(Just added: OKGE 2003)
(AVC/JCU is also part of the
: click
here to visit the
Jagfest site)
Atari Video Club/Jaguar Community United
2003 US Tour
In 2003 AVC/JCU will be at the following shows:
MWC 2003 and AVC's
Video Game Summit
(Just added:
OKGE 2003)
(AVC/JCU is also part of the
: click
here to visit the
Jagfest site)
Midwest Classic 2003
When June 7th
2003
Where:
Milwaukee, WI 53214
Well being this my first trip to the Midwest
Classic I’ll be brief:
I also thought I wasn’t going get a comlynx
thing going but one of the attendees who I talked to on the MWC forums was kind
enough to lend me his Lynx and robosquash game and that went well. I also
stayed by my table to take request for BI/WN .Battle sphere and Primal Rage
(Protector SE was being played most of the day for the use of the tourney)
other things I saw at the show was the pinball machines was cool My sibs played
a couple of games while they waited for me toward the end of the day. I also
met up with Bohus Blahut ,his table was right by mine(for those who don’t know
he is also helping me with VGS) he brought some cool items like a stand up DC
store display and various other items. It was cool to see the Japanese fellows
who came to Jagfest 2k1 and Jagfest2k2 they brought the same items that they
had at both shows. I saw some guys that I know from the boards also.(we didn’t
have any name tags so I can’t be sure who they are) I also talked to Matthew
Baker (Gunstar) who won the Robosquash tourney (many
people played but not entered)
A couple of downsides to the show was that there wasn’t much food available at the show, no name tags (Terence and I was the only people with tags from Jagfest2K1) and as for dealers I only saw Goat store there others were individual selling stuff(they had trading tables set up for people who want to trade). Overall the show was pretty good. I ended up leaving at 6:30pm since it was starting to wind down around 5pm.
For more information
go to Midwest Gaming classic
official site
Also be sure to visit the
The Jagfest at Midwest Classic site
AVC Presents
The Video Game Summit
Date July 12th,2003
Location: Quality inn & Suite
645 W. North Ave.
Lombard, IL 60148-1109
Well, Atari Video Club's first attempt at holding a Video game and computer trade show is now in history books.Here is a breakdown of what was going on at Atari Video Club's: Video Game Summit held on July 12th, 2003:
I got to the hotel around 8am, and I was met by Rory McMahon of Suburban Chicago Atarians User Group,Later on I
met Nick Damasi also of SCAT. Then I met Dan Loosen, his brother in law Matt and he managed to bring Max also
(they run The Goat Store and they brought some of their inventory to sell off).
Well instead of going through the list of who came I'm going to describe the layout of the room (again I have no pics because I forgot my digicam) so you get the feel of the room: The show was split between the hallway and the room it self. In the hallway there was only two people there Matt G/Synper who was selling some of his stuff, and Andrew Bray (tiggerthehun) also selling some stuff. Inside the main room: On one side was Bohus Blahut with his selected items like a DC and stuff, next to them was the SCAT table showing off various items on the Atari home Computer line as well as selling selection of 8 bit programs from their library. Next to that was Harry Dodgson who was showing his DC version of Space ACE on a Projector, a little further down the room were RPM-Games (Rob M and his friend) showing off his home brew game for the 2600 called gravity ball.
Next to him were Dave Ross and his wife Amy showing his Commodore computers and unofficially representing the South West Regional Association of Programmers User Group, Now here where it gets interesting: next to Dave was Goat Store.com they were showing Feet of Fury for the DC and selling many others classic items. This brings us to Jagfest Area where Tom Legare had his whole display of Lynx of items on display as well as some Genesis items, a Virtual Boy and an Atari 10 in 1 system. Across from him and next to Bohus by the doors was yours truly running like a chicken with head cut off trying make sure people have paid for their admission to enter the main room. As well as showing my Jaguar games like Black Ice /White noise with instructions, Zero 5, Tempest 2k, Protector SE and Battle Sphere on the Jagfest area (Also being displayed was the various Jaguar and Lynx Press Releases) Also at the section was the entrance table which was also being used for the Atari classic section where I was showing various 2600 games like Supercharger games: Escape from the mind master, Sega Frogger, Phasor Patrol as well as the Fellowship of the rings game which was first shown at Jagfest 2002. Other 2600 games being shown was: Return of the Jedi Death Star Battle, Spiderman, Space Treat and Warring Worms.
Tourneys that was played were a Space Treat tourney which was won by Paul Zimmerman(the prize for that was Space Treat Deluxe and a Atari Age T-Shirt) the other Tourney being played was Protector SE tourney which was won by Dan "Goat Store" Loosen (the prize for that was a known at the Jagfest Prize package which consists of the following: an Atari Users Network T-shirt, a 30.00 Gift Certificate from Pack Rat Video games and a copy of Digital Press's Collectors Guide). Later on we had live music played by Bud Melvin who played his banjo accompanied by his color Game Boy, which every body enjoyed. (Around the beginning of the show I played some tunes from Weird Al Yankovic CD's on the Jag CD showing off VLM). I later on gave a copy of the collectors guide to Bud Melvin for him playing for free, another copy went to Tom L for him helping with the Jagfest area at VGS( I gave the Warring Worms MWC 2K2 edition and the Atari Age t-shirt to Rob M since he came in second in the Space Treat tourney). Not all prizes were given away due to low attendance, but everybody that showed up had fun.
(Force Designs (Terance Williams) was scheduled to attend but due to travel problems he couldn't make it) We did have one special guest at the show: Jeff Grimshaw who was the first organizer of Jagfest back in 1997 when it was held at Rosemont,IL. Plans are in the works to have another show next year at the same location. Special thanks go out to Bohus for helping with advertising and of course Jim Gobel (Inky) for starting the idea of the show in the first place. (The after the show gathering was canceled at the last minute, due to fact that it wasn't set up in time)
Tulsa, Oklahoma
September 20, 2003
by Brad Prillwitz (bdprill@yahoo.com)
The OKlahoma Gaming Expo was an event that brought gamers together to enjoy both classic, and new games, for just about any system available. This was the first year for OKGE, and hopefully many more to come. OKGE may have been smaller than CGE2K3, but that makes it more personal. When you can spend more time meeting fellow gamers, who may have some goodies to trade, or may just want to blow you up on the screen, _that_ makes OKGE a more fun-filled event to remember.
The trip to Tulsa was very nice, and uneventful. I only wish that I would have remembered to stop at any thrift shops on the way, to look for classic goodies that may still be in the wild. The drive was a little over three hours, and the Hilton Tulsa Southern Hills was very easy to find. OKGE was being set up in the ballroom, and most tables were done when I arrived.
I quickly unloaded everything that I had to display on the table that was reserved. The main theme that I wanted to have was an Atari Jaguar presence, so I put a four foot Jaguar banner on the front of my table. I had two 27'' televisions for the systems that I brought, along with two Vectrex consoles. And, I displayed some Jaguar cartridges in a homemade wooden cart holder with the "Jaguar" logo on the end, that was made by Randy Femrite.
Two Jaguars, linked together for some multi-player fun, were set up first. Battlesphere, Aircars, and Doom awaited their victims. But, no one seemed interested in any multi-player Jaguar games, so I put one Jaguar console away. Gamers enjoyed Space War 2000, Phase Zero, Barkley Shut Up and Jam, Rayman, and Painter. I also had a Jamma joystick hooked to the Jaguar, for some arcade fun. Then, I hooked up a Rotary controller, and put in Tempest 2000. The Rotary controller allows you to enjoy T2K even more. Better control, higher scores, and more fun, which could lead to less sleep! And, I had one other Jaguar joystick that was simply a small 3 inch screw with a red ball top attached, that was glued to a Jaguar joypad. I haven't used it much , but it's kind of fun to look at.
When one of the Jaguar consoles was put away, I connected an Atari 7800. Several people enjoyed Space Treat, along with SCSIside, Entity, Save the Whales, and Looping. An Atari 7800 joypad was hooked up, for gamers to enjoy. Some games work well with the Joypad, others don't.
The two Atari Lynx systems that I brought didn't see much use. So many other things were going on that they went virtually unnoticed. I had Ponx, Sokomania, Bubble Trouble, S.I.M.I.S., and Raiden, ready to go. And, several other titles with duplicates, for multi-playing fun. And, the TurboExpress system also went unnoticed. Maybe no one wanted to enjoy Bonk, or Devils Crush. It may not be a good idea to bring any handhelds to a big event.
As for the Vectrex systems, I didn't have enough room on a single table for both, so it was set between the Jaguar and 7800. The Vectrex always seems to have plenty of fans out there. And when you plug in a multi-cart, it's time for some fun! The Spike games on the multi-cart seemed to be very popular, along with Frogger. Then, I pulled out my Vectorcade. An arcade joystick for the Vetrex that has to be seen to be believed. The Vectorcade feels like an arcade joystick, with four buttons on the right side. It brings even more arcade fun, to a Vectrex system.
Although OKGE had a definite classic feel to it, newer systems could be found all over the place. And, the Strike Zone, from Tulsa, had a few PCs hooked together for some multi-player fun. Someone else had two Mame set-ups, that seemed to be very popular. Dreamcast, Neo Geo, N64, SNES, Genesis, NES, ColecoVision, and several Atari related consoles were supported (2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar, Lynx). I heard about a Halo tournament going on, but was busy at my own both, so I never got to see it. Several other tournaments were abound, including a Super Mario Cart challenge, Tempest 2000, Raiden (Genesis), and Frogger (2600).
If you were looking to better your collection (and who isn't?), there were plenty of game titles to be found. Both new, and classic games for the Atari 2600. And a great selection of NES games were available. Don't forget about trading! Several people had some of their collection up for sale, or trade. Some great deals were made at OKGE. Personally, I had a few things for sale or trade, but only sold two items. A Nintendo 64 arcade joystick, and a broadband adapter for the Gamecube.
I saw a few new Atari 2600 games that caught my eye. Homestar Runner, Backfire, Joustpong, and Climber 5, all were very interesting. Personally, I couldn't stop playing Joust Pong, but several other gamers were hooked on Homestar Runner. And, Space Invaders Collection for the ColecoVision looked great.
OKGE had a display of Atari prototypes on display, to drool over. They had a Jag Duo case, A clear-case Atari 7800, the Atari 5100, a keyboard for the 2600 Jr., and a Mindlink controller. Out of all of those, the Mindlink seems to be the most interesting to me. Just twitching your eyebrows to control something on the screen seems weird.
Overall, the OKlahoma Gaming Expo was something to remember. Plenty of gamers (estimated over 100 people), and plenty of game titles ready to enjoy. Everyone got in some game time, and went home with something new, for their classic console(s).
Thanks to Jesse Hardesty, his wife, and mother, along with every one else that helped, for bringing us a wonderful event!
Click here to visit OKGE website