My comments about CGE, post-show

[NoahsMyBro]

For over a decade I've wanted to go to CGE. This year I finally made it.

Saturday morning I was disappointed at first, thinking I'd spent money and time to go to Vegas for nothing more than a typical videogame expo along the lines of PhillyClassic, East Coast Gaming Expo, or numerous other similar events.

A little after lunchtime I discovered the difference-makers though, and proceeded to enjoy CGE immensely.

KEYNOTES: I attended a couple of talks that included a handful of Activision game creators, and another that included Keith Robinson and other Intellivision game creators. The keynotes were absolutely great. They were interesting and funny, and nothing that is readily available at other gaming get-togethers I've attended.

SATURDAY NIGHT AUCTION: Leading up to the show I'd been told the auction was not-to-be-missed, and the auction itself lived up to the hype. The auction was fun, funny, and astounding to me with regard to the amount of cash being thrown around. The auction was a 3-hour activity, but I wasn't close to ready for it to end after the three hours. I only wish I'd had deep enough pockets to more fully participate, but that's nothing CGE can be criticized for, obviously.

MUSEUM: The museum was very neat as well. VECTREXER's Vectrex display was simply jaw-dropping. At one point while I was in the museum I was walking along next to one of the Intellivision guys (maybe Don Daglow?) and even he was impressed with the Intellivision items on display.

NON-VIDEO, REAL-LIVE PERSON GAMING: I had a great time participating in the Atari Age vs. Digital Press Medieval Mayhem tournament (amazing game, btw). The Family Feud match looked terrific (unfortunately I only saw the very end so I can't fairly comment much on the game), and playing in the Jeopardy game was a lot of fun too. The actual mechanics of making the Jeopardy game board and buzzers were done very, very well. Clearly a huge amount of work went into these activities.

All-in-all I had a terrific time. The things that make CGE a unique event were wonderful and if you have the opportunity to attend next year I highly recommend it. And if you do go, I urge you to take advantage of the bits and pieces that aren't common to all videogame expos.

[Oldskool]

I highly enjoyed it, and was honored to be a part of the show. During the set up, and break down I really got to know the DP and some of the Atari Age guys, and I have to say that they are all very cool people. I also made some new friends here locally.

I had a blast keeping the game stations going. Watching everyone getting enjoyment playing all of my classic consoles was awesome. Thanks to Vectrexer and (sorry I wish I knew your name bro), for bringing over their Vectrex, Virtual Boy, and vintage table tops over to the game stations. People loved them.

The arcade was awesome, we had about 30 games or so set up. There was a time in during the show where just about every arcade machine and every game station had someone playing.

During this year, I think instead of Ebaying stuff, I am going to toss things into a CGE2011 pile. I will be ready for some buying/selling/trading next year. I still had a ton of fun though. The music was great (although I wish it was a bit more often).

The museum was fabulous. I was honored to donate my X'Eye, CDX, and Game Gear for people to look at. Some of the prototypes and obscure items were simply amazing. I never thought I'd see a boxed Stadium Events, a Prototype Sega Neptune, and other things like that.

The auction was hilarious, and the after party was pretty fun too. I am still in awe that a Corona sold at auction for $300. The nice thing about it though, is that a lot of the auction money went to charity like Salvation Army in Vegas and also to help fund Tim's not for profit Pinball Hall Of Fame.

[8bitgamer]

I haven't had a chance to post pictures for this year's CGE, but here's a link to the write-up I did for the 2007 show, if anyone cares to take a look:

http://brettweisswords.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html

[Sothy]

I had a blast as well. Got to meet a lot of old freinds and some cool new people as well. Thoroughly enjoyed making an ass out of myself on several occasions, examples but no limited to: Mistaking some chick for Katchoo and running up and freaking her out jabbering at her, Going up to the awesome band letting them know what a fan I am thinking they were the minibosses.... They weren't. And several dozen times almost eating shit on the camoflage speed bump Joe installed in front of the web cam. "I wonder how many cool videos he has of people biffing it and taking a faceplant into the Atari age table?"

The Tropicana was pretty cool gambling wise, got to teach Betty how to play Keno and I walked away with more o the machines money than they snagged from me.

Only 2 real bummers was The closest restaurant at Tropicana was this south beach place that sucked ass. Like seriously Papastu payed 10 bux for easy mac in a paper plate, Ridiculous ketchup and velveeta pizzas.

And next year we need some cats dedicated to getting the after party squared away, it wound up ok after Joe finally said ya lets do it in the CGE hall and the beer finally showed up. I even dedicated my SEX vodka to help keep the natives restless.

All in all I think if we can keep it at Tropicana and iron out a few minor bugs the next CGE will be even more badass.

Plus we need to invite dancing Jesus back.

[8bitgamer]

And several dozen times almost eating shit on the camoflage speed bump Joe installed in front of the web cam. "I wonder how many cool videos he has of people biffing it and taking a faceplant into the Atari age table?"

I tripped on that thing myself a few times.

[antmeister]

I enjoyed myself at the expo this year, although I do think 2007 was better. Things seemed cheaper, there were more booths and definatly more arcade machines. I certainly don't blame the CGE team for that, I absolutly understand that is a result of a bad economy. But I did miss Twin Galaxies and some of the early Nintendo and Williams arcade games. Most of all I missed the Warlords cocktail table they had. While they did have it going on the 2600, I still enjoyed the battles of the cocktail table we had in 2007.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I tripped on that thing myself a few times.

Ironically, we set that up so people wouldn't trip on the cables for the couch Atari set up.

I suppose for every person that tripped on the runner there was a chance that they would've yanked the whole power cord setup out.

[Foxglove9]

Mistaking some chick for Katchoo and running up and freaking her out jabbering at her,


Haha. No worries, I literally just walked in and I was all disoriented when you started talking to me thinking "how do I know him, hmmm...". But really I can see how you made that mistake.

And yes I tripped on that runner about 2 times. Also tripped on the Atari joystick cord by the couch but that might have been during the party after some drinks.

That was my first CGE and really I had such an incredible fun time. It was also a good chance to finally meet and talk to some people that I've had only had contact with online for the last 15 years.

The museum exceeded my expectations above and beyond. It was like being 8 years old again and walking into Toys R Us to check out all the new games. I could go on and on.

Still in Vegas though... vacation ends tomorrow :frustrated:

[Oldskool]

Yeah the beer for the after party did come a little late. We realized that you could not find a cheap case (or 10) of beers on the Strip, so we had to drive off the strip to pick em' up. Not only that, but everyone involved in the beer run was too wrapped up in the Auction to go get em'.

[8bitgamer]

Most of all I missed the Warlords cocktail table they had. While they did have it going on the 2600, I still enjoyed the battles of the cocktail table we had in 2007.

That was a blast, but having Medieval Mayhem set up helped make up for it, at least to me.

[buzz_n64]

Had a blast at my first CGE! Played in the Family Feud match, I was the guy sent away on the atariage side. I had David Crane autograph my various Pitfall carts, cool guy! Saw most of the panels, met Joe, and bought a lot of stuff, including my first Neo-Geo carts. Will be going again next year. :)

[SegaAges]

This was my very first CGE that I went to.

I have to say, it was awesome. I had never met any of you dudes before. It was pretty blatantly obvious who I was as I had a Sonic suit on (and looking at pictures, it appears that another person also brought their Sonic suit and also brought the head). What I did not realize was that being a bigger guy and wearing a Sonic suit that feels like wearing a huge sleeping bag gets super hot. I was sweating like crazy for the first day. I ended up just tying it around my waist for most of the show and occasionally putting the top half on when I had cool down more. If I had thought out the Sonic suit better, I would have ended up bringing the head, but damn, that thing kept me sweating all day.

The first person that approached me was whoever was with Vectorman. No offense bro, I do not know if she is a friend, your dating, whatever, but she was the first to approach me. I ended up meeting her and Vectorman right off the bat which was badass.

I am not going to lie, I did not know the rules with booze, so I kept disappearing to take a few shots or chug a beer, than have a cig and come back, so no offense if I have no clue what your name was when you introduced yourself. At one point, I was talking with a group of like 10-15 of you guys, which was probably the highlight of the entire trip.

I do remember meeting Sothy though.

I also talked with Joe for a minute or two which was awesome. I ended up walking away with about 10 games. I impulsively, and drunkenly, bought Halo 2600. I will say that most of the games that I bought were from Joe. Dude, your prices were just so insane that I had no choice but to get some goodies from ya.

Can I request that next year you hook it up with some more XXL shirts. I was going to get one, but you guys ran out. Either that or I will PM you or something and find out a way to get one.

I was informed about the after party, but one of the problems was that the people I brought with me were not all that into gaming like I am, so we ducked out at about 4 or 5 to do some other Vegas stuff. Next year I am going to leave them at the door and meet and greet more of you.

[Sothy]

I think Kevin has a pic of me with you and ya you smelled like a bums nutsack. jk naw it was cool times.


And as far as booze goes, I am like the Ed Flemming of CGE dont sweat it.
Funny story, the kid that was like "is that guy drinking beer at 8 am dad?" in 07' is now the guy that had his fiancee at CGE. Hey Marty how'd you pull that dude?

[Sothy]

Haha. No worries, I literally just walked in and I was all disoriented when you started talking to me thinking "how do I know him, hmmm...". But really I can see how you made that mistake.



Ok cool I was just waiting for security to come after me on that lol. Your boyfriend kinda looked like he was judging odds on swinging at me as well, ok so we have that covered. Sothy is confused but not insane.

[SegaAges]

Dude, based on the night I had before I went to CGE, I am surprised I didn't still smell like spray on pina-colada perfume or something.

Ok, I remember Vectorman because his name is easy to remember, but who was he with. I remember her face just fine, but she said her username super kicky fast and I have no idea what her name was.

[Sothy]

probably eternal tune. Betty, she is a cute little thing with glasses and quite foul mouthed?

[Mianrtcv]

I have been to many gamer events prior to this, including CGE's. This was another successful effort in my opinion. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed CGE. My 5 1/2 year old daughter played many of the systems and arcade games available at the show. That alone was very important to me. It was the core value that prompted me to attend. I offer my thanks and appreciation to all that made this possible. Those who organized it, I can only imagine the time and aspirin that went into planning and managing. To those who brought pieces of prized collections. To share and let items be played or displayed is quite generous. The people who labored to physically to transport the displays and all those who went out of pocket. Also very generous with time and resources. To all the vendors that made the floor dangerous to wallets, thanks. I was able to pick up some really cool things from my want list (multi cart colecovision to name one). To those speakers that shared their time, knowledge and memories. Thanks and respect to you. Without you... game over, literally. Not to mention the attendees were great.

Sidenote : Shared the flight back to NY with John H. and Joe S. A (redundant) HUGE THANKS for all the hard work that you and your friends put in. Also, I swear the Hello Kitty NES Brew I bought from Joe is for my daughter. (Joe hit youtube to show me what the game looked like so I have a clue what to expect).

[Dan Iacovelli]

Only 2 real bummers was The closest restaurant at Tropicana was this south beach place that sucked ass. Like seriously Papastu payed 10 bux for easy mac in a paper plate, Ridiculous ketchup and velveeta pizzas..

if you went to the Excalibur next to the trop, you could have gotten an all day pass for the round table buffet for 29.00(theres also a micky d's crispy creams and couple other fast food places there as well,but the buffet was great)

[Tempest]

The food thing was pretty annoying. I ended up trucking it over to New York New York because they have several small eateries there (the pizza is good!).

Tempest

[Foxglove9]

Ok cool I was just waiting for security to come after me on that lol. Your boyfriend kinda looked like he was judging odds on swinging at me as well, ok so we have that covered. Sothy is confused but not insane.

He is oblivious of his surroundings most of the time. Nice meeting up with you later on. I wish I remembered everyone's names/dp names. Faces I remember though.

[SpiceWare]

The closest restaurant at Tropicana was this south beach place that sucked ass. Like seriously Papastu payed 10 bux for easy mac in a paper plate, Ridiculous ketchup and velveeta pizzas.


I ate there a few times during my stay (was in Vegas for 4 days). The food was hit or miss, the reuben & fries were awesome, the beer battered fish not so much. Also ate at MGM a couple times, though wasn't that impressed with the places I tried over there either (Diego and Nathans). Had some excellent dim sum when I was checking out the strip on Thursday, don't recall where I was when I found it.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

My first CGE was a blast and I'll absolutely be back for more.

It was great to meet so many of the DP forum members in person and swap stories (and DAPHNE knowledge).

Thanks to everybody who came by and gave the DAPHNE setup a go (next year we'll look to set it up in a darker area for better projection) and thanks to NoahsMyBro for lending the projector (which was really great even though it was projecting in a lighted area)!

Also thanks to everybody who came out and played (and helped with the setup/production of) Jeopardy and Family Feud, I had a great time hosting both and I've already got some great ideas for next year.

And huge props to Foxglove9 on her DP CGE Random Retro crown. I seriously need to practice my Outlaw.

If anybody needs to catch up with me on DAPHNE setup help, drop me a PM!

[ubikuberalles]

The food thing was pretty annoying. I ended up trucking it over to New York New York because they have several small eateries there (the pizza is good!).

Tempest

98Pacecar and I went to the food court in the Luxor for lunch on Saturday. They had a McDonald's, Caesar's Pizza, a Starbucks and a couple other restaurants. Not bad.

Later that night I found a Subway on the strip in the back of a souvenir shop just outside the MGM Casino on the strip. They also had a pizza joint there. Sometimes the only way to find a place is just to wander around aimlessly for half an hour (which is what I did).

Not far south of the Tropicana I found a Panda Express. Across the street from Mandalay Bay, I think. You would have to drive there as it's a long walk.

The upshot is if you want good reasonably priced food you are going to have to walk (or drive) a good distance from the convention.

[Brianvgplayer]

if you went to the Excalibur next to the trop, you could have gotten an all day pass for the round table buffet for 29.00(theres also a micky d's crispy creams and couple other fast food places there as well,but the buffet was great)

I agree on the buffet. Lots of good stuff there.

This was my first time in Vegas. I didn't get any autographs at the CGE, but I had a fun time. I played in the Family Feud on the Digital Press team (though I have posted more at AtariAge). The museum was nifty, but I liked playing the games in the main room. Crazy Climber, Frontline, Under Defeat on DC, and those tabletops hooked up were good stuff. I also brought home a bunch of stuff. A couple homebrews (Gorf GBA and Failsafe 7800), some cart only Genesis games (Alisia Dragoon, General Chaos, Gunstar Heroes, Road Rash II, and Thunder Force II), a cart only SNES Ninjawarriors, DK Jr. for Atari 8-bit, and an Entex Turtles VFD game.

[Bojay1997]

98Pacecar and I went to the food court in the Luxor for lunch on Saturday. They had a McDonald's, Caesar's Pizza, a Starbucks and a couple other restaurants. Not bad.

Later that night I found a Subway on the strip in the back of a souvenir shop just outside the MGM Casino on the strip. They also had a pizza joint there. Sometimes the only way to find a place is just to wander around aimlessly for half an hour (which is what I did).

Not far south of the Tropicana I found a Panda Express. Across the street from Mandalay Bay, I think. You would have to drive there as it's a long walk.

The upshot is if you want good reasonably priced food you are going to have to walk (or drive) a good distance from the convention.

I was shocked at how pricey food has become in Vegas literally just in the past three years since my last visit. The cheapest buffets are now $30 and even breakfast at a place like MGM was around $20 for a couple of eggs, some sausage and toast. Luckily, we had a car, so we were able to drive to IHOP and Denny's and feed the whole family for about 1/3 the price of the casino restaurants. I also can't believe a small sandwich combo from Quizno's at Excaliber ran me $11. That's about $4 more than in the real world.

In any event, it was a great show. I do have to admit that I felt a little disappointment at the lack of vendors, although the reality is that 30 years after the fact, the number of vendors which have anything left to sell is probably very, very minimal. Telegames, which used to come every year, sold most of their stock to Classic Gaming Source which now seems to have mostly PAL stuff left on Ebay and a lot of the other vendors that used to come to CGE are long since out of business. I'm not too sure what the solution is to that problem as you can't create vendors and stock if it doesn't exist.

[PapaStu]

Got back home last night from Vegas. CGE all in all was a good time. Getting placed into the Random Retro challenge (though scaring me at first due to my complete lack of playing of 2600 games) was quite fun. SQUIRREL JUMP! I'm happy to have rep'd DP and come in 3rd after AA was soundly defeated (stupid kung fu game and Frankie kicking my ass).

The Trop's food in that lower restraunt was so-so. The Mac & Cheese, though huge, wasn't all that great. Poor Perkar and that pizza. It didn't look all that good. The Italian restaurant (on the way to the convention halls) had a pretty decent breakfast buffet. The Havana Go-Go cafe on the main floor (just next to the tables) wasn't too shabby either.

We also ate at the Cafe in the Luxor (near the Criss Angel BeLIEve hall) and they were good. The sit down Nathan's Hot Dogs in New York New York was pretty great as well. Those were some awesome fries, and the bacon cheese dog was damn tasty.

It was great to see people that we'd not seen in a few years (98 PaceCar, Sothy, Perkar, Tune, Joe, Sean, John, Mayhem, QotF, Vectorman0, MarioAllStar2600, Ubik and others i'm sure i'm forgetting) as well as meet people that I've known online via IRC for many many moons, but had yet to meet in person (Balloon Fight, Skaar).

The show worked out pretty well. As in my previous years, I didn't hit up any key notes, as I was either walking the floor, or running around with those mentioned above. I was happy that I was able to walk out of CGE with stuff. Being a buyer of newer games, CGE doesn't always have much thats catered towards my collection habbits, this year wasn't a problem.

What I didn't see happen (and I could have just missed it) was a group photo. Did one end up happening?

[DreamTR]

We're long overdue on getting some NES keynote speakers/programmers in there...the only problem is trying to research/dig out/convince these guys to come to a CGE event...

I definitely enjoyed myself, the organizers always put on a great show...attendance was definitely smaller than in previous years...though it is getting pricier to attend these shows unless I find some stuff to offset the plane/hotel...this was $600 in plane and hotel for me...

The hotel overbooked and had no internet access where I was staying, but gave me a discount on the room since they put me in the "70s" section of the hotel, LOL...and I got to eat that $10 mac and cheese (yes, it was nasty) but it was part of a $25 food voucher the hotel gave me....

[MachineGex]

I had a good time, while it lasted. My brother's family was watching my son and about an hour at the show, I got a call saying my son was sick so I had to leave. He turned out to be fine, but my show was cut very short. I planned on going to the auction and after-party, but that got axed.

I did introduce myself to Joe, meet Paul from Hyperkin and got Swlovinist's videos, but I missed out on way too much. I planned on buying a ton more stuff, but I literally ran out the door to get back home. Oh well, good reason to go by myself next year.

Thanks to everyone for putting the show on, I really look forward to it every year!

[ApolloBoy]

I gotta say, this was probably the most memorable CGE I've been to yet! It was awesome to have AtariAge there for the first time in years, the Retro Rumble was fun (I played a very close game of Fishing Derby and lost by only one point), and the vendors were great too. I also got some very good deals this time, such as snagging Faussete Amour for a mere $10 and trading one of my games with Joe for a bunch of Super Famicom and Game Gear games.

Looking forward to CGE 2K11!

[skaar]

Had a great time at the show and still recovering - flying out tomorrow. Fun times and got to meet a bunch of people I've talked to online and on IRC for awhile now.

I'll be a regular if this show's back next year!

[Mayhem]

It was great seeing everyone again and some new faces this year. In fact attending CGE to catch up with folks is half the reason for me to attend, the other being the games of course. And the DP party. And the random events that occur. And seeing Marty grow up. And wonder how Chris got all that Vectrex stuff over to the convention. And looking up at Sothy. And seeing Betty get drunk. And buying homebrews. And playing arcade machines. And seeing just how offbeat customers to the DP store are in their answers for Family Feud. And... well I could go on... here's hoping there is a 2011.


The food thing was pretty annoying. I ended up trucking it over to New York New York because they have several small eateries there (the pizza is good!).
Kris and I went there Sunday night for food, ended up in Chin Chin. Nice, expensive, but lots on the plate. We also did the Legends place in the Tropicana on Thursday night, but that's cos it was our birthday and we wanted something "swanky". $35 for a four course haute cuisine was decent value I thought.

[j_factor]

I definitely had a great time, but I was a little dismayed at the lack of vendors. I still found more than enough shit to buy, thanks mainly to that one "specialist gamer" dude, he had a lot of good stuff. But I kind of miss some of the things from years past, like that one that specialized in CDi stuff (even though I don't have a CDi, it was still neat seeing that Sony CDi unit hooked up with Zelda), and the Moby Games booth from 2k5 (I still have my t-shirt from them). My memory is a little fuzzy on other past exhibitors, but I remember there being several that were more fun just to check out, not necessarily buy from.

Also, what was up with the swap meet room? It wasn't clearly marked and it was closed half the time. At the last show, I got half my stuff from the swap, but this time I didn't get anything.

I didn't go to any of the panels this year. I've really enjoyed panels in the past, but this year's seemed like repeats. I don't really know what it would take to bring in fresh panels, though. I did, however, really enjoy the screening of the movie Joysticks. Maybe we should show a movie at every CGE.

This post sounds more negative than positive, but I really did thoroughly enjoy myself. I'm a little worried about the tone of the letter from the organizers. I really hope this isn't the last CGE, or the last "big" one.

[Bojay1997]

I definitely had a great time, but I was a little dismayed at the lack of vendors. I still found more than enough shit to buy, thanks mainly to that one "specialist gamer" dude, he had a lot of good stuff. But I kind of miss some of the things from years past, like that one that specialized in CDi stuff (even though I don't have a CDi, it was still neat seeing that Sony CDi unit hooked up with Zelda), and the Moby Games booth from 2k5 (I still have my t-shirt from them). My memory is a little fuzzy on other past exhibitors, but I remember there being several that were more fun just to check out, not necessarily buy from.

Also, what was up with the swap meet room? It wasn't clearly marked and it was closed half the time. At the last show, I got half my stuff from the swap, but this time I didn't get anything.

I didn't go to any of the panels this year. I've really enjoyed panels in the past, but this year's seemed like repeats. I don't really know what it would take to bring in fresh panels, though. I did, however, really enjoy the screening of the movie Joysticks. Maybe we should show a movie at every CGE.

This post sounds more negative than positive, but I really did thoroughly enjoy myself. I'm a little worried about the tone of the letter from the organizers. I really hope this isn't the last CGE, or the last "big" one.

I actually gave the vendor situation more thought today as I was tallying what I purchased and frankly, there are only a couple of additional vendors that could have been there given that all the rest (including the CD-i guy out of Arizona, Jack Berg Sales (well, they are almost sold out) and even O'Sheas) have pretty much sold out their stock and closed. Classic Game Source and Best Electronics are two that I would love to see there next year, but CGS isn't exactly the most capable company and I'm not sure why Best never came back after World of Atari. I imagine the logistics of transporting large amounts of stock to Las Vegas can't be easy and adding to that the uncertainty of selling enough to cover your costs and vendor table fees makes it even more daunting. Other than those two and maybe McVans or a couple of other regional chains, I just don't know of any other vendor out there anymore other than maybe a few more local game shops from California, Arizona or Nevada.

[chrisbid]

fyi, i saw dancing jesus working the front door of the casinos comedy club monday evening

[chrisbid]

there was an ad shoved under our door for a pizza place that delievered. we ended up calling them sunday night, and got a (quality) large pizza and some wings for around 20 dollars. not super cheap, but a much better deal than the limited fare at the tropicana.

my wife's birthday was on monday, so we splurged at the steakhouse that night. the food there was excellent. but i was surprised, i was a vegas noob coming into the show, but i figured that food was cheap and plentiful. if we go again next year, we know to hit a grocery when we get into town.

[Rudy J. Ferretti]

I had a blast at the event

[Oldskool]

The food is cheap, if you can find the buffets and/or eat off strip.

Terribles has pretty good meals for $9.99 like Steak dinners.

[RetroYoungen]

I just got in yesterday, and in regards to food the best food I had the whole time was either a) the grilled cheese at the Topicana diner spot (which was awesome both times I ate there, but have to agree on the blah-Easy Mac) and 2) my breakfast at Binion's yesterday evening. Missed out on the Omlette House this year, dammit... NOW I remember. >_<

But this year was awesome. Hung around a bit with Spice (dude, Mideival Mayhem is - again - a blast), caught up with Marty (congrats again on the engagement!) and Sothy and everybody, even caught a few people to sign my "CGE Yearbook" (Betty, I'll let you know when I scan your letter to Santa). I'll drop my pics down soon, along with my video(s?) of the CGE Dancing Jesus. I didn't know nerds could boogie... and if you don't either, watch the video.

We kinda can't. But who cares? :D

[katchoo]

Funny story, the kid that was like "is that guy drinking beer at 8 am dad?" in 07' is now the guy that had his fiancee at CGE. Hey Marty how'd you pull that dude?

THIS! Talk about making a person feel old...When the hell did Marty grow up? :)

Had so much fun at my 3rd CGE - I'm not much of a collector, but I love to see everyone IRL. It is always a blast to finally get to see these folks that are really good friends but are scattered across the country. Plus getting to meet some people for the first time after chatting with them in #vbender is always a big draw for me.

Here's to a CGE 2011 and another chance to hang out with friends, see some great shows and lose some $$ (buying and/or gambling). :)

[katchoo]

The food thing was pretty annoying. I ended up trucking it over to New York New York because they have several small eateries there (the pizza is good!).

Tempest

I second going to New York New York because they have Nathan's Hot Dogs. Never had them until this past Saturday, but man, they were great. Plus New York New York had a pretty good sized, albeit expensive, arcade.

[Oldskool]

Hey man I was more than honored to sign your "CGE Yearbook" sorry I didn't have much to say really since I had just met ya. The CGE Dancing Jesus, I remember you mentioning him, and I noticed a video on Youtube where he was dancing a bit (but he was not the feature of the video), I'd love to see your video of the CGE Dancing Jesus haha! Who was that guy anyways, is he a forum member here? He's become somewhat of a CGE Celebrity now. \\^_^/


I just got in yesterday, and in regards to food the best food I had the whole time was either a) the grilled cheese at the Topicana diner spot (which was awesome both times I ate there, but have to agree on the blah-Easy Mac) and 2) my breakfast at Binion's yesterday evening. Missed out on the Omlette House this year, dammit... NOW I remember. >_<

But this year was awesome. Hung around a bit with Spice (dude, Mideival Mayhem is - again - a blast), caught up with Marty (congrats again on the engagement!) and Sothy and everybody, even caught a few people to sign my "CGE Yearbook" (Betty, I'll let you know when I scan your letter to Santa). I'll drop my pics down soon, along with my video(s?) of the CGE Dancing Jesus. I didn't know nerds could boogie... and if you don't either, watch the video.

We kinda can't. But who cares? :D

[sidnotcrazy]

Yeah, this was a great CGE! Had a lot of fun, and met some really nice, and cool peoplle. I was the guy on the Scooter that kept running around the show floor. Ha ha. The music guests were great! I picked up a lot of cool gear, and sold some stuff too. Sold my copy of Neotopia II as well. Hope everyone had fun, and I did have a tough time trying to find food too. Me and my wife spent a lot of money and time just trying to find food. While mostly eating at the diner downstairs. I second that the grilled cheese sandwich waas good, but most of the others items the diner offered were on the rough side.

All and all great show, and I hope to see CGE return in 2011!

[8bitgamer]

Excalibur, across the street from the Tropicana, had a McDonald's. That samed me some money on breakfast Sunday morning.

[Oldskool]

One of the reasons why the swap meet was in a different room, and only for a limited time, was because they didn't want to take too much away from the Vendors this year.

[buzz_n64]

One of the reasons why the swap meet was in a different room, and only for a limited time, was because they didn't want to take too much away from the Vendors this year.

And it worked. I didn't see too much action going on in the swap meet room. Almost bought something from a local guy from Vegas, but didn't for some reason.

[loop006]

I definitely had a great time, but I was a little dismayed at the lack of vendors. I still found more than enough shit to buy, thanks mainly to that one "specialist gamer" dude, he had a lot of good stuff.

Hello, I was running the Specialty Gamer booth, glad you found some items to pick up! I hope I gave you a good deal :)

I wound up blowing a ton of money on Jag and 3do stuff this show, it was rad!!

Hope to see some of you folks at the Portland show... my booth will be over 2x as big @_@

-Gerald

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Aw man,

Listening to the AT 1UP podcast right now ...

... Jade Kraus and Frank Cifaldi from 1UP were at CGE and I missed them?!?!

I would've loved to talk to them in person.

[portnoyd]

You met Frank Cifaldi if you talked to TheRedEye.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

You met Frank Cifaldi if you talked to TheRedEye.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm .... don't know if I did. If I did it wasn't a deep enough conversation to get that info.

So many people there and not every one was forthcoming with their forum handles (and they were teeny tiny on the badges that did have them, requiring you to basically grab the badge/lanyard from them to look at it if you didn't have 20/20 vision).

[Anotherfluke]

I really enjoyed my time at cge this year, but I was so overloaded with work that I missed the entire first day, which apparently was the day that everyone was around :( I'll definitely make sure that doesn't happen again next year!

[Sothy]

totally dont remember seeing you Fluke!

[Mayhem]

I know... likewise. Where were you Fluke? I don't think anyone I know mentioned seeing you either!

[SegaAges]

One thing I never asked about, but I was curious about what the alcohol rules there were.

I just stepped away from cge for a little while to get my drink on and then came back.

[Tempest]

One thing I never asked about, but I was curious about what the alcohol rules there were.

I just stepped away from cge for a little while to get my drink on and then came back.
That's a good question. I saw several vendors with beer behind their tables (myself included), but they were making a very good effort to keep it out of sight and discrete.

Tempest

[SegaAges]

Yeah, I went the safe route and stepped away since I was told about an after party, so I just naturally assumed that CGE would stay family friendly and be alcohol free and then all alcohol would happen at the after party. Obviously alcohol would be bad at the museum since holding an adult beverage, drinking, and leaning over looking at shit is bad.

if it is cool to walk around with a corona, i will need to remember that for next year

[PapaStu]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm .... don't know if I did. If I did it wasn't a deep enough conversation to get that info.

So many people there and not every one was forthcoming with their forum handles (and they were teeny tiny on the badges that did have them, requiring you to basically grab the badge/lanyard from them to look at it if you didn't have 20/20 vision).


Frank bought one of the mystery boxes at CGE (the first one guy who had to get more $$ and the box had the mass of common games in it).


Yeah, I went the safe route and stepped away since I was told about an after party, so I just naturally assumed that CGE would stay family friendly and be alcohol free and then all alcohol would happen at the after party. Obviously alcohol would be bad at the museum since holding an adult beverage, drinking, and leaning over looking at shit is bad.

if it is cool to walk around with a corona, i will need to remember that for next year

There were people walking around the main hall with drinks, though not a ton. The museum didn't allow that stuff in anyways, so your beverage would have been sitting near the door along w/ your bags.

[Sothy]

CGE is alcohol friendly. I assume it wouldnt be cool to stumble around the show all shitfaced though. You can even buy 300$ Coronas! Just make sure you man up and chug the damn thing LOL

[Rudy J. Ferretti]

The show was a blast, and the people as well, but I wish the show was longer like 3-5 days

[teknohed]

For me the highlights of the show were the Panels and the Museum.

Both of which were amazing. I'm a little more active on the Retro Gaming Round up forum over at Game Gavel, and had a great time hanging out with other listeners and the hosts of that show.

I didn't get a lot of time to peruse the vendor booths, hopefully next year, I'll do a little more shopping.

[Oldskool]

Yeah, I went the safe route and stepped away since I was told about an after party, so I just naturally assumed that CGE would stay family friendly and be alcohol free and then all alcohol would happen at the after party. Obviously alcohol would be bad at the museum since holding an adult beverage, drinking, and leaning over looking at shit is bad.

if it is cool to walk around with a corona, i will need to remember that for next year

While I don't think there were any rules against it, it seems that most people were sober during the show anyways LOL. I don't remember you, I was in the after party myself, I wonder if we ever chatted.

Yeah in the museum that would be a big no no. If someone leaned over and spilled beer all over my X'Eye or CDX I would have been pissed! :argue:

I so can't wait for next years show.