Official CGE 2K7 Impressions Thread

[Bojay1997]

I think it was a little light on vendors, versus some past shows.(Possibly due to costs?) There was some great product, but I just think that the show will continue to appeal to a specific audience if it does not want to reach out to a more general public. As time moves forward, I would like to see the focus of the show to other game systems other than atari. Atari is now 30 years old. I know that other systems were represented, but some were almost non existant. I just keep thinking that the show limits itself when totally focused on the "classic classic stuff".

The auction was great, but it really shows some bias towards the classic stuff. The PAL Atari carts in the auction were pretty common, and other stuff was not allowed in due to being "newer". Some of the Again this is my opinion and I dont want to come off bashing the show. I just think that after 10 years of the show, a little redesign of focus will benifit the show.

I will be attending future shows and want to support the event become bigger than what it was. I know that change can be hard. I am mostly a very positive person, but feel I have been around long enough to express some of my opinions that others may not want to openly express.

Thank you for your comments. I'll be honest with you, most of the issues above are what kept me away from the show this year after having attended every show since the first World of Atari. Over the course of the last three shows, I ended up buying very little aside from the show exclusives and this year, I just couldn't justify spending $500 just to get to Vegas and stay for a couple of nights. The vendors have been mostly the same for the past few shows and frankly, they haven't added much inventory. I know it's to be expected, especially since it's classic stuff and not easy to restock, but with the dominance of Ebay and prices starting to become far more reasonable, it's really a better source for most collectors.

The auction has always been tough, particularly since there are only a couple of really unusual items each year (i.e. stuff I've never seen on Ebay) and it's cash only. I just don't have an interest in carrying thousands of dollars in cash for the possibility of buying something at an auction. Paypal and credit cards are not that hard to set-up, but I understand that sellers want to get paid immediately. The fact that items don't become available for inspection until just before the bidding starts is another concern I have. I'm not going to pay top dollar for stuff I can't examine in detail. Maybe if people registered items on the first day and there was a room dedicated to inspection for a full day before, it would be a better option for me.

The panels haven't really changed in the last few shows. I like the Intellivision guys and the Activision guys, but I believe I have seen each presentation at least five times. I know attracting new guests is hard, but maybe partnering with a TV or magazine outlet like G4 or EGM would be a good way to underwrite the travel and lodging to attract guests who wouldn't otherwise come and speak.

Finally, I agree that the emphasis has to change to embrace the fact that almost all of us collect and play every generation and the 16 bit stuff is 20 years old now. That qualifies as classic in my book. I probably buy more 16 bit and newer stuff than 8 bit classic stuff, especially since I've been collecting since the late 80s and have most of the 8 bit stuff I want.

So, in summary, I appreciate all the work and effort that goes into pulling this show off, but I really do think it's time to take it to the next level.

[DreamTR]

Thank you for your comments. I'll be honest with you, most of the issues above are what kept me away from the show this year after having attended every show since the first World of Atari. Over the course of the last three shows, I ended up buying very little aside from the show exclusives and this year, I just couldn't justify spending $500 just to get to Vegas and stay for a couple of nights. The vendors have been mostly the same for the past few shows and frankly, they haven't added much inventory. I know it's to be expected, especially since it's classic stuff and not easy to restock, but with the dominance of Ebay and prices starting to become far more reasonable, it's really a better source for most collectors.

The auction has always been tough, particularly since there are only a couple of really unusual items each year (i.e. stuff I've never seen on Ebay) and it's cash only. I just don't have an interest in carrying thousands of dollars in cash for the possibility of buying something at an auction. Paypal and credit cards are not that hard to set-up, but I understand that sellers want to get paid immediately. The fact that items don't become available for inspection until just before the bidding starts is another concern I have. I'm not going to pay top dollar for stuff I can't examine in detail. Maybe if people registered items on the first day and there was a room dedicated to inspection for a full day before, it would be a better option for me.

The panels haven't really changed in the last few shows. I like the Intellivision guys and the Activision guys, but I believe I have seen each presentation at least five times. I know attracting new guests is hard, but maybe partnering with a TV or magazine outlet like G4 or EGM would be a good way to underwrite the travel and lodging to attract guests who wouldn't otherwise come and speak.

Finally, I agree that the emphasis has to change to embrace the fact that almost all of us collect and play every generation and the 16 bit stuff is 20 years old now. That qualifies as classic in my book. I probably buy more 16 bit and newer stuff than 8 bit classic stuff, especially since I've been collecting since the late 80s and have most of the 8 bit stuff I want.

So, in summary, I appreciate all the work and effort that goes into pulling this show off, but I really do think it's time to take it to the next level.

Bojay: There was one auction piece that you did not have to pay for 30 days, the Intellivison Keyboard.

You CAN go up to the podium and inspect the item before you bid, so I don't see why anyone would need a crazy amount of time to do so unless they wanted to play through an unreleased game or whatever, but that's the joy and surprise of the auction.

As far as not being able to spend money besides the show exclusives? I'm not too sure about that. I've been to every CGE since 1999, and I've spent $1000-2000 at each and every one of them. THis one I spent almost $2500 at. ANyone that knows me knows it is very hard for me to collect things nowadays because I have completed a lot of the stuff I wanted to collect for, but I still find all these items to buy at CGE each year. It's the only time I know where you can go crazy and buy everything from a flea market dedicated to collectors.

There was a decent amount of 16 bit stuff this year, but I will say with people missing like D-Lite, who sells Neo Geo and TG stuff, 4Jays, and B&C Computervisions, as well as Classic Game Source, it was a little light on that end, but the swap room more than made up for it.

[Bojay1997]

Bojay: There was one auction piece that you did not have to pay for 30 days, the Intellivison Keyboard.

You CAN go up to the podium and inspect the item before you bid, so I don't see why anyone would need a crazy amount of time to do so unless they wanted to play through an unreleased game or whatever, but that's the joy and surprise of the auction.

As far as not being able to spend money besides the show exclusives? I'm not too sure about that. I've been to every CGE since 1999, and I've spent $1000-2000 at each and every one of them. THis one I spent almost $2500 at. ANyone that knows me knows it is very hard for me to collect things nowadays because I have completed a lot of the stuff I wanted to collect for, but I still find all these items to buy at CGE each year. It's the only time I know where you can go crazy and buy everything from a flea market dedicated to collectors.

There was a decent amount of 16 bit stuff this year, but I will say with people missing like D-Lite, who sells Neo Geo and TG stuff, 4Jays, and B&C Computervisions, as well as Classic Game Source, it was a little light on that end, but the swap room more than made up for it.

Interesting points. However, if I'm going to spend money on an item, I want a more substantial review than crowding up to the front just before bidding starts. Trust me, I've been to every CGE and WOA auction but this one. I know how rushed the item review is. I don't want to be surprised when I'm spending more than a few dollars. I want to know exactly what I'm bidding on.

I guess part of my problem is that I am super picky. I collect primarily sealed stuff and I would never buy anything that wasn't mint and complete. It seems like there has been less and less of that stuff at CGE recently which is probably why I haven't really been spending as much as in the days when Telegames and some of the other vendors were there.

Unfortunately, the swap room doesn't really do it for me. There is almost never sealed or mint stuff to be had and since I am approaching complete collections of most of the US 16 bit and later consoles, it's pretty unlikely that I'll find much of interest.

Maybe I'm just impossible to please, but there was a time when there was more of the "good" stuff available at CGE.

[Balloon Fight]

I had a great time this CGE and REALLY liked its location at the Riviera. This was only my second trip to CGE, last time I went in 03, and I thought the location was great.

I didn't spend all that much at all, but I got to meet a ton of great people, including mostly everyone from #vbender as well as Joe and a few others. The auction was fun (I guess I'll continue my quest for that damn Coca Cola Game Gear) and the swap meet was great this year too. DreamTR was selling games like crazy in that room.

Good stuff, and I can't wait until next year.

[Pantechnicon]

Liked:
- The Riviera > the Plaza, mostly for the sake of proximity to the main Strip. Additionally, the Riv has a better pool and, unlike the Plaza, doesn’t smell completely like cigarettes.
- The fact that the swap meet was ongoing during show hours instead of afterward. It was nice to be able to poke my head in the room every couple of hours and see if anything new popped up.
- What was probably the largest selection of free play cabs CGE has ever had.
- 8-Bit-Weapon is always a treat to hear.
- The 80’s living room with the 2600. I missed it from my last CGE in 2K4 and was thrilled to see it again.

Disliked:
- The absence of B&C Computervisions from the vendor room. But clearly that was not the CGE organizers’ fault. I was just hoping to get some more Lynx goodies.

Personal lowlights:
- No Galaga cab.
- My son misplaced his Nintendo DS at one point. Captain Nintendo found it and turned it in to the registration desk. Unfortunately someone must have gotten to it before the Captain did because the games my son had loaded therein were missing.
- I was really torn between going to the CGE after-party or the Retrotopia event at the Pinball Hall of Fame, and I wound up going to neither since I didn’t get out of the Rush concert at the MGM until around 1130. Granted, seeing Rush in Vegas was absolutely cool, but it still would have been nice to hang out with and knock back a few some DP’ers in a looser setting than the regular show.

-Personal highlights:
- Making it on to the Twin Galaxies’ roster. I posted a score of approx. 215,000 on Atari 2600 Missile Command, verified by Walter Day himself. That should be a high enough score to put me in 4th place. My wife can now say she’s married to one of the top Missile Command players in the world (although I really can’t think of a reason why she would ever willingly admit to that)
- Watching my son and Mezrabad’s son – who met at OVGE 2006 – essentially pick up where they left off in Tulsa, with linked Gameboys in hand. It’s nice for the little ones to have “buddies” to look forward to seeing at these events.
- Buying virtually nothing on Sunday left a lot of time to play games, which is what it’s really all about for me, or at least should be.
- It’s a cliché only because it’s a fact, but meeting so many DP’ers for the first time was really an honor as well.

Another good show overall and I hope I can make it to 2K8!

[TNTPLUST]

First let me say that CGE could be held anywhere and I would go. Hold it in an abandoned building and I would stay in a cardboard box next door. The Riviera is certainly a step up from the Plaza. For those that haven't been there The "Riv" is a 50's style resort/casino. It is one of the few 50's style resort/casinos left on the strip (the New Frontier just closed). These were built in the days when people came to GAMBLE. The rooms were designed for one purpose only, to catch a few z's after a 10 hour binder at the casino. They have a bare bones setup and are well used. The Riviera is due to be upgraded soon but some have speculated that it may be torn down to make room for a more modern "mixed media" resort.

We arrived Friday night and somehow got placed in the wrong room. We had paid for a non-smoking deluxe and were taken to a smoking standard but a quick call to the front desk and we were given the correct room promptly. While a little dated I found nothing wrong with the Riviera and would stay again if the next CGE was held there.

Kudos to the Museum organizers and the Coin-ops. The Museum was nicely displayed with lots of little goodies to see. There was a very nice selection of coin-ops and they were all working. The playable consoles are always a fav. Although I noticed that there were a few systems not represented as in past years. I enjoyed playing with Virtual Boy but I had a headache after playing Tennis for an hour.

It does seem like there were fewer vendors with less to sell but that is probably the state of our hobby as there are less doing business. That said the ones that did show had some neat stuff and I found some great deals.

The Swap meet sure has evolved since the days we just met in the room and traded on the floor. In fact in all honesty thats were all the great deals were this year. There was some really rare stuff in there too. I like this format but I do have one suggestion. Could you PLEASE go back to a sign up sheet? Once the tables sell out have any "waiters" sign up. When a table gets open call there name out. If they are in the room then they get the table, if they aren't go to the next name. IMHO that is the fair thing to do and will go a long way in causing any hurt feelings.

The auction is always great and although it has been a few years since I've won anything it is always fun to watch bidders go after stuff. I found everything in the auction to be Relevant and appropriate to CGE.

Overall a smashing success.

[DreamTR]

Bojay: To each his own..I don't really like collecting sealed games. I collect boxed games with the purpose to play them, so usually those games are at the CGE. I did see a sealed Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel at the auction for SNES, which is pretty tough to find.

[digitpress Jim]

Fantastic! Thanks for all the feedback guys, keep it coming. It is really gonna help Joe, me and the rest of the team to make next year even bigger and have some new goodies to offer. I too was personally impressed with the swap meet room and we are gonna make some adjustments for next year to make it even better. Thanks again all.

Digitpress Jim

[YoshiM]

Finally got a chance to put my 2 zenny in on CGE2K7!

The Riviera was a decent place to stay. The CGE code got my wife and I a larger room with a fridge so we could pick up some soda and water (though we hardly drank any of it and there was so much we really couldn't pack the stuff). Our room was on the other side of the building so it was kind of a hike to get to the convention until we figured out we could take a short cut by walking through the pool area. The breakfast buffet wasn't all that great but Kady's (Coffee house? Cafe?) dished up some good morning grub...for a price (which is to be expected on the Strip).

CGE itself was smaller than I expected, though I gather the hiatus and the move to the Riv might have been the reason. I was told that there were fewer vendors this year but to be honest those that did attend combined with the swap room, IMO, had enough stuff to tempt my wallet. I was a very good boy with my purchases: a CGE T-Shirt (I love the "Wii who?" on the back), Bill Kunkel's book "Confessions of The Game Doctor", a stack of VG&CE magazines and Oldergames/Knurdz's "Video Game Media Archive Vol #1" (contains a bunch of classic commercials on DVD-I'll review this tonight in the Classic Gaming forum). Pretty much got everything I was looking for except the "work-friendly" game polo shirt, which a vendor (and I'm sorry I forgot your name/forum handle-it takes a few times for me to remember those) recognized my Roundtable badge and asked "Where we ya? I had some DS polos earlier!" Oh well.

The best parts of CGE were meeting the DP crew face to face (most for the first time). You're all great people and I had a great time chatting with those I bumped into. I'm not an overly social creature in RL and to be honest I was nervous as hell before even coming to Vegas so if I was short in conversation with anyone I apologize. It takes me a bit to open up sometimes.

Next to meeting my online friends were the speakers. My wife (no kidding) and I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of the sessions (we missed the Atari panel-lunch took too long). Al Alcorn's session, which contained a Power Point presentation, was genuinely interesting but was more low-key and somewhat serious which kinda slowed the flow of things. At the Video Game Journalism session on Sunday I was able to get Bill Kunkel's book signed by the man himself. I felt dumb, though, as after I asked for his autograph the English language escaped me when he asked what my favorite game was and finally what era I liked and was able to utter "Nintendo". Everything I wanted to say just got flushed out my brain. Oh well.

Finally the Auction. I have never witnessed anything like this auction. The type of items that were up for auction blew my mind and the sheer amount of money being offered obliterated what was left in my brain pan. The whole thing was exciting to witness. Oh, question for the person who won the Solid Snake statue: any problems getting his pieces on the plane?

Overall we had a great time and I think this is going to be a yearly trip. Thanks goes out to Joe, John, Sean and all the others who put this together. Next year we'll both me more sociable and better Warlords players .

[y-bot]

Thanks Joe, Sean, John and all the others who helped put the show on. I had a great time and it was nice to meet people and see some friends. I'll agree with the other peoples complaints about The Riviera. I think the CGE room was fine but the hotel overall is pretty pricey for mediocre services. See y'all next year!

y-bot

[Mayhem]

Have we SEEN Marty on here since CGE? I wonder if he's still lugging bits of Snake home heh... anyone know how that went?! When I spoke to him late Sunday they still hadn't figured out what they were going to do...

[Flack]

Here are a couple of things I thought could have been improved upon:

Rooms: Not everyone got deluxe rooms. I know Ice and I didn't. I called the front desk to complain and they said I was in the room I was supposed to be in and said something about the deluxe rooms being "first come, first serve." Our room did not have a fridge, hair dryer, or anything. It seems like different people got different room styles.

Vendors: While the quality of the vendors was good, I expected a lot more. I had assumed a show this size would have had 40-50 vendors. While the 20 or so vendors who were there were great, I felt like I had seen everything before the end of the first day.

Sitting: CGE needs more places to sit. Basically there were the half a dozen chairs along the one wall where the classic gaming systems were, and the DP couch. There was a large, unused area in the back of the room that would have been great for 4-5 couches grouped together for conversing. After the money was spent and the games were played the thing I was looking forward to the most was chatting with people. That would have been a great area for that.

That being said I thought the vendors who were there were great, the arcade games were outstanding, the auction was interesting, and of course the company/conversations were out of this world!

[RetroYoungen]

About the Riviera... I enjoyed it. Parts of it. It was my first time being legal to do just about any/everything in Vegas, so I was hoping for a better casino (though I can't complain... I pretty much paid for all of my CGE shopping at the Riviera's poker "room") and I was pushed into a smoking room as they were the only things left (and not a "deluxe" smoking room, just a regular, basic room). Those are my two major points... the rest of the show I thoroughly enjoyed.

One of the real perks of it being at the Riviera however were that it was within walking distance of two fun spots, the Hilton (for their very nice poker room and Star Trek Experience... albeit a very EXPENSIVE experience that I avoided actually... experiencing) and Circus Circus (which I spent a few hours walking the Midway of, hoping the poker room would start up a table of something other than 3-6 Hold 'Em... seems to be a pattern with my trip, eh?).

Overall though, very fun trip. Even though the hike to/from the convention center was... let's say, a little excessive. It would take me fifteen minutes to get back to the elevator, and I was pretty much right over the convention center. Geez...

Oh, and I really missed B&C Computervisions too, they're always a lot of fun, and always a great vendor to do business with. What happened with them, did they just have a prior engagement somewhere or decide to skip this year? Or did something happen to the business?

[Flack]

Have we SEEN Marty on here since CGE? I wonder if he's still lugging bits of Snake home heh... anyone know how that went?! When I spoke to him late Sunday they still hadn't figured out what they were going to do...

When I talked to him on Sunday the plan was to leave it in my hotel room until he could arrange for a shipping company to pick it up. However, I talked to him on Monday and he said he had worked out a deal with the hotel to have them store it until it could be shipped back east later this week. That's the last I heard about it.

[Mayhem]

said something about the deluxe rooms being "first come, first serve."

This is, in fact, what they told me over the phone when I reserved the room months back. Evidently when Kris and I arrived and were handed the deluxe king room I'd booked, we were early enough on Friday to still get one...

[DreamTR]

Flack: As far as vendors go, there was that Swap Room =) That makes up for it in my opinion. I still miss Telegames, B & C, and one of these days Atari Age needs to come...

[Dan Iacovelli]

I was also hoping for B&C to be at the show I might have been able to find out what is wrong with my jagcd unit and buy a replacement power supply for my 7800 from them.
glenn and myself both noticed a lack of the jaguar pressence at the show as well.(maybe a return of Jagfest@CGE is in store for that to happen I e-mailed the cge guys about that)

[vectrexer]

Riviera Hotel Room Impressions:

No upgrade. Even though I booked a while back. Sure the upgrades were first come first serve. But I booked a while ago. I also arrived earlier than many of you.

No fridge either.

Smoking room. Kind of a trade off since I wanted to be in the same tower as the big guy.

Asked for a high floor when I made the reservation. had them put the note in the reservation. No action on this request.

Generally I ask as a standard request: Same Hotel as the event, King bed, High Floor, No Smoking, end of the hall, near the convention facility. Those of you have traveled a lot for trade events probably know why.

Frequent Flyer miles were not credited. Just what the f'iing age are we living in people!

The room size was no great thing to behold. Thank god it did not matter in the end. I do have to say that Thumbeling would have been right at home. But then thumbelina was left at home for this trip.

The room upkeep was not bad. But I did make two request multiple times that were not fullfilled. One of those had to do with getting the room safe unlocked. Never happend and I just gave up.

The person taking care of the room did a good job with the item she had to work with. Actually both people who did the work did a good job. Clean towels no matter how many were taken to other locations. Clean everything reall.

The room appearance was so so. Yet it was clean, but it certainly could have used a round of redecorating. All in all the room reminded me of the last time I stayed in the Dunes hotel. Yes, the one that is now torn down. The feel is one of either (a)Just getting aroung to redecorating, or (b)Pending hotel closure for destruction and rebuild.

Overall I did not spend that much time in the room. But still I wouldd like to think a place of leisure in Las Vegas can be more flashy than a room you could find at a Motel 6. And no, the light was not left on for me at the Riviera. It was left on for my wallet!

[y-bot]

Our cab driver said there is a rumor that The Riviera is closing. He also said The Frontier used the rumor that they were closing "so you better come see it for the last time" for 10 years. It looked like The Riviera was updated in the early 90's and nothing since. I've never been in a hotel where the hallways smelled so bad like smoke. Our room had a fridge but my friends did not. Also I specifically asked the person in the Business Center if there was a charge if I sent boxes to a guest in the hotel. She said there wasn't but the charged me $300 anyway. If I had her name I would have made a big deal about it but I forgot to ask.

y-bot

[Dan Iacovelli]

Our cab driver said there is a rumor that The Riviera is closing. He also said The Frontier used the rumor that they were closing "so you better come see it for the last time" for 10 years. It looked like The Riviera was updated in the early 90's and nothing since. I've never been in a hotel where the hallways smelled so bad like smoke. Our room had a fridge but my friends did not. Also I specifically asked the person in the Business Center if there was a charge if I sent boxes to a guest in the hotel. She said there wasn't but the charged me $300 anyway. If I had her name I would have made a big deal about it but I forgot to ask.

y-bot

I don't think the "Riv" is closing any time soon, maybe for remodeling for at least a year.
as for the frontier, that is brought by trump,but he's not making a casino but
putting up a Condo, no gambling just condo.)if you noticed the sign by the frontier it was for the condo that trump is doing. (dont be surpised if the next apperantence show(if he does one) has a prize to be work the condo over there.