The next round of Classic Game Fest 2009 is being held July 31st at Game Over Video Games in Austin, TX. The tournament game this time will be Dr. Mario.
For more info, check out: http://www.gameovervideogames.com/
The next round of Classic Game Fest 2009 is being held July 31st at Game Over Video Games in Austin, TX. The tournament game this time will be Dr. Mario.
For more info, check out: http://www.gameovervideogames.com/
A costume contest has been added to the agenda, plus a screening of the 1980s Super Mario Bros. movie "classic." Plus, I'll be on hand to sign copies of my new (and old) book.
Dude, are you deliberately trying to keep people away?
Too bad I wasn't aware of this earlier. I've got to work that day. And my car's been driving a bit rough lately, I'm not sure if I feel confident driving four hours each way. So I think what Austinites need to do is everybody get on the edge of town and altogether push Austin closer to Dallas. Houston can join us, too. San Antonio could throw in with us. We could make a supercluster of a city! And I wouldn't have to drive so far to go to Houston.
Early Friday morning, I hit the road, making the three-hour trip from Fort Worth to Austin. On the way to my ultimate destination (Game Over Videogames, which was hosting a Dr. Mario tournament, and where I was scheduled to do an autographing), I hit my usual haunts, most notably various Half-Price Books locations, which stock vintage videogames (in addition to an amazing array of used books).
I got to Game Over a little early in order to look through some Genesis and SNES manuals I needed for research material for my next book(s). It was great visiting with David Kaelin, the owner of Game Over, and the staff was friendly and prepared. Unfortunately, the autographing was nothing short of a disaster.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the Dr. Mario tournament, and the costume contest was a hit. However, as a vendor, I was a total non-factor. It seemed as though no one was there to look at tables or buy anything. It was more of a hang-out, like a fourth of July picnic or something. Everyone seemed to know one another, and there were people perched on lawn chairs as though waiting for fireworks to start (later rounds of the tournament were to be displayed on a drive-in like screen in the parking lot, but I left before this happened).
In addition to my books, I had a stack of the latest Video Game Trader magazine, and only ONE person picked up an issue of VGT and thumbed through it. Maybe two or three people looked at one of my books. I also had some cheap DVD cartoon seasons for sale (at only $10 each) and some toys, but DIDN'T SELL ONE SINGLE ITEM. There were well over 100 people there, probably closer to 125 or 150, but I just sat there, bored to tears.
It was the closest thing I've ever felt to having a super power (invisibility in this case).
In short, the attendees seemed to be enjoying themselves, but they sure weren't there to shop. (This was in stark contrast to the recent Screw Attack Game Convention, where tons of people stopped by my table, and I sold a lot of books.)
Claude Rains nothwithstanding, invisibility sucks. Gimme X-ray vision any day.
Last edited by 8bitgamer; 08-02-2009 at 08:52 AM.