117th NWC cart proven. Ben Smith, GPC interview.

[rbudrick]

Ben Smith was a Nintendo Game Play Counselor at NOA for 10 years back between '88 and '98.

I met him at the Nintendo World Championships 1990 when I was 12 years old. I didn't hear from him since, as you would probably imagine. But, he found ME! So, of course, I had to interview him and catch up on old times, heh heh

Any Nintendo or NWC fans are going to get a real thrill out of this interview, which I very proudly present:

http://www.planetnintendo.com/thewarpzone/bensmith.html
For those of you not in the know, DP forum-goer TRM (Dave Allwein) owns The Warp Zone, which contains, among many other things, the most comprehensive NWC site on the internet. Naturally, I had to hook him up with the interview. :)

Enjoy!

-Rob

[GrandAmChandler]

Wow. That interview was great! Here is to finding the rest of the NWC carts!

(P.S. That mullet on Paul Lange is awesome!) LOL

[Drexel923]

Great interview!

I was at the Philadelphia show he mentioned, though unfortunately I don't rememer much about it. It's cool to find out all of the stuff I've forgotten through the years.

[rbudrick]

Drexel, TRM collects peoples' stories of their experiences at the NWC...why not do a write up for him to post to the site? I'm sure he'd be glad to have it.

Oh, by the way, the full NWC section on TRM's site is:

http://www.planetnintendo.com/thewarpzone/champ.html

People, if you went, send your stories to TRM. Many consider the NWC a very historical moment in Nintendo history. Why not help keep the memories alive? :)

-Rob

[imanerd0011]

Post of the year!

That article was truely awesome, and I find it amazing that Ben Smith was actually looking FOR YOU!
I truely think he had the greatest job during the greatest time period!

[rbudrick]

Lol, a little note from Ben:


There's some confusion between Howard Phillips and Howard Lincoln. Phillips wore the bow tie and was the gaming icon of NOA. Howard Lincoln was their main legal guy who eventually was promoted and helped Arakawa run the company. Lincoln is the one I had the encounter with concerning the Tengen Tetris. He's now running the Seattle Mariners Baseball team. Phillips is the one I played Tetris against. Thought I'd clarify.

Just wanted you folks to see that in case it takes a little time for TRM to correct it...I'll send TRM a note on this.

And thanks so much for the praise so far, guys! It was truly my pleasure to interview Ben. The praise should really be all his. :)

-Rob

[RetroYoungen]

Great interview, thanks for sharing!

[Drexel923]

Drexel, TRM collects peoples' stories of their experiences at the NWC...why not do a write up for him to post to the site? I'm sure he'd be glad to have it.

Oh, by the way, the full NWC section on TRM's site is:

http://www.planetnintendo.com/thewarpzone/champ.html

People, if you went, send your stories to TRM. Many consider the NWC a very historical moment in Nintendo history. Why not help keep the memories alive? :)

-Rob

I'd love to Rob, I really would, but I only remember four things from the event:

1. I was 9 years old
2. I went with my cousin and my father
3. I played Tetris
4. I got a hat

LOL

Thats it unfortunately :(

I will check out the other articles though...hopefully it will jog some more memories out. :)

[slip81]

Very nice interview. It's always great to read about such big points in gaming history from the people who helped create it, awesome work!

[rbudrick]

I'd love to Rob, I really would, but I only remember four things from the event:

1. I was 9 years old
2. I went with my cousin and my father
3. I played Tetris
4. I got a hat

LOL LOL

Hah! Let me know if you wanna sell the hat. LOL

-Rob

[Classicgamesdepot]

that article was a great read, I think I can actually visualize the nwc events at this point. Thanks!

[Lothars]

That is an awesome interview man that was one of the best posts i've ever seen :D

Thank you for such a great post

now im really interested in how many NWC carts are actually around.

[NESaholic]

Thanx for the article Rob,that was great to read.Man i really want this baby!

[captain nintendo]

Nice article ! Thank you.

Ben Smith recently scanned his NWC cart for rfgeneration's database before he ebayed it.

He also talked to the site a little bit.

http://www.rfgeneration.com/cgi-bin/getinfo.pl?ID=U-027-S-04590-A


Everybody at rfgeneration was very happy that Ben spoke to us about his experience and for the scans. :)

[rbudrick]

Heh, I see my original artical linked at the bottom of the RF article. :)

I didn't want to mention the cart sale in the article....you never know if Ben's friends at Nintendo would be peeved for whatever reason.

-Rob

[izret101]

Nice article ! Thank you.

Ben Smith recently scanned his NWC cart for rfgeneration's database before he ebayed it.

He also talked to the site a little bit.

http://www.rfgeneration.com/cgi-bin/getinfo.pl?ID=U-027-S-04590-A


Everybody at rfgeneration was very happy that Ben spoke to us about his experience and for the scans. :)

Heh i woulda posted that.
It was pretty cool.

Nice of that guy to take the time to give interviews to us and you and share scans and info with us too.

Just wondering what Nintendo could do to the guy if they did know he sold the cart?
It was his property and it is over a decade old.

Just wondering...

[rbudrick]

Just wondering what Nintendo could do to the guy if they did know he sold the cart?
It was his property and it is over a decade old.

Well, nothing, really. It's just hypothetical...a just in case type of thing. I just didn't want Ben to have any negative attention of any kind. Just playing it safe, you know? :)

-Rob

[MarkMan]

Great read! I always wondered how it was behind the scenes from someone that worked the event... thanks for sharing.

[Dire 51]

Definitely a great read - thanks for posting it!

...okay, I know I could have come up with something more original than that...

[GizmoGC]

Awesome article!

[rbudrick]

Ben sent me some incredibly cool things in the mail. I will post pics soon....

I continue to be blown away by Ben's kindness...If the planet was populated with people like him, I'm pretty sure there'd never be another war. Though he claims he's just a normal guy, I'm not sure I've ever met any normal guys that went so far out of their ways...above and beyond, really, to make others happy.

I'm practically speechless with the things he sent...very cool items.

-Rob

[QBert]

T`was a good read. :)

[Dr. Morbis]

That article was a time machine for me. I was a 12 year old again for the length of time it took me to read that.
Much appreciated :D