+Cafeman Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 Anyone else going this year? August 1 thru 4th. My favorite aspect in years past, Seminars have all been canceled, which I assume is due to embarrassingly light attendance the past 2 shows. Oh well. No more Kong Off either I assume. And the World Championships looks to have also been cut. Still, there are over 700 free play coin-ops, plus many pinball tables (and the Pinburgh competition of course), and tables and tables of consoles and games. I enjoy the musical groups as well. And taking a picture with Jawas and Vader. It it may never be as awesome as that first year, with EugeneJarvis , Walter Day, Billy Mitchell and the Kong players, and more ... but I’m still gonna have my annual retro gaming retreat, prob Friday n Saturday for me. If anyone wants, we can have an informal competition. VF2? Pole Position ? Qbert? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurritoBeans Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 I'll be driving down from Erie again, third time, but just Friday and maybe also Saturday instead of a four-day pass. Sucks to see the seminars go but it's understandable, I remember last year the ones I went to had not that many people at all show up anyways. I'm excited to just get to play some of the stuff that we don't see up where I'm at and listen to the bands, Bit Brigade is the only one I recognize this time around (never stayed up or was playing games when Flashback was on in the past) so they're the only one I really want to catch but I imagine the others will also be good. I don't know if it'll be like the first time I went but now I have friends going with me, it should be fun getting to play stuff multi-player although I don't know if I'll be able to do stuff like buy a 5200 and drag that around with other people unless I bring a big bag... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted July 25, 2019 Author Share Posted July 25, 2019 The first thing I do, on Thursday or Friday, is hit all the vendors. Anything I buy, i walk it to my car in the parking garage . Dont get there past 12 on fFriday or you might not get into the garage and have to walk multiple blocks! That happened to me last time, so around 4pm on Friday I moved my car from the far lot into the now emptier parking garage. Then bought some stuff. Sometimes I've brought stuff and vendors bought it from me after I asked if interested. Flashback is a very talented and tight 80s music band. Like 6 or 7 guys and great singer and musicians. Funny, I live and work here, but otherwise I've never seen Flashback anywhere else. I also remember the 1st year, the lead singer of The Clarks did an acoustic set out in the lobby, that was a treat. But as I stated above, some of those show attributes have been discontinued over the years, maybe replaced with other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 I plan on attending with my son on Saturday. This is the first year that I didn't have something else going on. While I'd like to locate some hidden gems for some of my older systems (PS2 and older), I am going to keep my expectations low. I assume everything will be marked up considerably (probably at lot of eBay BIN prices). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas10e Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 This will be my first year going, pretty excited. I will be in the pinball competitions so I'll be wearing a pinball shirt @BurritoBeans ask around for Shawn of the New England Pinball Leauge looks like they got some Atari 2600 competitions as well: https://replayfx.org/schedule/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 On 7/25/2019 at 6:01 PM, Cafeman said: The first thing I do, on Thursday or Friday, is hit all the vendors. Anything I buy, i walk it to my car in the parking garage . Dont get there past 12 on fFriday or you might not get into the garage and have to walk multiple blocks! That happened to me last time, so around 4pm on Friday I moved my car from the far lot into the now emptier parking garage. Then bought some stuff. Sometimes I've brought stuff and vendors bought it from me after I asked if interested. Flashback is a very talented and tight 80s music band. Like 6 or 7 guys and great singer and musicians. Funny, I live and work here, but otherwise I've never seen Flashback anywhere else. I also remember the 1st year, the lead singer of The Clarks did an acoustic set out in the lobby, that was a treat. But as I stated above, some of those show attributes have been discontinued over the years, maybe replaced with other things. I'd like to hear what the vendor area is like. Anyone with priced within reason or is it all marked up for a convention? Hopefully, it is not too picked over by Saturday, but due to work and other obligations, it is the only day my son and I can go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 1, 2019 Author Share Posted August 1, 2019 A lot of it is marked up, but I've found many fair deals. They have to pay to be vendors so I don't mind too much if a price is a bit much, if it is something I really want. Here is a brief report that I blogged about back in 2017. I Bought a 5200 Wico stick, Japanese Saturn games, and a smattering of other Atari things over the years that were all fair deals. They have tons of Nintendo stuff which I am not interested in. I really like looking at the arcade marquees but never bought any for the wall. I am attending Friday and Saturday, I would have liked to join the Kaboom competition on Thursday, but I'm not going to an extra day just for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 2, 2019 Author Share Posted August 2, 2019 To my surprise, I won the Outrun 2 competition! Medal and $25! Tomorrow there Eres is a Marvel vs Capcom 2 tournament. Don’t expect to win that one but it will be fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 Good job! I am not great the kinds of games they tend to use for competitions nor am I inclined to spend the time to practice, but I can vicariously though others. Not sure when we will get there tomorrow (sat), but I told my son that I don't want to drift in at noon. I'd rather not park a bunch of blocks away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 If you can’t get in the convention garage , around the corner between 11th and 12th is another garage, only 2 blocks walk. That’s where I parked today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 Prices are VERY inflated. I saw no good deals on 80s Atari era stuff. There was plenty of stuff though. I'm tired so left at 9:30. Tomorrow is another day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 Well, this was my first video game convention. We didn't stay as long as I expected, but thanks for the tip of getting there early. We had the run of the place with the consoles and the arcade machines and saved shopping for later. Good move. I parted with my 80's era Atari stuff last fall, so that did not interest me. Definitely some inflated prices there. These vendors didn't have what I was looking for. There was a okay deal on a Game Cube set up, but what happens when it is home, and it is broken. Not willing to risk it. So, all I left with was Sega Rally for the Saturn. My pocket book is probably happier about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 I’m still at the show. I was in the DC Marvel vs Capcom 2 tournament. I got to the finals, but this dude playing as Storm and Thanos was unstoppable. I got got rid of some unused stuff with a vendor and got 50 bucks, covering today’s ticket cost with some change. The only thing I bought was some chocolates from Mr Fudge, and $20 of 80s film posters. I played several rounds of PS4 fighting games with others. Then I finally found my favorite game ... Super Hang On. I’m trying to fill up all 7 name entries. I have have to say, I am tired and sore from all the standing and playing with controllers. Sucks getting old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurritoBeans Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 It's definitely been fun but I decided against Sunday, had friends out yesterday and four more today but nobody else can do tomorrow - just waiting around for the first band as I type. Got a $10 Odyssey 2 and worked down some deals on Studio II carts but it definitely wasn't like last year walking out with Commodores, a 5200, and a Studio II for ~$125. Lots of fun with the games as always, no competition for me, and then two hours back to Erie after the last show - the feet are sore so I'm glad to get some time to sit down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 5 minutes ago, BurritoBeans said: the feet are sore so I'm glad to get some time to sit down. Remind yourself of this post, when you turn 50. LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 Well, I agree, as I’m 50 already. Bb, I’m sitting watching the band too. Light blue shirt drinking a Yuengling, gimme a hello. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Well... this adventure was for my birthday.... and 50 is getting close, but not quite there yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Two pictures to share. First is my pet project of dominating the Super Hang On high scores (but I didn't finish the race even once!), and the 2nd is my pick for mkst entertaining costume.... i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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