Twin Galaxies to Create Official Contests for CGE 2000 $5,000 cash prize offered for New Joust World Record

More than five hundred classic video gamers are expected to immerse themselves in video game history at this week's Classic Gaming Expo 2000 at the Jackie Gaughan Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, July 29-30. And, to add spice to a show already famous for historic game displays and celebrity speakers, the CGE management has invited the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard to bring its competitive brand of "high-score contests to the fray. Cash prizes will be handed out to the winners of two primary contests - a ten-game Atari/Coleco Decathlon and the Highest Score of the Expo on eight other classic arcade titles.

Also, video game legend Billy Mitchell - the man who scored history's first perfect score on Pac-Man last year - has pledged $5,000 cash (out of his own pocket) to the first player to break Brett Watt's 15-year-old world record on Joust during the event. Although the score to beat is a whopping 1,537,050 points and has been achieved by only five players, classic game players are expected to flock to the Twin Galaxies High Score contest to take their best shot at the record.

Mitchell, the founder of Rickey's World Famous Hot Sauce, knows some players doubt the validity of Watt's score, which was achieved at the Game Room Arcade in Citrus Heights, California on July 2,1985, but wants to put up his own money to attract players who can prove that the score is possible. He plans to continue offering high score prizes so that classic arcade games will be brought back into the limelight. "I believe the games from the early 1980's are far superior to today's games, states the Hollywood, Florida-based Mitchell, who has already awarded thousands of dollars in cash prizes to players who have broken decades-old high scores."

Walter Day, Chief Scorekeeper at Twin Galaxies - now in its second year of conducting the official contests at the CGE, sees classic video game playing as a growing money sport. Its still a hobby for most, Day explains, but more and more players are turning their skills into high scores - which, in some cases, could mean income." Among the star players who agree with Day's assessment is Canadian Dwayne Richard, who hopes to pocket Mitchell's cash at this year's CGE. "At last year's contest," says Richard, "I won $1,000 from Billy Mitchell for breaking Mark Robichek's 18-year-old record on Tutankham and hope to surpass my feat by winning this year's offer on Joust."

The main High Score Contest attraction is the Atari/Coleco Decathlon, which offers cash prizes of $300 (1st Place), $200 (2nd place) and $100 (3rd place) to the overall Atari and Coleco champions. The Decathlon will feature competition on ten classic console titles, including Atari's Yar's Revenge, River Raid, Kaboom!, Berzerk and Asteroids, as well as Colecovision titles like Zaxxon, Mr. Do!, Donkey Kong, Lady Bug and Mousetrap. "All game play will be set on Twin Galaxies Tournament Settings," says Rita Rencis, Special Events Manager at Twin Galaxies, "and will be refereed by Ron Corcoran, the Twin Galaxies Worldwide Editor for Atari, who operates the Twin Galaxies' Atari Scoreboard at www.snipercade.com."

Twin Galaxies will publish all CGE contest results in the 2nd edition of Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, which is the industry's official book of world records. Prizes will be doled out by Twin Galaxies Chief Scorekeeper Day, who will also award cash prizes to players posting the highest scores on classic arcade games like Toobin, Mad Planets, Reactor, Juno First, Arabian, Zaxxon and more -- all games donated by Blast From The Past ().

To honor the great luminaries of video game history, a Friday night banquet (July 28th) will feature an awards presentation emceed by Walter Day. Numerous individuals and organizations will be cited for their important roles in video game history, or for significant contributions to the growing body of wisdom pertaining to the earliest years of the video game industry.

John Hardie, a co-founder of the Classic Gaming Expo, agrees with Twin Galaxies that there is a need to honor work in the video game field. "The organizations or individuals receiving these awards have served the video game community quite well and deserve commendations for their work," he said.

In addition to awards going to distinguished players and game designers, numerous citations will be awarded to online organizations. Among them are: the Killer List of Video Games, an online compendium of arcade data at KLOV.com and the Video Arcade Preservation Society, an online society that unites video game collectors and historians at VAPS.org.

The CGE2K will be open Saturday 10:00 a.m.- 6:45 p.m. and Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Day-of-show admission is available at the CGE Registration Booth at a cost of $35 for the weekend. Single day admission is $20 for Saturday and $15 for Sunday. The CGE2K is solely devoted to celebrating the history of video, arcade, and computer games and is a product of CGE Services, a Valley Stream, NY-based organization which can be reached at info@cgexpo.com. The URL is: www.cgexpo.com.

Twin Galaxies has been keeping score for the world of video game and pinball playing since 1982 and publishes world records at its Internet web site at www.twingalaxies.com. Its best known product is the Twin Galaxies Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records (www.netsales.net/pk.wcgi/twingal/prod/1319909-1) (ISBN 1887472-25-8), which is a 984-page book containing scores from players in 31 different countries compiled since 1981.

For more information, contact Twin Galaxies at (641) 472-3882 or go to www.twingalaxies.com.

Regards, Steve Krogman

Ps I'll be there this coming weekend with Billy Mitchell and looking foward in seeing John Rhodes (Joust God) this weekend.

-- stephen krogman (skrogman@concentric.net), July 26, 2000

Answers

i'm a litle thrown from looking up geek proms.to find a whole counterculture in video games and computers.perhaps my ideas are outdated?i'm thinking of the movie"theWizard"boy meets girl.they end up ni LAs vegas.and need 50k to settle some family debt.somehow make it to a meet on time.i was researching book chapter.from what i remeber about "computer Chronicles".of Stuart Cheiffet having a passion for steering wheels whose sole purpose is to augment the feel of driving games.thinking there might be some small business in having a gaming center staffed by young males.to give latest advice to males of same demographic.caught geek prom effort in story about the USS Abraham Weekend.We just had geek prom at pizza joint in northern minnesota.in our little technology village.built to attract new businsses to area in 1999.can you steer my course here,a bit? davegustafson663@hotmail.com(minnesota)

-- david gustafson (gust0110d@yahoo.com), March 23, 2003.