Something BIG straight from the Twin Galaxies page (long)

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stephen krogman

Something BIG straight from the Twin Galaxies page (long)

Post by stephen krogman »

NEWS RELEASE

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Contact: Gary Vincent 603-366-4377, gvincent@funspotnh.com

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Contact: Walter Day 515-472-3882, twingalaxies@lisco.com

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For immediate release: March 10, 1999

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International tournament on Classic video game and pinball titles scheduled for New Hampshire

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WEIRS BEACH, NH -- This historic resort community will be chalking up another first for itself when it sets its mark on video game and pinball history early in May as the site of the arcade industry's first large-scale classic game
contest in nearly 15 years.

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One of New England's most popular attractions, the Funspot Family Entertainment Center, will be the site of an international high-score contest which will feature what is probably the world's largest collection of classic video and pinball machines.

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Competitors will try and establish new world records on over 100 of the classic machines, which are still going strong after nearly two decades as a continuing attraction at the 500-game Funspot arcade.

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Highest scores logged during the two-day Funspot International Classic Video and Pinball Tournament on May 8-9 will be published in the next edition of Twin
Galaxies Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records.

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This will be bigger than the famous contests we organized for the Guinness Books back during the mid-1980s, promises Walter Day, editor of the Twin Galaxies Book of Records and co-sponsor of the tournament. Actually, Day admits, I never thought that an event of this magnitude was possible -- that is until we discovered the Funspot arcade.

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Day believes Funspot is totally unique in the entertainment world. He says It is highly unlikely that there is another arcade in the world that has as many classic video and pinball titles under one roof. Its like an unspoiled time capsule, - they still have the same games they brought in 18 years ago, all up and running just like they were in the 1980s.

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Funspot is one of the largest indoor arcades in the country. Located on a 33-acre site near Lake Winnipesaukee, it draws between 500,000 and 600,000 people a year to its 60,000 square foot-entertainment complex. Operated by the Lawton family for 47 years, Funspot offers over 500 games, ranging from the classics to today's high-powered interactive games such as Daytona II and Star Wars Trilogy.

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It still retains its original classic mini-golf course and operates a 20-lane bowling center, a restaurant and lounge, a golf driving range and a commercial bingo hall. Always on the lookout for new and cutting edge entertainment, in the near future it will be adding an indoor golf-center complete with putting green, driving cages, golf lessons and a well-stocked pro shop. The golf center will feature state-of-the-art simulators which create an incredibly realistic experience of playing golf on such world-famous courses as Pebble Beach and
Saint Andrews.

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Weirs Beach, located on 25-mile long Lake Winnipesaukee, is an important Native American archeological site and is the location of the oldest public monument in New England, Endicott Rock, which was inscribed by a surveying party in 1652. It has been visited by American presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and is the focal point of the nation?s oldest Motorcycle Rally, the Laconia Bike Week, now in its 76th year.

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Though many contestants will be coming to see the spectacle of this virtual King Tuts Tomb of video game and pinball history, other players -- essentially, the hard-core video game champions -- will be coming for another crack at capturing the world title on Galaga or Pac-Man.

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This is like a dream, says Mark Longridge, a video game buff from the Toronto area who plans on leading a group of Canadians off to the event. Longridge, who competed in the last major classics tournament hosted by Twin Galaxies in the 80s for the Guinness Book of World Records, says: I never thought I'd get another chance at going for the world record on Dig Dug and Joust - the Canadians will definitely be there.

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Another player, Billy Mitchell of Ft. Lauderdale -- the consummate Donkey Kong champ who has held the record since the summer of 1982 -- says a large contingent
of Miami players plan to attend. He is a member of an elite cadre of superstars who plan on pushing their record scores even higher during the event.

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Meanwhile, the worldwide Internet community is abuzz with news of the contest. We have received email from all over the nation and other countries, marvels Gary Vincent, Funspot Operations Manager. The entire town is amazed and excited by the stir our arcade has caused. We've put New Hampshire on the map in the
world of electronic gaming.

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Nor have local New Hampshire players been blind to the whirlwind of events. They want to see this contest be a spectacular event and have even volunteered their
help to insure no obstacles loom ahead. Numerous old-time pinball hobbyists have offered Funspot important pinball-related advice to bring the condition of each machine up to contest specs. You have to realize, explains Rachael Wendell, a Twin Galaxies spokesperson, that there will probably be just as many pinball players in attendance as video gamers and the pinball players insist on perfectly functioning machines. Another player, Ken Sweet-- a co-organizer of the recent New Hampshire State Video Game Championship -- has been focusing on the video game side of things, verifying difficulty settings and making sure the control panels function properly.

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As Weirs Beach and Funspot prepare for world fame, players from Vancouver to Florida are massaging their Pac-Man elbows, gearing up for a nostalgic return to
the early 1980s when video games offered more fantasy and less realism. This event was a long time coming, muses Walter Day. Though a few events in recent
years brought together a couple dozen classic pieces in one place, no big tournament emerged. Funspot changes all that. The 1980s are back.

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The Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard, based in Fairfield, Iowa, has been keeping score for the world of video game and pinball playing since 1982 and
monitors the highest scores on all home and arcade video games, PC-based games and pinball. Its most well-known product is the Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records -- which is a 984-page book containing 12,416 scores from players in 31 countries compiled between the years 1981 and 1997. For contest information, contact Walter Day at (515)472-3882 or go to
http://www.twingalaxies.com. Or call Gary Vincent at Funspot at (603)366-4377 or go to http://www.funspotnh.com.

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