Walter Day of Twin Galaxies will also be in attendance this year running a special high score contest on Stargate and Defender, two classic video games from the Golden Age of video games. Twin Galaxies is the Official Electronic Scoreboard that has been tracking arcade scores for over 25 years. Last year’s tournament saw the release of the second edition of the Twin Galaxies Official Book of World Records. Twin Galaxies will also be providing commemorative posters to the entrants.
Each year, championship-caliber players from across the United States and around the world gather for four days of classic game competition, and the fun of playing their favorites in the world’s largest collection of classic arcade games still operating in an arcade setting. In prior years, players have come from Australia, Canada, England, Israel and Finland to attend this fun-filled event.
For the 2008 tournament, there will be a 6-game pinball tournament and a 10 game video game tournament. This year will also see the return of the Manufacturer’s Challenge featuring 6 classic games from a single manufacturer. Last year, Atari was the manufacturer of choice. Which company will it be this year? Like the games used in the tournament, this announcement will be made on Thursday, May 29th, the first day of the 4-day event.
There will be $250 cash prizes for each 1st place winner of the individual contests – the Video Challenge, the Pinball Challenge and the Manufacturer’s Challenge. In addition, cash prizes will be awarded to the winner of each daily Mystery Game Tournament; a popular segment which requires entrants to compete on only one game.
The video and pinball games used for all of the competitions will not be announced until the start of the tournament at noon on Thursday, May 29th. This is to provide a fair playing field for players who don't have access to those games throughout the year.
Another addition this year will be the seasonal expansion of The American Classic Arcade Museum. The Indoor Golf Center at Funspot is adjacent to the museum and operates from November through mid-May each season. “This presents the perfect opportunity for the museum to expand during its busiest time and present players with an even wider selection of classic games,” says Funspot founder and General Manager, Bob Lawton. The museum has a goal of 50 additional games planned for this area.
Guinness World Records Event Scheduled for October 2008
A second classic game event is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 18th & 19th 2008. “This will strictly be a high-score event held over a 2-day period,” says museum curator Gary Vincent, “and will be a Guinness World Records event.” The June tournament always runs the weekend after Memorial Day weekend and the fall event is scheduled to run the weekend after Columbus Day weekend. “This will be similar to the one-day high score contests we held many years ago but on a larger scale,” adds Vincent.
The American Classic Arcade Museum is the first 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to restoring and displaying vintage coin-operated amusements. The museum celebrates the origins of the arcade industry with popular games from the past. Asteroids, Pac-Man, Centipede and Gorgar are just a few of the nearly 300 games in the classic arcade museum. The museum also contains static displays of game history and the walls feature many posters of vintage arcade games.
The Funspot Family Entertainment Center is located on Route 3 in Weirs Beach, NH. The facility was founded in 1952 by the Lawton family and has been continuously operated by the family ever since. The 60,000 square foot center features over 500 games, 20 bowling lanes, a miniature golf course, a 400-seat Bingo hall, a restaurant, the D.A. Long Tavern, and a state of the art indoor golf center featuring six Full-Swing Golf Simulators. Funspot and The American Classic Arcade Museum are open year-round. More information can be found at www.funspotnh.com and www.ClassicArcadeMuseum.org
Funspot – Route 3, Weirs Beach, NH (603) 366-4377
