MacGurl Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 AGE is finally over and it was an awesome show! There were TONS more people there than expected, so it was a tad crowded. I'll let one of the Al's divulge the final count of people since I'm not sure what the final tally was. I'll just post one pic for now. I'm sure as the others recover, they'll be posting their pictures. There picture here is of about half the room, so you can see it was pretty packed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGurl Posted July 27, 2003 Author Share Posted July 27, 2003 XBox Tourney's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 All I can say is WOW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGurl Posted July 27, 2003 Author Share Posted July 27, 2003 Enjoying some Jaguar goodness.... The goofy guy in the blue shirt..is BigPlayer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 looks like you had a big crowd. I hope to get that big of crowd VGS'04. (If any body is doing a report on the show let me knowI'll put it in the upcoming issue of atari zone fanzine(how did Jagfest at AGE turn out btw)) Dan Iacovelli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Sauron Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 (how did Jagfest at AGE turn out btw))Dan Iacovelli Dan, check here for a brief rundown of JF. I'll post a more detailed report later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMegaManFan Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 I can safely say that there were easily over 1500 general admission tickets sold - since I sat at the ticket booth selling tickets for about 5-6 hours. That didn't count all the people who pre-registered, or all of the vendor tickets. It was an awesome show - lots of fun for everyone. Was happy to see some familiar faces (Ed Siegler, Albert, and Big Player) and meet some new people as well! (cvo, Alex, MacGurl, Sauron, and several others I can't remember right now!) Looking forward to attending AGE2 next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cvo Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 I have but two words to say about this year's first show: DAMN, BABY!!! Okay I had set my attendance expectations low just to not disappoint myself. I was not disappointed. We easily had 1500+ people, but as MacGurl said, we'll let Alex and Albert give the total tally. Most importantly, we had FUN. I mean I had a BLAST. I got to wear many different hats during the show, and as a result I got to meet many different people. I finally got to meet Brendan, MrsMMF, MrMMF, Big Player, Joe Grand, Tempest and Ed Siegler. I got to meet back up with Sauron and MacGurl. We had a great time just being goofy and enjoying all the people enjoying the show. We had such an amazing amount of positive feedback from both vendors AND attendees that it just added to the festive mood. I am way too tired right now to say much more, but the gist of it is that I can not frickin wait til AGE part II. :D Thanks to EVERYONE who helped out during the show and helped make this show the amazing, huge, wonderful success that it was. Carolyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 As for Age 2.0 ... in the immortal words of Roy Scheider from Jaws: "We're Gonna need a bigger boat" Even with all the added space and more that Albert and Alex secured and tried to secure more, it definitely needed even more room, Matt told me that by about 1pm attendance was already past the 1,000 counted and confirmed mark and people were still flooding in, yikes!!! Curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z28in82 Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 DAMN, Wish I had been there to see all the good stuff, but there is always next year (I Hope) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalpress Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 WOW that's awesome, fellas! Congratulations on a job well done. I don't think anyone in the history of gaming events has ever pulled off an "over 1000 attendee" event on their first shot before, nice job. I wish I could have been there, hopefully the spacing between this and CGE is better next year. I'm waiting for our correspondent to send his pics over, we've got 150+ to share. From these prelim pics and the reports I've gotten the event sounds a lot like PhillyClassic 2, where the turnout was just way beyond what anyone expected. If you can find a place with about TWICE the space you've got in these pics you should be sized just about right. Again, congrats on a job well done and for bringing gamers together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 WOW that's awesome, fellas! Congratulations on a job well done. I don't think anyone in the history of gaming events has ever pulled off an "over 1000 attendee" event on their first shot before, nice job. I wish I could have been there, hopefully the spacing between this and CGE is better next year. I'm waiting for our correspondent to send his pics over, we've got 150+ to share. From these prelim pics and the reports I've gotten the event sounds a lot like PhillyClassic 2, where the turnout was just way beyond what anyone expected. If you can find a place with about TWICE the space you've got in these pics you should be sized just about right. Again, congrats on a job well done and for bringing gamers together! I agree with joe, this has to be a first for Videogame trade shows, to have 1000 people on the first year. Plus the fact that age was first announced in may (which is about 3 months away from the show date). Dan Iacovelli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 I haven't uploaded any of our pictures yet, but that's mostly because I'm waiting to see what "post-con" activities we'll do while we're still in town and if we'll take the camera along to get a few more pics. Needless to say though I concur with the Mrs - the attendance was OUTSTANDING, and boy did it get hot in that ballroom the first couple of hours! It was great to see so many AA people and get to meet some more of the ones I hadn't before; it was also outstanding to shoot the breeze with Paul Slocum about his projects (I still owe you a Homestar Runner coaster, you'll get it I promise), Big Player about his l33t Climber skills (hey Albert, how much do I have to bribe you to take home that 95% finished prototype), Ed Siegler about gaming in general, Joe Siegler about Duke Nukem 2600, and before I forget and leave MacGurl or Alex or Brian Eno or somebody out let me just say EVERYBODY ABOUT EVERYTHING. It was a fantastic con and even if we don't see anybody today for a post-shop wrap, I'm hella happy that we came. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 AGE was amazing. When I looked out the door at 9:30 and saw the line of people waiting to get in wrapping aorund the hotel lobby I knew we were in for a huge turn out. I honestly did not get to see as much of AGE as I would have liked due to the fact that I had to watch the AGE museum items that Curt Vendel loaned for the show (which contained several one of a kind items such as the Jag Duo, Cosmos, and Game Brain). It's amazing at the number of people will read the four big "Please do not touch items on display" signs you have on the table and then go and pick them up anyway. Arrrggghhh.... The arcade was very nice, it's not often you see a dedicated Major Havoc machine on free play. I had the high score for most of the day on that and Gyruss. Too bad that once the expo started all the machines had lines three people deep or I would have played more. I also saw someone blow through Space Ace and Dragons Lair II back to back which was an amazing sight to behold for sure. The vendors were a good mix of modern and classic gaming. If you couldn't find something you needed at AGE, you obviously weren't looking hard enough. I personally walked away with a ADAM disk drive and some tapes (and I wasn't drunk this time!), a C64 disk drive (finally!), a Timex Sinclair (just because), a decked out Apple IIgs (a nice replacement for my IIe), and several loose carts. Now the big challenege is trying to get all that crap in my suit case! However my favorite AGE memory will have to be styrofoam volleyball. Who knew Cvo could spike a little ball like that? Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari and Beer Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 I made the drive up from San Antonio, and got to the convention about 15 minutes before it opened and was amazed at the crowd already in line. I knew it was going to be a big show, and Im sure the numbers far exceeded what was expected. Thier was a nice selection of vendors, and I was able to pick up several boxed and loose 2600 games mostly commons that have eluded me along with other stuff. The crowd was large and I was shoulder to shoulder with people for the few hours I was there. My son enjoyed all the free play games there. I was hoping to see more Jaguar games for sale, but there was only a few. Atariage had a beautiful setup there. All in all, it was a great show and I expect next year it will be bigger and better. As I seen in other posts a location twice the size will be perfect. Cant wait for next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cvo Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 However my favorite AGE memory will have to be styrofoam volleyball. Who knew Cvo could spike a little ball like that? Tempest Hehehe!!! :D DUDE we schooled you and Dale. Even though you switched out later with Joe Grand, you were still key in being a good fair referee for the other games. Next year we will see who is the styrofoam volleyball master. More smack talk to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 Still recovering from the madness of yesterday (we haven't even unpacked the truck yet!), but I wanted to post a quick message here, and another picture. First, the show was a huge success, and we had an amazing turnout that far exceeded our expectations. We thought perhaps 1,000 people would show up, but there were over 2,000 people at the event. This includes about 150 vendor passes, as well as some free passes (around 40) that we distributed before the show, but the rest were paid admissions (either at the door or in advance). There was a wide variety of vendors, catering to the interests of classic and modern gaming, as well as the awesome video arcade games and pinball machines brougth by various companies and individuals. Unfortunately I didn't get much hands-on time in the arcade as there were people on the machines full-time, and I was pretty damn busy. The DDR tournament was a huge hit, and the Texas state champion was here at the event and won the AGE DDR tournament as well. I want to thank everyone who helped with the event, from the organizers to the many volunteers who provided invaluable assistance before, during, and after the show. I talked to many people who frequent our forums, and many of you came a great distance to attend! Because of the large number of people who attended the event (the first hour saw an influx of 500 people), the room was pretty packed for most of the day. I didn't have any problems walking around, although I had to route around the mass of people watching the DDR tournament as well as the four projection televisions LAN's Edge was using for Xbox tournaments. It definitely was quite warm in the room at times--the hotel told me the air coming out of the vents was at 61 degrees, but the room was hovering at around 76 degrees most of the time. Next year we'll a much larger space in a facility that can cope with the heat generated by lage numbers of people and equipment. Time to go unload the truck so it can be returned, but I'll leave you with another shot of the hall.. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 One of the location television stations, Channel 8, was at the show from around 6:30am until 9:00am or so, and took a lot of footage before the show opened. Here's a link to a story, as well as a minute and a half spot of video they shot: http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_sto....asp?ArID=78833 Keep in mind this was before the doors opened, which is about the only time there was "peace and quiet" at the show. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cvo Posted July 27, 2003 Share Posted July 27, 2003 A Mr. John Romero made his appearance at AGE and turned a few heads and made people do double takes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 WOW. That is incredible. Well done, and congrats on the awesome opening. Cant wait to see more pics!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 Wow... now I am even more angry that I couldn't be there! Maybe next year... so hey, how about an event in or near Atlanta??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 It appears I have the same problem Albert had tonight at the resteraunt when I offered him our floppy disk to copy the photos we took - no portable drive. Ack! Seems I forgot to pack the 3.5"er and left it plugged into my USB hub. I promise, when we get home tonight, I'll post all of our con photos, including tonight's "Pocky" mayhem and various Lords of the (coaster) Rings mugging for photos. I'm really sorry we couldn't make it to bowling tonight, but dinner was great and we're very glad we stayed today to see everybody again before we hit the road. Thanks to one and all - we look forward to staying longer and doing more next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angusjake Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 Congrats folks for putting on a great looking show! Now I'm saving to attend next year's show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cvo Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 We closed a great weekend tonight with bowling, thanks to MacGurl's suggestion (while drunk, I might add, hehehe)! We went to a 24 hr bowling place that was actually pretty busy for a Sunday night. After Mr. Joe Grand beat all of us in the first round, I came back to school him in the 2nd round. Big Player (Mike) and Sauron (Tim) were some crazy hustlers, though, and gave us a run for the money. :D And it was so funny b/c Sauron hates bowling!! HUSTLER!!!!!!!! :P And Pocky (formerly known as Tempest) was playing like Forrest Gump on a jimmy. heheheheh!!!! :D I think that people in comas can bowl faster than Pocky can. We had a blast playing and ended a great weekend on a great note. I can't wait to see everyone again next year. Hopefully we will all have more time next year after AGE to hang out and do more crazy stuff. I am still on my high from this weekend's success and fun crazy memories. Thanks again you guys!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Sauron Posted July 28, 2003 Share Posted July 28, 2003 AGE was definitely a blast, and I had plenty of fun hanging out with the gang afterwards! Unfortunately, there were a few people I didn't get to meet, due to the mayhem of the show. However, I still met quite a few people, and had a blast hanging out with many of them! I can't wait for next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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