Forwarded from Walter Day:<p>
NEWS RELEASE>>
> CONTACT: Gary Vincent at Funspot at 1-603-366-4377, gvincent@funspotnh.com
> CONTACT: Walter Day 1-515-472-3882, walter@twingalaxies.com>>
> For Immediate Release: May 26, 2000>>
> Video Game "High-Scores" Worth Thousands of Dollars at New Hampshire Contest>>
> WEIRS BEACH, NH -- When the 2nd Annual Funspot-Twin Galaxies International
> Classic Video & Pinball Tournament takes place next week in Weirs Beach, NH,
> the Funspot arcade will be filled with camcorder-totting video game addicts
> hoping to take home thousand dollar prizes for breaking video game world
> records.>
> Scheduled for June 1-4, 2000 at the Funspot Family Entertainment Center in
> Weirs Beach, the event promises a thousand dollar cash purse to any player
> who breaks a world record during the contest on any of two dozen classic
> video games from the early 1980s, including: Arkanoid, Berzerk, Carnival,
> Congo Bongo, Crystal Castles, Elevator Action, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong,
> Jr., Frogger, Galaxian, Galaga, Hypersports, Joust, Kangaroo, Kung-Fu
> Master, Mappy, Marble Madness, Missile Command, Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position,
> Popeye, QIX, Rally-X, Robotron and Track and Field.>
> The prizes are guaranteed by the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic
> Scoreboard??which has been the video game industry's official scorekeeper
> since 1982??and by Billy Mitchell, a noted video game player and industry
> activist who has put his own money on the line to spur worldwide
> appreciation for the classic games of the 1980's. Mitchell, who was crowned
> the video game "Player of the Century" at the 1999 Tokyo Game Show, says:
> "These prize monies are just the beginning. Within the next couple years,
> classic game contests could become as well-attended as competitions on
> today's PC hits like Quake or Starcraft.">
> In addition to the 24 featured game titles, the Funspot tournament will see
> competitors try to establish new world records on over 100 other classic
> titles. The highest scores logged during the four day event will be
> published in the next edition of Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game &
> Pinball Book of World Records-which is the official book of records for the
> worldwide electronic gaming industry.>
> Organizers of the event describe the Funspot contest as "a gathering of the
> tribes." Walter Day, editor of the Book of Records and chief scorekeeper at
> the event, has been receiving emails from players in Europe, Canada, Mexico
> and South America who are not only planning to come, but are contributing
> games and labor. Canadian Dwayne Richard, who is loaning video game parts to
> the contest, says: "The support from the players is great. For example, I
> know one player in New England who has promised to loan his Tempest and
> Zookeeper games to Funspot for the weekend.">
> Gary Vincent, Operations Manager at Funspot, sees classic video game playing
> as a burgeoning new hobby. "Not only are old-time players in their 40's
> coming to this event," explains Vincent, "but newer, younger players will be
> competing who missed the video game 'golden age' of the 80's, but learned
> Galaga, Tetris and Arkanoid much later on their Playstation or Dreamcast
> game consoles.">
> The event is decidedly breaking down the barriers between the diverse
> segments of electronic gaming. Robert Mruczek, an accountant from New York
> City who established a new world record on Star Wars at last year's Funspot
> event, believes all video game players share the classic titles as a common
> cultural experience. He says: "Even though many of these younger players are
> more at home with Playstation, Dreamcast or PC-based games, they all know
> Pac-Man and Zaxxon and are inspired to attend this contest.">
> Numerous Playstation champions will be trying to translate their PS skills
> into big-score performances on classics like Tetris and Excitebike at the
> tournament. "Right now," says an anonymous superstar, "I am a contender on
> Playstation's Tony Hawk Pro Skater but believe I can convert my talents over
> to some of these older games.">
> Other console champions are equally as confidant. Among them are David
> Nelson, of Laconia, New Hampshire and Brian Laskiewicz of Morris Plains, NJ,
> who plan to utilize their home game skills to break arcade records.
> Laskiewicz, in particular, thinks his world record on Playstation's Pac-Man
> World 2000 has prepared him for success on the 1985 arcade hit, Pac-Mania.>
> And with big cash bounties promised for new world records,
> "high-score-fever" is gripping the hearts of players, making a trip to
> Funspot a major summer destination for the whole family.>
> One such family is that of Zack Hample, a 22-year-old English major from
> Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, who recently joined the
> ranks of the video game elite when he managed to break the world record on
> the arcade edition of Arkanoid. Hample has already reserved rooms in Weirs
> Beach for himself, his parents and siblings, and plans to turn the contest
> weekend into an outing for his entire family, while he goes
> face-to-face with another legendary Arkanoid champ, Stephen Krogman, of Boca
> Raton, Florida.>
> But for Hample or any other player to qualify for a $1,000 cash prize, they
> must commit their stellar performances to videotape in case a surprise world
> record falls in their lap. "The world's top players now rely on videotape as
> the medium of proof to authenticate their high-score achievements," says
> Funspot's Vincent. "And, during the contest, some players will even go so
> far as to bring their own film crews to Funspot.">
> Interestingly, the trend to videotape has spread even beyond the confines of
> Funspot. Tim Curtis, a recreation director for the Kentucky state park
> system has booked a Louisville pizza parlor as the site of his June 3rd
> world record attempt on Space Firebird, a 1980 classic video that currently
> lacks an established world record. "You can bet we will videotape the entire
> game," promises Curtis, "if only to remove any shred of doubt in the other
> players' minds.>
> To publicize the rapid growth of this new hobby, Twin Galaxies will be
> sending its own six-man Twin Galaxies Television crew to Funspot to record
> all the high-score hijinks as well as document the growing popularity of
> classic game playing. Twin Galaxies' Walter Day points out that playing the
> classic games was a universal experience: "The video game phenomenon back in
> the early 1980's was not just an American experience. There are a group of
> players coming to Funspot from Finland who knew and loved Pac-Man and
> Centipede just as much as any kid from New York City or Detroit and have
> just as much right to take home some world records.">
> Funspot is famous for owning one of the world's largest collections of
> classic games and is one of the largest indoor arcades in the United States.
> 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 49 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.>
> 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. 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.
--
cubeman@iname.com
Funspot Contest Details
Moderator: Chad