CyberRoach

Saturday had a full program: the show opened at 9:00 AM, with the swap room opening at 9:30 and the first keynote with Jay Smith (Vectrex) starting at 10:30. After some quick browsing for deals and the first batch of show exclusives I joined Jay's keynote. Together with Vectrex-fan Chris Romero Jay had lots of interesting stories around the birth of the Vectrex, the life and ultimately the demise of this unique game system. He also talked about some of the challenges and some of the resurrection and evolution attempts which ultimately were all doomed by the video game market crash in 1983/4.

During breaks 8-Bit Weapon supported by ComputeHer and Mel-Bot played some cool video game inspired tunes. Personally I like the setup from previous years (with the live drummer) better but 8BW, ComputeHer and Mel-Bot put on a great show!

After listening to the Activision keynote we took a quick lunch break and stocked up on some more classic games. The afternoon had keynotes by the Atari Programmers and a great session with Al Alcorn during which he did a nice PowerPoint show with some rare pictures. What impressed me was the family-type feel of these keynotes, the alumni were candid in their answers and talked freely about the screw-ups and trails and errors. Overall a great set of panels!

The evening brought the famous CGE auction which went way longer than expected. There were some fantastic collectables. From prototypes and limited edition cartridges to rare promotional items and even a full-size Solid Snake statue - this auction had it all! And since it was all for charity the bids went higher and higher, especially once the (in)famous mystery boxes (aka "box o'crap") were up.

The first two boxes were duds but the third box had a handful of prototypes in it! The fourth and final box went for $1500 and contained a absolutely mint Video Life with mint instructions - one of the holy grails of Atari 2600 collecting! This cart was over 20 years old and looked brand new - a fitting final mystery box! Throughout the event auctioneer John and spokes model Crystal provided lots of entertainment for a packed room

During the evening Tim of the Las Vegas Pinball Hall Of Fame had a party going - including shuttle service and of course the Digital Press CGE Afterpar-tay claimed its victims as well. The CGE party had video games, pizza, drinks, limited edition CGE shot glasses, Crystal and friends and a poker table with the occasional prototype in the pot to  heat things up.