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Gaming's "Mecca" Hosts Classic Videogame Design Legends

Nov 14, 2010

On Sunday, November 14th 2010, The American Classic Arcade Museum (ACAM) held a reunion of former staffers from General Computer Corporation (GCC.) GCC was the company responsible for such classic arcade games such as Ms. Pac-Man & Junior Pac-Man for Midway, and Super Missile Attack, Quantum & Food Fight for Atari. GCC was also the organization that designed the hardware in the Atari 7800 home console, and programmed countless arcade game translations for home gaming systems.

The reunion came about after several former GCC staffers participated with ACAM at the PAX-East Gaming Expo last March. It was impossible for them to reconnect with all of the commotion at the show, so ACAM offered to hold a "GCC Day" inside the ACAM facility. While the GCC staffers spent most of the day at ACAM playing games and catching up with each other, they spent time talking with the ACAM staff about the development of arcade games like Quantum and Ms. Pac-Man. We also saw some information for another GCC creation -- Nightmare; an unreleased coin-op arcade game that has been shrouded in mystery.

The event was attended by former GCC employees & classic game design legends such as Wat Hughes, Nancy Kackley, Betty & John Tylko, Glenn Parker, Tom Flaherty, Lucy Gilbert, Mike Feinstein, Tom Westberg, Doug Macrae, Steve Golson, Roland Janbergs, Bradford Hauser, Jonathan Hurd, Mike Horowitz, Brad Parker & Kevin Osborne. Bradford Hauser travelled all the way from Israel to reconnect with his former co-workers inside of the World's Largest Arcade.

Betty Tylko, designer of Atari’s “Quantum” arcade game

ACAM Board Member Mike Stulir was very pleased with the way it all came together. "It was an honor to have another group of classic gaming royalty spend a day in our facility. As the first and largest Museum dedicated to preserving classic arcade game history, we feel it is our duty to pay homage to Doug Macrae (l) and Roland Janbergs look at screen captures of GCC’s unreleased “Nightmare” arcade game the people behind these games which are an important piece of Americana. With our ties to the people that founded the videogame industry and our large established facility, I see no reason why we can't do more of these events in the future. 2010 has been a huge year for The American Classic Arcade Museum, and 2011 is shaping up to be even better."

ACAM could not exist without the help from people like you. As a 501c3 non-profit organization, we are completely dependant on tax-deductible donations of cash, parts, and all types of coin operated games & amusements. All donations go directly to maintaining our immense collection of games so they are constantly available for the public to enjoy. Donations also support our efforts to take the Museum "on the road" and appear at gaming events such as the annual PAX-East Expo in Boston. For more information about making a tax-deductible contribution to maintaining our games and our facility, please visit http://www.classicarcademuseum.org and see our "Donations" and "eBay Giving Works" pages.

Doug Macrae (l) and Roland Janbergs look at screen captures of GCC’s unreleased “Nightmare” arcade game

ACAM President Gary Vincent (l) and Funspot founder Bob Lawton (c) speak with the former GCC staffers at the start of the party

Repeatedly hailed as the "Mecca" of classic gaming by such organizations as MSNBC, Geek Out New York, The Thrillist, Joystiq, Yahoo!, and Edge Magazine, The American Classic Arcade Museum at Funspot is the first 501c3 non-profit Museum dedicated to preserving and displaying vintage coin-operated amusements. In 2010, ESPN: The Magazine named The American Classic Arcade Museum as "One of the shrines every sports fan should visit" and Mashable Tech named The American Classic Arcade Museum as one of its "Top Ten Great Geek Destinations."

Jonathan Hurd, creator of Atari’s “Food Fight”

Founded in 1998 and incorporated as a 501c3 non-profit Museum facility in 2002, ACAM is located on the third floor of the immense Funspot Family Entertainment Super Center in Weirs Beach, NH. 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 artwork of vintage arcade games. In June 2008, Guinness World Records named Funspot/ACAM the largest arcade in the world. Roughly 350,000 people pass through our facility each year, which is open every day of the year except Christmas. Visit www.ClassicArcadeMuseum.org for more information and directions.