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Homebrew Carts and Coin-Ops - Phillyclassic 5
Jason Scott writes "I've put up my gallery of images from Phillyclassic 5, taken on Saturday, March 20th (and posted that night). Phillyclassic is a large classic games convention being held in King of Prussia, PA. They have a very informative webpage with details... I drove 600 miles in one day to stop in, and it was worth it. Homebrew carts for sale, lots of free arcade games to play, and all manner of vendors and characters. The convention's not over, either.. it lasts throughout Sunday the 21st, so if you didn't know about it, get down there! If you're nearby, you have no excuse!"
including home console systems from 1970-2004
What home gaming consoles were available in 1970?
Who's game was their favorite? I kind of miss the old arcade games (which are hard to find these days)
My favorite game, and I can't find it was a game called "Black Tiger" back in the late 80's.
Actually, at 2pm, you would still have a couple hours there. I only spent a few there myself, and saw quite a bit, as the pictures hopefully show.
I posted this at midnight on Saturday, and was taking a big gamble that the story might be posted before opening time on Sunday, and maybe a few people could make it. Either way, now you know for next time: the success I saw at the convention indicates there will be another one, and you'll make it.
Agreed. Dammit, I forgot all about it. How about a little more publicity next year, guys? I mean, I *live* in Philadelphia and this is the first I'm hearing of this year's show.
Last year local news carried a story on it, but since Veterans Stadium was imploded this morning, that will be all anyone talks about on the news tonight.
*sigh* Considering how much money I blew at last year's show, maybe it's just as well that I didn't get there this year.
But I can't justify travelling all the way from Australia to see this. Are there any Aussies out there interested in seeing something like this at home?
:). The one-axis joystick secreted horizontally under the shelf that made that satisfying click you only get from a micro-switch (like those old clicky IBM keyboards, you know damn well when you hit a key). Micro-switches were in the two buttons as well, which were also under the shelf. That sounds awkward, but resting the base of your palm facing upward against the edge of the shelf you could hammer those buttons pretty fast. The screen was taller than it was wide, which was pretty common back then, and would simply flip to face the other side for two-player. Yeah, you had to take turns
:). I was the only kid in my entire suburb (afaik) to be priveleged enough to have a real arcade machine in my own home, while other kids were playing with their Atari 2600s. Of course, I soon became the undefeated champion of Galaxian. I would seek out the game in arcades to make sure my initials stayed in the high-score list. On one memorable occasion, finally losing my last life after playing for what seemed like hours and hours, I was surprised by applause, as I was oblivious to a small crowd gathering around me. What? Yes, hard to imagine these days, but this was in the hey-day of arcade machines
Cue misty childhood memories; camera goes all wavy as I gaze skyward, stroking my beard with a wistful sigh...
My dad was given a Galaxian machine to fix, one of the really nice tabletop ones: with the thick glass top three times the size of the display (plenty of room for your drink and fries
Dad told the guy that the machine was completely irrepairable, but he'd take it off his hands and save him a trip to the dump (the guy had no clue). So the machine ended up in my bedroom, and, needless to say, Dad was my hero
After Galaxian became passe, it served it's purpose as a very stylish desk and conversation piece. Even then, I entertained thoughts of modifying it. Particularly, I wanted to get at that indestructible joystick so I could use it with my c64 (commodore's flimsy plastic joysticks combined with the common 'waggle the joystick as fast as you can' gameplay led to ALOT of broken sticks)
I was too young to go monkeying around with the electronics myself, so my Dad, with his master's degree in electrical engineering, would implement alot of my ideas for me. We did alot of projects together, like a solar-powered remote-control car (for a school project), a guitar amp (I was a prodigious guitarist), kits from Dick Smith etcetera... What to do with the Galaxian tabletop was shaping up to be our biggest project ever, when sadly my Dad passed away, leaving my brothers and I as orphans. Even worse, later that year a house-fire destroyed the Galaxian tabletop (and everything else) and it was lost forever.
For people like me, events like Phillyclassic 5 are extremely important. Preserving arcade-game heritage means more than just keeping the roms and emulating them, it's about the whole package. I've played Galaxian on Mame, and it's good, but I would honestly prefer to play a cutting-edge FPS (C'mon, I'm being nostalgic, not stupid!). To play the same tabletop version I had however... well, that would be something. My Dad would be proud.
Here is a picture of a 'cocktail' Galaxian. Mine looked different to this, though.
I ran a benchmark on my quantum computer, now I can't find it anywhere!
I give this show/con a "C".
Valley Forge Convention Center is a really crappy venue. Its just a bunch of big empty floors. No rooms or anything like that. So its just a bunch of curtain partitions and tables and stands. I guess I'm just used to anime con setups or something. The pictures on the website were misleading at best. If there was some kinds of big seperate Videotopia arcade as the page suggested, I missed it. There were just a handful of old machines off in a corner, of which 3/4 of them were set to free play (Wanna play Spy Hunter? Screw you, pay us). There were a few cocktail tables set up, but nobody thought to provide chairs. I was kinda digging a MAME cab they had setup, playing Magical Drop III, but then we got shooed off so that they could take photos with it. There were a lot of guy selling Atari carts, but I don't have an Atari anymore. There were a few old Atari 8-bit computers around... but no Commodore, Apple, or any other computers. My friend and I were going to play Warlords, which I spotted set up near the entrance - too bad two fat broads with their babies were blocking up the whole thing. Not playing, just sittng by it so nobody could get to it. I thought of asking them to move, but they, like, had babies with them, and I couldn't quite bring myself to do it.
On the upside, I got an N64 controller for $5, which I am now using on my N64 emulator, so it wasn't a total bust, and I did get about 90 minutes worth of enjoyment out of playing some of those old arcade games, so I guess it was worth $10, but if I had come from more than 20 minutes away I'm sure I'd think otherwise.