Philly VGXPO Reviews (Split from VGXPO Thread) [Archive]

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RCM

11-12-2005, 10:35 PM

I had an ok time. Did an interview with Bill Kunkel. It was great to meet him. Too bad more mainstream game journalists aren't like him. Can't wait to read his book...was too poor to buy it.

Considering i run a show that's smaller and still considered a bit of an upstart i'd be proud to say this was my show for the most part. It was solid but by no means did it live up the hype. I admit i didn't do a head count, but if there were 25,000 people there kill me now.

All and all it wasn't the juggernaut that i expected but it was a solid experience all around and i encourage anybody who missed out today to check it out tomorrow.

youngamer

11-12-2005, 11:36 PM

Had a good time........scored a colecovision.......im happy.....oh yeah, and chris, the video pinball didnt work with a new adapter....something with the chip inside....... :(

Sniderman

11-13-2005, 11:16 PM

Well? Waiting for a review of the show. After all of the drama leading up to it, did the show actually come together or did it fall apart for attendees?

davepesc

11-14-2005, 12:50 AM

I was disappointed overall. It didn't seem like there were as many vendors as last year and things seemed a bit pricey, although there were plenty of deals to be had.

For what it's worth to you, I went there with $200 in my pocket and came home with $150. I think that says something.

Games I bought:
2600 Quick Step, Krull and Football (RealSports Soccer): $5
2600 Skateboardin': $5
2600 Secret Quest complete: $10
SMS Great Volleyball complete: $6
32X Kolibri: $12
NES Ice Hockey: $1

The remaining $11 went to food.

I'm happy in that I'd been looking for Kolibri, Secret Quest and Volleyball for a while, but I was hoping for more.
I was goung to buy Ralph Bayer's book, but I never saw him in his booth (I wanted it signed).

To give the positive too, I liked the area with all of the different consoles set up and you can't ever complain about a free-play arcade.

If I had never been to Philly Classic, I'd probably have a more glowing review, but what was supposed to be bigger and better just felt sparse and yet chaotic.

Oh, and can anyone tell me why EB Games even bothered to show up? There were 2 people sitting at a table with what I think was a 360 set up, but that was it.

GrandAmChandler

11-14-2005, 12:54 AM

Okay here it is. My review. From a vendor's perspective who has attended CGE, and vended at the last two Philly Classics.

Let me start out by saying that Vgxpo met and exceeded all of my expectations. Vendors that pulled out, shame on them. This show was great for what everyone worried about prematurely. Sure there are flaws with being paired with NBC 10, but Vgxpo is young. Like any new show there are some things that need to be addressed. Ed Flemming was an EXCELLENT host and catered to all of the vendor's requests as best as he could.

Videotopia brought in an awesome selection of classic arcade cabs that attracted the mainstream crowd from the consumer expo. We really stole NBC's thunder. I had all kinds of people walk by and go "WOW! Atari! I remember that! Can I buy one and some games!?" Obviously any show that gets the mainstream public back into retro gaming sure did its job.

As for the collectors tables, there were some AWESOME pieces to be found for any collection. Anything from NES Panesians, to SQ: Waterworld, and Glib to Protos. It was there. I got some pretty good stuff in the little time I got to leave my table and wander around. Game Crazy had brought all of their retro stock (Dreamcast & Below) for their 3 for $15 sale. I picked up a Xevious 3dG for PS1, Gauntlet Legends for N64, and TMNT: Hyperstone heist for Genesis for my brother. I also picked up an official Final Fantasy III strategy guide for $10 in mint condition! I traded a few NES games to Mindlesspunk here on DP for a Vectrex system. But the personal grail of the weekend was a complete Gain Ground for Sega Genesis which I have been looking for, for over 2 years. $10 for that one. Also got the new edition of the ABC VCS guide book from Rolenta. Excellent reads.

Luckilly, Rolenta's booth was right next to mine. He had the major guest speakers. Having Ralph Baer there to demonstrate his "brown box" pong system right next to my booth, was pretty cool. Talking to Bill Kunkel only feet away from me also was awesome. Also, there were no more Blue DP guides to be found at the show, they sold out!

I got to check out the latest build of Adventure II for 5200, and some homebrews were released to, although I am not much into that stuff.

Shout outs to:

Nick "Drexel923" For helping me out so much this weekend. I owe you one bro.

Kev "K3V" Coolest Jag collector I know 8-)

Jeff "Kid Ice" - Glad to see you could make it out, and pick up some games for the collection!

AJ "Schenley" - Wow, this guy is cool. Made some great deals, and pretty much hung out all weekend, can't wait to hang out again, hopefully with more free time.

"Mindlesspunk" - Had the pleasure of setting up across from his booth, had some great stuff, and made a great trade. He sent customers to me, and visaversa. Good Teamwork.

Jason "Trade-n-games" - Always good to see Jason out here on the east coast, he always brings some amazing items.

"Fergojisan" & "TheSmirk" They guys from Slower Lower Delaware, sorry I couldn't chat much, we gotta catch up again.

"Youngamer" - Sorry about that video pinball, I couldnt fix it for ya, if you want the couple bucks back, let me know.

"Tholly" - Always good to see again, thanks for stopping by!

"Davepesc" - Nice to meet ya!

"RCM" - Good to see you again, I hope to see that interview with Bill Kunkel somewhere.

Steve "Noahsmybro" - Always good conversationist, wish we could have talked more, enjoy the game!

Anyone else from the boards that stopped by, I apologize, I am dead tired writing this.

Overall, I had a good time, a lot of pipe and drape around, I thought a little too much. Auction could have been bigger, but again this show is just starting out. Congrats to Ed Flemming for exceeding my expectations.

-Chris

mindlesspunk77

11-14-2005, 11:04 AM

im not good at writing a long crazy explanations of the show. like chris above but i would like to say pretty much what he said was right. it was cool meeting him and nick and the guy from trade-n-games.also i guess it was cool to see rcm again guys always bugging me. even had to drag him to dinner with me cause hes so clingy. i waited to long to buy stuff from trade n games and they sold the games i wanted! damn me n being indecisive. oh well. i picked up some very very nice stuff for my nes collection.(thanks again chris and smitty) my collection was very excited when i got home hahaha! so yeah i dunno what else to say. but the show was ten times better than i ever expected. with how bad the other two shows were from what i heard . oh well great job ed! good meeting everyone!

tholly

11-14-2005, 11:16 AM

I don't think I spent as much this year, even with the free admission vs. last year's entrance fee.....plus, I do think this show was a lot smaller than last year. It was good however to play some free arcade games and see a few DP members....

I added 2 32x games to my collection, plus a few saturn games and a sega cd game and a sweet mario bros. lunch box from grand am (thanks).

All in all, some things have to be addressed for next year's show, but I will probably still be attending.

NoahsMyBro

11-14-2005, 11:17 AM

Partially due to the ridiculous shenanigans taking place leading up to the show, and partially due to the ticket price increase, last year was the first and only Philly Classic I missed.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this year's show, and up until late Friday night still hadn't decided on whether or not to attend. I ended up going, with my almost-5 years old son, and almost 7 months old daughter, in tow.

I thought the show turned out pretty good:
* Parking was a hassle. I was directed to a lot up a hill, unable to get to a perfectly usable parking aisle due to some schmuck that didn't know what he was doing and blocked traffic while he figured it out. I then found that there was no ramp up/down the side of the hill I was parked on, only steps, so I had to backtrack to the entrance driveway with kids in tow, as I couldn't really roll the stroller up and down the concrete steps. None of this could fairly be blamed on the VGExpo staff, though. It's just a criticism of the Fort Washington Expo Center facilities.
* Attendance seemed reasonable to me.
* It was a little sad walking through the barren Consumer Expo to get to the comparatively crowded VGExpo.
* I'd never before had an opportunity to see Videotopia, and had wanted to for years. Unfortunately for me I was constrained by the kids, but from a very brief walkthrough it looked great. The only complaint I found was that the screen seemed somehow 'off' on Gravitar. It had some sort of flicker/misalignment thign going on, I think, that I recall seeing on vector games sometimes. I'm ignorant of arcade game restoration, but I'm guessing it was some sort of common problem with vector displays.
* I ended up spending way too much - maybe about $140 including about $10 in tolls. I walked away with a 5200 game that shall not be named, Beef Drop (5200), Ralph Baer's book and Bill Kunkel's book, both signed, & a copy of Cubivore (thx Chris).
* I got a chance to talk to both Ralph Baer and Bill Kunkel - they were both as friendly and outgoing as could be.
* My son had a blast.
* I talked to Jason over at J2Games and he was very friendly as well.
* I spent a little while chatting with one of the Als and Joe Grand over at AA's table.
* I spent some time talking to Kev, Steve Scavone, Terrence, and Scott Walters at the Nuon Dome table - they have some great looking stuff in the works too.
* I briefly played with the latest Adventure 2 cart. I've been waiting for this one for years.

All in all, I had a good time. I wish I hadn't been tethered to the kids, but I thought it would be fun for Nate, and wanted to give Jess a break, so I made the best of it.

I'll go again next year.

RCM

11-14-2005, 01:18 PM

I don't know who started this thread but it wasn't me. To the mods, please do not start threads with my name slapped on it.

GrandAmChandler

11-14-2005, 01:28 PM

I don't know who started this thread but it wasn't me. To the mods, please do not start threads with my name slapped on it.

RCM, I apologize, yours was the first review I found when I split it, therefore the system automatcially registers the thread to that forum member. I edited the title for more clarification. I apologize once again for any inconvience.

-Chris

googlefest1

11-14-2005, 02:12 PM

Even though i did complete some of my goals at this expo - i was greatly disapointed

primarily becasue it seemed much smaller than the last one (phillyclassic) - the last one seemed to have more vendors - a larger variety of goods and much better prices. This show i was expecting spend and buy alot. Even though i did bring alot of money with me i was just not willing to pay the prices some of the vendors had for some of the items i wanted in the condition they were in.

Positives - i walked away with a colecovision at a good price. a brand new game.com for my max price - sega master system controllers for a rockbottom price - complete sega cd games i was on the look out for - paid more than i wanted but i needed the titles. The Rpg for Oddesy 2 at a good price. intellivoice at an OK price.
It was nice to see Ralph Bear and that dude from G4 (which i don't like) felt kind of bad for him, it seemed like no one was interested in what he had to say and was sitting by himself everytime i passed by him. lastly, i finaly had the chance to play Tac-scan the arcade. Getting 12 free rentals from hollywood video from the game crazy guys

Negatives - many outrageous prices - not enough vendors to help with competative priceing. Many vendors had the same things for sale. Gamestop/EB was poorly represented. It was kind of weird being included in that consumer show. Being offered an ice scraper, coupons and other crap to fill out surveys.

Regrets - buying nes games for way too much money.

Since there is nothing better in the New England Area this event wasn't a total bust. Hopefully next year it will be bigger and bader. It was a decent try to (as i understand it) recreate the philly classic.

The parking did suck rotten eggs but wasnt a downer.

P.S. To all that attended-- there was this girl walking around practicaly naked - was she suposed to be some kind of video game character? C'mon you coulnd't have missed her. She was very visible- someone here has to know who im talking about. Just interested in who that was suposed to be .

mindlesspunk77

11-14-2005, 02:54 PM

the semi naked girl im guessing you ment from the first day with black n white everyday .... we called her the pirate girl i dunno if she was supposed to be anyone or just be sexy but either way we werent complaining =)

googlefest1

11-14-2005, 03:08 PM

i thought she had some brown in her outfit too -- but yea i think thats the one and yes from the saturday show-- at first i thought she was just wearing that becasue she liked to but then i saw her in the area with all the other cosume people and figured she was suposed to be from a game (prehistoric or vampire?)
I thought she was with the other girl that was wearing that tight all black plastic/vynl looking outfit which i thought was suposed to be a vampire. My Friend couldn't figure out what game she was suposed to be from either (if it was indeed a game)
- i notced she was with the costume people becasue tomy toleriqo (sp) that g4 guy seemed to be haveing a blank stare in the area she was standing at and i looked to see was was so mezmerizing.

Muscelli

11-14-2005, 04:16 PM

I was a bit disappointed seeing as this was supposed to be bigger and better, and it was a lot smaller.. Only like about 10 vendors tops..

I did get some good deals, mainly from graveyard games and trade-n-games (i think that was the name)

I wish they would go back to the old phillyclassic thing, I actually liked being in a big stuffy room more..

The vendors were very nice though, and It was kind of funny seeing some guy on a different message board recognizing me andcalling me a fag ( I used to troll it a while back) The guy from the apprentice was there, he was pretty cool.

I got a christmas nights sampler, a sega saturn system, and wacky races for a total of 45 dollars

Just curious, did anybody see me? Im being silly in that pic just so ya know

http://myspace-326.vo.llnwd.net/00293/62/34/293944326_m.jpg
I was with this guy http://myspace-290.vo.llnwd.net/00248/09/28/248638290_m.jpgand was wearing a white billabong hoody

K3V

11-14-2005, 04:17 PM

Just back from the VGXPO (what's up Chris!) and had a great time. PC5 last year was my first real big event of this nature (been to E3 once but that's a whole 'nother beast) and I think this year was pretty much on-par with PC5. The crowd was a bit less hardcore, probably due to the NBC affiliation, but the NBC side of the show really paled in comparision to the number of people and activity back at the VGXPO.

Had a great time, bought some goodies (I, Cyborg for Vectrex, a PSone, Atari Retro for the DS and ordered Guitar Hero for PS2) and got to see friends. Looking forward to next year's event!

Kid Ice

11-14-2005, 05:55 PM

davepesc

11-14-2005, 08:00 PM

i
I thought she was with the other girl that was wearing that tight all black plastic/vynl looking outfit which i thought was suposed to be a vampire. My Friend couldn't figure out what game she was suposed to be from either (if it was indeed a game)
- i notced she was with the costume people becasue tomy toleriqo (sp) that g4 guy seemed to be haveing a blank stare in the area she was standing at and i looked to see was was so mezmerizing.

The girl in the black was the villain From the G.I. Joe series. I forget her name, but they had her hooked up with Destro (metal faced guy) in the cartoon series.
The prehistoric girl was ok, but I couldn't stop looking at the scars on her shoulder. Call me shallow.

The funniest thing with Tallerico was last year when he spent the entire show at the Grrrl Gamers booth trying to score. LOL

Mangar

11-14-2005, 08:06 PM

My view on the VGExpo is mixed. It wasn't bad, but having previously attended the Phillyclassic, i felt this one didn't compare in the slightest. There was just a certain aesthetic "feel" to the Phillyclassic shows, which made me want to be there both days, all day. This one i only attended on Saturday, and left 2 hours prior to closing. Having attained most of the high scores in Quantum, and not wanting to wait in-line to play Tron - I felt that beer was calling my name, and spent the entire rest of the day bar-hopping and clubbing around the Philly/Bensalem area. (Bars closing at 2am makes me sad)

Things i disliked

1. The NBC10 Crew: I just felt that the whole consumer show/NBC thing took a lot away from the feel of the show. With the Consumer show taking up about 85% of the floor, and the VGExpo crammed into this tiny spot in the back - You kind of got the feel that the show was this red-headed stepchild. It's not that the Consumer/NBC folks really did anything negative, it's just that their presence as a "focal" point just seemed bothersome and intrusive. I much preferred the old Phillyclassic event in this regard. It's hard to really explain in words why i felt this way, but i guess you would have just had to be there. I do understand why as a vendor i'd like them there however. But just as an average attendee/gamer, i can only hope they aren't present next year.

2. Less Vendors/Smaller: There simply seemed to be a major lack of vendors there. Don't get me wrong, the people who were present were quite fine - It's just that there weren't very many of them. There also seemed to be much less "Regular Person" type of sellers. IE: People not connected to a store, be it online or brick and mortar. There were a couple, but it seemed like a lot less then the Phillyclassic. Overall there was simply a lot less vendors of all stripes.

3. Events/Pacing/Things to Do: I may be nitpicking here, but in the interests of giving a detailed view - I simply felt that the pacing of events and things to do wasn't nearly as good as last years Phillyclassic. Last year, as soon as you had your fill of the arcade, or browsing the vendors, etc.. - It seemed that some sort of event or discussion was starting. It kept things flowing much better, and was overall a more fun show. There was also simply a lot more things to do. At the Phillyclassic, you literally had almost every single game and console hooked up someplace on the floor and available to play. From the X-Box, to the Odyssey 2, to Dreamcast and even MAME/Atari 2600 emulators ON a Dreamcast. Multicarts and assorted games galore. You could play nearly everything you wanted. This years show aside from the Arcade, was very lacking on the classic end of things. You could play dance games galore, Guitar Heroes, Halo, and various modern games. But classic-wise, you were limited to the Atari-Age Homebrews in there booth(which i enjoyed a ton btw) Strider for the Genesis, Duck Hunt, and overall like 5-6 classic console type games. Nowhere near lasts years amount, where you literally couldn't walk without passing someplace to play various classic console games.(Not to mention the many multicarts/emulation)

4. More Emphasis on Modern Games: Don't get me wrong, i love modern games. I own a 61' HDTV, a high-speed computer, and enjoy a ton of modern games and MMO's. But i guess the point of a show like this for me, is to have more emphasis on the classic end of gaming. I can walk down the block or phone my buddy if i wanna play Halo. I don't need a convention or expo for that. Gone were the Kaboom and classic tournaments of yesteryear, replaced by a Halo tournament, dance contests, and a Lan-Party. I'm not saying that modern games shouldn't be a part of this show. I think they should. I just felt that they ended up overshadowing the classic aspect, as more time was spent hyping Halo and the 360 then most classic type of stuff.

5. Location: Sorry. I just hated the convention center it was in. From the layout, to the parking, to even entering. I refused to wait in line to make the "Left-Turn" into the parking lot, so i ended up cutting off about 90 cars instead. Yeah. i'm a prick in real life.

Things i'm mixed about

1. Prices: I seen a couple people mention prices, and i probably have a good idea of what they are referring too. 400$-500$+ cartridges, and some rather questionable tags on things. Some of the prices were laughable . I don't find this surprising however. I generally go into a convention like this expecting prices to be either high or exactly what the book value is. You aren't going to find that many deals when everyone knows exactly what everything is worth. Top this off with people walking around with their little DP Price Guides and literally looking up titles people are selling/buying as they ask for prices - And well you get the idea. With all this said however, there WERE deals to be found. Regular collectors selling there stuff generally weren't looking to rip people off, and deals could be made. There were also many bargains on commons, uncommons, and even a couple of rares. Just depends on what you were looking for. My only gripe is I that came home without a set of 100% working paddle controllers. Ah well. Maybe one day...

Things I liked

1. Arcade: Ok, there were some small gripes here. There weren't really enough games(Is there ever though?) and the better ones had lines(Tempest, Tron, etc..) but thats a small gripe. I did feel the selection could have been slightly better, but thats just a personal thing since there was no Burgertime or Mr. Do for me to play.(Not providing Mr.Do is probably a sin against God of some sort. I'll ask a priest for confirmation, but i'm sure i'm right) The selection was probably fine for people who weren't me, and don't have such odd taste in classic gaming. I still played a ton, and enjoyed my stay in the arcade a bunch. The #1 biggest thrill for me about the arcade was Quantum. Much like many people here, i've probably seen and played most every arcade game released at some point. Even played Thayers Quest in the wild. I had **NEVER** played Quantum before, and the game was absolutely awesome. Not only did i find a classic game i loved, but it was completely new to me. Major prop's to whoever picked that game to be there. I had even brought a friend who wasn't really a retro-gamer, and he ended up hooked on Quantum. I was almost tempted to drive back the next day to play Quantum again, but after a night sleeping on a strange couch after my 10 hours of bar-hopping/clubbing.... Well the laws of physics prevented this bright idea.

2. It was a Video Game Convention: Despite any gripes, it was a Video Game Convention, and thusly it was fun. Had there been no Phillyclassics, and this had been my first one - I'd probably have nothing at all bad to say about it. But because of the many changes, you are sort of forced to compare when outlining things. It wasn't really a bad show. It just wasn't as good as the Phillyclassics of old. The thing to keep in mind when reading my complaints, is that every gripe is repairable. It technically is a "first" show, so things could be improved next year. It was good enough to where i'd go back since it's relatively close, but not something i'd travel for. (Bout an hour and 20 mins from me. I'm at the Jersey Shore)

One other observation: I felt this years show was more kid friendly. I had went with a buddy, because we had plans for after the show. But was considering bringing my nephew who is more into modern gaming. (He enjoys some classics, but pretty much nothing pre-NES) With all the emphasis on Halo, X-Box, Dance games, and modern systems - I felt he would have enjoyed it more then the Phillyclassic. Next year, i'll probably skip a night out with my buddies and bring him along.

Anyway, this is my summary/review. I didn't talk to many people there, but i was the guy with the shaved head, goatee, jeans, and muscle shirt/leather jacket. I noticed that not many people looked like me :)

Oh - I spent about 50$ while there. 20$ on a Broken Vectrex, (Not sure whats wrong with it, the guy said it didn't work well, and i didn't test it yet) that had a perfectly working controller. This for me was golden, since i have a mint vectrex at home, and my controller had very recently broken. A quick switch, and now my Vectrex is as good as new. I also have a broken vectrex i can either attempt to fix, or cannibilize for parts. I was extremely happy about this one. The other 30$ was spent on various commons and odds and ends on needed. (2600 carts, 7800, NES ones, nothing monumental. Just shit i didn't have.)

Mangar

11-14-2005, 08:09 PM

The girl in the black was the villain From the G.I. Joe series. I forget her name, but they had her hooked up with Destro (metal faced guy) in the cartoon series.

The Baroness was her name. I've always wanted to bang the Baroness too, so i was a big fan of this costume.

The prehistoric girl was ok, but I couldn't stop looking at the scars on her shoulder. Call me shallow.

I almost walked over and asked what they were from. My personal guess was self-mutiliation. But in a very very very rare case of self-control, i decided to behave myself.

cbroddy

11-14-2005, 10:38 PM

I had an enjoyable time at the VGXPO
Good Points
I thought there were just the right amount of vendors there, there were a ton of games to purchase (I tried to even stay under budget)
The arcade had many great and wonderful games to play
Bad Points
The Playstation infra red item where were punching into the air at the robot onscree. I felt like an idiot doing it
I wanted to increase the size of my Turbografx
collection, although there were many Turbografx games there were only a few that I didn't have yet
Not remembering to bring enough money to the show and driving to the hotel that is 15 minutes away.

Schenley

11-16-2005, 04:42 PM

I finally got around to adding my few pictures. I didn't take many - cause I was busy behind the table. Otherwise, I would have taken four times as many pictures!!

http://www.brokenclavicle.com/051111_VGExpo

I thought I had already posted my thoughts on the event, but now I remember when I tried to on Monday, the DP site was down... Go figure.

This was my first show as a vendor. For those of you that went, I was the guy in the back with all the broken hardware. I was selling non working stuff 3 for $10. I was able to sell quite a bit of it - more than I expected. If any of you bought any of it and were able to get it working, let me know! If not, it was sold "AS-IS!" I also sold quite a few working systems like Saturn, Atari 2600jr, Dreamcast, and Sega Master Sytems. I had a couple of boxes full of controllers - mostly for $1. These sold well, especially the Colecovision controllers.

Saturday was better than Sunday. Sunday seemed to have a lot of 'tire kickers.'

Highlights for me were:

-Getting one of my broken Odyssey2's autographed by Ralph Baer himself!
-Having Tommy Tallarico buying like 10 busted machines from me
-Meeting Chris Chandler and Nick - who was a huge help to me all weekend
-Playing the 'brown box' with Chandler for like 20 seconds
-Meeting Jason from Trade-N-Games - pleasure buying some of your stuff!
-Buying my first 'rare' game
-Seeing games at the Atari2600.com booth that are worth more than my collection
-Getting autographed copies of books by Bill Kunkel and Leonard Herman
-Talking to fellow collectors who have more stuff than me
-Talking and buying from the guys at the J2Games booth. Their booth had a sight line to my table, so I popped over there whenever my table was slow

Regrets:
-Not having some kind of nametag identifying me as a Digital Press member
-Not having someone available to watch my table so I could shop more
-Not having time to check out the homebrews at the AtariAge booth
-Not having time to play some of the arcade machines like the Sinistar sitdown and Robotron

-=A.J. "Schenley" Griglak

K3V

11-16-2005, 07:23 PM

Got my pics up:

http://www.nuon-dome.com/pix/vgxpo05/index.html

vaf5136

11-16-2005, 08:59 PM

How come DP didn't show up???

Sniderman

11-16-2005, 09:00 PM

How come DP didn't show up???We heard you were gonna be there. It frightens us, yes?

punkoffgirl

11-16-2005, 09:15 PM

How come DP didn't show up???

If you're talking about Joe, maybe you heard about this thing where he's got this store he's opening in like, two weeks?

digitalpress

11-16-2005, 10:30 PM

googlefest1

11-17-2005, 11:36 AM

Schenley , do you know if Toleriqo (sp) was going to try and fix the systems or use them as props.

I wanted to pic up that busted Nes you had with the toggle switch and some of the controlers unfortunatly at the end totaly forgot about it untill i was on my way home :/ . You actualy had a realy apetizing booth - i kept comming back to it but in the end chickend out taking a risk. I did endup buying something but i forgot what it was. If i knew you were a member i would have felt more comforable buying more even though you did seem honest. ill remeber your face for the next time.

Dp - how could another vendor keep you from haveing a booth? - unless they were a major showcase vendor like that videotopia, arcade or the atari thing. Couldn't they mediate a far enough separation distance? I don't know the details but it does seem petty

I wonder if the G4 Crew were disapointed at all. When did they show up? All i saw was toleriqo (sp) givie his speach to a very small audience and them sitting in his booth.

Schenley

11-17-2005, 12:07 PM

Schenley , do you know if Toleriqo (sp) was going to try and fix the systems or use them as props.
He got Ralph Baer to autograph them. He said he was going to give them away as gifts. He gave one to me...

Oh, and it's Tallarico (www.tallarico.com). I know a lot of people don't care for the guy, but I thought he was really down to earth and a nice guy. A lot of people don't realize how much he's done in gaming. Just look at his credits page...

Schenley

11-17-2005, 12:10 PM

I wanted to pic up that busted Nes you had with the toggle switch and some of the controlers unfortunatly at the end totaly forgot about it untill i was on my way home :/ . You actualy had a realy apetizing booth - i kept comming back to it but in the end chickend out taking a risk. I did endup buying something but i forgot what it was. If i knew you were a member i would have felt more comforable buying more even though you did seem honest. ill remeber your face for the next time. Yea, I wish I had made up a nametag or something saying that I was a DP member. I had it on my 8 1/2 x 11 that I was handing out, but I learned that people don't read those...

That NES made it's way into Ed's donation to the VideoGame Museum along with 3 big boxes of stuff.

googlefest1

11-17-2005, 01:15 PM

you handed out papers? i didnt get one - i would have definatly looked at it

That was nice of Tallarico - im sure hes a nice guy - i just don't like his reviews of games and think hes biased in his reviews.

well too bad i had my chance and blew it (your prices were definatly good for the most part)-- i was hoping to see more vendors like you and the guys next to you (except for the autophaph guy that came in later on saturday) but unfortunatly it didnt happen.

on some of your items you had the same prices as everyone else - how did you come up with them - (if you dont mind answering) - did all the vendors get together beforhand or something or did you scope things out. Like on your atari jr., odessy 2, coleco vision expansion module 1(as examples)
it seemed the only vendor that had alternative prices (besides you) was the grave yard guy

Schenley

11-17-2005, 01:41 PM

you handed out papers? i didnt get one - i would have definatly looked at it It was just something I slapped together at the last second. The same stuff is on my web site - Broken Clavicle Gaming. (www.brokenclavicle.com)

well too bad i had my chance and blew it (your prices were definatly good for the most part)-- i was hoping to see more vendors like you and the guys next to you (except for the autophaph guy that came in later on saturday) but unfortunatly it didnt happen.I didn't see any money exchanged at the autograph guy's table. I don't think he sold a single item. He started talking to me, though - he's been a game designer for many years. He's worked on many games and even wrote a book on the subject. Not sure why he's (not) selling autographed movie stills.

on some of your items you had the same prices as everyone else - how did you come up with them - (if you dont mind answering) - did all the vendors get together beforhand or something or did you scope things out. Like on your atari jr., odessy 2, coleco vision expansion module 1(as examples)I ran around quickly and looked at pricing. Actually, I thought my prices were lower than everyone else. I sold a couple of very clean and tested Dreamcasts with hookups and 1 controller for $25. Seems pretty low to me... The Odyssey2 I had just bought from someone else and was just looking to get the same that I paid for it...

Muscelli

11-17-2005, 07:27 PM

Ah, shenley.. I bought a saturn from u I believe? I was a youngster (16)

cheers and thanks

vaf5136

11-17-2005, 09:11 PM

Thanks DP. Lokking forward to seeing the store.

Kid Ice

11-17-2005, 09:38 PM

How come DP didn't show up???

Too many trolls, know what I mean? Sure ya do.....

And they always seem to pop up shortly after a Philly event. Coincidence? Or SOMETHING MORE SINISTER :evil:

rolenta

11-18-2005, 01:18 AM

it's Tallarico. I know a lot of people don't care for the guy, but I thought he was really down to earth and a nice guy. A lot of people don't realize how much he's done in gaming. Just look at his credits page...

What you said about Tommy is certainly true. A large group of us went out to dinner Saturday night and he surprised us by treating. It defintely was one of the highlights of the weekend.

googlefest1

11-18-2005, 08:57 AM

K3V

11-18-2005, 10:24 AM

Broken clavicle gameing - what a name

i get visions of walking into a store - getting slammed in the shoulder area and walking out an invalid with a game and a forced smile

yea your prices were good im not saying they weren't

i guess tallarico enjoyed himself too sounds like you guys had fun

does anyone know if they showed anything on G4 about the expo - any known airdates - i forgot the check the channel this week to see if anything was on about it.

My guess is that they'll do a segment on G4TV.com the show (airs on Monday nights), since Laura Foy is on that show and she seemed to be doing a bunch of coverage. There was nothing on the monday after the show, so it may be this coming monday or the following.

Schenley

11-20-2005, 12:08 AM

Ah, shenley.. I bought a saturn from u I believe? I was a youngster (16)

cheers and thanksYea, I saw your picture on here, but don't remember you at the show...

Is the Saturn working out?

Schenley

11-20-2005, 12:10 AM

Broken clavicle gameing - what a name

i get visions of walking into a store - getting slammed in the shoulder area and walking out an invalid with a game and a forced smile

yea your prices were good im not saying they weren't

i guess tallarico enjoyed himself too sounds like you guys had fun

does anyone know if they showed anything on G4 about the expo - any known airdates - i forgot the check the channel this week to see if anything was on about it.It's a long story about Broken Clavicle. Short story is that I had the domain registered with no use for it...

I haven't seen anything on G4... As far as I know, Laura Foy is only on G4TV.com - and they haven't mentioned it at all. They're probably saving it for a slow news week...

Muscelli

11-20-2005, 02:03 PM

Ah, shenley.. I bought a saturn from u I believe? I was a youngster (16)

cheers and thanksYea, I saw your picture on here, but don't remember you at the show...

Is the Saturn working out?

Yup, I modded it and am having some fun with some backups of the cotton series

Mianrtcv

11-24-2005, 11:33 PM

How come DP didn't show up???

Ah... *ahem*

We were banned from exhibiting. I'm not kidding.

Apparently there was another vendor at the show who has a problem with me. This vendor told the show organizer that they would withdraw from the expo if we were allowed in. This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened, and probably won't be the last.

Yep, in this day and age, there are still petty little people in our beloved hobby. It's no matter to me - I have plenty of other things to do, and ended up spending the weekend getting the most kick ass store you'll ever see just that much closer to nirvana.

Hope everyone had a great time! Maybe we'll be allowed in next year if we keep on our best behavior!

This would be funny, if not true. I have attended video game events in various states. I have always been impartial.
Unfortunately, impartial is not a concept shared by all. I have attended phillyclassic or whatever it will be called as well. Anyhow, this to me is a sad extension of the fanboy mentality. Cut the junk! Games are for the players! DP has always kept this in mind! Enjoy the hobby, leave politics to the outsiders, aka the hobby killers.

BillKunkel

11-29-2005, 05:04 AM

I'd say it was one of the better shows I've been to. It wasn't outrageously large, vendor wise, but there was still some nice stuff to be had. I loaded up on Dreamcast games and picked up the Confessions book and ABC to the VCS, signed of course :) . I'm already halfway through Confessions, yep it's that good.

Interesting note about the speakers...when Bill Kunkel spoke at CGE it was in front of a packed room of about 100 people who hung on to his every word...here (he read the same chapter from his book) it was like, 8. Ralph Baer drew a larger crowd, but not nearly as large as that idiot money guy from NBC10. I thought setting up that part of the show better was a missed opportunity...Ralph Baer was drowned out by screams from the Halo tournament, I mean, really.

Good observation. I was torn between doing that particular chapter I had read at CGE -- where Arnie gave Activision prez Jim Levy the finger at a fancy dinner at an '83 CES -- and doing one of the others, probably the "Strictly Anecdotal" chapter. Instead, I felt I should be reading the "People Who Died" chapter cause if they weren't gonna laugh, I could at least have caused the audience to shed a tear.

But it seemed like the audience, what there was of it (and Ralph and I were on the "Main Stage") had no clue about who I was or what I was reading. And don't get me started on the sound system...

Nonetheless, I had a better time in Philly than I did at CGE, which I really didn't expect. I got to meet a lot of really nice people, sold and signed some books and joined that famous dinner that Tommy Tallarico treated about a dozen of us to. Did you know he was Steven "Aerosmith" Tyler's cousin? He's never used it to advcance his career and I've know and been writing about him since he first broke in at Virgin because he was a great kid, a talented musician and he understood the value of marketing yourself in this business (cause if you're waiting for the game publishers to do it, I hope you aren't holding your breath -- or anything else for that matter).

Tommy's a friend, but he's also a genuinely good guy. He sure didn't have to show up in Philly cause he needed the money.

But to everyone I met, you were a great group and I promise next year I'll come back with a story that wasn't even IN the book (if anybody likes it -- it's just $21 at rolentapress.com -- I already have the first five chapters of a sequel outlined). ;)

--Bill Kunkel

GrandAmChandler

11-29-2005, 09:23 AM

Did you know he was Steven "Aerosmith" Tyler's cousin? He's never used it to advcance his career and I've know and been writing about him since he first broke in at Virgin because he was a great kid, a talented musician and he understood the value of marketing yourself in this business (cause if you're waiting for the game publishers to do it, I hope you aren't holding your breath -- or anything else for that matter).

Correct! Steven Tyler is actually Steven Tallarico. He changed his name later in life, hence Liv Tyler, etc.

Bill, glad you had a great time!