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A video gamer
group, led by
Franz Lanzinger (far right) gathers
for a pizza meal in Sunnyvale.
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The group
enjoys their pizza repast. Brian Kuh is at left, opposite Mark Robicheck and
his fiancée Laura.
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Franz (center)
sits next to his
wife Susan, while Paul Dean
(far right) looks deep in thot.
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The famed
Golfland amusement center in Sunnyvale lies just
behind the fence...
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Inside
Golfland, the gaming group checks out all of the (yawn)
modern titles in place.
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A non-flash
photo shows the
lighting inside Golfland.
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Brian (left)
mugs for the camera,
while Mike Klug waits patiently.
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Franz Lanzinger
(left) and Paul Dean check out the only machine in the place with an 80's game
on it.
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Franz seems
delighted to find an interesting array of game titles.
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Two popular
movie title games
from the 90's are represented here.
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We're getting
closer to seeing decent games, with this Neo-Geo six-slot.
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Back to the
violence -
here's Tekken 5.
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L-R: Mike,
Franz and Brian
talk about what they've seen
here, at Golfland.
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L-R: Paul,
Mike, and Brian
pose for one last shot.
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Alright - let
the California Extreme event begin. Here's Paul Dean's contest game
area.
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Paul mans the
registration table for
his event, complete with placards.
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This brave
young woman tries out
a pedal version of The Addams Family pinball machine.
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On a brief
outing away from CE, Brian poses in front of the original Atari coin-op
headquarters.
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| Mike Klug, who
drove Brian and I to Atari, poses in front of the 'Fuji bush'.
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Here's a close-up
of the deftly manicured Fuji bush (hedge ?).
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Here's a solo
shot of the
entire bush / hedge.
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| Mike and Brian
pose next to the former Atari (and, Midway) sign in front of the Atari
building.
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In this angled
shot, you can just
make out the Midway logo, and wording, still visible on the sign.
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To complete a
trilogy, I pose (like
I did in '86 and '03) beside the
Atari / Midway sign.
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Here's a view
(with Mike Klug's
car) of the front of the former
Atari / Midway building.
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This shot of
the building shows
the main entrance more clearly.
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Mike Klug next
took Brian Kuh
and I to Dave and Busters, an amusement center / eatery.
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Just inside the
arcade section, this impressive row of interconnected
race games is seen.
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Another set of
interconnected
games, with a motorcycle
theme, is shown here.
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'Old school'
air hockey tables are surrounded by a lot of 'new school' games and
attractions.
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| Yet another set
of the ever-popular gun game theme is shown.
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Here's Star
Trek Voyager,
the arcade game.
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How
appropriate, since we were just at Midway - I came across a pair of Hydro
Thunder machines.
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Mike and Brian
also spot these
Midway titles, and pause for a look.
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The creativity
on the controls
never stops, as seen in this firefighting-themed title.
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Yet another
pair in a multitude
of racing-themed games at
Dave and Busters.
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| Here's Maximum
Force, by Atari.
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Games with gun
controls
crowd together in this shot.
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Surprise,
surprise - another
gun controlled game...
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Another prevalent
theme at D & B
is sequel titles (it's easier than
being creative, after all !).
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The sequels,
guns, and
violence continues...
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Ah, finally -
classic titles get their
due in this home-brew Ultracade.
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A pair of
Cruis'n Exotica games
put on a stylish flair.
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This
interesting combo game had
one unusual seating enclosure !
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Size means a
lot for most of the modern game titles, it seems.
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| More 'bigger is
better' game choices.
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Zombies rule in
The House of the Dead 4.
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Otherworldly
themes continue, with Ghost Squad, next to HOTD 4.
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| Here's an
appropriate final shot from D & B - a back corner of the place has a few
classic combo games.
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Now, back to
CE. Paul Dean's contest games get plays, including by the current wr
holder on Pac-Mania.
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Paul, with help
from famed player Gary Hatt, shows off his contest poster, and other
materials.
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| Wow - the Pac-Mania
wr holder, Tongki 'Jimmy' Linderman, is clocking on his third try on the game.
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Gary poses with
his lovely
oldest daughter, Jordan.
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Phil Younger, a
TG associate, poses next to one of his favorite titles.
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Paul joins in
for this shot
with Phil, and Berzerk.
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Jimmy has
continued to score big on his Pac-Mania contest effort. He's now
smashed his 2.1M TG
wr.
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Here's a
fullscreen view of
Jimmy's game. He had perfect
lives past the two million mark...
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| Jimmy bounces
around on one of the many interesting screens of P-M.
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Look at all the
keys !
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A close-up view
of Jimmy's
ever-growing score.
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| Here's Jimmy in
full play mode.
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The Pac-Mania
score creeps closer to the incredible 3 million mark !
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Colorful ghosts
appear eager to
trap your Pac-Man character.
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Here's a brief
break in the
action for Jimmy.
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There it is
! The 3 million mark
has been passed, and two men
in total are still left.
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This view of Pac-Mania
shows the energizer, just waiting to be used...
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| The ghosts are
always in pursuit.
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This shot shows
a close-up of the keys earned earlier in the game.
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Jimmy is still
throwing down heat on Pac-Mania, while Gary Hatt tries
out a little Spy
Hunter.
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A flash shot of
Jimmy. He's
now at the 3.17M mark !
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A crowd starts
to grow around Jimmy, as evidenced in this
shot, and the next.
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Here's a 'back
seat' view of
Jimmy and Gary.
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| Time to take in
some of the rarer CE games. Here's a prototype of Road Runner,
which uses a laserdisc.
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Another player
gives this
Atari proto a try.
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This screenshot
of the RR proto shows its similarity to the
released version.
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| Another
screenshot.
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Now it's back
to Jimmy's incredible wr game (done on factory / CAGDC settings). He's
almost to 3.5M !
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A fullscreen
view of the
previous shot is shown here.
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Jimmy is
showing intense concentration, but he is
down to his last man...
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Jeff Yonan
shows his customized Gauntlet II Player Quest shirt that
he won from Atari.
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The back side
of Jeff's shirt. He altered it by cutting off the sleeves.
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| There it is -
an incredible new Pac-Mania world record ! Jimmy scored 3,733,860
points !!
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Jimmy basks in
the glow of
his fantastic 3.7M score.
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Paul Dean
congratulates Jimmy
for making the top score in his
contest (and, the world !).
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Jimmy explains
some of the aspects
to his game, via hand gestures.
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Inspired by
Jimmy, Jeff now
takes a crack at Pac-Mania.
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Looking down
the long aisle
of games, we see Phil and
Paul chatting away.
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| Here's another
shot showing the myriad of games available at CE.
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The high-score
table for Pac-Mania reveals Jimmy's three progressively better games
during the day.
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A close-up of
the score table.
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| This screenshot
is from the Atari proto game Arcade Classics.
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The Arcade
Classics game enticed players with a free t-shirt offer.
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Scoring over
500K on the Centipede part of the game apparently got you a t-shirt !
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Another
screenshot from
Arcade Classics.
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The Atari
Anniversary (20 years)
logo is show in this screenshot.
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The title
screen in the game.
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Here's the
credits screen
for Arcade Classics.
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Another shot of
the t-shirt promo;
this time, it's what you need on Missile Command to
win.
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This screen is
from a proto version of Food Fight, one of my favorite titles.
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Yet another
proto game from
Atari - Cyber Storm.
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This Atari
proto (Firebeast)
used a Millipede cabinet.
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A cabinet view
of Firebeast.
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Die Alien Scum !! used a
Beavis and Butt-head cabinet.
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Here's the DAS
!! high-score table. Apparently, scorers here get the
title of 'megablaster' !
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Here's the
instruction screen
from Moonquake.
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| A game screen
from Moonquake.
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Moonquake's
credits screen
appears in this shot.
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Another
screenshot.
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| The high-score
table from Moonquake.
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Gary Hatt
proudly poses next to the game he's perhaps best known for.
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This pic shows
my newly made
wr score on the Road Runner
proto - 322,330 points.
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| A close-up of
the new wr.
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Here's the
high-score table view.
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A close-up of
the score table...
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| This screenshot
is from the Atari proto game Beavis and Butt-head.
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Another B
& B shot.
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The title
characters are shown here.
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The final
screenshot from
Beavis and Butt-head.
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The
IBM-compatible PC 'guts' of Rush 2049 are shown in this shot with the
back side panel removed.
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The front side
of Rush 2049.
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Here's the
control panel on the
game Beavis and Butt-head.
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Brian Kuh, who
has over 1.7M on the regular version of Road Runner, gives the laser
version a try.
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Brian is no
doubt gunning for
my newly made wr score.
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| Paul Dean
gathers the contestants that placed 'in the money' for his contest.
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First place,
and $50, goes to Jonathan Koolpe, for placing
first on Spy Hunter.
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Now it's
Jimmy's turn to get recognized, as Paul congratulates
him for his new wr score.
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| As evidenced in
my earlier screenshots, 'Jimmy' Linderman won $50, and first place, on Pac-Mania.
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Jordan Hatt
takes a crack at one of the few modern titles at CE.
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A group of us
decided to go for
pizza, after a long, hard, yet
fun, day of gaming.
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| Before going to
CE for day 2, I head off to Mike Hally's 'secret' location, so I can check out
his Atari goodies.
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Mike has loads
of great, rare Atari memorabilia and documents, courtesy of him 'closing down'
their location.
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Here's a table
of incredible Atari keepsakes, including towels, hats, mouse pads, and
postcards.
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Pins, tokens,
cups, lighters, and
even office supplies (the white
paper clips) are seen here.
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The final
section of the table has watches, pencils, miniatures, and even Atari game
music CD's !
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These models
were used in
designing one of the many
games that Mike had a part in.
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| Another view of
the models.
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Here's the
arcade equivalent of an Oscar - the Arkie. Mike got this for his
incredible work on Star Wars.
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Another view of
the Arkie, with
a Star Wars ad in back of it.
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A close-up of
Mike's great set
of Atari Collector pins.
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This zoomed-in
view shows miniature figures from Gauntlet Legends,
and a game board
series.
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This close view
shows off a few of Mike's buttons, pins, tokens, and other memorabilia items.
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More buttons,
plus golf tees, and
even trading cards are seen here.
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Mike's
one-of-a-kind counter-top version of Relief Pitcher is
seen in this shot.
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Here's another
picture of the
unique Relief Pitcher game.
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| The rare mono
game Wolf Pack is represented in Mike's collection by this uniquely
shaped marquee.
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Mike's five
arcade games line
up against his garage wall.
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Mike has one of
Atari's rare non-
video coin-ops - a Hoop It Up.
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| Shown here is
one of a number of photo albums that Mike salvaged when Atari / Midway closed.
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Here's a
pristine Millipede game.
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Wow - an office
chair with the
Atari Fuji logo hand-embroidered
on the back rest.
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| A close-up of
the embroidery work.
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This photo (as
well as it can)
shows Mike's five games
from a frontal viewpoint.
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Time for a trip
to Mike's secret alcove of Atari item storage...
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| There's
container after container of rare and interesting Atari items that Mike was
able to save when the company closed its doors.
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This box had
manuals and
documents for Atari operations..
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Mike's got more
boxes and bins
than you can shake a stick at !
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Back to Mike's
homestead.
He's got a hell of a view...
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Amazingly, Mike
built all of this extensive deckwork on his home.
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Back in San
Jose, I decided to go
for a bit of a snack at an eatery beside the CE show location.
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One of the
favorite restaurants for
CE attendees, Peggy Sue's is a favorite of mine also.
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In the center,
I pose with this CE group in Peggy Sue's. Jon Koolpe, just to the left
of me, is an organizer.
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Wow - this
beauty has brains to
spare (and, a great outfit !). She's Jeri Ellsworth,
of Commodore fame.
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Jeri shows off
her muscle, in front
of her favorite pinball game.
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What a choice
position to be in -
next to the lovely Jeri.
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'Jimmy'
Linderman takes a rest,
which I understand, after his setting the Pac-Mania
wr yesterday.
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| It's already
time for dinner, and our group is one for the ages - all of us were in
Guinness for world records.
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Back at the CE
hall, people are already starting to pack up their games, and wind up the
show.
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Here's a one
million+ score on Spy Hunter, courtesy of Paul Dean.
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| This close-up
of Paul's score shows his second time (in as many games, at the last two CE
shows) that he beat Mark Little, who holds second place.
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Scott Evans
checks his faithful DV cam, which he uses to tape all of
the seminars held each year at CE.
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This close-up
of Moonquake shows the character you control at right,
and an enemy (a
tornado) at left.
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| Another Moonquake
screenshot.
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This
personalized license plate belongs to Brett Pulliam. Check
out his web site here.
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Brett takes a
break from loading
his games for the trip back to his place, and poses for the camera.
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Mrs. Evans
(Scott's wife) mans
their t-shirt booth at the event. To
see the selection of shirts, click
here.
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Here's one
final screenshot from
the proto game Firebeast.
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Another proto
shot is shown here,
in a full cabinet view of Food Fight.
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This glitzy
cabinet is for the
Atari game Radikal Bikers.
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Uo-Poko
shows off a cabinet style that is very common in Japan.
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Here's Demolition
Derby.
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I Robot
is considered by many
to be a game that was way
ahead of its time.
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I talked Gary
Hatt into trying out
a game of Crystal Castles. He actually did very well.
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Here's a
pristine example of Primal Rage, an Atari title that 'tanked'.
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| Fast Freddie
is an oldie, but a goodie, courtesy of Atari.
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A Tetris
version that offers a
payout ??!! That's my kind
of video game !
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Two Pac-Mania
cabs are seen side-by-side, tho one actually contains Cosmo Gang - The
Video.
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Targ is
an example of a game that
has an overlay where the artwork outspaces the
see-thru portion.
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I'd never seen
this version of Hard Drivin' before - a sit-down, with
an Airborne variation to it.
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Cyberball
was one of the largest games produced in the 80's, before the size overkill of
the 90's began.
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A full-size
view of
Cyberball's cabinet.
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Konami loves
their music-themed games. Here's Mambo Agogo.
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Reactor
is an uncommon game that has a surprisingly large fan base.
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As the games
are rapidly being wheeled out, Brian, Paul and
myself pose for one last shot.
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The final shot
of my coverage this year is of the sign outside the show venue announcing the
event.
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