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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!"
just a bit late there, buddy.
Google to the rescue
try here to start with 72
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
I am about 35 minutes away from this thing and it is already too late in the day to go.
A posting of this event a couple of days ago would have been nice.
*whimpers* *pouts* *breaks down into tears at the thought of 'free' gaming*
-Byzandula
Wow, that went down fast. That'll teach you to post a image gallery directly to /. :).
Anyway, I grabbed what I could and I figure it is better than nothing. It is mostly thumbnails, but I managed to get 1.5 higher resolution images.
Here is my very partial mirror
Here is a very partial mirror, but my webserver is downloading more as time goes on (currently at .5 k/s).
Its stuff like this that makes me think Slashdot needs an events page. had I known about this a week ago I might have been able to attend. It would be great if we could get say a weeks notice on geek-centric events.
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
California Extreme is a similar event held once a year in San Jose (this year on Aug. 7 and 8), though without the home console angle. I've gone the last couple of years and they've been great events, though the game selection can be a bit inconsistent. I hope to go again this year.
A very similarly natured event is taking place this August 7-8 in San Jose, California titled "California Extreme 2004". Last year there was over 400 video games and pinball machine games on the floor, all set for free play. The turnout and number of games available has been gaining momentum every year.
Check it out...
http://www.caextreme.org/2004-show/index.html
-rDude, I sure hope you got laid.
Seriously, I salute your dedication to the sport. But I also hope you got laid.
I believe that Ralph Baer's Odyssey prototype was built in 1966. But the first interactive "video" game was actually Willy Higginbotham's Tennis For Two, built in 1958 on an oscilloscope. It wasn't a true video game, but I believe it was the first of its kind in interactive CRT entertainment (until I am otherwise proven wrong).
"You're getting brutal, Sark. Brutal and needlessly sadistic."
"Thank you, Master Control"
-Sark and the MCP
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!
Actual exchange between a friend of mine and the squeaky-voiced game dork DM at a D&D table at a con many years ago:
GameDork: I have all black dice. Black like my soul.
MyFriend: Black like your stool?
GD: soul! I said black like my soul! MF: Geez, sorry. It sounded like you said "stool".
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.