Sounds of tokens dropping through coin slots and plastic game buttons being pushed ran between the arcade games of Funspot on Thursday, marking the start of the 12th annual International Classic Videogame Tournament at the American Classic Arcade Museum (ACAM) in Weirs Beach.
Within the first hour, more than 50 classic game go-getters had registered for the four-day event, with contestants coming from around the state, nation and all over the world.
This year, four tournaments are taking place within the event, including the main tournament of 15-games, a manufacturer's tournament consisting of five games developed by Universal, and an After Burner coin-operated video game tournament sponsored by Sega America. In addition, there will be a "Mystery Game of the Day" tournament.
Miss Weirs Beach Megan Lyman takes down Dan Bennett's high score as gamers gather once again at Funspot for the annual Classic Game Tournament.
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To qualify for the tournament, players must play each game at least once. Their scores from each game are then entered into an equation that ranks the players within each of the four tournaments. Contestants can play any game as many times as they want until they get a score they are satisfied with.
Last year, more than a dozen states were represented as well as several countries, including England, Canada and Norway.
Participating in his first tournament this year is Robert Macanley, flying all the way in from Adelaide, Australia. Macanley was at the tournament in 2002, but only as a spectator. He decided to play in it this year.
"I thought I would give a try at least once, see how I stacked up to the rest of the world," he said.
Out of the 15 games in the tournament, he said the one game he knows how to play well is Stocker.
"I've played Stocker, but most of the rest I haven't played, or not very much," said Macanley. "I just got 30,000 on Defender and that's really good for me."
Macanley said the people have been friendly and he is excited to be among some of the best players in the world and seeing them in action.
Flying in from Coulee, Wash., was Jason Boyens. This year marked his third appearance in the tournament. He had come to Funspot several years ago when he was visiting his family and heard about the tournament, but he never thought about doing it until a few years ago.
"Most of these games you can't find many places," said Boyens. "It's a kick meeting some of the best players here. It's all friendly competition and it's a good experience."
Gamers including Chris Donahue from Wakefield MA have gathered once again at Funspot for the annual Classic Game Tournament being held at The Weirs through the weekend.
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Boyens' favorite game at Funspot is Xevious, a scrolling shooter game that is not in the tournament, but is in the museum. He said he will play it at some point during the week since it takes nine hours to beat — a feat he has done on a single token.
"I'm looking forward to coming back next year and the year after that," he said.
Boyens said it was like Christmas morning when the games for this year were finally revealed. In an effort to maintain a fair and balanced playing field, the annual International Classic Videogame Tournament did not announce the competition games until the first day of the event. Each year, new games are chosen, with this year's games including Ring King, Quantam, Defender, Sini Star, Astro Fighter, and Up Scope, among many more classics.
As an exception to the rule, the tournament announced the first-ever "World Championships of After Burner."
Mike Stulir, a volunteer for the ACAM Tournament, said this is a new aspect of the tournament and something that people are excited about.
"We're doing something a little different from what we have traditionally done in the past," said Stulir. "We've always been about the classic games, but something we're doing with Sega is they have their brand new After Burner game out for Xbox and Playstation. What we've done is to try to marry the old and the new."
Contestants will be playing both the original, coin-operated version of After Burner from 1987 as well as the new After Burner Climax game for Xbox 360. The games feature a simulation of aerial military dogfighting presented from a third-person perspective.
Gary Vincent, president of the American Classic Arcade Museum, said he looks forward to bringing a new element to the annual competition.
Tina Gebhard, left, takes down the high score set by William Willemstyn of Grand Rapids, Mich., on Rezcue as gamers gather once again at Funspot for the annual Classic Game Tournament.
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"We are pleased to have the backing of Sega of America for this competition," said Vincent. "Sega has a long and rich history in the coin-op arcade world and many Sega games are preserved in our museum. We are anxious to present the merging of classic and modern After Burner game-play."
Another new item at the tournament that Vincent is excited about is the use of Apple's newest phenomenon, the iPad. Instead of using a pad of paper and a pen, scorekeepers will be using the debut Aurcade Tournament System enabled on an iPad that allows staff to post scores to a website that constantly updates scores in real-time scoring.
The iPad will allow the scorekeepers to enter the information and players will see a preview to electronically sign their scores. For players, real-time standings and scores are shown on a projected screen for all to see.
David Hernly, owner of Aurcade.com, the official scoring partner to the American Classic Arcade Museum, said they were looking for something portable for the tournament and iPad was just what they were looking to have.
"We used to have to write down the badge number, the date, the name of the game, the score and then have the player initial," said Hernly. "[The iPad is] fast, easier and it's in real time."
Instead of scores taking a day to update, they are now updated within 30 seconds — something Hernly believes might make this year one of the most competitive years of the tournament.
Those who are not able to make it to Funspot this year can view the real-time standings at www.Aurcade.com, he noted.
The American Classic Arcade Museum at Funspot has been featured in numerous magazines and has appeared in several films. Many scenes from the critically acclaimed "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" were filmed inside the famous arcade, as were scenes from "Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade," a documentary by Men at Work Pictures of New York. In March 2008, Harbor House Pictures of New Rochelle, N.Y., filmed inside the arcade museum for six straight days for their upcoming film, "Altar of the Unnamed."
The tournament will continue through Sunday, June 6. The remaining tournament hours are Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
