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It's
the day before the tourney
begins, and the banner announcing
it is up, and filled with all the details.
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Tom
Votava has a go on 1943.
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Nick
Ortakales has a seat, as
he takes on Twin Cobra.
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| Looks
like this is the corner where a bunch of the tourney games will
go.
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Donald
Hayes shows
off his newfound skills
on Crystal Castles.
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Jason
Cram also decides to sit while playing - in this case, Pleiades.
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| Mike
Sao Pedro chooses Robotron as the game he wants to pose
beside, as it's one of his favorite titles.
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Todd
Rogers (in yellow) has
arrived, and draws a crowd with
his superb Super
Pac-Man skills.
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Jenn
Moore shows she can game with the best of 'em, on Kick-Man.
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Todd
now decides to practice up
on his 'claim-to-fame' title - Gorf.
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David
Cruz has made it in, and puts his signature bottle of Snapple on
top of the Donkey Kong machine.
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It's
the end of the day, and I catch Brian Kuh on his way home.
He'll
be resting up for his wr attempts that will take place on day 1 of
the event.
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| Martin
Bedard is hers, and gets started with his usual quiet, but
effective, run of world records.
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David's
son Kevin looks on as his dad has a go with Circus Charlie.
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Eric
Ahlers plays Mouse Trap.
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Darren
Harris has arrived, via
bus, and sidles up to one of his
mainstay
games - Ms. Pac-Man.
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Day
1 officially starts, and Brian
Kuh begins his quest for a wr
number of world records - 17 !
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Here's
a screenshot of my so-so Crystal Castles top score. I
had
to put Donald in his place, didn't I ?
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Just
a few hours from the tournament start, Gary gets going at bringing
in all of the titles for the event.
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Here's
a look at Gary's 'kick-ass' arcade game dolly, with extra wheels.
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The
players stand clear of the onslaught of contest games being
wheeled in, including Dave
Nelson (left) and Donald.
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Mike
Stulir cracks open
Centipede, in order to install Don
Haye's unique 3-minute timed board.
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A
few of the Atari tourney titles take their place, including Quantum,
which is new on the floor.
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Here's
a series of photos of a few
of the 'Wall of Fame' world record
pictures, starting with Dave.
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More
from the wall - Fred
Pastore (left) and David Cruz.
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Todd
is shown at left, with Galaxian master Gary Whelan at
right.
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Two
past tourney winners are featured here: Jason Cram
(left), and Dave, yet again.
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| Brian
Kuh gets a large chunk of the wall here, in 11 (out of his 16) wr
shots from the 2006 tourney.
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Speaking
of Brian, here he is, continuing his quest to top last year's
output, and get 17 wr marks in 2007.
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This
screenshot shows Brian's possible wr on 1943. It came into
question as the ROM set may or
may not be previously unknown.
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The
arcade's ambiance shows in this non-flash photo; L-R: Jason and
Don try out a new on the floor
title - Major Havoc.
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Let's
throw a little light on the
situation - same shot, with flash.
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Here's
a view of the pinball dolly that Funspot uses to avoid backaches.
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Here
we go - most of the Atari tourney video titles are set up,
and ready to play.
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Brian
has moved on to the cocktail game row, in his wr quest.
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Here's
Brian's wr result on LSA Squad. Tim McIlroy got the
title back, a few days later.
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| Brian's
mark on Stratovox.
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Brian
has a go at Super
Mario Bros. 3.
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Brian's
Sprint 2 wr is shown here.
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Greg
Erway tries out a Pinball Tourney game as buddy Tim
McIlroy
watches.
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Here's
half of the lineup of
Video Tournament (VT) games.
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The
second half of the Video
Tourney games is shown here.
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| Anna
Cram (in red) and Jenn Moore ready the entry form table for duty.
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Brian
continues on his wr pursuits.
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Here
are the two pinball titles
that are a part of the All Atari
Tournament (or AAT for short).
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A
close-in view of three of the
eight videos in the AAT.
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The
next three vids in the lineup
for the AAT are shown here.
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Now,
to the Pinball Tourney;
here's three of the six titles.
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The
final three titles in the
Pinball Tournament (PT).
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Martin
and Greg (kneeling) fill out the contestant entry forms for the
event.
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Brian's
next wr achievement
was Starship 1.
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| Brian
got tops on Lethal Enforcers.
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Accomplished
at many of
Funspot's driving games,
Brian takes the wr on Turbo.
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Here's
a rare feature in an early color game (Lunar Rescue) - the
ability to enter a full name, which Brian does
in his next wr in a row.
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The
wr's keep falling, as Brian
scores a superb 848,910 points
on Indiana Jones ATTOD,
medium difficulty, 3 lives.
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VS.
Super Mario Bros. is
Brian's next target, and next wr.
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Another
view of the SMB score.
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Final
Lap is another racing
title that falls to Brian.
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Brian
takes a respite, and
shows Darren his list of wr accomplishments thus far.
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More
of Brian's wr string - here's
the score on Rampage.
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Darren
is, as typical the last couple
of years, hanging out on Indy.
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Kevin
Cruz tries for second place
on Tron. He didn't quite
make
it, but gets a big 'A' for effort.
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Here
are the last two games in the Video Tourney - VS. Duck Hunt
and VS. Hogan's Alley.
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| The
kind-hearted Tina Gebhard sits at the ready, to notate player
scores.
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Tina
wears glasses for this shot.
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Looks
like Don is trying to decide what to play next, as Derek Litton
(right) has arrived on the scene.
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A
rare view of Darren playing something other than Indy,
Ms. Pac, or Star Trek.
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One
of the final games (and new for Funspot) in the AAT is Destroyer.
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Pat
Laffaye gives Frogger a go,
tho he didn't end up having enough time to seriously contest it.
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| Brian
Kuh is done with his solo wr game attempts, and moves on to
'doubles' action - here, he's combined with Todd Rogers on Xenophobe.
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A
mini-pow-wow takes place between Tina, Gary Vincent,
and Anna Cram.
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Here's
another 'natural-light' shot, showing players on the Pinball
Tourney titles.
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Back
to flash mode. L-R: Greg
Mott, Phillip Eaton, and Mike.
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A
famed set of players (L-R,
Don, Dave, Scootie Ahlers, and Martin) group up in the VT area.
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Another
group gathers on some of the AAT games, including Dwayne
Richard, complete with dreds.
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| A
wrap-up of Brian Kuh's scoring triumphs reveals a wr on Mercs.
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Finally,
here's Brian's
Steel Talons wr mark.
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Brian
takes a well-deserved break
for lunch at the Funspot restaurant
called the Braggin' Dragon.
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Scoretaker
Peter M. (left) is on
duty to write down player marks.
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David
takes on Gravitar.
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Dave
(left) and Jason play VT games.
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Uh-oh
- Alien Syndrome had to
be pulled from the VT due to a malfunction; Star Castle is
chosen to take its place.
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Don
and Shawn Cram (right) work their scoring magic on two VT titles.
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Tim
decides to shoot it out
on VS. Duck Hunt.
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Finally
- the last tournament title
is in place - Canyon Bomber,
which is part of the AAT.
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Contestants
continue to work
on tournament row titles.
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Pat
takes a break from Indy and Frogger to check out
Todd's prowess on Gorf.
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Two
Brits (buds Phillip and
Greg) try a couple of the
games on 'Williams row'.
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Tom
has a seat, as he goes
on Moon Patrol duty.
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Pat's
still following Todd around,
and gets hooked on watching his Super Pac-Man skills.
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| Pat's
still on the prowl, and finds the Erway clique giving Dragon's
Lair (another new on the floor title) a go.
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Anna
and Jenn are still awaiting the throngs of contestants yet to
come.
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Chris
McClard tries a VT title.
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| Eric
shows skill on A.P.B.
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This
is more like it - Pat throws down (and throws papers) on one of
his
wr game titles - Paperboy.
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This
sign warns away chair-nappers.
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This
view encompasses
most of the VT games.
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A
look at the (Daphne
powered) Dragon's Lair.
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Somehow,
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin managed to get DL to show
this incorrect score.
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| A
final look (for now) at DL.
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L-R:
Robert Mruczek and Stan
Loo have arrived, and get to work
on two titles in the AAT.
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Randy
Lawton looks at an issue on another new game rollout title -
Atari's Middle Earth pinball.
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| Yet
another new rollout was Pulsar.
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Martin
winds down the day on a rarely seen sit-down version
of Space Harrier.
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Day
2 (Friday) begins, and in my 'document everything' mindset, I take
a pic of my hotel room at the Naswa.
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TT
(that's Tony Temple to you)
has arrived, along with a British
buddy contingent.
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Greg
and Darren discuss Steve Wiebe's 1.006M Donkey Kong
tape, shown the previous evening.
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Players
(and observers) are positioned all around the
tournament play area.
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Rob
tries Video Pinball while Don plays one of many games on
the
timed edition of Centipede.
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Adam
Wood plays a game
that's part of the AAT.
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Greg
Erway poses by his
favorite title - Tapper.
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Greg
Mott tries the newly working Millipede. Don Hayes
brought in
his control panel, to fix the problem.
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Anna
faithfully watches
husband Jason try his best
on one of the VT games.
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Erway
'gaming gang' members Tim and Fred Pastore (right) at play.
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| Brian
finally has time to play in the tourney, and he begins with the
ATT.
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The
PT games are in high
demand, with all six in use.
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Contestants
continue to try to improve their marks on ATT games.
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Donald
watches David try for
the Mystery Game (MG) of
the day - Vanguard.
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Scootie
plays one of his
favorite titles - Dig Dug.
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Another
new-on-the-floor (notf) game - Space Ace, which is another
Laser title (Daphne emulated).
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| Pat
watches the other great Paperboy player at the event -
Eric.
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Donald
gets his try on the MG.
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David
Demers tries Space Ace out.
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Cameron
Feltner plays Elevator Action, a title he's world-class
on, as Darren Harris watches.
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Another
scoretaker, Nicole, is ready and waiting to gather anyone's marks.
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Todd
gives a 'Fonz' salute, while he and a group has gathered to see the prowess of Greg Mott on Gorf.
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David
Cruz, and the Brothers
Cram, keep plugging away at the
VT titles, as the evening winds up.
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Here's
the official tournament
game listing, as we see the
start of day 3 (Saturday).
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Walter
Day has now made it in, and is ready to distribute the brand
new TG book of wr (along with
Billy's sauce, of course).
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Greg
can't resist grabbing
hold of his $40 copy.
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Don
takes a break from tourney games, and tries to top his TG
wr mark on TGTS Joust.
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Eric
Geddes, who won yesterday's MG, throws down big on today's
title,
which is yet another one notf.
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L-R:
Bob Lawton, Gary Vincent,
and another Lawton employee apparently can't wait to see what's
in the secret plastic suitcase...
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The
TT clique surrounds Robotron, as an interested observer
watches.
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The
players clamor to pick up, and check out, the new TG book edition.
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| Gary
sets up Super Missile Attack for the wr holder - John
Zabel.
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Where
Erway goes, Tim will
follow. Here, they're at Chiller.
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Dave
must rule on the
monochrome titles, and here
he shores up his score.
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| After
some tips from me (Mark Alpiger), Brian attempts to raise his
score for the ATT on Food Fight.
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Ron
Mowry, the wr holder for a pinball marathon, poses outside
one of the Funspot entrances.
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At
mid-afternoon Saturday, Ralph Baer (in suit coat) has arrived.
He's the inventor of the
home console game.
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Ralph
decides to have a little fun,
and poses for this photo-op, on
a more modern-day game
than he's known for.
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Walter
chats with Ralph.
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Gary
wants in on the conversation.
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| Pat
always has time for a little Indy.
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Brian's
still scoring on ATT titles.
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Greg
plays some
Super Missile Attack.
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| L-R:
Fred and Tim talk with Rob.
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Rob
can't resist getting in a 'shot' at Roy - here's an All Games
Interactive comic parody of Roy's infamous
'Let me finish' phrase.
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Shawn
plays Quantum.
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Here's
a close-up of Shawn's CGEUK shirt, from the
summer of 2005.
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David
and son Kevin are
still working on contest titles.
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Brian
is probably looking for tips, from Canyon Bomber aficionado
Fred, as Tim also looks on.
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Pat
tried out quite a few
games of Major Havoc.
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A
group of Super Missile Attack fans gathers to watch the wr
holder.
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Martin
is still at it, trying to get a
few wr scores on various games.
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| Time
for a pic of me (Mark Alpiger) with Walter. I'm actually
wearing one of his shirts, which is from the 1986 NAVGC event,
held in Ottumwa.
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A
Funspot (and TG staff) newbie, Blaine Locklair, gives the rare
Atari title Triple Hunt a shot...
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Another
view of Blaine, and TH.
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TH control panel is shown.
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Contestants
continue to
try to raise their scores.
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Eric
tries out Space Ace, as Cameron checks out the action.
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| While
Donald Hayes plays, I take a screenshot of Lode Runner.
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Here's
another screenshot. This
time, I take it during a nice run
by Darren on Indiana Jones.
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Don
continues his quest on VT titles, taking on VS. Hogan's Alley
here.
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The
Erway group
pow-wows with Walter.
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A
down-the-barrel pic of Triple Hunt shows off this fine
game.
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Blaine
poses beside one of
his favorite modern titles -
Star Wars Trilogy.
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| Blaine
continues the posing parade with California Speed, and also
holds up the new TG book of wr.
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Dave
Nelson, a definite master of
the monochrome, throws down
big on Star Castle.
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Dave
continues to play in this shot. He holds the wr, at 25,310
points.
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| Dave's
final score almost bests John Zabel, who watched part of his game.
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Don
and the Crams, all of them definite Funspot mainstays,
line up on VT titles.
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TG
ref Christian Cram oversees
an Arkanoid contender at play.
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Here's
Arkanoid screen 33, the
final one, which features Doh,
the end 'boss' in the game.
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Almost
at a million, this Arkanoid master uses all of his
remaining Vaus paddles to max out the score.
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Day
4 (Sunday) has arrived, and
the players are out in force.
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| The
PT sees continued action.
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More
views of the tourney area.
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L-R:
Fred and Dave continue to attempt to push up their scores.
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Another
great notf title -
Q*bert's Qubes.
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Dave
(right), now moved over to
the VT area, is next to Shawn.
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While
Jason turns in a score, David Cruz goes old school, with Space
Invaders Deluxe.
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Brian
plays Quantum in the ATT, while another contestant is
on Gravitar.
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Don
tries a game of Millipede,
which is set to TGTS difficulty.
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The
entire Cruz clan is gathered
by the VS. double cabinet.
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Adam
Wood attempts a new
wr on his fave title, Quartet.
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Walter
has a couple of gamers 'captive', so they can sign off
on the posters he's brought.
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Don
shows his skill on
Q*bert's Qubes.
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Greg
shows skillful play on
yet another game title.
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With
less than an hour to go,
the gamers continue to try
to better their scores.
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Don
plays Lunar Rescue.
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| Greg
plays Robby Roto!.
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Gary
brings out the last notf
title - Cheeky Mouse.
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David
gives CM a try.
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| Brian
gives Quantum one last effort.
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A
shot of Chiller, a notf title
brought out yesterday.
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Chris
McClard has to try to
get his Radical Radial title
back from Brian Kuh.
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Like
Chris, Tim has a try at
getting his former wr title
back on Astro Fighter.
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Darren
Harris has done it again - he's topped his 7 lives hard difficulty
path wr score from last year by just a bit.
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A
close-up shot reveals Darren's
mark - a superb 1,471,710 points.
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Most
of the Brits in attendance
get together with Walter
and Gary for this photo.
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Morningdove
decides to try one of Todd's mainstays - Super Pac.
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Walter
gets ready for the awards ceremony, soon to be held.
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Just
a bit before the awards
ceremony will start, the players
congregate upstairs.
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I
finally catch Tina playing a game ! Note all of the tokens
lined up on
the control panel, ready to go...
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Brian
is awarded a set of TG
posters commemorating his
incredible 16 wr's set on one
day, at Funspot 8 last year.
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The
entire Cram crew poses, during
a commemoration of their being Classic Arcade Gaming's (the hobby)
'first family', as proclaimed by TG.
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After
the ceremonies are over,
the players chat, sign TG
books, and disperse.
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Martin
Bedard managed a super score on Twin Cobra - a 3.5M+ wr.
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| Here's
a screenshot of the entire Twin Cobra scoreboard, complete with
wr.
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The
day winds up with Rob getting
in just one more game (of pinball).
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The
tourney is over, but 'day 5'
(Monday) has me meeting up with Brian
Kuh in order to photograph
him with his odyssey of wr games.
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Here
Brian is at the LSA Squad cocktail. The previous
photo
showed him with Stratovox.
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Turbo
is Brian's next wr game.
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Another
shot with Turbo.
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| Indiana
Jones ATTOD is up next.
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Super
Sprint is shown here.
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Brian
stands proud next to The
Real Ghostbusters, where he got
a doubles score with Todd Rogers.
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Another
Atari race title
is up now - Sprint 2.
|
Rampage
is featured
in this vertical view.
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The
final Atari racer in Brian's seventeen set is Final Lap.
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| Starship
1 is next up.
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Brian
stands next to another
doubles title that Todd
played on - Xenophobe.
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Brian
made tops on one of the
VT titles - Lunar Rescue.
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Next
up for Brian are a couple
of Nintendo titles - first is
Super Mario Bros.
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Now
we come to
Super Mario Bros. 3.
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The
classics area titles are complete; now for more modern-day games.
Here's a view of Mercs.
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