Back in 1997, there was a small convention in Philadelphia called the Electronicon. It was one of the earliest classic game shows and featured guest, Howard Scott Warshaw of ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Yar's Revenge fame. The show was spread over a few hotel rooms and had 35 or so attendees.
Jump forward to 2002, to the 3rd annual Phillyclassic (an entirely different show, with only the city of origin being the same). This time it was in a huge convention hall and had over 1,000 attendees! It also featured a guest of honor, Bob Polaro, who made Defender, Road Runner, Sprintmaster and other games for the Atari 2600. What a difference 5 years make.
The above comparison was to show you just how far the classic game market has gone. From someone who has attended both the Electronicon as well as the Phillyclassic (also, the CGE, CCAG and Cincicon), I have seen the interest as well as the attendance jump rapidly. The Phillyclassic alone has gone from 60+ attendees in 2000, to 250+ people in 2001, to over 1,000 this year! That is an amazing growth and is hard to ignore. But what is it about this show that draws so many people to it? Let us examine what has made the Phillyclassic so popular as well as classic gaming.
The one thing that can be said about the Phillyclassic is that there is plenty to offer a game fan. From the 100 or so tables of games, systems and controllers for sale, trade or display to the 70 games in the arcade to dozen or so tournaments to the auction and door prizes, Phillyclassic offered allot to do and to enjoy. If you were a fan of video games, in the slightest, you were in hog heaven! If you were not a fan of the games, you could not help but be taken in by the excitement and the energy that was generated at the show. There was a sense of excitement that can only be matched by opening a brand new game system and playing that first game you waited so long to play.
The first thing you will notice when you entered the Phillyclassic was the sheer size of the room. With over 15,000 square feet, there was more than enough room to accommodate the large crowd. This was a good thing after the 2001 show that was a much bigger hit than expected and ended up with a room that was overflowing with fans. David and the gang must be commended on doing everything possible to insure that this show ran smoothly and that space was not a problem.
Once you got past the cavernous size of the room, you will quickly see the many vendors, collectors and others who fill up the tables. As you look around, you will see that there are games from every era for sale or display. From Pong to Playstation 2, from the Microvision to the Microsoft X-Box, there are games for anyone. From the obscure like the nearly impossible to find, Supergraphx, to the extremely popular Nintendo 8-Bit to the first big system, the Atari 2600, you have a ton of games for your purchase or to play on the many systems set up around the show. At least from my experience, the most popular systems at the show were the Atari 2600 and the Nintendo 8-Bit.
Wbile game buying was a popular pastime at the show, the arcade had to rank a very close second. Boasting nearly 70 arcade machines, with many classics like Asteroids, Dragon's Lair, Pacman to name a few as well as some games that are rarely seen like the video game/pinball hybrid Baby Pacman and the follow-up to Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, the arcade had a great mix of games and they were all set to free play! You could get your admission price back in the arcade alone!
Another big hit at the show was the dozen or so tournaments that were held. Some of these included Dance Dance Revolution, Warlords, Bust-A-Move and Burgertime. All the tournaments were free to join and prizes were given to the best gamers. There was also an arcade tournament and Walter Day of Twin Galaxies was there to immortalize anyone who set a world record.
While all of this was going on, there were also door prizes. With a wide selection of different items available, including a Pacman memorbilia book, a poster signed by Nolan Bushnell and lots of other goodies, there was plenty of reason to pay attention to your number. But when it came time to give away a Microsoft X-Box (with one given away each day), everyone stopped to see if his or her number was the lucky one.
The second day featured an auction that saw both new and old items up for the highest bidder. Extremely rare Atari carts like Crazy Climber, Rubik's Cube and Swordquest Waterworld, were auctioned off alongside an X-Box, Turbo express and custom made classic game cabinets. While not all items met the reserved bid, many deals were available for the attendees that still had some disposable cash on hand.
A nice moment at the show was the award ceremony for the family of the late Scott Safran, who was the Asteroids world champion and only recently found. It was a touching moment at the show and the dignity and class that was shown by Walter Day and the rest of the people involved should be applauded. It was good to see Scott get the recognition he so justly deserved.
All in all, the show was an astounding success! Every aspect of the show was much greater than the year before, from the size of the show, to the number of attendees, to the size of the arcade and the number of things to do. The only thing that didn't go up too much was the prize. It went from a mere $7.00 in 2001 u0p to $10.00 in 2002, for people who preregistered. Considering how much was available to you, that prize was the biggest bargain at the show!
(For more information about the show as well as pictures of the show, check out the official show site at http://www.phillyclassic.com)
