California Extreme 2009 – July 11-12, 2009 - Hyatt Regency, Santa Clara, CA

[pauldean]

California Extreme 2009


NEW CAX LOCATION: July 11-12, 2009 - Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, California

We are very pleased to officially announce the dates for this year's California Extreme Show.  It will be held on July 11-12, 2009 at our fantastic new location - the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, California (santaclara.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp).

NEW LOCATION:

Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, California


Hyatt Regency Santa Clara
5101 Great America Parkway
Santa Clara, California, USA 95054
Telephone: (408)-200-1234
http://www.santaclara.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp

We are working on this year’s lineup of seminars, guest speakers, and other arcade-themed events that make the show so much fun each year. On that note, we are looking to you, the arcade community, for suggestions for topics and speakers.  Is there something you would like to see presented (or even to present yourself)? This is your chance to let us know what you would like to see! Send us an e-mail at info@caextreme.org and let us know. We welcome all suggestions and will consider each one carefully.

The Hyatt is giving us a killer room rate for the show ($84.00) and we encourage you to take advantage of this reduced rate on one of their very nice four-star rooms.  The show will be in the hotel, so you’ll be just a few steps away from all the action! We are working extended hours for Saturday night, so plan accordingly.  Free parking is included.  The Hyatt is located close to San Jose airport which will make it easy to get to your rooms.  You can get more information on room bookings at www.caextreme.org/hotel_info.

Start making your plans, requesting time off work, making reservations by planes, trains, automobiles, and especially trucks to come out and join us for another crazy, arcade-filled weekend!

And be sure to let us know if you're interested in bringing games and/or volunteering to help us out by contacting us at info@caextreme.org.  Both are most welcome (and can possibly be worth free admission and/or other goodies!).

Thanks to all of our previous exhibitors and volunteers. We hope we can count on you again, and if you've never brought games or volunteered before, why not give it a try this year?  You'll have a great time!

For more information as it becomes available and pictures from previous shows, visit our website at www.caextreme.org.

The Extreme Team
Mark Birsching

California Extreme 2009

July 11-12, 2009

Hyatt Regency Santa Clara

It's time for our 13th show! We have a fantastic new location this year - the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. This is also the show hotel which is giving us a fantastic rate on 4-star rooms. See the Hotel Page for booking information (available now!).

Latest News 

We're planning a great show - check back often for the latest news!

Why A Game Show?

Arcades were once a fixture on the American urban landscape, and games were plentiful in rural cities too. The closest heir of today is the so-called "Family Entertainment Center", which is populated with a myriad of devices designed only to take your coins quickly and leave you with a pile of tickets, which you exchange for cheap, trashy toys. This is entertainment? California Extreme was born with a desire to share fun coin op games that are in the hands of private collectors, and to hopefully spread the word that pinball machines were once plentiful, and that videogames were not synonymous with "martial arts" and violence. Buy/sell/trade! The show is a great place to bring games you want to sell, and also a good place to add to your collection, or even start it! Not all games will be for sale; many collectors bring games to show (or show off!) that they would never sell. So .. Can I play the stuff? Yeah .. Everything is on free play. You can play from the moment you arrive until we shut off the power at closing -- Play as many games as you want, in whatever order you want to. There are *HUNDREDS* of games, all set to play for free. This is a your chance to try those older games, or the newer games that you'd never put money into in an arcade. There are also many games that never got produced, and are very hard to find.
http://www.caextreme.org/

[CrazyKongFan]

Hey Paul, if you don't mind, can you link it to the calendar? I tried doing it, but only the person posting (and a mod, I assume) can do it. There's a "link to calendar" button near the bottom of the post.

edit: Thanks! Makes the new calendar function that much more useable

[TT]

And there was me looking forward to Mark's official announcement.

[Dantes]

And there was me looking forward to Mark's official announcement.

Aw. Does this mean you're going to be there, Tony?

[TT]

You never know! 

[Dantes]

I'd love to watch you play Missile Command over there!

[jkoolpe]

Looks like Paul beat me to it regarding our big announcement for this year's CA Extreme show!  No problem at all...

But I have an excuse...I was skiing the slopes of Utah and had no email access during this time ...No, I don't own a laptop.

Anyway, as y'all can see, we have what promises to be a fantastic new venue for the show.  The Hyatt Regency is a GREAT hotel and the rooms are super, super nice I must say...and the room rate the hotel gave us is less than that of the hotel that we used with last year's show even! (which was O.K., but definitely not as nice of a room). 

The show will be in this same hotel, so if you stay there, you just hop on the elevator and you're at the show in no time flat which of course means maximum game time !

As an added bonus, the new venue is letting us stay open later on Saturday than we were allowed to at the previous venue...as of now, we plan on staying open until 2AM on Saturday night (or Sunday morning, if you prefer  ).  So that's even more of a cool reason to book at the Hyatt...play until 2AM, crash, and when you wake up on Sunday, you're right there ready for more!

Hope to see everyone there!

Jon (on behalf of the CA Extreme team)

[U.K Jon]

I'd love to watch you play Missile Command over there!

Yes, me too.
Finally put that ghost to rest once and for all. There's only one person who's going to reach level 256 on Missile Command and he's not Californian. 

[Snapp]

I'd love to watch you play Missile Command over there!

Yes, me too.
Finally put that ghost to rest once and for all. There's only one person who's going to reach level 256 on Missile Command and he's not Californian. 

Oh Jon, you're full of "schildt" 

[jkoolpe]

Hey all!

Just a quick report from one of the organizers of CAX.

I finally had a chance to scope out the new location at the Hyatt in Santa Clara this past weekend.  It is NICE!!  The ballroom where we'll hold the show is about the same size as our previous location, but it is nicer overall.  And the meeting rooms are really quite swank, too (and quite a bit larger).

The hotel is quite a step up I must say, too.  I highly recommend staying at the hotel itself regardless of where you're coming from...the rooms are downright luxurious and the rate they gave us is terrific ($84/night).  Plus if you stay at the Hyatt, you get a 25% discount off of the hotel eateries and even at the lounge/bar area which is just outside of the main show area (so you can relax a bit with a quick drink and lounge in some comfie chairs and sofas if your feet get tired ).  And if you're so inclined, there is a giant amusement park literally right next door called "Great America" that (if you stay at the hotel again), you can get admission tickets for about 40% off of the regular adult price!

But the best part of staying at the hotel is that you can just ride the elevator down a few floors, and walk right to the show in just seconds (for maximum game time  ).

Looking forward to Paul's contest as always...I'll probably try my hand at Kick...

See y'all there!

Jon

[jkoolpe]

Just got off of the horn with a co-organizer...he let me know that the CAX hotel room "block" (set aside for the show at the special aforementioned $84/night rate) is apparently filling up pretty quickly! 

Thanks to any and all who have booked already of course, but if you otherwise want to take advantage of this rate, you might want to do so soon  .

Thanks to everyone for your support for our crazy show! 

Jon

[jkoolpe]

Update on the hours for this year's CAX show:

We have official confirmation from the hotel/venue and we will be extending our hours on Saturday (of the show) until 2AM! 

That's 2 more hours of game time to enjoy into the wee hours...just like BITD ...

Hope to see y'all there!

Jon

[pauldean]

See Below Thread link: CA Extreme (2009) T-shirt design (please vote!)

Hey all!

We're close to finalizing the design for this year's T-shirt the CA Extreme show!

See below link for the full jkoolpe post on CA Extreme T-shirt Design vote:
http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums/index.php/topic,1902.msg23467.html#msg23467

[pauldean]

Paul Dean’s California Extreme 2009 "High Score" Contest Announcement for July 11, 2009 

California Extreme 2009 "High Score" Contest Announcement for July 11, 2009

California Extreme 2009 Video Game "High Score" Contest July 11, 2009
The Games: Kick, Pole Position I, Donkey Kong II

See below link for complete CAX 2009 Contest details and cash prizes:
http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums/index.php/topic,1684.0.html

[pauldean]

California Extreme, the pinball and classic video arcade games show is gearing up for our 13th annual show.  Formerly held in San Jose, this year it will be held at our new location – the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, California on July 11-12, 2009. 

California Extreme:
•         Plans for California Extreme 2009 ** Vote for your favorite t-shirt design – see below! **
•         Make California Extreme a great show.
•         Learn about California Extreme
•         Show website: http://www.caextreme.org.
 
Plans for California Extreme 2009

- T-shirts – We are pleased to announce the t-shirt designs for this year’s show.  See the designs and vote for your favorite in the forum at http://www.caextreme.org/forum/index.php?topic=121.0.  We need to place our order for the t-shirts in the next few days, so if you have any requests to make sure you get what you want, please let us know on the forum or by e-mail at info@caextreme.org right away!

– Lots of games to play! Last year there were more than 400 games all set on free play, everything from the favorites like PacMan, Asteroids, Twilight Zone, and Funhouse to rarer games that you just don't see everyday like Quantum, Journey, Fathom and Pinball Magic.   And don't forget the smattering of "other" games like the unmissable Ringer, Cosmo Gang, Panic Park and Prop Cycle.  Every year we also have a huge selection of rare, prototype, and one-of-a-kind games on both sides.  Last year's rare pins included Big Bang Bar, Kingpin, Spectrum, and Orbitor 1; last year's videos included Freeze, Akka Arrh, Marble Man (Marble Madness 2), several linked Rush 2049 Tournament Editions, Inferno, and Primal Rage II.  For this year, we expect to have some more never-before-seen games such as an Atari Tank 8 (8 players simultaneously!) and a Taito prototype Complex X.  See the list of games at http://www.caextreme.org/games2009.  Please note that this list is only a partial list… many more games than are listed will be at the show!

- Speakers - as always, we'll have a full schedule of speakers on both the pin and video side, including many of the big names behind the biggest games.  While the schedule is being finalized, we can tell you that Steve Ritchie is scheduled to speak this year. Brett Davis from Marco Specialties will be speaking on pinball electronics. The Video Tips and Tricks panel will be back as well as the Arcade Trivia contest will also return to test your knowledge of both pinball and videos and win prizes!.  The always popular "How to Play Pinball" seminars will be back as well. Look for more speaker announcements and the schedule soon.
 
- Tournaments – we have several tournaments planned.  The pinball tournament will be back with both A (for pinball wizards) and B (for casual players) divisions in three different eras. Come try your skill against some of pinball’s best! There will also be a Guitar Hero tournament on the newly released coin-op Guitar Hero Arcade from Raw Thrills. A third tournament - The Gauntlet - will feature five different machines in a race against time.  More details on all the tournaments will be available soon.
- Win prizes!  As always, you could win a full-sized pinball or video game in our raffle, in addition to dozens of other prizes.

* California Extreme 2009 Classic Coin-Operated Video Game "High Score" Contest Announcement for July 11, 2009:
http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums/index.php/topic,1684.msg20300.html#msg20300
 
Make California Extreme a great show
 
We're planning for our big show, and, we want to get your help!  Here are some ways you can help us make this a great show:
 
- Bring games!   We want to make this year's show the best yet, and the best way to do that is to have lots of great games in attendance.  A big "thank you" goes out to everyone who has brought games previously and we hope to see you and your games return, but if you haven't brought games previously, why not join the fun and do it this year?  Even if you have just 1 game, dust it off and bring it on down to the show for the fun.  You will find information about bringing your games to the show (bring a game for admission discounts and early access to the show floor ... bring 3, get in free! - Bring a fourth, get a free t-shirt) by checking our website at http://www.caextreme.org/exhibitors.
 
- Volunteer – we need people to help us at the show as well as before and after.  Approved volunteers can get reduced or even free admission (must be approved in advance).
 
Learn about California Extreme
 
- Check out a videos and pictures of past shows at http://www.caextreme.org/pictures. Check out all the links to the awesome pictures and video clips!
 
- Download the flyer for this year's show at http://caextreme.org/files/cax2009flyer.pdf. Pre-register and get in ½ hour early each day and receive a cool laminated badge as well as a discount on t-shirts. Register now at http://www.caextreme.org/ticket_information.
 
- Visit our website at http://www.caextreme.org for all the information you need for the show, including on-line and mail-in registration, the show hotel, and some of the games expected.  The latest news will be posted here, so check back often!

- Join the California Extreme forum.  The message board will have the latest and greatest on the show.  You can also ask questions and ask for more information.  See the forum at http://www.caextreme.org/forum/index.php.
 
Come and see why so many people have become regular participants at California Extreme. Thanks to everyone who has provided support by attending or bringing great games to play, and we look forward to seeing you this July 11th and 12th at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara.
 
The Extreme Team

 California Extreme 2009 – July 11-12, 2009 - Hyatt Regency, Santa Clara, CA
http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums/index.php/topic,1621.0.html