California Extreme 2007 event page

The landmark tenth annual California Extreme event returned to the month of August this year (after a July happening in 2006), drawing a record crowd over the weekend of the 11th. This year again featured Paul Dean's tournament event, and Walter Day of Twin Galaxies also joined in with a game contest.

In addition to the usual vast array of video and pinball games from the 80's (and many outside that decade too), many side events were popular with attendees. These included seminars, such as the 'Tips and Tricks' panel that I (Mark Alpiger) organized, and also a series of movies with gaming themes. The latter featured a number of yet-to-be-released productions, including The King of Kong (which I co-star in), and Chasing Ghosts.

by: Francis Mariani - covering Saturday, August 11th and Sunday, August 12th

Here is my regular picture coverage of the California Extreme event. For now, captions only appear on this page, but will eventually appear on the individual pages that come up when you click on a thumbnail below. There's just over 100 pictures worth of coverage, which starts the day before the event (Friday, August 10th), and continues on thru the final day (Sunday, August 12th).


After arriving Friday, I went to meet Franz Lanzinger, and got to see his proto artwork Crystal Castles.	The art overlay around the coin doors is shown.	Notice how Bentley Bear looks a little 'off' from the final release game artwork (see this shot).

Here's a look at the entire machine, at Franz's storage area.	Another game that Franz owns is a Xevious unit.	Like Crystal, this game has artwork that is also prototype.

A close-up of the proto artwork (the bezel around the monitor) is shown.	Here's the Xevious side art, tho it is 'normal', and not prototype.	The evening kicks off the 80's Alumni Dinner. This gathering happened at a pizza place in the Sunnyvale area.

Famed players, and Atari employees, from the 80's came to the dinner.	L-R: at this table, we have Ed Logg, Mike Klug, Brian Kuh, Susan Lanzinger, Steve Woita, and his wife, who's also named Susan.	L-R: this table features Jordan Hatt, Gary Hatt, Franz Lanzinger, and Kelsey Hatt.

At table on the left, Karl Anderson talks with Paul Dean (right).	Karl has moved over to listen to Ed Logg's interesting Atari stories.	The pizza arrives, and Franz helps serve it up !

Famed 80's Guinness book players Gary Hatt (left) and Paul Dean pose with Crystal Castles designer Franz Lanzinger (middle).	Time for me (Mark Alpiger) to join this famed 80's group. Yep, I was in the Guinness book too, for Crystal Castles.	Time for a group photo of everyone who came out for the Dinner. Well, everyone except for Franz...

OK, Franz takes my place, and I take... the picture !	After pizza, we decide to take in the local arcade, which is the famed Golfland. Of course, they mainly have only 'modern' games...	Franz decides to give one of the modern titles a go - Mariokart Arcade GP 2.

The game appears to appeal to Franz, who said afterward that he was impressed.	Others from our group check out the pinball area.	Brian has drawn Mike into a conversation, no doubt about classic gaming.

After Golfland, we went to Franz Lanzinger's place.	Franz demos his Xbox 360. It looks like he's succumbed to 'the dark side'... meaning, modern gaming !	Before Friday ends, I decide to take a trip to the California Extreme venue, and check out what's there. Here's a Donkey Kong II, which is a (rare) homebrew arcade game.

Toobin' has one of the more unusual cabinets for an 80's game.	Space War is shown.	This ingenious idea caught my eye immediately - a pinball emu that uses a large LCD screen for the playfield.

When I saw the row of cabaret coin-ops, I had to have a pic.	More cabarets...	The rarest System I kit appears here - Peter Pack Rat.

Unlike the one I photographed last year, this Beavis and Butthead machine has a small control panel.	Another Atari proto appears here - Space Lords.	I'd never seen this one at CE before - Gallagher. As I recall, it was a LaserDisc game.

Vortek is apparently a vr (virtual reality) system.	This rare beauty (Night Driver) is in excellent condition.	Saturday has arrived, as have Franz Lanzinger (center) and friend Desiree McCrorey. They check out Walter Day's latest record book.

More discussion about the book...	Gary Hatt and Paul Dean (l-r) join the group, as Desiree cradles the book.	Susan Lanzinger decides to come out to CE for the first time, and soon takes on one of the pinball titles.

Desiree takes on (cross-handed, no less) Mr. Do!, which was a featured game in Paul Dean's contest.	Paul proudly displays his contest announcement 'poster'.	Walter joins in with Paul, and brings a prop of his own - his just-released second Book of World Records.

Placards announce both the CE Film Festival schedule, and the Speaker schedule, for the event.	After I saw his shirt, I had to ask this guy (John Yates) to pose for a shot. Aladdin's Castle was a favorite arcade chain of mine.	After the 'Tips and Tricks' panel that I organized, the speakers in our group all posed for a group shot.

Desiree is back on Mr. Do! after the seminar, and shows off her skill.	A player participates in the high score contest organized by Walter Day. The two games were Moonquake, and Fast Freddie (being played).	I ran into Owen Rubin, designer of Major Havoc, and he eagerly agreed to pose for me.

Say 'cheese', Owen.	Looking around, I encounter Franz and Susan trying some pin games.	Jimmy Linderman has arrived, and gets to work in Paul's contest. After Berzerk, he took on one of his faves - Mr. Do!

Looking around, I spied this unusual game - Propcycle.	I ran across Bill Carlton, who is skilled at Missile Command. He has great marks on both marathon, and non-marathon play styles.	An Internet friend that I recently made, Francis Mariani, plays one of his favorite titles - Food Fight.

Desiree is still around. In the background, Jimmy is racking on Mr. Do!, while Gary Hatt is tackling Berzerk.	Walter takes an opportunity to pose with 80's Guinness Book wr holder Desiree McCrorey.	Mark Robichek (left) has arrived, and a group photo with friends Franz and Desiree takes place. Mark is a famed 80's player.

The admissions table is shown here, along with my DVD display setup.	Paul Dean had an artist 'dress up' his Ms. Pac-Man game cabinet.	The other side of the customized Ms. Pac is shown.

Twin Galaxies associate Phil Younger is shown here playing the game that he's masterful on - Berzerk.	Gary decided to give the TG contest a whirl.	Francis looks on as Phil, Gary, and latecomer Jeff Yost (center) have their turns on contest titles.

Paul monitors Phil, while the group continues. Francis is 'hiding' at bottom, checking his camera.	Phil is apparently done with his Berzerk game. His contest high (the top contest score, BTW) was 143,750 points.	No, Road Blaster is not the Atari title. This is a LaserDisc game that made its debut here this year.

I met another Internet friend, this one from way back - like, 12 years ! This is Dave R. Hallock, a Marble Madness maestro.	Time to go and take in a little of the Movie Festival. The crowd is gathered for Chasing Ghosts.	Paul's High Score Competition is over, and the results are in.

Most of the winners gather for the awards ceremony. L-R: Gary, Jimmy, Paul, Thomas Peter, Jeff, and Phil.	The Mr. Do! winners pose - Jimmy (left) came in first with 1,510,000, and Jeff made 135,200, which was third place.	Jimmy lets Paul 'show him the money' - all $40 worth !

Jeff receives $10 for coming in third.	Now, the Berzerk winners line up; l-r, it's Phil (143,750 points), Jimmy (48,880), and Thomas (30,780).	Phil receives his $40 in prize money.

It's Sunday at CE, and some of the contestants from yesterday decide to play even more ! Phil is on a possible record game pace, as onlookers (including Bill Carlton) take a peek.	Jimmy has to look at Phil with awe.	I whisk Bill away to do a pose with Missile Command, and he brings along his copy of Walter's newly released book.

Walter checks in on Phil's world record game, while Jimmy is also on pace to get a world record. Wow - simultaneous world records being set by gamers side-by-side...	Gary set a record score too, tho perhaps not during this photo. It was on the game shown - Moonquake.	I tracked down Dave Hallock again, and ask him to pose for some shots. Earlier in the event, he set an incredible 172K+ score.

Dave proudly poses by Marble.	I offered Jimmy $100 before the event if he could make 1M+ on his first man on *Qbert.** He played one game (this one), but fell short, with an unconfirmed 577,940 score.	On a quick trip over to the Crown Plaza Hotel, I ran into Roy Shildt, who was checking out. He revealed to me his high of 700K on Missile Command for the weekend.

Here's a shot of Phil Younger's incredible new Berzerk wr, made earlier in the day. He almost doubled the old mark.	Phil poses for a shot next to his new wr game, as Jimmy has a seat, and plays some Do.	Crazy Taxi is one of the few titles that uses an LCD screen to display the game play.

A dedicated Jr. Pac-Man is shown next to Mad Planets.	A weird Time Pilot is shown here. It has an Atari proto sticker on it, but I'm sure it's not. Still, the marquee is quite odd...	Now, this is an Atari proto. It's Cyberstorm, from Scott Evans' incredible and rare collection.

Barrier appears to be a rare game.	This oldie, Bandido, is in great shape.	Reactor is shown.

I can't resist another shot of Toobin'.	Another rarity, this Gridlee seems to be in superb condition.	The kind Bobby Tribble poses next to one of his top faves - APB.

Gary Hatt's daughters pull some DDR duty.	The final photo is of a game that I've never seen - Boxing Bugs.

Eric Liddell, a classic era player who not only played, but was also an arcade employee, was recently highlighted in a Twin Galaxies interview. I missed seeing Eric at CE, but contacted him afterward, and he was generous enough to provide some unique picture content for my site. More is likely on the way, too, so be sure to check back.

Thanks go to Eric for his shots, and I definitely want to credit him as a 'reporter at large' for CAGDC. Great job, Eric, and I hope more's to come...

Brian Saur, a fan of classic arcade games that is a beginning collector, attended CE this year, and forwarded a few nice pics to me. Thanks Brian, and good luck in the hobby !

Paul Dean, a rare player with a major world record in both the classic era (Spy Hunter) and the modern era (Frenzy), not only ran a terrific contest at this year's event, but he also found the time to snap some shots over both weekend days. And, these are some great shots, as they record part of the historical side-by-side world records that were set by Phil Younger on Berzerk, and Jimmy Linderman on Mr. Do!. Thanks for the contribution, Paul !

Francis Mariani contributed this huge set of 108 pictures that cover admissions, the 'Tips and Tricks' panel that I spoke during, famed gamers and attendees, the movie showcase venue, plus (of course)... the games ! Thanks much for coverage that no one else caught, Francis, and thanks too for being a true contributor, and help, to the cag hobby !


It's before 9 AM on Saturday, day one of the event. The organizers set up the admissions table as Paul Dean (center) looks on.	An hour and a half later, the line is already forming for the 11 AM opening.	Walter arrives, and gets ready to set up his contest area.

Here's one of the group of laser titles - Freedom Fighter.	This non-flash shot lets us see Freedom Fighter's onscreen gameplay. Note the control panel details, too.	Another FF screenshot.

The final FF screenshot.	Next, we have a screenshot from the laser title Road Blaster.	Another screenshot from RB.

Here's a view of the entire Road Blaster coin-op.	Another laser game - Cliff Hanger - is shown here. Note the laserdisc player 'drawer' is open, at bottom.	It looks like mostly Namco titles on this row of games.

Mostly Atari favorites appear here.	More video titles.	Another row of (mostly) Atari coin-ops.

The same row as the previous shot is shown angled right to left.	Here are three little-seen coin-ops.	More video titles...

And more titles...	Relief Pitcher, a unique prototype baseball game for Atari's System I, is shown.	I, Robot, next to the baseball proto.

More videos.	Time to switch over to the 'Tips and Tricks' panel. Jon Koolpe starts it off, with an Inferno tutorial.	To allow the projection to be seen better, it's lights out.

Next up is Franz Lanzinger, designer of Crystal Castles. I taped the footage being shown, all the way back in the 80's.	Franz continues to talk, with the lights out.	After switching up to give tips and insight on Centipede, the lights are back on, to signal Franz to wind up.

Desiree McCrory has just wrapped up her segment, with Mr. Do! and Zaxxon.	Now it's my (Mark Alpiger) turn. I covered my all-time second favorite game - Marble Madness.	I gave lots of MM tips and tricks.

Now we swing over to Paul Dean and Walter Day's contest areas.	Paul brought a Ms. Pac-Man that had a custom airbrushed paint job.	The other side of the cabinet.

If you need some airbrushing done, here's your guy !	A last shot of the artistic job done on Ms. Pac.	How about this - the designers of Space Duel, Owen Rubin (center) and Mike Pirring (right) try a doubles game on their brainchild.

Owen (left) poses with Walter (right), and an unknown person.	The lovely (and brainy) Jeri Ellsworth (left) poses with friend Trish Hess, and Walter.	Another photo op for (l-r) me, Paul, and Jon.

Here's one for Mark Boolman, who'll no doubt appreciate the assets of this photo.	Back to the serious documentation. This is a screenshot from a multigame version of Asteroids.	Another screenshot.

A final screenshot.	Looks like this Bounty Hunter is a prototype, judging by the marquee. And, the sticker confirms it.	Another prototype - Cyberstorm.

More camera time for myself (Mark Alpiger). Here, I'm in the middle of my wr CAGDC first-man game of Food Fight.	The crowd eagerly explores the various titles, late in the afternoon of day one.	The Vortek VR System claims another 'victim' - meaning, another person who doesn't mind looking just a little silly.

Another set of video titles.	More vids.	Time for a dinner break. Joining me (left) are Mark Robicheck (middle), and Franz.

Back to Paul's contest area. Berzerk master Phil Younger is playing, and scores big in this one-hour time-limited game.	Phil expertly plays on.	OK - the hour's up, and Phil has made the contest high, which easily was the highest at contest's end.

Here's the score - 143,750 points.	Another photo-op for me (right). Here, I pose with long-time Internet friend Dave Hallock, who I met in person for the first time.	Dave is great at Marble Madness, so I just had to play a game against him. Here's level 1.

We're in the middle of level 2 now.	Our hands fly, during the third level.	We're right at the end of level 3.

The start of level 4 is shown here.	Level 5 begins, and info appears onscreen.	Up the ramps we race. Note the protective glove on my hand.

Don't let the 'birds' hit you...	The end of level 5 reveals a marked advantage for me. But, Dave's trak-ball wasn't working 100%.	Level 6 is set in space.

Our marbles fly down the raceway, as our hands fly on the trak-balls.	Out of time, Dave is relegated to watching me play thru race 6.	Here, Dave and I pose with a friend of his, whose name I don't know.

Here's the Q&A panel set up after the movie Chasing Ghosts was shown.	The panel consisted of (l-r): a studio rep, Mark Robichek, Walter Day, and Roy Shildt.	The panel continues to answer audience questions.

Here's a view of half of the room the movie was shown in.	Back to the CE room, we see a line of Atari games, some of which appeared in earlier shots.	Two Atari protos join Space Harrier (right).

Another lineup of titles.	More arcade titles.	Another view of an Atari lineup shown above, from another angle.

A pinball (actually video pinball !) joins some video titles.	Another pin meets vid mix.	Two 70's Atari titles are shown.
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	Features on this page

Picture galleries	Contest results	Other scores of note
Media coverage	Commentary / attendee writeups	Miscellaneous