The first ever CAGDC Bounties Contest offers $3,500+ in rewards !

[Steve W]

Answered in my post above, Steve:  "The wr score of 143,450 was set in 1986, and I had the original tourney manual (sold a few years back).  The settings were specified to be 3 men, bonus at 10K, and difficulty at very easy."

I did not realize this, that's pretty strong evidence if that is the case and makes me a bit of a sad panda then.  But I sure do love a challenge so I will still go for it on "difficult" obviously as well.

[yankeebest]

Will you be using the LATEST TG BOOK scores as the ones to beat???

[MDARULZ]

Good question, Jimmy.  I will be going with TG scores as per the latest listing on the TG website, other than (of course) Pac-Mania, which will be at the standard CAGDC factory default setting; only CAGDC has a documented score for that, courtesy of... you !

Also, the Moon Patrol record, done at factory, was removed from the TG website (for no good reason), but I will be using that terrific mark as the de facto score to beat.  Set by Mark Robichek over 25 years ago, it is noted in the first TG wr book.

Well, I'll be done today with the contest page on the website, and will 'tweet' that information first to those following me on Twitter, and then post a bit later, right here in this thread.  Hang on, and you'll see all the scores to beat, Jimmy !

[MDARULZ]

It's official - the CAGDC Bounties Contest is set for September 26th at the Richie Knucklez arcade.  I got the contract back from Richie this week, and pretty much finalized the contest page yesterday.  I 'tweeted' that info early today, and now I'm posting here. (BTW, I'm still surprised that I don't have more 'followers'; be sure to join up if you aren't on Twitter already, and click the follow button on my page to be 'in the loop' for all the big announcements in the hobby - big scores and other cag news, in addition to occasional CAGDC announcements).

One change I made today to the contest page, and the contest itself, is the removal of the game Journey.  I mistakenly thot the record was a bit over a million when I consulted with Richie as to what games would be good for the event.  When I confirmed the world records on each game, I saw that the wr was actually 12M+, and therefore, it can't be beaten in the time that's available on contest day.  Thus, it's removed.  Also, Marble Madness may be removed in future weeks, if we don't get a kit, and / or a cab, in time for the event.  But, if there's someone who will enter, I may ship my kit up to Richie, so let me know if you would like to try for the bounty on that title.  Oh, somebody asked if other game titles (like Galaga) might be added to the bounties list for the contest, and I have to say no, since Richie and I have gone over what he has, and I considered which would work for the event.  And, pretty much every single one that is appropriate for a bounty offer has gone into it.

The world records to beat, in order to win the bounties, are listed in the contest game table, here.  Barring any errors, the listed scores will be the ones to beat for the bounties, even if the score is raised between now and the event.

I believe all the scores are currently listed on the TG scoreboard, except for Pac-Mania (different settings than factory mean that it's a CAGDC scoreboard score), and Moon Patrol.  The latter title, as mentioned above, was removed from the TG scoreboard (instead of them opening up a new track), but can still be seen as a TG score in the first record book.  Ben Falls may try for that one.

Well, be sure to sign up ASAP, since, as mentioned before, there's a strict limit of two players for most titles, to allow for adequate play time in pursuing the bounty.  Also, if you don't think you are going to attempt a bounty, but would love to have 12 hours of play for just $20 (the attendance fee for everyone), then that's a sign-up option on the contest page (click here for the PayPal boxes with all the sign-up options).  Also, you'll get a chance to see world records set, and players earning big bucks for doing it !  I know Richie and I can expect most of the Flashback Fridays guys, and the NYC / northeast 'crew' to be there, so come out and support the players, support the event, and (if you can possibly break a score), come out and earn $$$ for doing what we all love - playing classic arcade games !  

P.S.  As always, I have attendee information for the event available, here, so check it out, and lemme know (using the links) if you have any needs as far as getting a ride out to the contest, or sharing a room while there.

[MDARULZ]

Well, as some of you may have noticed on the contest page, the great Donald Hayes has officially signed on for the event, and will be attempting to recover his wr status on Dig Dug.  But, newcomer Jerry Casey is ready to challenge him, so the fireworks may be on for that game !

In addition, a multitude of gamers will be signing on in the coming two weeks (why do you guys wait until the last minute ??!!).  But, again, don't wait - lock in your game title before all the available slots are gone (like on Dig Dug !).  Plus, don't forget - if you won't be going for a bounty, then for just $20, you can come and watch world-class players vie for the potential purse of over $3,500 in bounties, plus play all you want on dozens of non-bounty titles, for a full 12 hours !

Well, click here to sign up, and I look forward to seeing the gang of regular out-of-towners and locals, at Richie's, just two weeks from today !

P.S.  Don't forget to check the Attendee info post, here, for updated info on requests by gamers to share a room, get a ride, etc.

[MDARULZ]

Four new sign-ups occurred over the past few days, including gaming greats Jimmy Linderman, and Ben Falls.  Those two, along with previously entered contestant Donald Hayes, form a trio of the current hottest gamers in the cag hobby !  Needless to say, attending this event, just to see them work their 'craft', is a must, not to mention the chance for everyone to have half-a-day of gaming fun on dozens and dozens of top classic titles !

I'm also happy to see two gamers that attended the March CAGDC Tournament getting on board for this event - namely, Graham Ogilvie (top Pole Position player), and Charlie Ricketts.

Let's keep the sign-ups coming, and the fact that we have 6 bounty attempts going out of 9 players is incredible, and a better result than I even expected !  Hopefully, I won't have to give away too many hundreds of dollars, but if so, then so be it.  And, that will be the one time I'm happy to hand out my money, since you guys will have earned it.

Check in on both the attendee info thread, and the official contest page, as the week goes by, for further updates...

[richieknucklez]

Hey all, here is a quick update;

Jimmy has had a few 2 million + Pacmania games and is hard at work on a wr score,
Graham scored a pb on Pole Position with 65,710
Don is currently at 4.7 million and going strong on Digdug.

In other news Jamie Cahill usurped Dave Nelson's Race Drivin Autocross WR score with 385,454

[BadBrains]

Wow, it was a great event!

Jamie Cahill- Race Driven WR autocross 385,454
Don Hayes- Dig Dug WR 4,860,000
Hank Chien- he can tell you himself 

Thanks Richie and Mark for puting on a great event.

[DaringDirk]

Man, what a great contest this year!

Congrats again to Hank Chien and Don Hayes for their astounding performances, as well as Jamie Cahill for his new Race Drivin' mastery.

Today was good for myself as well, setting my new personal best on Journey - 317,625.
I got to see everyone putting down some incredible skills today, and Mark even showed me his renowned Crystal Castles play (and had me take over [and die] a couple times).

I hope you all enjoyed the event as much as I did!  See you at the next one!

[Gehn]

It was great to see everyone again and their accomplishments.

I achieved a new personal best of 65,710 points on Pole Position. The key to my improvement was changing my approach to the first right hand turn. I can now get through that turn on nearly full speed without skidding -- this allowed me to have ~53'40 laps, and will continue to boost my overall completion point average. (Because of this improvement, my qualifying laps and first grand prix laps have improved as well -- 55'84 my best qualifying lap, and ~56'80 my best first grand prix lap.) Richie mentioned that things get "easier" when your lap time improves, and I can agree to this in that once I was hitting 53' laps, I felt I was plowing through the field.

While I did not record my 65,710, I did record my 65,550, and hopefully I will get that footage from Mark and maybe put it on YouTube.

[MDARULZ]

Man, what a great contest this year!

Thanks, Zack !  It was great, because of Richie and his arcade being the best, and myself and CAGDC doing our part.  Not only did I put $3,500+ of my own money on the line, CAGDC is the only scoreboard that offers monetary prizes for classic arcade events and feats.  I've put up over $30,000 in bounties in just the last 5 years, plus given away well over $1,000 in tournaments and contests that I've put at least half of the money up for, along with my location partners, in that same time frame.  I'm not 100% sure of TG's count since 2004, but I believe it's a pretty round number (emphasis on the round part !).

Congrats again to Hank Chien and Don Hayes for their astounding performances, as well as Jamie Cahill for his new Race Drivin' mastery.

Congrats to all of them, indeed, but... you didn't elaborate on what Hank did !!    I'll get to that in a minute...

Today was good for myself as well, setting my new personal best on Journey - 317,625.
I got to see everyone putting down some incredible skills today, and Mark even showed me his renowned Crystal Castles play (and had me take over [and die] a couple times).

Great job on Journey - you outclass me on that one like I do most players on Crystal Castles.  I saw you play the lower levels, and think you did quite well...  Keep pluggin' !

I hope you all enjoyed the event as much as I did!  See you at the next one!

Richie said we had about 20 attendees, and four of those went for a bounty.  Jerry Casey, who signed up first, was unable to make it out, due to a job interview opportunity, but the other players all got in some games on their respective title.  Don played one game of Dig Dug, and got the world record - a super 4,860,000 score.  Unfortunately, he broke the news that the weekend before, he got a 4.88M score at Funspot.  Well, it's fortunate for him, but it would have been nice for him to set the true wr at this event.  Nonetheless, it's no biggie, and he was only required to best the documented wr of 4.6M by Ken House, and not his 4.88M.  That was because the 4.6M was the wr score as of around 09-01, when the scores to beat were locked in.  BTW, Don (of course) reached the killscreen on the game, which used an Atari version 1 (DSW 9N and 9P type) board.  Richie went to a lot of work to get that board set and done, so kudos to him.

Ben Falls got in a few games of Moon Patrol, but played only a few times, due to a bit of burnout.  He made a top score of just shy of 300K, with the wr being about 1.2M.  No doubt he'll give it a go in the future, at factory settings.

Graham Ogilvie played for hours on Pole Position, and set a personal best of about 65,710, which was quite close to the wr of 67,310.  Just a few more cars to go...

Last, but far from least, Jimmy Linderman played about 6 times on Pac-Mania, but wasn't able to best his superb CAGDC wr of 3.7M.  His best was a great 3.3M, but he insisted that the game was poor, especially the ending.

So, Don was the only bounty winner, and received $100 for his effort.  BTW, he wasn't the only player to get on or near a killscreen.  Hank Chien topped 1M on DK on a board at Richie's certified by both Walter Day and Dave Nelson (Richie reported the latter).  I believe he made about 1.05M, but will let Hank or Richie relate the exact score.  Congrats, Hank, and he recorded the entire game, unlike his recent 1.037M mark.  Too bad TG rules won't allow a submission, but CAGDC will allow a wr submission on DK, as I've told a few top players on that game.  So, keep that in mind, everyone - there's no limitations for your wr DK score !

Well, thanks to all the great players for coming out, and I appreciate all the attendees making this a successful event.  Next year, Richie and I may combine this type of event with his 'player appreciation' weekend, and maybe schedule it around Labor Day weekend.  That way, there's a major cag event each quarter of the year - Richie's for the big CAGDC Tourney in mid-March, and a weekend of fun and contesting in September, plus Funspot's big annual tourney in late May, and the mid-November gathering.  (BTW, to talk more about these things, do start a new topic in the appropriate area, versus derailing this thread)..

While I did not record my 65,710, I did record my 65,550, and hopefully I will get that footage from Mark and maybe put it on YouTube.

I'll post your footage, Graham, on 'Marktube' !    I guarantee that clip, your clip from FSX, and a Jimmy Klax clip, will be up in October... yes, October 2009 !! 

[richieknucklez]

So, what a great time the bounties contest was.
I think I don't only speak for myself, when I say, a blast was had by all.


We had almost 20 entrants with a 1/2 dozen walk-ins as well

Big thanks to

JoJo Simoncelli
Frank Simoncelli
Anthony Pietrak
Andy Beck   
Ed Palomar   
Charlie Ricketts
Jamie Cahill
JJ Cahill
Robby Cahill
Justin B.
Hank Chien
Zack Lubow
Dan
George Cardella
Jerry Casey
Donald Hayes
Ben Falls
Graham Ogilve
Jimmy Linderman

Congrats to Don once again and later on after this party ends
(man am I tired, back in this am for 3 kids parties)
I will update our local scoreboard thread will ALL the new scores.

[pauldean]

CAGDC is the only scoreboard that offers monetary prizes for classic arcade events and feats.  I've put up over $30,000 in bounties in just the last 5 years, plus given away well over $1,000 in tournaments and contests that I've put at least half of the money up for, along with my location partners, in that same time frame.  I'm not 100% sure of TG's count since 2004, but I believe it's a pretty round number (emphasis on the round part !).

California Extreme 2009 Video Game "High Score" Contest July 11, 2009
July 11, 2009
Hyatt Regency Santa Clara

Paul Dean’s Fourth Annual California Extreme Video Game "High Score" Contest Announcement:

This will be a one day competition on Saturday, July 11, 2009 with $210.00 in cash prizes given out.

http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums/index.php/topic,1684.msg20300.html#msg20300

I’ve given away about ($800.00 in cash prizes) myself over the last four years at the same venue: CAX, at my Annual California Extreme High Score Contest. So there are still some venues in which you can make some money being good at classic coin operated video games.

[Permafrostrick]

Wow, it was a great event!

Jamie Cahill- Race Driven WR autocross 385,454
Don Hayes- Dig Dug WR 4,860,000
Hank Chien- he can tell you himself 

sounds like it was fun...cool also to see Graham put up some good pole position runs.

congrats don on eclipsing 4.8 million on digdug!  to beat that will require excellent play and also digging an ridiculous amount of dirt.  hehe

how long did the game take?

[yankeebest]

Hank Chien topped 1M on DK on a board at Richie's certified by both Walter Day and Dave Nelson (Richie reported the latter).  I believe he made about 1.05M, but will let Hank or Richie relate the exact score.  Congrats, Hank, and he recorded the entire game, unlike his recent 1.037M mark.  Too bad TG rules won't allow a submission, but CAGDC will allow a wr submission on DK, as I've told a few top players on that game.  So, keep that in mind, everyone - there's no limitations for your wr DK score !

Hank's score was 1.005M...not 1.05M.  Hank's score was 1,005,800...1.05M is 1,050,000.