Good point Steve. But why do these guys show up early to practice if you can shove any game in front of them and they will dominate it?

Listen, this is virtually unprovable. Dwayne heard a rumor, I heard, Mike O'Neill heard and no one will ever own up. I'm gonna stop pissing my time away arguing about it.

I think this discussion is going into the direction of wanton speculation now. It's not even worthy of future comments...especially when they end up getting picked apart due to further speculation.

Believe what you will, but know that you are completely wrong in your speculations and your own hypotheses.

As for that last comment which ranks as the dumbest one in this thread so far...why can't the manufacturer games be changed if it is realized that "pros" have guessed games properly. Are you for real ? In the 2-3 days before the event, after all the vetting efforts and repairs efforts are done, to start from scratch and pick new titles, that is like if those who are in charge of running the NYC Marathon telling all competitors 3 days beforehand that the route is being changed. Are you out of your mind ? How much time do you think exists to make sweeping changes in the final day before the event ?

And that other equally idiotic comment...why do some players show up early to practice if they will dominate any game released. Answer is simple...why not ? It's a free country, some are there on vacation before the event, and others are just simply hanging out and playing what they feel like. Why is that so sinister and devious ? Would you effectively ban anyone from the arcade area for the week beforehand to prevent this, or just ban "the pros". Plain and simple, some players are there in advance of the event...period., end of story.

Until you ground your expectations and speculations in reality, it is clear that no answer to any question will ever appease you. And it seems like your "ideal event" would be 15-20 titles that have never been on the floor where no local player or attendee has an advantage, So...care to donate that much for the next year's event to make it happen ? Otherwise your speculations are baseless and without merit.

Robert

Hi all, I was not at the event, but I think this discussion touches on why weekend-long tournaments with this format seem somewhat problematic. This is just my two cents based on what little I know, and certainly I'm no authority on the matter whatsoever.

It doesn't matter if someone leaks the list, to me, because if some of the players showing up have played 2000 more hours of a certain game than others, those players are going to crush that game on the first or second attempt. I know I could devise a list of games that I'd have a decided advantage in putting up decent scores on, on the first or second game, regardless of practice. I could devise another list wherein I'd have no possible way of competing.

I think it might be better to actually include many MORE games in the tournaments like this, rather than to trying to limit the # of games to just a handful. I realize it's probably a gigantic undertaking, and might be daunting to officiate and track, but if there were 40 games in the tournament, players wouldn't be able to focus on practicing just 1 game, and you'd get a better sense of overall caliber because you'd have a wider range of games. It would also lessen the impact that practicing on one game would have on the overall scoring.

Again, just my two cents.

This discussing has turned into peice of shit comedy. Lets discuss why dk2 is suddenly a classic game when it was made in 2007

Amen to all you just said above Mike. Our speculation is not baseless and without merit Robert. Mike saw and heard everything and it was all confirmed by a third party not involved in the tourney.

I showed up to have fun, and did, but to find out my money goes to cheaters blows.

Hey Mike isnt the person who had the list and didn't show Robert?....probably why he is being super defensive about all this. Might wanna watch calling my comments on here idiotic Robert...just a kind heads up.

I don't think it would be terribly difficult to change games at the last second. RushnAttack was brought in like this in 2010 and it seemed to go seamlessly. So why couldn't Life Force be swapped with Frogger....or Astro Blaster be switched with Death Race. All it takes is a dolly and entering the new game in the scoring database.

IMO The only prizes won legit this year were 3 of the pinballs. The 4th pinball was won by a rep for aurcade, and everyone else cashing knew the games in advance.

Somebody private messaged me "A-SCAM"....made me snort coke out my nose it was so funny.

Rob Ross Wrote: Amen to all you just said above Mike. Our speculation is not baseless and without merit Robert. Mike saw and heard everything and it was all confirmed by a third party not involved in the tourney. I showed up to have fun, and did, but to find out my money goes to cheaters blows. Hey Mike isnt the person who had the list and didn't show Robert?....probably why he is being super defensive about all this. Might wanna watch calling my comments on here idiotic Robert...just a kind heads up. I don't think it would be terribly difficult to change games at the last second. RushnAttack was brought in like this in 2010 and it seemed to go seamlessly. So why couldn't Life Force be swapped with Frogger....or Astro Blaster be switched with Death Race. All it takes is a dolly and entering the new game in the scoring database. IMO The only prizes won legit this year were 3 of the pinballs. The 4th pinball was won by a rep for aurcade, and everyone else cashing knew the games in advance. Somebody private messaged me "A-SCAM"....made me snort coke out my nose it was so funny.

I am glad it is your opinion, because like I said, I had no prior knowledge. Furthermore, you are calling my credibility and my friends' credibility as honest people into question, publicly, and have presented no basis for doing so. That's very uncool, and unacceptable.

moneill001 Wrote: As far as rumor control. I personally knew half those game might or would be in the tourney. Kosmic Kruiser, Wacko, Space Encounters, Astro Blaster, Depth Charge, Carnival....Christ, Space Fury has four buttons and I'm missing fingers on my right hand. No chance on that one. I was pretty much at Funspot daily. Now as far as a list going out, what I was finally told, 8 people recieved it. I know 7 names. I'll keep to myself if it's true. Did I practice those games? Got better shit to do. Would I have won the tournament? If it was 10 grand I would of made sure some people didn't make it but I'm not that caliber of classic gamer. I thought most of those games were crap to begin with anyway. Certain gamers did show up and oddly played those exact games that were on the floor. Another gamer and myself joked about it for about 3 weeks because they were playing games from a list. Days before the competition those same gamers came in and one remarked to the other that he was not playing one of the games from the list. During the tournament an individual deeply rooted with Funspot, out of the blue, said that 8 persons including people participating knew the games well in advance of the tournament. Out of that supposed list 6 finished in the top twenty, one I have no clue, and the 8th never showed. It actually wasn't anything new to me and my friend that were participating but did confirm what we saw, heard and had joked about constantly. Whether or not this list exist I truely don't care but it would be shady. I'm not in the elite classic gamer rub cocks club. I'm in the I play to have fun and I will sacrifice a world record to stare at some chicks ass club.

Speaking with people, 3 weeks ago the people who were there were making a list of all the games that needed repairs. They tested every single game, and have been doing this procedure for years.

Is this the list you are referring to?

moneill001 Wrote: @falcor781. Like I said. I don't know and I really don't care. I didn't mention names because it is technically all here say. My name was mentioned so I told my end of the rumor story. I didn't start the rumor nor am I doubting your credibility as a world class classic arcade gamer nor do I give a shit that you are. I judge people on their character not there high score on a 30 yr old video game. As long as most of you have been playing classic arcade games I would hope that you would be good at them. Ive met bigger asswipes with more integrity and honor.

I mean cred as honest people -- all of us. Cred as a gamer is irrelevant, and not important as you've said.

Gary and the rest put in hundreds of hours to run this tourney every year, at a loss no less. Claiming that these people have shady dealings (for what possible reason?) is ridiculous and people should be ashamed.

8 new games were announced on facebook, this very site and probably other places. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that they might be in the tourney. Mr.Do's Wild Ride and Gaplus were also games that were relatively new but were never in the tourney, prime picks there as well. The real surprises are the new games, which is getting tougher for the organisers every year.

Here's a preview for you, Stratovox, Black Widow, Solar Fox and Disks of Tron are new but haven't been in the tourney yet.

In my experience, rumors are never accurate.

Rob Ross Wrote: And indeed Clint came top 20 without knowing the games, which is great, but your score Clint is less than half of the top 3 players. You got crushed....we all got crushed.

Yes, you're right, I got crushed, but I still had fun. It was my first time ever competing. At some point, I decided to shift my focus over to the pinball challenge because I realized I was playing the main tourney games and I wasn't able to improve any of my scores. It was also frustrating that on two of the games, I put up personal bests on the very first try and never was able to best it throughout the whole tourney.. My Rally X score was still top 5 and the rest of the games were middle of the field. I had to shift my focus to pinball because I had skills there too. I ended up winning one day (yes, I'm the Aurcade rep that won... my first time playing that game too).

Bottom line, I enjoyed my time there. I had never been to Funspot before, I had only been to New Hampshire one other time. I got to meet many great people for the first time. I got to play games I had never played before or had not played in years. I had a great time.