great kick out of watching players duke it out over who could get the fastet time. I had a hand written scoring table above the TVs so players could view what the fastest time was. Well at this particular point the time was down to 5.91 and like I said players were very competitive in getting their times below 6 seconds there were these two players in particular really going back and forth on whos better i had to keep re-writing their time one after the other wittling it from the 7s down to the lower 6's . Here's where the fun can into play when one player gave up for a few runs I took over and raced against his friend . His friend was so into the game he didnt at first notice me take over the JoyStick. I scored a 5.77 and the look on this guys face as he thought his friend was racing him and thinking he beat the days best time was priceless. Then he turned and saw it was me and still didnt realize that I was running the contest..as in Dragster you can reset the game by hitting the JoyStick to the right. He freaked out when I reset the game and said Bah thats nothing lets race again....The strange twist of fate though would happen as I was racing by myself i noticed a player was getting good times too when I looked over it was David Crane .....who now was the person with the look of suprise. After 20 years of each of us knowing each other and still playing this game we have not lost our touch....

one of many stories to come ....

Todd Mr Activision Rogers

[8bitweapon]

I have had many great CGE moments...

The biggest for me was meeting my 1st ROCK ICON: DAVE WARHOL!!! We even had dinner together! IT was something I never even thought would happen...or even could happen! I talk to Dave regularly now.

THANK YOU JOE!!!!

love,

8BW

[Boboduo]

CGE 2002--my first (definitly not last) CGE. The dig dug drop was
a blast. It was cool seeing all the new retro releases and playing
Cobra Command again after 15 years.

[RetroYoungen]

I have memories... fond ones, of the first time I walked through the double doors into the Expo itself, and being overwhelmed at the site of more classic goodness that I didn't know was legal in the lower 48. That and buying my Lynx, and finally getting to play one of my new favorite games: Crystal Mines II.

[BillKunkel]

Having been to all (five?) CGEs (even when they had that Atari name) I think I have more of a montage of moments than a single instant to share. Ever see the famous painting "Nude Descending a Staircase"? It's a series of staggered after-images and that's what I see when I think of the CGE, from that first year when a few curious, self-conscious fans walked tentatively around the Union Plaza, wondering if they were total dinosaurs, ludicrous geeks, or both, to last year when the event had actual cache. It happened slowly, in year-long bites, but it's happened -- we've arrived! Again!

Seriously, it has become increasingly clear that not only CGE but the entire phenomenon of classic gaming has found its place in pop culture. We have a real identity and sense of pride. With books like "Lucky Wander Boy" being published mainstream and people like me being allowed to teach courses on the electronic games business at UNLV it's clear that our hobby has attained maturity and perspective -- an awareness and appreciation of its own history that kind of legitimizes us.

I'll be back at CGE this year, of course and I'm sure it'll be bigger than ever. Then there's the meeting old friends and making new ones which comes with the turf, and for me, that's the ultimate payoff.

--Bill

[digitalpress]

*bump*

Just because it's worth reading... 2 weeks to go and I'm almost as pumped as Earl!

[MarioAllStar2600]

Getting a Venture 2 for $20 bucks from Sean
Recieveing a Digital Press guide on behalf of the digital press guide

[MarioAllStar2600]

I mean staff