Latest News

01-30-2007            Challenge Arcade, in PA, to again host this year's CAGDC Tournament

The Challenge Arcade entryway.

    It's official - the second annual CAGDC Tournament is on, and again is being held at Challenge Arcade, located near Reading, PA.  The arcade's owner, Joe LeVan, along with co-owner (and wife) Susan LeVan, are again co-organizing this unique contest event with me, Mark Alpiger, the administrator of this web site.  The dates are March 30th - April 1st.

    As was the case last year, this will be an event that is designed around, and for, the players.  One of the best, and most innovative features from the previous tournament, is again being implemented this year - each contestant has the ability to choose the game titles they want to play from among a pool containing mostly popular, and well-known game titles.  Also, this year's prize purse of $250 for the top three players is being augmented (as last year) by extra monies if we have more than a minimum number of entrants.  In addition, there is another prize for the next-place finisher, which will consist of a classic gaming console, and cartridge(s).

The classics line-up, at Challenge Arcade.

    As of today, the game titles that will appear in the tournament are not totally set.  However, the following ones are very likely to be in the final group: Indiana Jones ATTOD, Millipede, Mr. Do!, 19XX, Q*bert, Spy Hunter, Star Wars, Time Pilot '84, and Zoo Keeper.

    For all the details, and the opportunity to sign up at an 'early-bird' discount rate, click here to proceed to the official web page.  Joe and I look forward to seeing everyone this year, and will expect yet another great turnout of world-class players !

01-03-2007            David Palmer 'Strikes Back', with new world records

Screenshot showing Dave's single-coin TESB record.

    The legendary David Palmer, gamer extraordinaire, recently made an arcade world record for the first time in over 20 years.  Late last month, he scored 2,233,150 points on The Empire Strikes Back, decimating his former mark of 1,556,836 from June 17, 1985.  He used the official CAGDC play rules, which mandate factory settings; these were also the settings for his original mark.  Currently, the TG web site listing erroneously shows that the play difficulty should be set on "moderate", versus the correct factory setting of "hard".

Close-up of the single-coin score, on the high-score table.

    After talking to him on the phone, Dave related to me how impressive this performance was.  He said that he ranks it as basically equal to the two other feats of his that he prizes the most.  Namely, these are his 31,660,614 points accomplished on Star Wars in the 1986 VGMT, and, his incredible 10,000,000 point near-marathon on Battlezone, played in the 1985 VGMT, and using one man only, with no deaths !  Here are further comments from Dave, via e-mail: 

"Looks like David Palmer is back....and none the worse for wear after a break of 20 years.  That was far and away the best ESB game I've ever played, and no doubt was one of my all-time best video game performances."  Also via e-mail, he forwarded the two right-side pictures shown of his mark.

View of the multi-coin record score.

    Well, Dave is a person who doesn't rest on his laurels.  Next in his sights was his other record on TESB - specifically, his multi-coin score of 2,873,487 points, made 06-12-1985.  This score was up on the TG scoreboard, but somehow it is no longer there.  Well, no problem - full info is (of course) available right here, on the CAGDC scoreboard listing (I'll have the new scores up after a double-check of Dave's arcade board compatibility (see below)).  Now, Dave was shooting for a 5 million mark (and, just a few days after his new single-credit world record), but came up short of that.  Still, he handily beat his old score, with a superb mark of 3,917,477 points, shown at right.

    An interesting side note is how Dave came by the machine itself.  He was in the process of obtaining a Star Wars coin-op (from a buddy of mine, Mark Boolman) since the start of 2005, or so.  He finally took delivery of it over this past summer, and, as a bonus, it was a combo machine that included TESB (note that this is technically a mod, and uses a kit from Clay Cowgill; I'll be confirming that this mod is functionally identical in play to the original, but I am sure enough now to announce his record scores).  As is the case with most older units of this type, the yoke controller has a bit of looseness, and 'play' in it that makes the precise moves needed for Star Wars quite difficult, due to the inaccuracy.  Fortunately, this does not carry over near as badly to TESB, thus explaining his ability to break his old record, more than two decades removed.  Big congratulations go to Dave, and hopefully there will be more records to come !

12-17-2005            Challenge Arcade near Reading, PA to host major events in 2006

    Two major events in the area of classic arcade gaming are slated to happen at Challenge Arcade, located near Reading, Pennsylvania, in 2006.  Both will be sponsored by myself (Mark Alpiger), my web site (Classic Arcade Gaming), plus Joe LeVan and his wife Susan, and their business, Challenge Arcade.

    The first event will take place on the first - that is, New Year's Day (01-01-2006).  I will be making a major announcement at 12 noon at the arcade location (which is located in the Berkshire Mall, in the town of Wyomissing), and there is likely to be extensive media coverage.  At that time, I will officially mark the beginning day of my unprecedented arcade gaming bounties, which offer a total of $25,000, as detailed in the news story immediately below.  Joe is even offering to kick in an extra 10% for any fully verified bounty that's paid out, if the performance is done at his arcade !  For more info, and also a map and directions to the arcade, see the addendums at the close of this news item.

    In addition to the official media announcement at noon on New Year's Day, there will be multiple world-class gamers gunning for world record scores before, during, and after the time of the announcement, on games located at the arcade.  Be sure to show up for what promises to be the most festive gaming event this winter !

    The second event planned for Challenge Arcade will take place 2 1/2 months later.  It will be the 'ultimate' arcade gaming contest, and is tentatively scheduled for March 17-19, 2006.  Unlike all other previous contests where a group of games was played to determine a winner, my contest will finally allow for both a large choice of game titles to be played, and for the result determination to be as fair as possible.  In addition, there will be second and third place monetary prizes, in addition to the usual first place money.  Finally, I will allow popular titles to be in play, using a fair method to avoid a world-class gamer from decimating the field with numerous number one game scores that outclass the competition.  Not to worry, however - even such a player will still benefit from his skill level, while others won't be overly pushed down in their results.  More details will be forthcoming in the first weeks of 2006.  Stay tuned, and be sure to set your travel plans for central PA !

Addendum 1:  Joe LeVan has committed to 'sweetening the pot' with a generous bonus offer for certain players who are paid out on one (or more) of my bounties.  Joe told me that he will give an additional 10% of any bounty amount that is paid out, if the performance is done at his arcade location.  With a potential extra $2,500 on the line, the incentive is high to try for a bounty at Challenge Arcade.  (Disclaimer: this offer is totally independent of Mark Alpiger's bounties, and is not guaranteed by Mark in any way.  All arrangements to potentially have the performance attempted at Challenge Arcade must be made between and the player.)

Addendum 2:  The address of Berkshire Mall, which the arcade is located in, is: 1665 State Hill Road, Wyomissing, PA 19610.  The arcade's phone number is 610-376-1650.  For a map to the mall, click here; for driving directions, click here.

12-16-2005            CAG, and Mark Alpiger, present Classic Arcade Gaming's 2006 bounties

    Inspired by the recent surge of interest (and, offers !) in classic arcade game bounties, your webmaster (Mark Alpiger) has decided to get into the act, and in a big way.  The details are on the official web page, located here, but in a nutshell, I'm offering a total of $25,000 for accomplishments that can be done on a selection of 20 classic arcade titles.  The unique aspects to the bounties are that never in the history of such offers has anyone offered a larger amount for a single task (at least, one that's feasible, unlike the $100,000 Pac-Man bounty) - namely, the $12,000 being offered on both Crystal Castles, and on Star Wars (tho to get the full $12,000 on that one, you not only have to play for around a week, but since the bounties are cumulative, all of the lower tier ones on that title must be unclaimed).  Also, no one has ever offered four, or five, figure bounties for marathon accomplishments before, making that another first.

    Again, for more details, go to the official web page.  The rules page is located here, and for some 'show me the money' type of shots, check out the picture gallery related to the bounties here.  Finally, just to save you some time, I've put the official bounty list in table form below.  Good luck to everyone !

06-07-2005            Funspot 7th Annual International Classic Game Tournament results

    This year's Funspot tourney ended two days ago, and we have yet another set of lofty results, both from the standpoint of new world records, and tournament winners.  To begin with, let's list the games that had new world records established both around, and during, the four-day tourney, which took place this year from Thursday, June 2nd through Sunday, June 5th:

    Now that the records are laid out, let's get to the contest results.  As is usually the case, there were three or four games in each of three categories: 'Classic Color Challenge' games, 'Monochrome Challenge' games, and 'Pinball Challenge' games.  The specific titles featured were: Satan's Hollow, Venture, Red Alert, and Alpine Ski in the color category; Battlezone, Red Baron, Super Breakout, and Super Bug in monochrome; and Genie, Black Knight, and Grand Lizard in pinball.  Each category featured $250 in prize money (an increase of $50 over last year), and the results from the combination of all eleven games, as begun in 2003, determined the 'Player of the Year'.  This honor is especially prestigious, as there is no money prize involved.

    This year saw the return of a category that was created last year: the 'Ladies Challenge'.  It again featured play on six games - three being arcade (Gyruss, Dig Dug, and Sky Shark), and three being pinball (Joker Poker, Devil's Dare, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind).

    Now, to the results.  The 'Classic Color Challenge' winner was Jason Cram, at a percentile of 70.52%; the 'Monochrome Challenge' winner was David Nelson (the defending title holder in this category, and the only such repeat winner), at 90.3%; the 'Pinball Challenge' winner was Dan Howard, with 84.7%; and, the 'Player of the Year' turned out to be (unusually enough) none of the above category winners; the title went to newcomer Mike Sao Pedro, who notched a percentile of 64.87%.  Last, but not least, the 'Ladies Challenge' winner was Anna Cram, who dominated her opponents by making 94.5%.  That number was possibly the highest percentile scored in the history of all Funspot tourney events.

    Not to be forgotten are the daily 'Mystery Game' competitions.  Each day of the tournament, Funspot picks one game, and the high score for the day on that title wins a $25 'bounty'.  On Thursday, the game was Popeye, and was won by Jason Cram.  Friday's game was Star Castle, and John Zabel (an experienced player on the game) took the prize.  Saturday  featured Radical Radial, which was handily taken (to the tune of a wr !) by Chris McClard.  Finally, Sunday's game was Asteroids Deluxe, and David Nelson added that to his 'Monochrome Challenge' title.

    Other scoring contest results: 'bounty' games that were sponsored ($100 for each game variation) by Rob Mruczek:

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 3 lives start:  Darren Harris, 1,061,980 points

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 7 lives start:  Darren Harris, 1,459,400 points (new TG record)

Paperboy, Easy Street:  Pat Laffaye, 123,909 points (new TG record)

Paperboy, Middle Road:  Pat Laffaye, 124,120 points (new inaugural TG record)

Paperboy, Hard Way:  Pat Laffaye, 99,711 points

Red Alert:  Martin Bedard, 20,460 points

    Finally, here are the results of the Pong Doubles tournament, held by Rob Mruczek:

1st place, $100 each:       Jason Cram and David Nelson

2nd place, $50 each:        Mike Stulir and Greg Erway

1st place, $37.50 each:    Dwayne Richard and Zack Hample

1st place, $25 each:         Anna Cram and Chris McClard

    CAGDC extends congratulations to these dedicated players, and also to all of the new world record holders, who are just as praiseworthy as the tournament and 'bounty' winners.  And finally, a big thanks to the Funspot crew for all the work and dedication involved.  Here's hoping that next year's event will be just as enjoyable, and successful, as this year's.

05-19-2005            Brandon Erickson sets Star Wars / arcade marathon time record

    Well, Brandon Erickson's marathon effort has now ended.  Unfortunately, he came up just short... as far as the scoring record goes (which is just over 300M).  Brandon's final score was 283,779,000 points, but he did log the longest game of Star Wars ever, clocking in at 54 hours, 10 minutes (he began at around 8 AM on May 16th, and stopped around 2:10 PM on the 18th).  That makes it the second longest verified game in history (topped only by Jim Vollandt's Joust triumph of 67 1/2 hours, at the 1985 Iron Man contest).  There have been a number of games that have gone longer (like the Asteroids wr, and a few marathons on games like Defender, Stargate, Robotron, and Q*bert), but none have had video (like Brandon's) or official witnesses (like Walter Day at the Iron Man event) as proof.

    Of much greater significance is something that no other longer marathon has had, without exception, and that's a game that was played where the player had no (appreciable) break time.  Unlike any other 50+ hour marathon arcade run, Brandon played a title that did not allow for a large build-up in 'men'.  This is extremely significant, as most titles that are marathoned can have large accumulations of extra men, such that a player can take a break of anywhere from a few minutes, to about an hour, while their extra lives dwindle down from no one being at the controls.  Star Wars does not have this feature, and as a result, the longest time that a player can take a break from the controls is around 30 or 40 seconds.  Talk about a challenge !  And, now you know (from the news item below) why Brandon came prepared with a 'piss' bottle !

    Well, many players (myself included) look upon his non-stop marathon play as one of the biggest accomplishments in arcade history, and hopefully, it will garner notice, even outside the gaming world (think 'Guinness Book' !).

    To wrap up, I'll make a few notes on my thots during the event itself.  I actually found myself following along as his game unfolded, due to the ingenious setup on the Ground Kontrol website.  Owner Anthony Ramos set up an update feature that, every few hours, kept people abreast of Brandon's progress, via a light-saber 'score meter' !  I must say, I followed this during his entire run, and felt the excitement building.  To be honest, on the first day I was thinking that since he had never done anything of this magnitude, that he wouldn't make it a lot past forty hours.  Then, as time went on (and even before the 40), I changed my mind - call it a 'Jedi' feeling !  And, that feeling panned out, as he surpassed the time required to beat the wr.  But, unbeknownst to me, he ran into a number of issues in the latter stages of the game that affected his scoring rate, thus making him come up short, even with extra hours (compared to the current wr holder) of play time.  The main issues were from the controller being inaccurate in movement, and (as expected) fatigue, and even delirium / hallucination.  Still, it's quite an accomplishment, and to me, one that (I later told Brandon) was "legendary".

Addendum:  coming soon (featuring player commentary, and press releases on the event, and its follow-up)

04-24-2005            Brandon Erickson will attempt Star Wars marathon record for 'Sith'

    A world-exclusive 'scoop' for CAGDC readers: Brandon Erickson made me the first outlet to know of his plans for an event that's set to coincide with the upcoming May 19th release of the sixth Star Wars film, 'Revenge of the Sith'.  His plan is to break the Star Wars arcade game's marathon record, which is held by Twin Galaxies chief referee Rob Mruzcek.  Rob set his incredible 300,007,894 score over a 49 1/2 hour time frame, ending on 01-22-1984.

    Brandon wants to time it such that he will begin around noon on Monday, May 16th, and play one continuous game until around the film's premier, 2 1/2 days later, which is at midnight, May 19th.  He's got things planned out pretty well, too, with arrangements he's planned out for both his comfort, and his 'bodily needs'.  He'll be overseen mostly by Anthony Ramos, the owner of the arcade where he's to play, which is Ground Kontrol in Portland, Oregon.  Good luck, and may the force be with him !

Addendum:  I talked to Brandon via phone on May 14th, and he said he made a 'training run' on the 6th, which lasted 10 1/2 hours, and yielded 66M in points.  Not exactly a true marathon, but, it's not a bad little run to prepare.  Speaking of preparations, Brandon also will have an anti-fatigue mat, a stool, a back-brace, a 'piss' bottle, and some caffeine (if needed) for his attempt.  Some of those things are very foresighted, and may also be 'firsts' for an arcade marathon run.  Let's hope that this good planning pans out, and gets him the record !

04-15-2005            Donald Hayes scores another world record: Frogger

    At the expense of repeating myself... Donald Hayes has done it again !  Three weeks ago, on Friday, March 25th, he set a new world record on the well-known 80's title Frogger.  His score was 589,350 points, which soundly beat the previous mark of 442,330, set by famous gamer Mark Robichek.  Mark's score was originally made on 08-30-1982 (at Phil's Game Center in Lakewood, CA), meaning that it stood for 22 years, 5 months, and 25 days.

    Donald's game took 2 hours, 55 minutes to play, and he made it to the 148th stage.  In addition to the luster of getting another world record on a major game title (note that he has another eleven world records under his belt !), he also won a $250 'bounty' that was put up, at the beginning of 2005, by TG chief referee Rob Mruczek.  Note that in addition to that bounty (which consisted of beating the wr), there's an interesting further bounty on the game, nicknamed the 'Costanza bounty'.  It has that moniker because there is a famous Seinfeld episode featuring Frogger, with the premise that the character George Costanza had made an incredible 863,050 mark on the game.  Now, before Donald got the first bounty, this second, lofty one, seemed totally out of reach (garnering a '9' out of 5 difficulty rating from Rob).  But, perhaps Don could actually pull this off, given his new record score.  Only time will tell...

    Now, what's the former record holder's reaction to his long-time score being topped ?  Well, Mark Robichek wrote me this when I mailed him the news, and asked if he might try to get his record back:

 

    I've had my fame, my magazine interviews ... , and my record held up for over 20 years! I'm got no regrets.

 

    The only bad news? My score got beaten on my birthday (Friday, March 25)! So, you can tell Mr. Hayes that his birthday present to me leaves much to be desired!

    Well, too bad that the timing of things added insult to injury, but, you can be assured that Mark is a good sport.  As a matter of fact, during his visit to Funspot at last year's tourney, he overheard someone talking about a new wr that was set on Tutankham, by Rob Barrett, and they wondered who held the former score.  Mark didn't even let on that he was the one who did.  Talk about a nice guy...

 

02-05-2005            CAGDC is 1 year old;  M.A.M.E. is 8 years old

    Talk about duality - by shear coincidence, I (Mark Alpiger) started this web site on the same day that M.A.M.E. came into being (more on that in a minute).  It's been a great first year, and I've accomplished most of what I set out to do, and have up, on the site.  I do wish that I had more time, and kept the news and articles coming at a more steady pace.  But, I foresee only improvement in that area, and a lot of exciting stuff is still to come.  Namely: some great player biographies, game-play strategies, and (as always), loads of world-exclusive web content, including information sheets from the biggest contests in history, which occurred back in the 80's.  Oh, and look for the CAGDC forums to appear this summer, too.

    Now, on to the next anniversary subject - M.A.M.E. (which stands for multiple arcade machine emulator).  Created by Nicola Salmoria, this great arcade game emulator was 'born' on the evening of February 5th, 1997 (23:32 +0100), with the first official release, which was designated MAME 0.1.  The current version supports 5483 ROM sets, with 3055 unique games represented.

 

01-23-2005            Historical DVD released - Brandon Erickson's 'Star Wars'

    For the first time in history, there is a video release featuring an arcade gaming performance that is being marketed by someone other than the performer themselves.  Specifically, CAGDC is proud to present a Star Wars TGTS game that is the personal best by Brandon Erickson (see the news item immediately below this one for complete details).

    Brandon made a 20,891,403 score in just over 4 hours, and notched a score that is the second highest one ever made at the difficult TGTS settings (6 shields to start, with no bonus shields, and a difficulty setting of hard).

    Note that the only known previous such releases have been Steve Wiebe's Donkey Kong performances, along with this site's webmaster ( yours truly, Mark Alpiger), who produced a DVD of singular 1980's arcade play, specifically on the title Crystal Castles.  That DVD featured me, and my gaming adversary Frank Seay.

    For all the information on this unprecedented release, click here.

 

01-02-2005            Brandon Erickson tops 20M on Star Wars TGTS

    Here we go again, with more news about... Star Wars !  I think most gamers will agree that this is quite worthy of mention, being that the ever-improving Brandon Erickson continues his steady progress on the game, at Twin Galaxies tournament settings (TGTS).  He's now crossed the 20 million threshold, making 20,891,403 points today at Ground Kontrol.

    He actually had to end his game prematurely, since a hosted party was about to start at the arcade, but at least he was on his last shield.  Brandon had two shields left when he was close to 18 million, so the game was an excellent one, for sure.  He estimates that it lasted about 4 hours, and that he was on wave 115, or so.

    Brandon related that he's been playing two or three times a month lately, so this kind of continued progress with that little practice is extraordinary.  Indeed, that adjective sums up his entire (short) history of play, since he's ramped up his skill level like no one on this title (and, possibly, like no one on any arcade title, ever !).

Addendum:  CAGDC is proudly offering a DVD of Brandon's world-class performance.  See this page for details...

 

12-28-2004            Donald Hayes 'shoots down' Millipede marathon record

    The fabulous Donald Hayes has done it again.  Two days ago, on the 26th (a Sunday), he set a new world record mark for the Atari title Millipede, with an incredible 10,627,331 points.  The previous mark was 6,995,962, set on 11-21-1983 by James Schneider, thus making that quite a long-standing score (21 years, 1 month, 5 days).

    The game lasted just under 8 hours (Don says he started about 1:45 PM, and ended around 9:30 PM), so, you can tell that it was a marathon effort (figuratively, and literally (TG-wise) too !).  Donald had previously set the tournament settings record for the game, and in addition to those two Millipede marks, he has another eight world records to his credit ! 

    Donald played on his machine, which is a regular dedicated game.  When he was near the end, he started realizing that he only had an eight-hour tape that he was recording on, so that threw him off a bit.  In addition, he wasn't near a million-point 'turnover' place in the game, which would allow him to 'take a break' (because of the speed slow-down), and perhaps change the tape out.  Note that the game goes back to a non-difficult play mode when the score hits the million mark, and actually changes (or, 'turns over') to zero, making the program 'think' that it should play like it does at that point normally.

    On the Monday and Tuesday prior to this game, Don had taken practice games to a million points on both days, and two days later, he had a 1.8 million game.  Obviously, he had honed things such that he was ready for a breakout score, and he indeed did just that, by not only making the record, but getting over 50% higher than the previous mark, which is something that is exceedingly rare, especially for such a popular and 'mature' title as Millipede.

Addendum:  CAGDC is proud to offer a DVD of Don's incredible performance.  See this page for details...

 

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