Funspot 2003
tourney pictures




    The Funspot 2003 tournament was the first arcade contest that I've attended since all the way back to the 1987 Video Game Masters Tournament.  I had been intending to go to Funspot for a couple of years now, and really should have gone to last year's event, when Twin Galaxies ran it, and it had a nice array of popular games, which were voted on by the contestants (as it should be).  Nonetheless, in spite of a new (and undesirable, to me) approach taken by Funspot, I was glad to get back into gaming, and at a fantastic location.  Funspot had (and still does) an incredible array of classic arcade titles, plus getting to see a lot of top gamers in action was a real treat.  I also got to see a gaming buddy of mine (from the 80's) again - Mark Boolman.  Plus, I made a number of great new gaming friends, many of whom are pictured below.  There, you'll see, in thumbnail views, a pictorial summary of the events that took place during the contest.  The pictures are all shown in chronological order, and span two of the four contest days (Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st).  For the full-size version of the picture, click on any thumbnail shown, and you'll also get more details about each shot, including the day, and time, it was taken.

NOTE:  for the moment, I've put the pictures up, minus my usual explanatory captions (other than on this page).  The captions will be up at some point, and you can enjoy the pictures themselves in the meantime.

 

 

Shawn Cram proudly poses next to the game that he ended up setting
the world record on at the event - Donkey Kong 3.

 

 Ken Sweet (who originated the idea of a tourney at Funspot) poses with wife Jenn.  Ken did a great job helping to referee, run, and organize the tournament again this year.

 

 Anna Cram, a tech worker at Funspot, poses next to my all-time favorite game - Crystal Castles.

 
Pat Laffaye, an aficionado of Frogger, takes time out, from his quest for a wr, for this photo.

 

 Gary Vincent, tourney organizer and Funspot manager, is hard at work with tournament (and other) duties.

 

 Jason Cram (left), and brother Shawn, are two prolific and
talented gamers that play
regularly at Funspot.

 
Gary continues his work around
the arcade area by moving
this Tempest into place.

 

 Greg Bond, the Mappy wr holder, poses next to his record title game.

 

 The lovely Anna Cram shows
support for brother-in-law
Shawn's quest to score big
on DK3 by posing next to it.

 
Another view of Anna and DK3.

 

 My long-time gaming buddy Mark Boolman has made it out to the tourney, and has already set a (supposed) TG wr on Star Wars.

 

 Fred Pastore poses next to his all-time favorite (and mega-wr)
title - Carnival.

 
Here's a view of 'contest row', with
a ref at the ready to write down scores, and the players hard
at work making them..

 

 Richard Marsh poses by a favorite title of his - Crystal Castles.

 

 The great Donald Hayes stands
next to the game he considers to
be his best wr title - Centipede.

 
Greg decides to join Don for this pic.

 

 Time for the awards ceremony - a group of gamers patiently waits.

 

 Another view of the gamers.

 
A final shot of the gathered gamers.

 

 Mark Boolman gets a certificate,
and cash, for getting top score
(and a TG wr) on Astro Fighter.

 

 Now it's Don's turn for recognition;
he gets a framed certificate for being the Color Challenge Champion.

 
The awards aren't done yet;
here, Don gets another framed certificate, this time for being
the Player of the Year.

 

  

 

  

 

 

 



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