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Funspot 2004 - Results (Part 1 of 2)
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RMRUCZEK Robert Mruczek
TG Board of Directors
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 4:49 pm Post subject: Funspot 2004 - Results (Part 1 of 2)
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Hello fellow gamers:
Please bear with Robert T Mruczek as I post this in two (2) sections.
Robert
**********************
Hello fellow gamers:
I just returned from perhaps the best gaming-related vacation that you could
hope for.
From Saturday morning, November 13th, thru Sunday morning, November 21st, I
was at the Funspot Family Entertainment Center in Weirs Beach, NH, one of the
world’s largest commercial classic video game arcades.
Funspot is where the annual classic arcade video game championship has been
taking place since May of 1999. Until 2002, I attended only the annual events,
but last November of 2003 I decided to attend on my own without the distraction
of a live competition, to enjoy my favourite titles at my leisure, and hopefully
set some new personal gaming records in the process. But the best part was getting
to meet once again my many friends from that gaming area, players that I typically
see only a few all-too-short times each year.
I couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity to do this again in 2004, and after
all that transpired these past weeks at my job in New York City, it was a week
more than well spent. Across the week, I logged well over 200 gaming records
and personal bests by the gamers in attendance, Robert Mruczek included. In total, more
than fifteen dedicated classic arcade gamers showed up throughout the week, and
their company and competitiveness was greatly appreciated.
The 8 ½ days that I spent there covers a lot of ground, and I will try my best
to adequately recap everything that happened for your reading enjoyment. Here goes.
****************************************
PRE-ARRIVAL (Friday, November 12th)
As usual due to the constraints and responsibilities of my job, I ended up
putting in about overtime for 13 of the 15 days before Friday was done with.
I just wish I got paid for it, by alas, no. On most of those days I left between
12:30am and 4:30am, so I was really feeling run down and burnt out.
It wasn’t easy taking my vacation this time. Between hardships at my accounting
job due to a key subordinate leaving Robert T Mruczek in a lurch, a new trainee who
started just ten days before my vacation, and the standard month-end responsibilities,
I’m lucky I was allowed to go at all, everything considered. However, I practically
take no vacation time as it is, and the last thing my company can afford is a
burnt out staff member, plus all my plans were paid for in advance, so we had to
hope that nothing would blow up while I was gone.
Last minute TG work updating the two MAME competitions underway, and answering
some E-MAILs were my last tasks before I could officially call it a day.
When I got home, pretty late at night I must add (well past midnight), I hadn’t
even packed and was up from 8:00am Friday, so with an early flight scheduled
on Saturday, the last thing I could afford to do was to oversleep, so I decided
(as I did last November) to just stay awake and deal with the lack of sleep.
Hey, I could always go to sleep in, oh, 20 more hours at midnight…just like I
did last November due to my job. Some things never change, it seems.
I packed for nine days, but the bulk of my luggage tended to be the Xbox and
various games and controllers. Hey, you never knew who would be coming over
for some late night gaming once I got there, plus I was expecting Martin Bedard
from Canada to remain all week as my guest, and he didn’t have an Xbox as it
was, so better prepare for every eventuality.
Once I got everything packed, which due to my procrastination I didn’t finish
until 6:00am, I watched an episode or two of “Alias” on DVD and then got ready
for the trip ahead.
DAY ONE (Saturday, November 13th)
Car service arrived a few minutes late, as usual in my neighborhood, but once
it got there it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. I left my house at 8:15am
and touched down in Manchester at 10:45am where Donald Hayes and David Nelson
arrived to take Robert T Mruczek to Funspot. That was very nice of them, especially
since the cab ride would probably have cost Robert T Mruczek about $100.00 !!
Donald Hayes
Funspot 2003 "Player of the Year"
David Nelson
Funspot 2004 "Player of the Year"
One thing, though…at Laguardia Airport, my flight was changed after I had my main
piece of luggage go through security. I was worried that it would not have made
it to my destination in which case I would have had no clothes to wear OR no Xbox
to play. Most importantly, the Xbox held all my personal records and unlocked
tracks on the titles that I own, and believe it or not, that was my primary concern.
I could always buy new clothes. Thankfully it arrived without a hitch.
A quick ride later, and I was checking in at Sun Valley by 11:30am. Not bad… a tad
over three hours to get there, just a few minutes longer than the bus ride from my
house to Atlantic City.
We arrived at Funspot and I bought my first allotment of gaming tokens. For those
who do not know this yet, Funspot tokens can be bought for approx 16 cents apiece,
much cheaper than a quarter per game. And with coupons that can be found throughout
the town, it is even possible to get them for effectively 11 cents apiece. Talk
about a great deal. Well worth the trip.
Throughout the day, the Crams (Shawn, Jason, Anna, Cristian), perhaps classic arcade
gaming’s most prolific family of world record holders, and also reknowned gamers
Greg Bond, Brian Kuh and Fred Pastore, all arrived to make the opening day special.
Brian Kuh
Fred Pastore
In the Center of picture
Fred, the “Carnival” world champion, managed to establish a new world record on
“Astro Fighter” on Saturday with 26,150 points. He nearly achieved over 35K but
missed a critical shot before he died.
Location Funspot Link
Weirs Beach, NH
United States
Player Fred Pastore
Malden, MA
United States
Game Score Place Date Accomplished
---- ----- ----- -----------------
Astro Fighter 26,150 1st November 3, 2004
Carnival 386,750 1st June 3, 2001
Also, we took notice of an older gamer playing “Crazy Climber” who had a nice score
of 149,550 points…Chris Felknor of Massachussetts. We asked him if he would like
to log his score and sure thing he did !! On this game, any score over 40K is good,
but the number of gamers who can approach a score of approx 150K is far fewer indeed.
Lunch, by the way, was a full pizza from Funspot’s “Braggin’ Dragon” café. My
treat… it was the least I could do. I believe it was David Nelson, Donald Hayes,
Brian Kuh and Robert Mruczek. And to further enhance our pizza lunch was some “Rickey’s
Hot Sauce” courtesy of legendary gamer Bill Mitchell, who ensures that Funspot
always has a plentiful supply for their loyal patrons.
Donald Hayes, Edition on his photo by Fred Pastore
Donald Hayes
Donald Hayes on left side, Fred Pastore on right side
DBH
Windham, NH
www.thedonald.org
wr's on Centipede (7,111,111), Dig Dug (4,388,520), Tron (4,580,031),
Millipede - TGTS (346,846), Super Zaxxon (564,250; unofficial),
Domino Man (1,040,866); contest results: 2nd place at both 2001
and 2002 Funspot Classic Videogame World Championship tourneys;
2003 Funspot CVWC Player of the Year (placed 1st on the Color Challenge,
2nd on Monochrome Challenge)
Billy Mitchell
Fort Lauderdale, FL
United States
World
Game Score Standing
---- ----- --------
Burgertime 4,978,550 3rd
Donkey Kong 933,900 2nd
Donkey Kong Jr. 957,300 2nd
Ms. Pac-Man 703,560 4th
Billy Mitchell / B M, b 07-16-1965, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
1984 Video Game Masters Tournament:
World Record set on Burgertime, Donkey Kong Jr.,
Ms. Pac-man, Pac-man
1985 Video Game Masters Tournament:
World Record set on Donkey Kong
World Record kept on Burgertime, Donkey Kong Jr.
1986 Video Game Masters Tournament:
World Record kept on Burgertime, Donkey Kong Jr.,
Donkey Kong
1987 Video Game Masters Tournament:
World Record kept on Burgertime, Donkey Kong Jr.,
Donkey Kong
world records: Pac-man top score at kill screen (3-way tie)
contender: Burgertime, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Ms. Pac-man
Billy has been playing at a very high level for over 20 years, and was crowned the
player of the century in Japan.
Most of the day was spent catching up on gaming stories, records and related matters.
And in between, a few great scores were set. Brian Kuh and David Nelson established
the inaugural 1st and 2nd place world records on “Sega Hot Rod”, a 4-person driving
game, each while playing in single-player mode. Brian hit 229,280 and Dave hit 192,751.
This is one cool game…and a rare strategic racing game at that. It is played on an
overhead unit similar to the 1975 cult classic “Death Race” by Exidy and is maintained
in pristine condition by the Funspot technical staff.
David Nelson Scores Link
Derry, NH
United States
Jen Sweet showed up with my TV set that I asked Shawn Cram last year to purchase
for Robert T Mruczek and hold until every November and May/June event. The Sun Valley
cabin TV’s had no input provisions for the gaming systems, so it was either buy a new
TV and keep it up there, or deal with the local TV channel choices which, especially
mid-week, generally do not show my favourite shows or movies. Besides, what better to
do after than a full day of gaming than MORE gaming…after all, it was a gaming-vacation
from start to finish, so may as well max out as much gaming as I could on my rare
vacation opportunity. Jen helped Robert T Mruczek get the TV to the cabin, and then
we returned to Funspot for an afternoon of gaming.
Gary Vincent, left side, Walter Day, Middle, Ken Sweet, right hand side of picture
Shawn Cram pulled off an impressive 93,620 on Taito’s “Jungle Hunt”, and I pulled
off a surprising (for me) 72,360 on “Rally X”, improving my personal best from 45K
in the process. David Nelson hit 1,050,130 on the vintage pinball title “Playboy”
based on the world famous men’s magazine empire owned by Hugh Hefner.
Shawn Cram
zookeeper11@earthlink.net
SJC wr's on Zoo Keeper (35,732,870), Donkey Kong 3 (2,544,400);
skilled on: Donkey Kong Jr., Robotron, Donkey Kong, Star Wars, Galaga,
Tutankham, Frogger, Carnival, and Mario Brothers (1M points);
contest result: 5th place at 2002 Funspot Classic Videogame World
Championship tourney; Twin Galaxies referee at large
603-312-5829
As the day winded down, I was very concerned that Martin Bedard from Canada had
not shown up yet. Originally both he and Todd Rogers from Florida were to have been
my guests, but Todd had to cancel due to a business opportunity, and Martin, once
he left Canada, would be unable to contact. I also was not sure the day that he
would show up.
Also, at some point, Gary Vincent came by to say hello. I never see Gary more than
twice a year, same like most of the other gamers, so it was nice seeing him again
as well. He is the Operations Manager for Funspot, by the way.
Gary Vincent, left side, Walter Day, Middle, Ken Sweet, far Right side
The big surprise today was that it was soon to be Jason Cram’s birthday. His wife,
Anna, had planned a special get together in the Funspot virtual golf range area
being that so many of us were expected to be in attendance today, so everybody was
told to go there for a certain time. Jason was in the arcade and probably wondering
where everyone had gone to. When he was lead to the area it was a huge surprise
for him. Chris McClard had also joined us, as well as Cristian Cram’s son, and even
Gary Vincent popped in after awhile. This was a nice way to end the day at Funspot, and
I’m very happy that I was able to be part of the celebration.
Jason Cram
Anna Cram
Funspot Owner Bob Lawton an Referee and General Manager, Gary Vincent
At day’s end the group wanted to go to the Laconia House of Pizza, a weekly ritual
every Saturday they get together. By this point I was exhausted from being awake
for approx 38 hours and I needed some sleep…badly.
Donald drove Robert T Mruczek back and then went to meet the rest of the gamers at the
pizza place. I watched a little TV and then fell fast asleep for the evening before
11:00pm. I had a long week ahead and was not about to tire Robert Mruczek out from late
night gaming or TV shows. Besides, 38 hours with no sleep is not a good idea if
your intent is to set a world record on a game like “Super Cobra” by Konami, one
of my lofty goals for the week !!
DAY TWO (Sunday, November 14th)
Happy Days - Howard Cunningham Family
I woke up at about 8:45am, watched an episode of “Happy Days” on the TV-Land station,
which turned out to the first of the 2-part series finale that I had never seen
before so that was fortuitous. After getting ready, I left the cabin for the uphill
trek to Funspot.
It was early and just Brian Kuh and Robert Mruczek were present, as well as the technicians.
I immediately started on “Super Cobra” while Brian started on “Rally X”. I had a
good game too…174,930 points, good for 3rd highest in the world !! Actually I was
already in 3rd with 170K from Funspot 6 back in June, but I wasn’t complaining.
Not many players can crack 50K at this game, let alone reach this level of skill.
Brian gave “Donkey Kong” a shot… he’s one of the top players in the world, by the
way. As he played, the adorable Tina from Funspot’s staff came by to say hello.
This lovely lady is one of the many reasons we players make the pilgrimage to
Funspot annually, by the way. We spoke for awhile during Brian’s game and then
she went off to continue her day. But before she went, she gave Robert T Mruczek
something from David Nelson that was greatly appreciated….snacks for the week !!
David Nelson, Player of the Year, Front of Picture
Donkey Kong Rating Link
#8 in World
Score 298,000
Derry, NH
United States
Date Achieved Sunday, June 03, 2001
Brian then introduced Robert T Mruczek to “Fireball II” pinball” which has a feature
called a “Little Demon Meter”, basically a controllable “ball save” in the center of
the two flippers. It was a fast moving pinball game, that’s for sure. Brian hit
282,860 while I managed 176,490.
After that we tried “Monaco GP”, one of my favourite driving titles from my high
school days. Not available on MAME, the only place I know of that still has one
is Funspot. My goal was a previously registered personal best of between 3-4K.
This time I hit 4,720 points…not bad. The game is maxed out at 9,999 so I’m almost
halfway there. Brian gave it a shot and hit 3,592…very respectable indeed.
Funspot staffer Christopher Burnell registered a score of 366,840 on “Circus
Charlie”, his first score registered with Twin Galaxies, by the way.
More gaming throughout the day, lots of chatting. Many of these gamers would not
be showing up until the following Saturday. Brian Kuh, in fact, left at 2:30pm
to drive back home as tomorrow would be a work-day for him.
By day’s end I was all gamed-out and ready for some sleep. After three weeks of
double-time before my vacation, especially the week immediately prior . I was the
last player there so walked back to the cabin. Not a bad walk at all…just a few
minutes and you are there.
I went to sleep earlier than usual, still wondering when Martin would show.
A little after 2:30am, I woke up and turned on the TV. After 2-3 minutes, I heard
a car immediately outside, and assumed it was Martin. I was right. Apparently,
he arrived about 12:30am and saw the lights out so decided to sleep in the car.
But New Hampshire weather meant a cold evening, and a car is not exactly a comfortable
resting area, so he was all set to drive around to pass the time away, when he saw
me exit the cabin. So much for his midnight excursion. I helped him unpack, and we
spent the next hour or so chatting until 4:00am, catching up on what held him up
(over-enthusiastic border patrol guards) and anything else we could think of.
After that, with an entire day in front of us, we retired for the evening. I took
the comfy couch since it was not a bad experience from both the previous November
and the more recent Funspot event back in June. I just wish it was a bit longer,
but no biggie. I rented one of the larger cabins, just in case a guest gamer needed
a place to crash rather than spending an hour or so driving back to their home town.
Last June, it turned out that this was the best decision I could have made. Gamer
Joel Hedge from my hometown of Brooklyn showed up but was unable to find a place
of lodging, so I offered space in my cabin. It was designed to accommodate up to
five people, and with Todd “Pizza God” Rogers preferring a spot on the floor, the
two extra cots that the cabin had in reserve couldn’t have been more opportune.
Anyway, that’s how the first day ended. I was looking forward to at least SOME sleep
before a full day of gaming tomorrow, and thankfully I conked out inside of I guess
a few minutes, because the next time I opened my eyes it was already daylight and
after 8:00am.
DAY THREE (Monday, November 15th)
Daybreak !! I remembered to watch the conclusion of the final episode of “Happy
Days”. Interestingly, at the very end, the Howard Cunningham character speaks to
the TV audience at one point, and mentions how he is glad that his two (2) kids
are now married. Gee…what about “Chuck”, the basketball-playing son from the 1st
season ? I guess no mention means no royalties…besides, “Chuck” was largely not
mentioned starting midway into the 1st season anyway.
After both Martin and I readied ourselves for the day, we drove off.
The first priority today was to shop for some food. Also, Martin needed to get
some gas and exchange Canadian currency. So we headed to the local super market
and stocked up well for the week ahead. This was much smarter than when I arrived
last November by Robert Mruczek and relied on the Funspot vending machines for nightly
sustenance. To be honest, I’ll never do that again…nightly meals consisting of
either Pop Tarts and/or Combos, along with some Powerade drinks. Ugh !!
We returned back and stocked up the refrigerator and then headed to Funspot for
some serious gaming.
Throughout the day, we set various personal arcade bests. I hit 213,890 on “Wonderboy”,
trashing my years-old personal best of less than 35K. Martin hit 687,240 on “1942”
and had this game in his sights for some major improvement this week. On “Berzerk”,
I passed 5K for the first time ever with a score of 13,300. Martin hit 66,140 on
“Spectar”…not quite Dave Nelson’s arcade record of over 80K, but close. Martin’s
MAME personal best is over 98K, but Twin Galaxies tracks MAME and arcade separately
for purity reasons.
I hit a new personal best on “Super Cobra” with a score of 179,360 points, and
this was a heart-breaker. I reached the 3rd city with approx 174K and two (2)
ships in storage and let Robert T Mruczek tell you, whatever could go wrong did go
wrong. Due to the nature of the game, I needed at least one (1) ship in storage
coming into the 3rd maze in order to survive due to the rate of the fuel consumption.
Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. Oh well…at least I was closer to the
2nd place score.
Charlie Weatherbee, one of the new generation of young gamers from Funspot, logged
some scores, or rather times, for “Time Crisis” for stories 2 and 3. Not quite his
personal bests on each, but close to within a second or two. He hit 3:26.62 on
stage 2, and 5:17.05 on stage 3. He also set a score of 410,300 on “Land, Sea,
Air Squad” (aka “L.S.A. Squad”) on the cocktail version of the title. Let Robert
T Mruczek tell you, it is NOT easy to play a cocktail version for this game !! That
beat Tim McIlro’s previous tournament best of over 360K, but Charlie had one scored
over 500K and was confident that he could do so again at some point. So I took down
his score for now.
Martin played some “Time Crisis 3”, setting a 1st-credit single player score of
1,143,240 points and a full-game score (also single player) of 1,631,630 points.
Anna and Jason Cram showed up towards the evening. She’s a huge “Wonderboy” fan
and logged a score of 479,240 points, more than double my own personal best.
Jason likes “Crazy Climber” and hit 262,250 points.
Jason K Cram
cram455rocket@yahoo.com
JKC World Record on Congo Bongo (1,506,300); contender on Zoo Keeper
(28.7 million, unofficial); also made the only two 15 million
jumps on ZK in history; contest result:
3rd place at 2002 Funspot Classic Videogame World Championship tourney
603-312-2230
By day’s end, we headed back to the cabin. Martin and I started to dig in to
some of the food we picked up. I actually over-bought but you never know who
might be coming over, or how hungry you might be after a full day of gaming.
We played a little “Crazy Taxi 3” before calling it a night.
DAY FOUR (Tuesday, November 16th)
Hard to believe it…the fourth day of my vacation, and I still had this full day
AND another four full days yet to come ahead of me. At this point I realized
how badly I needed this vacation, and was very pleased with the fact that for
once, after so many days away from the office, I had not given a single though
as to what was not being done, or what is being done wrong, while I was gone.
I woke up a little after 8:00am and was curious what would be on TV-Land now that
“Happy Days” had the last episode shown the day before. Not surprisingly, the very
first episode of “Happy Days” was shown. Wow…can’t believe I actually saw that
one when it first aired nearly 30+ years ago. Now I remember why the “Chuck”
character was dropped from the show so quickly. At least the actor got to see
himself in the dinner scene during the end credits of every episode in the first
season as a consolation.
Wasn’t sure if anyone other than Martin and Robert Mruczek would show up today. I knew
that on Wednesday at least Donald Hayes and David Nelson would be present, and
probably the Crams and Greg Bond. Turns out I was correct…today was largely just
Martin and Robert Mruczek all day, with Charlie Weatherbee coming in by the evening for
some “Time Crisis” attempts.
During the day, Martin and I experimented with several titles that we normally
stay away from, just to see how we would do. I hit 58,740 on “Popeye”, a game
that I normally avoid as, quite honestly, I stink at the title.
We both tried “Depth Charge”, a favourite title by Gremlin from 1977. I scored
3,510 which was (I think) my arcade best, and Martin hit 2,430.
I also got him hooked on “Sky Shark”, a faster version of “1942” and which boasted
a much more powerful array of firepower options. His goal today was maxing out
the scoreboard on “Timber”, which took a little over an hour but he logged 999,995
points. There’s a 50/50 chance of getting either 999,995 or 999,990. Martin’s
personal registered MAME best is a mind-boggling 2.5 million on just five (5)
lives. Yet this 999,995 point score is more impressive due to the problems with
the controls sticking. His unofficial MAME best is over 4 million points in which,
like “Tapper”, the game resets to board zero after stage 256. However, as far
as the arcade platform goes, the 999,995 point game is a TG-verified world record.
I managed a mediocre 11,537,540 on “Monopoly” pinball when Charlie Weatherbee
showed up to give “Time Crisis” another go. Tonight, he pulled off 3:25.83 on
story 2 and 5:02.18 on story 3, much better than the other day.
Martin and Charlie teamed up for an inaugural team-score (1st credit) on “Time
Crisis 3”, scoring a combined 1.210M. I couldn’t quite get the true score due
to the fact that if both players die in the same stage, the individual scores
are lost. Plus, and as a TG referee I absolutely HATE this, as you lose a life,
your score disappears from the game screen until you put in another credit.
Hello…Mr-Braintrust who stupidly programmed this into the game…I’m talking to you !!
Before the end of the day, Martin upped his “1942” score to 1,284,010 points.
Back in the cabin, Martin hooked up his PC to the TV and showed Robert T Mruczek a
couple of totally awesome gaming performances, so awesome that I felt humbled by
what I had just seen. One was a “Gigawings” type title for the PC which boasted
some of the most unusual and impressive boss battles that I had ever seen. And I
must admit, after nearly 35 years of playing video games of all kinds, this
level of gaming expertise was among the best that I have ever seen…a perfect
way to end this gaming day.
DAY FIVE (Wednesday, November 17th)
We slept in a little later than usual for a change and did not make it to the
arcade until probably 10:30am, maybe later. David Nelson and Donald Hayes
showed up, as did Shawn Cram. The group of us headed over to “JT’s Barbecue”
JT's Barbecue
Just go across the street for lunch. I try to make it a point to visit this place at
least once every trip. Though I wouldn’t recommend trying their HUGE “Roundup”
meal as I did in the past due to the massive amount of food they give you
(enough for three meals), they make the best baked beans in the area, in my opinion.
Shawn Cram Link
Zoo Keeper
Rank 1
Score 21,849,650
Lebanon, ME: USA
Date Achieved Sunday, June 15, 2003
Shawn Cram has the record for Zookeeper. The previous record had stood for
18 years. Jack Gale had the former record of 20,063,920. He achieved this
score on June 28th, 1985.
A lot of scores were logged today, especially with Cristian, Jason and Anna
Cram showing up along with Greg Bond. Here are a few of the best, in the order
of accomplishment…
“1942” – 1,525,590 by Martin Bedard, reaching stage 10 or 7 to go
“Kiss” (pinball) – 448,840 by Christian Cram
“Make Trax” – 1,181,320 by Greg Bond, his first 1M+ game ever
“Star Wars” (TGTS) – 3,712,774 by Donald Hayes
“Centipede” – 239,329 by Greg Bond (this was the game he was practicing while
we ate)
“Rally X” – 94,020 by Robert Mruczek… reaching level 9, this was a totally unexpected
surprise !!
“Berzerk” (slow bullets) - 23,230 by Robert Mruczek, a huge pop over my previous
personal best
“Satan’s Hollow” – 81,005 by Robert Mruczek
“Motorace USA” – 151,500 by Robert Mruczek
“Wonderboy” – 510,980 by Martin Bedard
“Wonderboy” – 560,400 by Anna Cram
“Frontline” – 18,700 by Jason Cram, reminding Robert T Mruczek just how hard this title is
“Alpine Ski” – 75,798 by Jason Cram
“Dr. Mario” – 165,300 by Randy Lawton…and I am told he’s done MUCH better !!
“Laser War” (pinball) - 2,677,540 by Christian Cram
“Gorf” – 122,940 by Donald Hayes
“Super Cobra” – 165,440 by Donald Hayes (4th best in the world)
Tonight, David Nelson opted to stay over for awhile, and Donald Hayes drove
him over and decided to stay for a bit. Jen Sweet also showed up for awhile.
I asked Martin to show them that performance on the PC again, and, Dave, Donald
and Jen were as stunned as I was at the unbelievable precision and skill that
the gamer whose performance was captured on the DVD possessed…and that assessment
is coming from some of the planet’s best gamers, mind you !!
Donald left, leaving Martin, David, Jen and Robert Mruczek to try our luck at classic
“Mario Kart 64”, one of the best party games available for the N64 system…and
any other system, for that matter. Well, to make a long story short, David and
Martin were super good at the game, and after an hour of trying…well, I was
trying, but compared to their skillset I was just a little bit of an annoyance…
\maybe I won three games to their combined 40+. Eventually, it got late. Jen
left, and we wheeled out the cot for David. Tomorrow was another day.
_________________
Robert T Mruczek
Twin Galaxies - Editor and Chief referee
Star Wars classic arcade marathon champion
rmruczek@doremus.com (work E-MAIL)
******************************
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PART II Link
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Twin Galaxies Forums Forum Index -> FunSpot Arcade Link
RMRUCZEK Robert Mruczek
TG Board of Directors
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 5:02 pm Post subject: Funspot 2004 - Results
(Part 2 of 2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello fellow gamers:
Here is the second half...something technical is preventing Robert T Mruczek from posting
this article as one piece.
Robert
*************************
DAY SIX (Thursday, November 18th)
Three whole days to go and feeling great. We had a late start today because we
got into watching a vintage episode of the “Dick Van Dyke” show in which Dick’s
character Rob Petrie finds out that his wife Laura, played by Mary Tyler Moore,
lied on their wedding license many years back about her age…turns out she said
she was only 17 at the time. Heavy stuff for a 1960’s show !!
Connecticut-based gamer Richard Marsh showed up early in the day. He holds the
TGTS record on “Gyruss”, the world record (1st credit only) on “Stun Runner”,
and is an accomplished “Galaga” and “Tempest” player.
Gary Vincent dropped by to say that a reported from “The Weirs Times” would be
showing up to do a story about our being their…for once a positive story on
gaming rather than all those negative ones about titles like the “Grand Theft
Auto” series that seem to change the public’s opinion on video gaming in general.
It was a nice lunch-time interview, ending in a picture taken outside the premise.
Today we each pulled off some impressive scores. Here are a few of them…
“Rally X” – 88,560 by David Nelson
“1942” – 11,846,500 by Martin Bedard (his 1st completed game ever)
“Berzerk” (slow bullets) – 37,800 by Robert Mruczek (amazing, I think, considering my
prior best was 5K before coming to Funspot)
“Shootout” (Data East) – 88,436 by David Nelson (without hunting)
“Super Breakout” (Double) – 1,996 by David Nelson
“Circus Charlie” – 419,900 by Christopher Burnell
“Track and Field” – 85,620 by David Nelson
“Donkey Kong” – 113,200 by Robert Mruczek (I may have watched a couple of good DK scores
over the past year, but I still stink at the game !!)
“Vanguard” – 253,280 by Martin Bedard
“Robotron” (TGTS) – 449,575 by Shawn Cram
“Red Alert” – 11,050 by Martin Bedard
At some point, Randy Lawton pulled out a “Red Alert” game. This one is rare… I don’t
even see it on MAME !! Over the course of the next few days, we would each give this
one a go.
Martin was starting to get into “Sky Shark” and hit 421,370 points. I showed my
“Alien Syndrome” skills to Mark Alpiger and scored 195,800 points.
Golden age gamer Mark Alpiger showed up at this point. He holds the 2nd highest
“Crystal Castles” score in the world, and is one of the best players at “Road Runner”
that I have seen. We dabbled in some “Food Fight” (TGTS)
Mark Alpiger
MDA
www.classicarcadegaming.com
Contender on Crystal Castles (now #2), Marble Madness,
The Glob, Roadrunner, Snakepit, Tetris Plus, Tetris Plus 2;
avid gamer on arcade and computer platforms, plus MAME
(see MDARULZ at M.A.R.P.)
Please contact Mark Alpiger, who is first in URGENT BREAKING NEWS,
from Funspot. His integrity and honesty preceeds him as an great
reporter of these events. Please contact him and see his web
site for BREAKING NEWS because he has the most up to date lists
and first person contacts with the refs, judges and players.
Mark Alpiger'sWeb Site
Dave left earlier in the day after the interview. Evening fun included some
“Crazy Taxi 3” on the Xbox in which Martin Bedard pulled off a “Crazy Jump” of
959.01 yards. Another day awaited…and Friday was poised to have a large crowd.
DAY SEVEN (Friday, November 19th)
Coming close to the end of my vacation, we tried to squeeze in as much gaming
as we could.
On a personal note, try as I could, I was unable to beat my earlier score of 179K
on “Super Cobra”, although for the week I did break 170K four (4) times in total
which was quite promising. Here are some of the other scores from Friday…
“Monaco GP” – 2,498 by Martin Bedard
“Star Wars” (TGTS) – 2,151,156 by Shawn Cram (his first 2M+ game)
“LSA Squad” – 660,400 by Charlie Weatherbee, a new world record
“Wonderboy” – 594,620 by Anna Cram…so close to 600K she can feel it !!
”Twin Cobra” (single player) – 456,190 by Charlie Weatherbee
“Super Breakout” (Double) – 1,727 by Robert Mruczek
“Jungle Hunt” – 185,150 by Shawn Cram
“Sky Shark” – 436,750 by Martin Bedard
Also, Charlie Weatherbee’s friend, Nick Ortakales, showed up to try his hand
at “Time Crisis”. He pulled off 2:29.53 on story 1, and 11:01.07 in story mode
achieving a rating of 8 stars and 51% accuracy in the process. His stages times
were 2:38.90 and 5:58.30 at the end of stages 1 and 2.
With just a few days left, knowing that I will most likely not see some of these
gamers for many months, I spent a considerable amount of time talking rather than
playing. Actually, as it was Friday, there were more kiddies running around today
than the rest of the previous week combined !! If I had a good game going, it
might have been in jeopardy of my getting bumped by an over enthusiastic young’un
running about with their token cup !!
Dinner took place at the Hart Turkey Farm which was (Mark Alpiger, take note of
this), a LOT further than 2 miles away from Funspot !! According to the placemat,
they serve up more than a ton of turkey every day, never mind the fixings. FYI –
if all you want to eat is a burger, go to McDonald’s. Why waste the opportunity
of a eating at a dedicated turkey farm…after all, when in Rome, as the expression
goes.
I am fairly sure that we left Funspot very late Friday and went our separate ways.
Tomorrow, my last full day at Funspot, was bound to be long so we needed some
rest. Besides, Fred Pastore promised earlier in the week to meet us at 9:00am
for breakfast, and all week we’ve been ready no earlier than 10:00am, so I made
it a point to get to wake up early.
DAY EIGHT (Saturday, November 20th)
Okay, here it was. My last full day at Funspot. A lot of gamers were expected
today. I woke up very early, close to 7:00am, and was ready for Fred Pastore
showing up while Martin decided to catch a few extra Z’s. In the interim, I watched
some of the “Baywatch” marathon that was running, and saw the episode featuring
“The Beach Boys”. By the time it was almost over, Fred Pastore, Mark Alpiger and
Brian Kuh showed up. Martin got ready quickly and we were off to breakfast in
Meredith at a family place called “Diner” or something like that. Another place
called “MAME’s Diner” was nearby, and Fred couldn’t help but notice that one
which happened to sound like the MAME platform.
After a quick breakfast we returned to Funspot to a large crowd, mostly kids in
the tween age group and younger. Throughout the day, the full array of gamers
showed up. Here is the roster…Robert Mruczek, Martin Bedard, Donald Hayes, Greg Bond,
Brian Kuh, Jason Cram, Shawn Cram, Anna Cram, Christian Cram, David Cram, Fred
Pastore, Mark Alpiger, and also John Zabel, who showed up last in the day,
presented Robert T Mruczek with an anxiously awaited taped performance on “Super Missile
Attack” in which he broke 200K for the first time ever, a new world record
by far, and my apologies if I forgot anyone else. Only David Nelson and Richard
Marsh were not in attendance. Quite an array of world record holders, I have to say.
During a day of some serious gaming, here are some of the records and personal
bests that were registered…
“Jokerz !” (pinball) – 2,514,060 by Fred Pastore
“Close Encounters” (pinball) – 270,680 by Martin Bedard
“Road Runner” – 780,740 by Robert Mruczek
“Gorgar” (pinball) – 264,980 by Brian Kuh
“Red Alert” – 14,450 by Robert Mruczek
“Wonderboy” – 615,560 by Anna Cram…she broke 600K for the 1st time ever !!
Greg (“Mappy”) Bond was on a roll at “Make Trax”, at 1.12 million points, when
his cell phone rang. He literally jumped off his gaming stool to take the call.
The game was lost, but Greg is sure he can do this again.
Greg Bond - Mappy Champion
The group of us…ALL of us, in fact, went out to dinner at a place called “Patrick’s”,
and luckily the family room had a table that could accommodate all of us at a
single table…well, three or four tables pushed together, but the effect was the
same. This was an awesome way to end my weekend, spending it with so many friends.
But one thing made it even better.
Bill Mitchell called Greg Bond on his cell phone, and had some important TG-related
news to discuss with me, after which came the big surprise. Bill managed to get
“Pac-master” Rick Fothergill on the line, and we passed around the cell phone
from player to player saying hi to Rick and wishing him well. Rick has been unable
to attend the annual Funspot event for close to three years now, and we miss his
presence, so this really cheered him up big time according to Bill.
Walter Day and Rick Fothergil
The discussions at the dinner tables were spirited and varied, often gaming-related
but sometimes we shared aspects of our non-gaming lives. Our hobbies outside of
gaming are quite varied and range from collecting to sports, movies and gaming
programming and design. We also discussed the upcoming year 2005 “Bounty” announcement
that TG will shortly be making on January 1st. That generated a lot of buzz.
Dinner ended and we all returned to Funspot. While we were gone, operations manager
Gary Vincent was wondering where everyone had gone. He knew that a lot of us were
at Funspot that day, but all of a sudden he checked and aside from the local young
kids, none of us were playing at all !! So he suspected we went out to eat.
When we came back, we squeezed in as much gaming as we could. I also verified a
team score on “Time Crisis 3” by Martin Bedard and Charlie Weatherbee that (by
far) outpaced their previous day’s efforts. For 1st credit-team play, their score
total was 1,392,450 and their full-game score was 2,727,750 which is now the top
score on the Funspot machine. Not too shabby !!
Here are the remainder of the scores from that evening…some of which featured
“The Glob” which Mark Alpiger received permission from Gary Vincent and Randy
Lawton to temporarily hook up to a “Ms Pacman” machine.
“Funhouse” (pinball) – 9,391,230 by Charlie Weatherbee
“Food Fight” (TGTS) – 152,400 by Brian Kuh
“Crazy Climber” – 276,600 by Jason Cram
“Sky Shark” – 585,320 by Martin Bedard
“The Glob” – 65,604 by Donald Hayes
“The Glob” – 77,161 by Mark Alpiger
“Gorgar” (pinball) – 343,220 by Brian Kuh
“Gorgar” (pinball) – 293,540 by Fred Pastore
“Red Alert” – 8,970 by Jason Cram
The scores for everyone on “Gorgar”,> the pinball title that I grew up with in
freshman year of high school, would have been dramatically higher, but “The Pit”
area of the game (top left) was barely registering, so we all lost out on 50K-150K
per game attempt. Oh well.
We retired to the downstairs tavern to chat and spend our last hours together.
Even played some bar room billiards. Turns out that I forgot more about billiards
than I had thought…I used to be quite good but messed up on way too many shots.
The LAST score of the contest came when we were gathered in the downstairs main
area. The bank of arcade machines up above was the last to be turned off. Most
of us were downstairs talking with Gary Vincent when Donald Hayes and Shawn Cram
returned from upstairs. Donald achieved 173,700 on “Super Cobra”, still 4th place
but now each of us were that much closer to beating the world record. It’s just
a matter of when.
After much discussion, the time came when we all had to go. Most of these gamers
I would not see for another 6 months so it was a tough goodbye as it always is.
Jen Sweet returned with us to the cabin to take back the TV set, and we gave her
every single unused canister of “Pringles” that we had…at least six or seven Like
I said, we over-bought, just in case. Fred Pastore said he would meet for breakfast
the following day AND said he would drive Robert T Mruczek back to the airport, which
was very kind.
Before Donald left, he gave Robert T Mruczek a video tape of a massive score on
“Millipede” which is going to be 2nd place on the all-time list once verified. In
fact, that tape, and John Zabel’s “Super Missile Attack”, are the next ones that I
will verify.
Martin and I packed up, chatted a bit, and then it was time to rest up for our
trips back home the following morning. I checked my airline itinerary and mea culpa,
I though all along my return flight departure was 1:45pm when it was really 2:30pm,
so good thing I checked !!
Before we packed, we had computer and gaming equipment all over the place, plus
a still over-stocked refrigerator.
LAST DAY (Sunday, November 21st)
Martin and I were all ready to go early when Mark Alpiger, Brian Kuh and Fred
Pastore showed up on schedule. Checkout was not until 11:00am so we had some time.
I told them about my later-than-expected departure, so we all decided that after
breakfast we would head over to Funspot for some last minute gaming attempts.
Breakfast was at McDonald’s, during which time I learned a new tactic on
table-clearing from Brian Kuh. Fred drove us back to the cabin where Martin
and I packed up. Fred then drove back to where he was staying to check out,
and then Martin and I checked out and headed back to Funspot where Fred would
shortly meet up with us.
Back at Funspot, the place was totally quiet. John Zabel also showed up, surprised
to see us. We had perhaps 90 minutes or so before Fred had to drive Robert T Mruczek
back to Manchester for my flight so we mostly played some pinball, but I promised Fred
that I would give “Super Cobra” one last attempt.
I had an EXCELLENT start…cleared the first “booty” stage on my first ship and
reached approx 115K and the “city” stage the second time around before taking
a hit. I cleared that and reached the dreaded “maze” stage with five (5) ships
in storage, and had a chance at an awesome game ahead of me, but it was not
meant to be.
The first major drop is the deadliest. A tank is firing directly at the exit
point, and rockets fire upwards. This is extremely tough due to the dive that
follows and the tough parts ahead. I needed to reach the end of the maze with
at least one (1) ship in storage due to the fuel consumption concerns, but that
tank and rocket combination was unbelievably unlucky this time for me. Although
I passed 170K four times this past week, I was unable to clear this section of
the maze for five times in a row. I walked away in disgust as my last ship came
up. I had in the vicinity of 120K when I died, but could care less. Even though
this was still more than double what an average gamer could ever hope to accomplish,
it was my best effort ever, wasted due to bad random luck.
“Super Cobra” is one of the rare games where a few points in the game have
little to do with luck. One such point exists in stage 5, another in stage 7,
a third in stage 8. Stage 9, the “city” stage as most players refer to it since
the “Scramble” days, is a chore and a half to clear unscathed. But the maze is
deadly. If it was not for that single tank in such a deadly position, I probably
would never die in the maze except for fuel runout which is unavoidable in the
2nd “booty” stage and the 3rd “maze” stage and thereafter.
Oh well, another time, then. I told Brian Kuh and he suggested that if I was
interested later on that I could meet up with him on a Friday in New Jersey and
drive up for the weekend, something he does every weekend for nearly the past
year. I certainly will, but only if I am not too drained from a week at my job
beforehand !!
Only two (2) more decent scores were achieved before I headed on back. Martin
Bedard hit 234,260 on “Gorgar” (pinball), ensuring that everyone there had cracked
at least 200K on this title at least once over the past week, and John Zabel after
22 years of not playing “Rally X” proved that time has not hampered his skills.
He broke 100K for the first time ever with a final score of 104,690 points. Nice !!
I made sure to show that one to Brian Kuh, whose personal best is nearly 140K and
who ranks as one of the world’s best players at the title.
Time to go. I gave most of my tokens earlier to a youngster who, with her friends,
went about systematically searching the coin slots for extra tokens. That made
her day. I gave the rest to Martin the day before so he could play some more
“Time Crisis” if need be. So today, with two single dollar bills, I purchased
eight more tokens and played a few more games. After all, I had been gaming
for nearly 100 hours this past week…I was virtually gamed-out !!
We went out to the parking lot leaving John Zabel in the arcade as he was still
on vacation. Brian Kuh had to drive back to New Jersey, Martin Bedard to Canada,
and Mark Alpiger to I forget, Kentucky or Louisiana. Fred was to take Robert T Mruczek
to Manchester Airport for my flight back to New York.
One of the comments that I could not help but make was that in case Donald Hayes
showed up, and saw my 120K+ score on “Super Cobra”, he would be mystified as to
who the gamer was that set this score, being that I was not supposed to be at
Funspot on Sunday. I wonder what he would think if/when he saw that ? Ah well,
at least when Donald reads this recap he’ll know the answer.
We all drove off in our respective directions. I got to the airport with about
20-30 minutes before boarding time, so Fred and I had a quick snack from “Dunkin’
Donuts” and chatted in the waiting area until I had to go. Fred walked with Robert
T Mruczek to the security gate and then headed back to his car for the drive back
home.
Security was not too bad. The taking off of the shoes is annoying, but I had
more on my mind than worrying about whether my socks had any holes in them for
people to see so I just went on through without incident. After baggage check
I took a cab ride home which was pretty cheap compared to the ride going there.
The local car service in my neighborhood is a rip-off, it seems.
I got back home at 4:00pm and immediately contacted Walter and Bill to let them
know I was back. Some important TG matters were discussed.
I resisted the urge to go into work and see how bad everything was left for
me. Thankfully I did not or my last evening on vacation would have been very
discouraging indeed. No one did ANY of my work while I was gone…nothing except
the most mission-critical tasks were handled. In other words, 99.9% of my work
was left there for Robert T Mruczek to deal with when I returned.
Today is Friday, November 26th, a company holiday. I had no chance between a
chaotic first day back and an early dismissal Wednesday to get much done. I
was going to go in today to do some work but decided the heck with it. But
tomorrow, Saturday, I have no choice. I have to or else things will fall to
pieces in my division.
So…that recaps my November 2004 vacation at Funspot. The resultant scores
I will start to enter as early as tomorrow into the TG database and hope
to finish by Thursday, December 2nd.
Thanks to all my friends who showed up this past week. You all contributed
to making this one of my best vacations ever. Call Robert T Mruczek crazy, but I’d
much rather have a chance to score 179K on “Super Cobra” than go down to Disneyland
or Great Adventure. Besides, I’d probably be in the arcades there, anway.
I’m already looking forward to Funspot 7 which will probably be held in early
June 2005, and by the time November rolls around, I most likely will be doing
this all over again. Until then !!
Robert
_________________
Robert T Mruczek
Twin Galaxies - Editor and Chief referee
Star Wars classic arcade marathon champion
rmruczek@doremus.com (work E-MAIL)
******************************
permafrostrick
Referee
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1722
Location: Baltimore, MD
Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 5:59 pm Post subject:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pictures?!?
FYI, I am planning on meeting up with Donald Hayes on Sunday, the 28th at the
Crab Towne arcade in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
We met up there last year when he came to Baltimore for a ping-pong tournament.
He is here playing the tournament again this year.
Hopefully the games still will be working...at least the ones that were working
last year. It's unlikely any of the others were fixed...unless someone does
that on their own time denoting the parts as well.
I have not visited there since last fall...but do now live only about 25 minutes
away from Crab Towne.
We will see....if not there was at least a decent conditioned Centipede and
several decent pinball machines to play....plus just talking over food and
drink of course.
Hope to cya Sunday Donald!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RMRUCZEK
TG Board of Directors
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 6:49 pm Post subject: Pictures
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Rick:
Other than a couple of pics that Mark Alpiger too kon the closing day, and a
few of Jason's birthday party, I'm not sure what pics were actually taken !!
Oh yes...there should at the very least be a few in the Weirs Times once that
article hits...one of Robert Mruczek, Martin Bedard, David Nelson and Richard Marsh
outside of Funspot, and a few more that the visiting columnist took on Saturday.
Next time I gotta remember to get a digital camera !!
Robert
_________________
Robert T Mruczek
Twin Galaxies - Editor and Chief referee
Star Wars classic arcade marathon champion
rmruczek@doremus.com (work E-MAIL)
******************************
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The_Pro
Location: Saint-Lazare, Quebec, Canada
Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 10:42 pm Post subject:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, this was definitely a great trip. Thanks a lot to Robert for having me,
David Nelson for the chocolate, Fred Pastore for breakfast and everyone else
that made it a good time. It was great coming down on a non tournament week.
I felt I had more time to just get to know eveyone and it was definitely time
well spent. The large dinner Saturday night was great, although I was a bit
tongue tied talking to Rick on the phone. Hopefully I'll make a better impression
if he comes down to the tournament next year.
Can't wait for Funspot 7, where I will initiate the Pringles challenge!
Also, I will remember to bring a signed affidavit verified by the TG board of
directors that will detail exactly what my reason for entering the USA is.
Apparently, my going to the middle of nowhere, to see a man from New York that
I met on the internet, to play videogames is not very convincing.
_________________
Martin Bedard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QRS1
Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 11:23 pm Post subject:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damn... I wish I had the money to visit funspot.. Someday.. i will be there...
and break the moon patrol score
Anyway, great scores!!
Especially that vanguard score *gulp*
btw, Martin:If you want to get a 12-13mil score on 1942, make sure you save
a lot of ships to the last but one stage.. destroy the big plane for 50k and
die on its bullets... then do it over and over again and finish the game after
that
My best is 12.3 mil using that tech (mame). I first saw Hisa Chan do that...with
a final score of 14mil!! He got to the last plane on his first man... used all
ships (23 I think) and finished it on his last man. Talk about nerves!!
_________________
Deca 2001, 2002 Champion.
Editor at MARP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The_Pro
Location: Saint-Lazare, Quebec, Canada
Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 11:53 pm Post subject:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QRS1 wrote:
btw, Martin:If you want to get a 12-13mil score on 1942, make sure you save a
lot of ships to the last but one stage.. destroy the big plane for 50k and die
on its bullets... then do it over and over again and finish the game after that
My best is 12.3 mil using that tech (mame). I first saw Hisa Chan do that...with
a final score of 14mil!! He got to the last plane on his first man... used all
ships (23 I think) and finished it on his last man. Talk about nerves!!
Yeah, I saw that inp as well. I was going to try for that trick but when I reached
the plane I had totally forgotten that it was bigger than the others. I lost a
couple of the lives I had and then beat it on my final man, really close shave.
I'll surely try for more when I get back there.
By the way, at some point during the week I showed some people at Robert's cabin
parts of your wonderboy inp. A lot of "no way" was heard during 8-4 .
_________________
Martin Bedard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carnival_Fred
Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 10:58 pm Post subject:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert,
Just for the record, that place is George's Diner... a place recommended by
the locals. No problem Martin on the breakfast.
Actually, it was Martin who brought up the name of the place next to George's.
I must say that Robert looked quite refreshed on the second Saturday of his trip.
And to Rick, since Donald headed down your way, I think you need to return the
favor and make a trip to FS 7!!!
Lastly, I'll second what Martin said about being there without the tournament going
on although it doesn't seem to make much of a difference in my case!!!
Carnival Fred
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zotmeister
Location: Tiverton, RI
Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:05 pm Post subject: Re: Funspot 2004 - Results
(Part 2 of 2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RMRUCZEK wrote:
Throughout the day, the full array of gamers showed up. Here is the roster… Robert Mruczek,
Martin Bedard, Donald Hayes, Greg Bond, Brian Kuh, Jason Cram, Shawn Cram, Anna
Cram, Christian Cram, David Cram, Fred Pastore, Mark Alpiger, and also John Zabel...
my apologies if I forgot anyone else.
Apologies accepted - ZM, the ONE person you omitted (but hey, I know all about
missing just one - I invented the puzzle)
P.S.: I hope you remember that I'll be sending tapes your way!
_________________
Darkness lessons learned/Avenging golden tresses/Yellow flower blooms
- "(dedicated to Millia Rage)", original haiku
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCORES OF NOTE
&
WORLD RECORDS
Game Player Score
Land Sea Air Squad * Tim McIlroy 342,600
Astro Fighter * Tim McIlroy 19,670
Clowns * Dave Nelson 61,390
Starship 1 * Christian Cram 6,700
Timber * Martin Bedard 339,225
Lazarian * Jason Cram 88,670
Gyruss (5-man) * Richard Marsh 1,306,100
Star Trek (Tournament) * Darren Harris 1,717,350
Robotron: 2084 * Abdner Ashman 821,000
Jr. Pac-Man * Abdner Ashman 1,550,000
Tutankham (marathon) * Rob Barrett 2,791,880
Leprechaun * Steve Kyriakides 537,395
Xybots * Joel Hedge 166,900
Quartet * Adam Wood 512,200
Guided Missile * Mark Shultz 2,690
* = New World Record
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHALLENGE WINNERS
Color Game Challenge Winner -- Dave Nelson
Monochrome Challenge Winner -- Dave Nelson
Women's Challenge Winner -- Catherine Karpins
Pinball Challenge Winner -- Greg Bond
Overall 2004 Funspot Player of the Year
Dave Nelson
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Origins Of Funspot By Funspot Gary Vincent Link
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Funspot. The Classic Game Headquarters of the World!
Welcome Classic Game Fans!
FUN WITHOUT THE SUN
To drive the rolling roads around Lake Winnipesaukee is to risk arriving, entirely
by mistake, in some other decade. The Moultonborough general store rears up out of
the year 1781. The area's grandly named little motels pull you straight back to
the 1950s. The motor ship Mount Washington has been carrying passengers around
the lake since 1940. And then there is one little corner of Laconia where it is
forever 1983, and robots are trying to take over the earth.
The robots are villains in the 20-year-old video game Robotron, and their home
is the Funspot, a sprawling arcade and mini-golf center which among its many
attractions has slowly become the single largest repository of out-of-circulation
video games in the known world.
It's hard to miss the Funspot, even if you are trying. Its cartoony green dragon
blows smoke on billboards for miles around, advertising vast quantities of
alarmingly wholesome family pleasure. What the Funspot does not advertise is
the room on its third floor, above the 20 bowling alleys and the Skee-Ball and
the D. A. Long Tavern, that holds a dense, blinking cluster of 185 working
arcade games built between 1971 and 1987. There are people who travel to New
Hampshire just to visit this, the Classic Game Room, where original units of
Pac-Man, Centipede, Galaga, and Space Invaders Deluxe are arrayed side by side
in their original pixilated glory, as if Diffrent Strokes were still on prime
time and the second Reagan administration was still a distant vision. "There
is nothing else like this room, anywhere," says Gary Vincent, the manager of
the Funspot and the man responsible for the fact that there are people in Finland
who have come to visit a rambling arcade a half-mile from the edge of Lake
Winnipesaukee, "And I've asked, believe me."
If you were not aware that there was such a thing as a "classic" video game,
you are not alone. But if you are younger than 50 and once played video games
and eventually stopped, bewildered by the hyper realisticfighting and cripplingly
loud soundtracks, then you will understand the pull. At the peak of their
popularity, video arcade games were novel and cute and went boing. They featured
appealing characters like Pac-Man, Q*Bert, and the little frog in Frogger. When
those games disappeared, a whole generation walked out of the arcade and never
walked back in. Unless they stumbled in the Funspot.
"You could go up there now, there could be a 50-year-old woman playing. There
could be a 20-year-old guy," says Vincent. "If you come here on a weekend or
rainy day, I'd say most of the people playing there are in the 5-to-45-year-old
age group."
In a sense, the Funspot is a 55,000-square-foot testament to the idea that in
a fast-moving world, you can go a long way just by standing still. In 1952,
two brothers named Bob and John Lawton launched a small business at nearby
Weirs Beach featuring a nine-hole indoor miniature golf course, ping-pong,
and a half-dozen mechanical arcade games. They bought more arcade games. Needing
room to expand, they settled on a parcel away from the beach. They bought a
chain saw, cleared trees, and laid out a new outdoor miniature golf course,
featuring hand-built wooden New Hampshire landmarks, that still stands today.
In the past four decades, the Funspot has branched out into every brand of
kitsch diversion imaginable. There was the Indian Village (1967-1983). There
was the Storybook Forest (1976-1984). "We used to have a beautiful slot-car
track," says Vincent, dragging out the beautiful with appreciative gusto.
It was eight lanes wide. "But one video game would do pretty much three times
the amount of money as the slot-car track."
That was on the cusp of the 1980s, when video games seemed like an unstoppable
juggernaut. So the
Funspot undertook an ambitious plan. The Lawton brothers expanded to a
half-dozen Funspots around New Hampshire and Maine. There was even a franchise
in Port Richey, Florida - the first beachhead in a campaign to populate the
nation with Funspots.
But youth culture changes as fast as youth does. Once there were scores of
Indian villages, and now to find even one would be extraordinary. By the
mid-'80s the bottom had dropped out of the arcade industry. Mall arcades
shrank, then disappeared, and their owners raced one another to ditch their
arcade rooms. As games became increasingly fast, violent, and more tightly
targeted to teenage boys, tens of thousands of Pac-Man games and Defenders
and Zaxxons were mothballed, auctioned off for low multiples of $20.
Then there was the Funspot. Through inertia or principled stubbornness, the
Funspot held on to its original games, keeping them in working order for years.
And years. When kids in Boston were paying 50 cents to blast away at three-dimensional
zombies in the wide-screen game House of the Dead, kids in Laconia could still
pay a quarter to slowly pilot a homesick frog across several lanes of highway
traffic - if, that is, anyone wanted to.
"We took a lot of flak here for many years for the old games, from 1988 to
about '99," says Gary Vincent. "People were like, 'What do you keep all these
junk games for? Nobody plays them.' But we stuck to our guns."
In fact, Vincent did not merely stick to his guns: He had an idea. His idea
was the first annual Funspot International Classic Video Game and Pinball
Tournament, in 1999, which drew dozens of former video game champions out
of their semivoluntary retirement to compete once again for high scores on
Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Dig Dug. Word got around that there was a place
in New Hampshire where you could find working versions of all these games.
"It went from 'Why do you have them?' to 'I can't believe you have this!'"
says Vincent.
Vincent found himself taking phone calls from people who saw themselves as
donors to a cause. Curt Vendel, who operates a website called the Atari
History Museum, donated seven games, including an original Breakout. Another
man offered Vincent a collection of 111 games. None of them worked, but
the Funspot's head technician, Randy Lawton, has been around since Asteroids
was a gleam in some programmer's eye, and he set to work. Now the arcade can
boast a rare working version of Lunar Lander, the early black-and-white arcade
classic that endlessly frustrated millions of teenagers in 1979.
Today, the catalog of Funspot games reads like the fantasy afternoon of a
long-vanished adolescence: Joust, Tron, Galaxian, Qix, Tempest, Wizard of Wor.
There are older black-and-white games like Sea Wolf and Space Invaders. Of
course there is pinball. And floating through the room is a 1980s soundtrack
of Run-DMC and the Romantics.
Enthusiasts of classic video games - and there are a lot - have pointed out
that the variety and sheer creativity of early-'80s games is a direct result
of the minuscule processing power available at the time. The brain of Tempest,
very advanced for its day, wouldn't power a modern telephone. With realism
out of the question, game designers compensated with an outrageous profusion
of clever ideas. But the creativity wouldn't last.
"About mid-1987 was when the game Double Dragon came out," says Vincent
mournfully. "It went from puzzle-type games, fanciful-type games, to nothing
but players trying to beat each other to death. That, in my opinion, ended
the whole innocence of the arcade industry."
While dozens of 30-somethings recapture that innocence on the Funspot's third
floor, Gary Vincent's own headlong rush backward has taken on the energy of a
crusade. Thenext step, as he sees it: nonprofit status. Vincent envisions a
new addition to New Hampshire's roster of curious attractions, which he calls
the Classic Arcade Museum. But even he concedes that "it's never going to
make money, and that's a fact."
For now, the Funspot - and the Classic Game Room - is still a business and
needs to behave like one. Vincent passed up the chance to buy a two-player
version of Computer Space for $3,000. "How do you go to the company and say
I want to spend $3,000 on a game that'll take in two, three bucks a week?"
he says. "They'd look at me like I just sprouted a second head."
These days, if the classic game room is looking a little crowded, it's
because dozens of games were evicted from a neighboring room to make way
for simulated video golf, a grown-up pastime that attracts year-round golf
leagues. And Vincent has his hands full as the manager of a center that employs,
depending on the season, between 55 and 90 people. It all still seems extraordinary
to a man who took a job as a teenager almost exactly 22 years ago.
"They said, 'Can you help us for the last four weeks of summer?'" he recalls,
shaking his head. "Somehow, the last four weeks of the summer of '81 haven't
ended yet."
For more information about the Funspot, call 603-366-4377 or visit www.funspotnh.com.
Thank you,
Paul Dean, June 28, 1985 Spy Hunter Champion
Eddie Baur
Game Music
Spy Hunter
Click At Desired Graphic Text For Each Introduction
Biography Commentary Questions
Click On Below Graphic Text For Spy Hunter Introduction
Tournament and Guinness Book Results From 1983-2004
Click On Below Graphic Text For All Video High Scores thru 2004
The Golden Era
Click On Below Graphic Text For Material On The Golden Years Of Video Games 1980's
Click the Below Graphic Text to read my Conversations With Walter Day
June 9, 2004 Walter Day states, "No Replay Necessary" for Paul Dean
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