:: Pilgrimage / Road Trip to the Arcade Mecca : FUNSPOT in USA ::

[level42]

Yeah I saw it in the video !

Still....no Avalanche......I wonder if they already have one....

[Moon Jump]

I don't think I've ever seen an Avalanche machine at FunSpot in the few years I've been going. The only place I ever played the game was in the touring arcade exhibit that goes around to conventions. Video Pinball still works great, tilt and everything. They even had it as a part of last year's tournament and people were racking up some really high scores. I ended up getting a replay this past fall when I played it.

The tournament's a fun time to go, but since King of Kong hit DVD and the movie was also aired on G4TV here in the states, the place has gotten even more crowded in recent years. More and more people keep coming to see the people in the film and I always get asked by somebody, "Are Billy and Steve going to be here this year?". And the answer as always is no.

Thanks for the link... there is a ride, far better than mine here : http://arcadehunters.blip.tv/file/2740841/ 

There's a guy named Lee and his wife that came on holiday to the states in the video there. (The ones playing Pong Doubles) My friends and I had just finished playing a game of Congo Bongo and I saw this guy looking at me from across the arcade and he came up to me and said, "Is it you!? It is you! We were watching one of your videos last night before we came up here!" It's cool to see folks from other countries are enjoying the videos I take of the arcades. Most people just want to see play through videos and angry commentary videos, so it's nice to be able to meet some fans who like the stuff we do for a change. Taking videos on the 3rd floor's a pain in the ass. Unless you have a good quality camera, no matter what you do the videos will have this orange tinge to them because of the overhead lighting.

The next tournament will be June 3rd-6th. It's always Thursday to Sunday, so plan accordingly. Theres a lot of nice hotels and you can find some good deals even when your there. My friends and I got a nice place with double beds not even a block away for about 100 US a night. If you want to enter the tournament its about 25 bucks and you can play the tournament games, get a bucket of tokens and a free bottle of Rickie's Hot Sauce. (YUM) My friends and I always plan in advance and take time off of work so we can drive up there for the weekend. Plus when you get sick of being there for a couple of days straight, there's a couple of other arcades and a really good boardwalk with bars, restaurants and shops to spend time in. Plus at night they have a Drive In movie theater and they sometimes have double movie night, so get a car load of people and check it out.

[ElPancho]

Nice place to visit! Must be a blast steppin' into "the way back machine"

And that nice little leprechaun .... a woody cute was my first reaction also. Looks like you had the same assosiation ..... love this thread.

[level42]

Plus at night they have a Drive In movie theater and they sometimes have double movie night, so get a car load of people and check it out.

Glad to see the Drive In is still there, I was really amazed to see it still alive when I was there ! Winnipesaukee lake was very beautiful too ! But it's funny how everything closes down as soon as the US summer season is over. I think most things then only open in weekends IIRC.

If shipping costs wouldn't be so horrendous, I would gladly go and pick up the Avalanche if they would want it and donate it. But it could very well be they already have it in that large storage you already mentioned.

[CrazyKongFan]

...awesome... the second player from the right on that picture recognizes me  He said he check this forum from time to time for new road trip'  Not registered here, but its pseudo is something like DKFAN or DK4Ever or something ? Anyway... it's was a nice meet 

That would be me I don't know why I'm standing in such a goofy position, except maybe I was reaching down to get my camera (which was on the floor next to the chair). It was nice meeting you too, and hopefully I'll see you at the tournament next June!
BTW: That pic of you with Robert Mruczek and the Pac-Man player from the Netherlands is Aart Van Vliet (Level42 probably recognizes that name ) Aart has the top scores on Galaxian,  Lunar Rescue, and Pac-Man Plus (all 3 on both Arcade and MAME), and the top score for MAME on Ms. Pac-Man.
Also, that pic of the Wonder Boy cab, it's not a dedicated Sega, it's a converted Stern cab (compare its shape to Astro Invader, The End, Moon War, Turtles, etc) 1942 is also in one of these Stern cabs. Just figured you might want to know

[level42]

Hey Bruno, you stand next to the WORLD CHAMPION GALAXIAN and you don't remember his name ?  

I hope Aart will be visiting here some time next year. He can set a new record on my machine if he wants  

Besides, CrazyKongFan welcome here !

[ckong]

Now let's wait the exact date for the next tournament... and let's be ready to plan the trip 

I'm definitely in 

[level42]

Mmmm, 490 Euro Amsterdam-Boston with a stop at Iceland.....mmmmm........

DAMN I want to go !

[DarthNuno]

...awesome... the second player from the right on that picture recognizes me  He said he check this forum from time to time for new road trip'  Not registered here, but its pseudo is something like DKFAN or DK4Ever or something ? Anyway... it's was a nice meet 

That would be me I don't know why I'm standing in such a goofy position, except maybe I was reaching down to get my camera (which was on the floor next to the chair). It was nice meeting you too, and hopefully I'll see you at the tournament next June!
BTW: That pic of you with Robert Mruczek and the Pac-Man player from the Netherlands is Aart Van Vliet (Level42 probably recognizes that name ) Aart has the top scores on Galaxian,  Lunar Rescue, and Pac-Man Plus (all 3 on both Arcade and MAME), and the top score for MAME on Ms. Pac-Man.
Also, that pic of the Wonder Boy cab, it's not a dedicated Sega, it's a converted Stern cab (compare its shape to Astro Invader, The End, Moon War, Turtles, etc) 1942 is also in one of these Stern cabs. Just figured you might want to know

Hello CrazyKongFan and ... 'officially' welcome to this side of the Earth   

I've just found back a picture of you ... and me  This time, I'm the 'goofy' man (eyes closed)    ...but it's nice to be together on the same picture, so 



It was nice to meet you so far from my home place (Belgium) 

Thanks for the additional informations regarding Aart, Robert presented him to me as a great 'Pac Man' champion... I didn't know regarding the Galaxian HI score, because as far as I know, it was Gary Whelan who was the Galaxian champion... Retro Gamer UK magazine used to mention him very often because he's from UK I guess, but they didn't mention a new Galaxian record.

Once again, being inside FunSpot was an experience... You can feel in the air all the records established here... A lot of gamers who are playing... in a competitive way, no casual gamer here! Like the 80's 

I want to go back there, probably in few months for the next tournament, even If I'm not looking for a record

So... see you soon over there ... and hope to see others friends on this board too  Meeting??? 

[CrazyKongFan]

Thanks for the other photo...I was wondering if you still had it. I remember Darth Nunette taking it
Also, if you do make it to Funspot next June, there's another classic arcade down the street right by Weirs Beach called Half Moon Arcade that has quite a few classics (although not maintained as well as Funspots games). They're only open in the summer during the tourist season though, so they weren't open when you were there in November. Speaking of Gary Whelan, he's made the last 2 June Tournaments too. Got to talk to him last year, as he played Galaxian quite a bit and I was playing Tron right next to him.

[DarthNuno]

Also, if you do make it to Funspot next June...

Does the next tournament date has already been set yet? I've just check on the funspot website and there's no mention about it. I would like to plan the trip as soon as possible, but I have to be sure about the date of course 

ps : second part of that day now available here



 

[Moon Jump]

Instead of making a new thread, figured I'd just bump this one up. They recently announced the dates for the next annual tournament, it'll be June 3rd to the 6th. Much later in the year then previous events. I wanted to see what some of you guys were doing this summer as well. I wanted to have a gathering up at FunSpot over the summer break and since we end up going there in the summer anyway, why not invite some other folks along for the ride. It won't be during Cali Extreme or whenever they decide to announce the final dates for the PAPA Pinball tournament.

I'd like to hold a mini tournament and try to raise some money for the museum, so if you guys think this is a good idea, post here.

[DarthNuno]

Thanks for the notification. I may be there, not sure yet...
Do the dates are official yet?

[Moon Jump]

Thanks for the notification. I may be there, not sure yet...
Do the dates are official yet?

The dates for FunSpot are locked in. It's always the weekend after Memorial Day here in the states. We've already gotten hotel rooms for the weekend. We usually take Friday off, so we're there Friday night to Sunday morning. I'd love to stay for the final day where they give out the awards, but driving back to New York takes a good while and it seems even further away when you've got work in the morning.

[level42]

The problem is that we in Europe have no clue when memorial day is in the US

It's too early for me in the summer. I'm bound to my son's school holidays.... so if there would be a Funspot meeting later in the summer I actually might be able to make it....