2011 12th Annual International Classic Video Game Tournament at Funspot Announced

Just got work from Gary Vincent from the American Classic Arcade Museum at Funspot in Laconia, NH that they have announced the dates for the 2011  International Classic Video Game Tournament. Some of you may remember my coverage of the 2009 event and my earlier blog covering all the classic gaming goodness at ACAM. This is an opportunity to witness and participate in the largest classic coin-op video game competition in the country, if not the world. Funspot is where portions of the movies King of Kong and Chasing Ghosts were filmed. Every year this event attracts world class players such as Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell, Justin Wong, Todd Rogers and many up and coming players like Hank Chien. So mark your calendar and plan to join us for this event. I will be there.

12th Annual International Classic Video Game Tournament Seeks Players from Every State

Weirs Beach, NH, 3/8/2010 -- The annual International Classic Videogame Tournament is quickly approaching, and 2010 marks the 12th year for this historic event. The tournament will take place from Thursday, June 3rd through Sunday, June 6th, 2010. Tournament hours are Thursday Noon-10pm, Friday and Saturday 10am-11pm and Sunday 10am-5pm. Admission is $40 and includes 200 game tokens and a commemorative color poster provided courtesy of The American Classic Arcade Museum. This year's tournament is sponsored in part by WPNH 101.1 FM , WFTN 94.1 FM , WSCY 106.9 FM & Gamer Soda. The first 200 registrants will receive a commemorative T-shirt and goodie bag.

Registration will be at the door only. The annual event is held at the Funspot Family Entertainment Super Center on Route 3 in Weirs Beach, NH. Funspot is the largest arcade in the world and home to The American Classic Arcade Museum.

The 2009 tournament saw 160 entrants from 26 different states and 3 foreign countries. The goal for 2010 is to have at least one attendee from every state. Throughout the history of the tournament, there have been attendees from almost every state but not at the same time.

Each year, championship-caliber players from across the United States and around the world gather for four days of classic game competition, and the fun of playing their favorites in the world’s largest collection of classic arcade games still operating in an arcade setting. Players have come from as far away as Australia, Canada, England, Israel, Holland, Ireland and Finland to attend this fun-filled event.

Funspot has a long history of hosting competitive events dating back to the early 1970’s when they hosted slot car races on their huge indoor track. In 1978, Funspot founder Bob Lawton started the Friday Night Pinball Tournaments which attracted players from across New Hampshire. In 1980 pinball leagues were added to the roster of competitions. These events proved so popular that the weekly results were posted in local newspapers and attracted the attention of coin-op industry publications RePlay and PlayMeter. Frequent competitive video game tournaments started in 1979 with the state-wide Space Invaders tournament and continued on with “Video Game of the Week” contests where players would earn a roll of tokens for having the highest score at the end of the week. These contests were held at all the Funspot locations during the arcade boom years starting in 1980. In 1999, the first International Classic Game Tournament was held at Funspot and the tradition of this event continues today. In 2009, Funspot commemorated 30 years of competitive video game events at the facility by holding another Space Invaders competition during the 11th Annual International Classic Videogame Tournament.

For the 2010 tournament, there will be a 15 game video game contest and the Manufacturer’s Challenge featuring 6 classic games from a single manufacturer. Last year, Stern was the manufacturer of choice. Which company will it be this year? To keep the competition playing field as even as possible, the game selections will not be announced until Thursday, June 3rd, the first day of the 4-day event.

Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the video game tournament. First place will be $750, second place $300 and third place $100. There will be a $250 prize for the1st place winner of the Manufacturer’s Challenge. In addition, $50 prizes will be awarded to the winner of each daily Mystery Game Tournament; a popular segment which requires entrants to compete on only one game.

The American Classic Arcade Museum at Funspot has been featured in numerous magazines and has appeared in several films. Many scenes from the critically acclaimed “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” were filmed inside the famous arcade as were scenes from “Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade,” a documentary by Men at Work Pictures of New York. In March of 2008, Harbor House Pictures of New Rochelle, NY filmed inside the arcade museum for six straight days for their upcoming film, “Altar of the Unnamed.”

Hailed as “The Mecca of Classic Gaming” by MSNBC, The American Classic Arcade Museum at Funspot is the first 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and displaying vintage coin-operated amusements. Located on the third floor of the immense Funspot Family Entertainment Super Center, the museum celebrates the origins of the arcade industry with popular games from the past. Asteroids, Pac-Man, Centipede and Gorgar are just a few of the nearly 300 games in the classic arcade museum. The museum also contains static displays of game history and the walls feature many posters of vintage arcade games.

The Funspot Family Entertainment Super Center is located on Route 3 in Weirs Beach, NH. The facility was founded in 1952 by Bob Lawton and has been continuously operated by him and his family ever since. The 60,000 square foot center features over 500 games, 20 bowling lanes, a miniature golf course, a 400-seat Bingo hall, a restaurant, the D.A. Long Tavern, and a state of the art indoor golf center featuring six Full-Swing Golf Simulators. In June 2008, Guinness World Records named Funspot the largest arcade in the world. Funspot and The American Classic Arcade Museum are open year-round.

More information can be found at www.funspotnh.com and www.ClassicArcadeMuseum.org.

Funspot – Route 3, Weirs Beach, NH (603) 366-4377

 

Tournament Facility Guidelines
1.  Outside organizations are not allowed to have staff wearing clothing or uniforms that could mistakenly identify them as an "official" or anyone of authority within our facility. The display of these clothing items creates confusion with event attendees, invited media and invited dignitaries.  The event is operated and funded by ACAM in conjunction with Funspot and is a joint promotion for both entities.

2.  Outside organizations will not be permitted to set up or distribute materials on the Funspot property without prior written permission.

3. Use of the Funspot and or ACAM logos is by prior written permission and approval only.

4. No one is permitted to use the Funspot property during the tournament to promote events for their businesses or organizations.

5. The free WiFi inside Funspot cannot be used for streaming video. The system was never designed for this and as such, streaming video severely impacts the ability of others to use the system.

6. Video recording of another player’s game play may only be done with explicit permission from that player. As always, players may record their personal game play.

7. The setup of console games is not permitted without permission from Funspot and or ACAM.

8. Outside entities may not operate events at Funspot without written permission from Funspot.