CGEUK 2005

London, England

 

    The 2005 edition of the Classic Gaming Expo UK, or CGEUK, took place in Fairfield Halls (conference centre), located in Croydon (which is a borough of London), England, on Saturday, August 13, 2005.  Featuring the European Championship, contestants competed for the highest scores on five titles: Millipede, Robotron, Kung Fu Master, Galaga, and Joust.  Each of these five titles featured settings of 5 men total , other than Kung-Fu Master, which was on 'normal' settings.  The contest hours were from 10 AM to 6 PM, with the awards ceremony taking place immediately afterward.

    Besides the contest, numerous other players were going for world records, including Nick Hutt on Space Harrier, Doris Self on Q*bert (5 men total setting), Tony Temple on Missile Command (six cities total), and Perry Rodgers on Galaxian.  Perry was going to be up against the 'new' wr holder, Gary Whelan, who hails from the UK, but Gary had to bow out, due to sickness.  Nonetheless, the aforementioned players still tried their best to set new world records, but only one was able to do so, and that was Nick.  He soundly topped the existing world record of 31,900,730 points on Space Harrier, with an excellent score of 35,774,740.  Of the other three players, Tony came the closest to breaking a world mark, logging an impressive 1.539 million point Missile Command game, which is only about 150K away from the long-standing world record by Roy Shildt.

    Joining these fine players at the event were quite a few others hailing from the U.S.  Representing Twin Galaxies were Walter Day, and the famed Billy Mitchell, along with others, tho they were part of the 'Team USA' contingent.  This team consisted of the previously mentioned Doris and Perry, plus Donald Hayes, Shawn Cram, Brian Kuh, and Steve Sanders.  All of these players and representatives, plus Tony, participated in a 2 PM panel discussion, and question and answer session.  The discussion examined the 'amazing' growth of competitive classic gaming.  The TG reps also used this session to present a proclamation, which was basically a challenge to gamers in France, from the gamers in England.

    One of CGEUK's attendees, Alex Weir, was kind enough to send me his set of photos from the event, which appears below.  Click on any thumbnail to bring up the full-size version, which will also allow you to proceed thru the entire set.



 

   
   

Don 'throws down' on Joust, 
while Doris takes on Q*bert.

 
Don and Doris keep on playing, as
Brian oversees the 'Team USA' table.

 
   
   

Donald tries his luck on Robotron.

 
The U.S. contingent, along with Tony Temple,
discusses renewed interest in competitive
classic arcade gaming, plus fields questions
from attendees.

 
   
   

Walter espouses about a gaming topic,
while 'Team USA' gives him rapt attention.

 
Billy and Walter unveil the proclamation
that throws out a challenge to players
in France, from the players of England.

 
   
   

Perry attempts to regain the Galaxian wr,
which he lost last year to Gary Whelan.

 
Tony Temple, the main UK attendee, tries
to beat the TGTS wr on Missile Command.

 
   
   

A view of the final score on Billy Mitchell's
world record Donkey Kong game.

 
Doris, trying for the TGTS wr on Q*bert.

 
   
   

It's double thumbs up for Don (left), and Billy.

 
Alex Weir, of Ireland, joins Don and Billy.

 
   
    

Mementos from the event, courtesy of Billy Mitchell.

 

  

 


 

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