The 2007 Classic Arcade Gaming (dot com) Tournament   March / April 2007, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania

     The second annual edition of The Classic Arcade Gaming (dot com) Tournament will be held again at Challenge Arcade (located near Reading, Pennsylvania) this Spring.  The three-day event will take place from March 30th through April 1st 2007, and, like the first edition last year, it is being co-organized by Mark Alpiger (administrator of this CAGDC web site), and Joe LeVan, who (along with wife Susan) is owner of Challenge Arcade.  All of the great features of last year are being carried over again, along with some slight tweaking, to make things as enjoyable, and straight-forward, as possible.

    Gamers who are already committed to coming to the event are: Donald Hayes, Pat Laffaye, Brian Wagner and son, Jimmy Linderman (Pac-Mania wr holder), Rick 'Permafrost' Carter, Frank Lupia, and Steve McBlane and nephew.  Other gamers (in addition to the usual late sign-ups) that are very likely to attend include: Abdner Ashman, Darren Harris, Richard Marsh, Nick Moyer, and John Cohen.  I'm also confident that a number of the following will attend, tho their chances are 50-50 or less: Gary Hatt, Kasey Kehler, Shawn Cram, Jason Cram, and others from the 'Cram crew'.  02-24-2007 update:  I'm happy to report that, with this incredible list, Joe and I can confirm that we have enough signups, and likely attendees, to guarantee going forward with the event.  So, make your plans to be there !

    Now, for newcomers, what makes this a 'must-attend' gaming event ?  Well, Challenge Arcade is one of the best arcades in the nation, both from the standpoint of game selection (check out the 70+ titles here), and from the fact that the owner / manager truly cares about the games, and the players too.  I wanted to carry on that ideal for my tourney, and therefore, I have picked out a selection of popular games that are specifically designed for gamers that have attended various events in recent years.  Also, while organizing this tournament over the last few months, I consulted with more than a dozen classic gaming aficionados to find out what they most wanted in a contest, and what they would like to see addressed, as far as things they wanted to see improved (whether in regards to last year's CAGDC event, or other events they've attended in the past).  So, based on that, contestants at this tournament can rely on the following things to be in place:

    .  the contest games will be working properly

    .  the tourney results will be updated one, or more, times daily over the three-day event

    .  there will be a time limit (per my CAGDC contest rules) of one hour of play, maximum, to avoid titles being tied up for
       extended time periods; fortunately, most titles in the contest can only be played for a period of less than an hour

    .  a whiteboard will be prominently displayed, with pertinent tourney info and updates that all contestants need to know,
       or be aware of

    .  there will be four prize levels, three of which are monetary; in addition, the purse is unlimited, in that, the more contestants
       there are (past 15), then the bigger it will be, with no upper limit (!!)

    .  transportation to and from motels, and airports, will be coordinated with other players, so that we can best combine our
       resources

    .  and last, but far from least, there will be incredible choice as far as which games each player can play, along with there
       being popular, well-known titles, in the pool of contest games

    Now, what exactly is meant by a 'pool' of games ?  Well, in a historic precedent that was first implemented by this event last year, this tournament will actually let the players pick the games that they will play !  Each gamer can pick 6 titles to contest, from a pool of 12 contest games (shown in a list below, in the first table), plus one more 'mystery' title (which was revealed the day of the contest to be Duck Hunt).  Contestants can actually choose to play more than six of the tourney games (including all 13, if they wish); naturally, only their best 6 results will count.  In this case, the best six results will be determined by their highest six percentages, as determined by the tourney calculation and comparison system (see below).  Now, because each player will likely have a different set of six games that will comprise their tournament games (tho it does not matter if this is the case or not), instead of playing against all other players on all contest titles (which is the method for all past gaming contests), you will actually only be playing against other players (for the best result, as determined by the contest calculation system) on the specific titles that you pick.  This ingenious method allows players to have optimal flexibility, and choice.  One final note: since the pool of games is so large, there must be a contingency in place, for the unforeseeable situation where one or more games becomes non-functional, or unavailable, at contest time.  This is unlikely, and will be avoided at all costs, but it can happen, and there will be a reserved set of substitute titles in place, in case any are needed (the two substitute titles will be Donkey Kong Junior and Gururin).  In any case, up-to-the-day information can always be found on this page, and likely also on the CAGDC forums, in this thread.

    As mentioned earlier, another welcome situation is that there will be well-known, and popular, titles in the contest (see the listings in the first table below).  One reason that some events may have avoided putting in major titles is that there's the chance of one or two players 'clocking' the field (like Don Hayes, Dwayne Richard, and others), since they are so good at so many common classic titles.  The ability to choose game titles in this tourney is a big help in avoiding this from being much of an issue (yet is still fair to the elite video athletes).  In addition, I'll likely be employing a scoring method (suggested by Donald Hayes) which uses logarithmic math to lend more accuracy to the deserved finishing places of all (qualifying) contestants than any other method I've seen.  After dropping non-qualifying player's (meaning, they turned in less than 6 scores) scores from any and all qualifying player calculations, each qualifying player's best six results (as determined by the six highest percentages for each, when comparing all of their best submitted scores for each game against the entire qualifying field's entire number of submitted scores) will be averaged to show their average percentile for the event.  Then, the ranking (from highest to lowest) will, of course, show the results of the tourney for the entire qualifying field.

    For information on the regular, and the contest (for contestants only) arcade hours, see the second table below.  For any questions on arcade-related matters, you may contact Joe LeVan , or via phone; the number at the arcade is 610-376-1650, and the best time to try is evenings, Monday thru Thursday, from about 8 to 10 PM ET.

    Now, to diverge a bit from the 'nuts and bolts' info - an important issue to most contestants (especially those traveling into the Reading area) is regarding the local amenities.  The arcade is located in a mall, and is positioned next to the food court, which really makes things convenient for mealtime !  In addition, there are two hotels within a 5 minute walk of the mall, with another popular (with gaming travelers) chain, Econo Lodge, being less than a ten-minute walk away.  For more details, and specific listings of mall 'eateries', see the 'traveler info' page.

    As far as airports go, there are three choices, each about the same time (an hour drive, give or take) away from the arcade.  Allentown / Bethlehem is the closest, but offers the least flight choices, and prices tend to be the highest.  Next is Harrisburg, which is quite a bit better with choices, and pricing.  Finally, Philadelphia offers the most flights in, and the lowest pricing.  In any case, you can check the traveler info page link above, which has full map, airport, and other information for players who are traveling to the event.  In addition, so that contestants may coordinate with each other, for cost savings, and / or convenience, simply fill out , which is also linked at the bottom of the 'traveler' page, if you can offer a ride to or from the airport, or if you're willing to share a room, and I'll post this info.  That way, all out-of-town contestants can benefit.

    Now, back to the 'nuts and bolts', and, specifically, the money matters of the contest.  The monetary prizes for the winners are as follows; first place will receive $150, second earns $75, and third garners $25.  As an additional 'perk', the next runner-up to the monetary prize-winners gets a classic console game, and cartridge(s).  Now, where things get much more exciting is the fact that the money purse is essentially unlimited.  If Joe and I get more than 15 contest entrants (a very likely scenario), then for every one of those past 15, we will increase the base amount of the purse ($250, as shown above) by $5.  While this sounds like relatively little, just having a total of 35 contestants allows for an extra $100 in the purse, which would (for example) increase the first-place prize by $60 !

    Well, now that the prizes are known, what is the entry fee ?  The good news is that it is just $15, if you prepay, or $20 at the event.  The prepay fee should be sent via PayPal, with the final deadline for receipt being March 29th.  The deadline also includes if the fee is prepaid at the arcade.  Payments made there must be in cash, and the receipt provided to you for your payment must be presented upon check-in for the contest.

    Well, that sums up the contest parameters, and should address most questions or issues regarding the event.  If you feel there is something that I haven't covered on this page, then you may with your question, or even send a suggestion, or request (as in a game title you may wish to bring in to play for a record, or perhaps a game that you would like to see in the contest).

    The date of this page's last update was March 30th, 2007.  Keep checking back for further updates, and, most of all, come out and support both the event, and classic arcade gaming !

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