North Carolina hosts CGE2K2 by the looks of things....

[Sniderman]

(I refuse to place this item in Video Game Forum, giving these guys the publicity...)

Here is one of the biggest rip-offs to come down the pike. Does the website look familar? Does their opening PR piece SOUND familar?

North Carolina Atari and Classic Game Convention 2002

PLus they announce this huge meet a week and half before it opens. Best guess, a group of guys suddenly found themselves with an open VFW and decided "Hey gang! Let's put on a show!" No vendors listed. No news on what'll be there. And it opens in a week.

Poor planning, and a blatent rip-off of CGE. Looks like the videogame "entreprenuers" have moved away from Combat carts and are now setting up cons. (And "cons" has more than one meaning here.

So, am I overreacting to this? Is this somehow a GOOD thing? Or does this reek of Opportunism?

[Sothy]

Id guess THEY are gonna be the vendors.

MAybe a cool deal where you pay to get in and find that the main attraction is the opportunity to buy 5 dollar VCS PAC-MAN carts and used N64's for 59.90 from them.

Good call Sniderman.

[Atar1G1rl]

I can't even get to their site, how cheap is that?

[digitalpress]

Yeah if I were the uninitiated, I'd say this WAS CGE!

What aggravates me the most is that I SHOULD BE a vendor. 11 years in the video game biz, lots of product, attendance at every PhillyClassic and CGE... how do you leave OUT Digital Press?

I'll tell you how. You do it when you're being sneaky.

Let's see how this progresses.

[punkoffgirl]

Hmm.. The link doesn't work for me. Perhaps they took the page down.

[NoahsMyBro]

Well, Shoot!

Sniderman, you tease! I was thinking that I might get to finally go to a CGE! North Carolina is actually driveable for me.

Oh well.

[Sniderman]

Hmmm....the investigative reporter in me decided to do a little digging while I wait for the coffee maker at work.

Although the webpage for this meeting seems to be down, I was able to find out that the homepage/host is www.redlinelabs.com. Popping this into Google, brought up one very interesting thing. There are a few other computer-related pages hosted at Redlinelabs (all currently inaccessible). But, with one link I spied, I found this at a different location:

Stella: Atari 2600 emulator

Page look familar? Yup, Redlinelabs hosts a page for one of the premiere 2600 emulators out there (this is the one I personally use, in fact). So, does that mean the authors are running this meet? If so, I'm a little more comfortable, as it means a videogame enthusiast is running the meeting. But there's still a lot of sneaky, stinky things about this. More as it develops.

[Tritoch]

North Carolina needs a good show...

[slapdash]

I think the fact that Stella is hosted by the same site might be coincidental, but am not positive.

The whole thing sounded a bit last minute when it was first brought up to me, like how they hadn't even asked Warren Robinett to be there a few weeks shy of the event, but were hopeful.

My impression is that it's a well-intentioned bunch, but they didn't give themselves nearly enough planning time. I can't speak to the similarity of their press-release to CGE's though...

[slapdash]

It may have been for reasons of speed, not that they necessarily wanted it to remind people of CGE. But I'm just guessing. We'd have to ask the organizers for their reasoning.

[I Am Humanoid]

Here's some contact info:

Contact Kirk Adam
info@ncacgc.com
(919) 601-3131
http://www.ncacgc.com

[punkoffgirl]

It may have been for reasons of speed, not that they necessarily wanted it to remind people of CGE. But I'm just guessing. We'd have to ask the organizers for their reasoning.

Oh dear.. You just made up a whole new excuse for those kids plagurizing their term papers.. "You see, teacher, I waited until the last minute to do my paper, so I HAD to copy it right off the internet.."

[bigdaddychester]

Boy, they must have been super short on time.... if you click on their news link, you get this

North Carolina Atari and Classic Game Convention 2002 Show Dates Announced
http://www.ncacgc.com

RALEIGH, NC (August 30, 2002) – The organizers of the North Carolina Atari and Classic Game Convention have announced the dates of the 2002 show, which will be held at Bickett Gallery (www.bickettgallery.com) in Raleigh, North Carolina. On Friday, September 27, and Saturday, September 28, gamers of all ages will come together for a weekend of buying, trading, playing, and discussing their favorite games.

This year’s show celebrates several significant anniversaries in the video game industry, including the twenty-year anniversary of the release of the ColecoVision video game system, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of the Atari 2600 video game system, and the thirty-year anniversary of the founding of Atari.

The convention will play host to a number of classic video game vendors and exhibitors who will be selling hardware and software from the early days of the video game industry. “Remember how you felt early Christmas morning when you opened your Atari 2600 and fired up Combat and Asteroids for the first time? The convention is an incredible opportunity to return to those memorable days when Atari, Mattel, Milton Bradley, and Coleco were synonymous with gaming,” said Kirk Adam, co-promoter of the North Carolina Atari and Classic Game Convention.

Other highlights of the convention include a variety of classic video game systems setup for unlimited play, live music, special guests, door prizes, tournaments, and trading. For complete details please check out the convention’s website at http://www.ncacgc.com.

The North Carolina Atari and Classic Game Convention is an annual event for all things Atari and classic video game related. This year’s show is held from 7:00 PM until Midnight on Friday, September 27, and from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM on Saturday, September 28, at Bickett Gallery (www.bickettgallery.com). Admission costs are $2 or $3 for a two day pass. Exhibitor spaces are available for $15 per table or $8 per half table (space is limited). Sponsors welcomed!

Contact Kirk Adam

well here's the postcard announcing the Cincinnati Classic

http://www.no2games.com/postcard_back.gif


sounds awful similar

[punkoffgirl]

You're right! That's even more of a rip off!

[girth305]

Hey All,

I live about 30minutes away from this sudden convention. It is looking a bit sketch, but it is close to the flea market, heheheheh. I will let you know what I see there. I try to keep up with gaming news in my area, but even I didn't hear about it till yesterday at work. I am a bit concerned, but I will drop the couple of bucks to find out. Take care!

Oh, does anyone know a good website for basic atari 2600 repair, I just picked up my first one, and I have to play with the power supply connection to get the thing to work. I would rather learn how to fix it myself then send it off.