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| Chuck Whitby,
the main arcade attendant, strikes a pose.
|
Ryan Moss tries
out the new dance machine - DDR SuperNOVA.
|
A full view of
the Konami title
DDR SuperNOVA.
|
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This unique
unit, by FragIsle,
features four-sided PS/2
game system play.
|
Here's a view
of the five classic
titles in the contest.
|
Another angle
of the five
classic contest titles.
|
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A final shot of
the five
classic contest titles.
|
Here, three of
the five 'modern' titles are shown; these are all 'gun' games.
|
Another modern
tourney title,
Strikers 1945 Plus, is shown here.
|
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The final
modern title, of the five in
the tournament, is shown here -
Bust-A-Move.
|
Ryan gets ready
to dance, while a cutie, fully barefooted, has at it on
the original DDR machine.
|
A foot close-up
of the young gal
who sheds her shoes when dancing.
|
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Bryan Wagner
gets started on one
of the classic titles - Frogger.
|
Ryan Moss joins
the tourney play, and gets going with Pengo.
|
It looks like
Frank Lupia is here -
and Chuck is letting us know
that Frank's 'the man'.
|
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Frank gets
things rolling with a
game of Pole Position II.
|
Ryan and Frank
continue their play.
|
Bryan decides
to try out one of the modern titles - Bust-A-Move.
|
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| Here's a new
game at Challenge Arcade - Gauntlet Legends.
|
Chuck stands at
the ready, to take down scores from tourney players.
|
Here's the full
trio of contestants
that have signed up so far.
|
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| Another view of
the three players.
|
Looks like mall
security is 'investigating' the tournament.
|
Kasey Kehler
has arrived, but chooses to do DDR instead
of playing in the tourney.
|
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| Kasey shakes
her booty to the music.
|
Wally Kehler, a
pinball fan, plays
the pin game Star Wars.
|
Here's the
correct entrance (on the 'back' side of the mall) to go in for getting to Challenge
Arcade.
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Here's the view
just outside
the arcade's entryway.
|
A great food
court is only steps
away from the arcade. Here we have China Max and Chick-Fil-A.
|
Ray's #1
Pizza is shown here.
|
 |
 |
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| The tour of the
food court continues. Here's Turkey and Salad Sensations, and Philly
Steaks.
|
Here we see the
popular Subway, along with a Country Fair Fries
and Dogs location.
|
The last eatery
on our tour of the
food court is a Becker's, which serves fish
sandwiches.
|
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 |
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| Here's the view
of Challenge Arcade that you'll see when approaching from the food
court.
|
Another view of
the arcade, as you walk up to it from either the food court, or the
escalators.
|
The arcade
features a number of modern titles, including these two.
|
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 |
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| This strange
situation happened to Bryan on a game of Frogger. He died, but
the skull and crossbones didn't disappear for about 2 minutes.
|
Here are three
classic titles, featured near the arcade's entrance.
|
Frank and Bryan
gear up for day 2.
|
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 |
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| This pinball
oldie (Humpty Dumpty) is shown for looks more than for play.
|
A full view of Humpty
Dumpty.
|
Here's another
look at the
unusual FragIsle PS/2 unit.
|
 |
 |
 |
| A tour of the Challenge
Arcade gameroom continues with Gauntlet Legends and Track &
Field.
|
Here's a nice
dual-title Neo-Geo
unit, along with Star Wars.
|
Next to the Star
Wars is
a Donkey Kong.
|
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Another view of
the three modern shooters in the tourney gives a
better look at the guns on
each.
|
This 6-slot Neo-Geo
is one big unit. It also houses one of the contest games - Strikers 1945 Plus.
|
Checking back
in on the tourney - JoAnne Levan (Joe's mom)
oversees the contestants.
|
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 |
| Back to the
gameroom tour. This angle shows the tourney gun game row, along with Galaga.
|
Here's a look
at both of the arcade's DDR machines. They're each
over $10,000 in cost...
|
This is a
pretty cool modern title - WaterSki.
|
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Now back to
'old school';
here's Smash TV.
|
Super Puzzle Fighter II X
stands beside the laser title Dragon's Lair.
|
Here's DL
again, next to DL II.
|
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| Two Atari
titles stand side-by-side.
|
Here's Spy
Hunter, the
sit-down model.
|
1943 is
shown here.
|
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 |
| Here's a row of
modern titles.
|
Another row of
games, this time
with a mix of classic and modern.
|
Another modern
/ classic mix pic.
|
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 |
 |
| Now, for the
pins. Challenge Arcade features quite a few.
|
Back to the
vids, for a moment.
|
Now, back to
the pins. Star Wars
is one of the more popular ones.
|
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More pins, and
this time with a
mix of old and new schools.
|
A couple of
'throw' games round
out the non-video game tour.
|
Here's the
final shot of the tour, tho there are a few games left, so we'll be back to
wrap up after a few more tournament shots...
|
 |
 |
 |
| It's still
Friday morning, and Bryan and Frank are pounding the classics.
|
JoAnne is ready
and waiting to take down any contestant's high score.
|
Now it's Friday
evening, and Joe is in. As always, he shows interest in the players that
frequent the arcade.
|
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 |
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Joe takes on
one of the contest games, while Ryan, who just
arrived, does the same.
|
Joe continues
his game of Mr. Do!
|
Another view of
Joe and Ryan.
|
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Ryan is deep in
concentration
for his game of Frogger.
|
I asked Chuck
to pose next to the game he was best at, and he chose this one - Killer
Instinct.
|
It's now
Saturday morning, and Joe decides to begin the day with a cup of coffee, and Donkey
Kong.
|
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 |
 |
| I decided to
get in a shot of the three tourney contest games, and Galaga.
|
Bryan is first
to arrive, and decides
to push up his already first-place Donkey Kong 3
score.
|
Alright - time
to wrap up the gameroom tour. Here are two of
my favorite Atari game titles.
|
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 |
 |
| Joe still looks
groggy, in spite of the coffee, as he checks out Bryan's play.
|
Back to the
tour. A rare laser
title stands next to Q*bert.
|
Missile
Command and Donkey Kong Junior wrap up the
gameroom picture tour.
|
 |
 |
 |
| This shot (and
the next) give you an idea of the depth of the arcade.
|
The row of classics
keeps
going, and going, and...
|
New tournament
sign-up Nick Moyer is said to excel at the gun games. And, here he's
showing it.
|
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 |
 |
Nick keeps
firing, while brother
Brian (left) and Joe look on.
|
The contestants
really are starting to push their scores up, as there's
just a day and a half left.
|
Another view of
the players.
|
 |
 |
 |
| Nick mugs for
the camera.
|
Frank plays
some more Mr. Do! This title has become his new
favorite, because
of the tourney.
|
Joe checks out
Nick's prowess on Bust-A-Move, where he has a
score in the millions.
|
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 |
Frank plays a
little
Strikers 1945 Plus.
|
Bryan hopes to
get close to Frank's 700K+ score on Pengo, but
knows he'll be a good bit lower.
|
Nick takes his
turn at CarnEvil.
|
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 |
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| Another shot of
Nick.
|
Looks like
Frank's trying to top
his already high Pengo score.
|
Bryan has a
turn at
Strikers 1945 Plus.
|
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 |
 |
| Nick now shifts
gears (pun intended), and tries a few of the classic games.
|
Joe checks out
Bryan's play.
|
It's Ryan's
turn at 'Strikers'.
|
 |
 |
 |
| It's late
Saturday afternoon, and the Kehlers are back, along with Steve McBlane, a CAGDC
tourney contestant from March 2006.
|
Steve shows me
his skill
on Star Wars.
|
Joe Levan (JPL)
shows the damage he can do on Pole Position II.
|
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 |
 |
| Here's a close-up
of Joe's score. It's good enough to easily rank third on the
TG scoreboard.
|
Ryan continues
to try to raise his score on Frogger.
|
Frank gives Bust-A-Move
a try.
|
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 |
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| Ryan gets in
plays on all the tourney games, as the day winds down.
|
Ryan and Bryan
continue to play.
|
Time for a shot
of Challenge Arcade co-owner Susan LeVan. Here she poses next to
her favorite title, Super Don Quix-ote.
|
 |
 |
 |
| Here's a
non-flash shot showing the 'atmosphere' of the arcade. The lighting is
better than Funspot, where everything is bathed in red.
|
The players
continue to shore up
their scores on the final day. This
was taken early Sunday afternoon.
|
Joe continues
to monitor the players with great interest, and support.
|
 |
 |
 |
| The classics
row gets a workout.
|
Nick is still
trying to improve his
score on the gun games.
|
Wally and Steve
are back again today, to take in the competition.
|
 |
 |
 |
Joe pulls
referee duty, while surrounded by players,
and onlookers.
|
Two contestants
give the gun games
a shot (OK, OK, that was bad).
|
The tournament
is over, and Joe
has readied all the prizes.
|
 |
 |
 |
Frank has
placed first, and gets a prize package that includes a
poster, tons of hot sauce,
and, of course... cash !!
|
Nick places
second, and comes
away with a little less sauce,
and a little less cash...
|
Bryan places
third, but still gets cash, two bottles of sauce, and a poster.
|
 |
 |
 |
| Even tho he
came in last place, Ryan Moss' percentage wasn't that far behind the
others. And, he still gets cash, sauce, and a poster !!
|
Well, here's
the whole gang - the LeVans on the left, and the contestants to the right.
|
Kasey plays a
few rounds of her favorite vid title - Bubble Bobble.
|
 |
|
|
Before we go
out for an after-contest dinner, contestants (and Steve)
chat for a bit.
|
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|
