Austin Gaming
Expo
Last issue it
was the UK JagFest, and this issue the Austin
Gaming Expo or as it turned out the Atari Gaming
Expo.
Atari was really
showing its colors at this year's show. Several
booths had vintage software and game systems
for all to view and some to play.
When I arrived
at 11:00 the hotel lobby was crowded and there
was a long line most of the day just to get
into the show. The show had most major vendors
from the newest to the oldest game systems out
on the market.
![[Photo: Signing up to enter]](images/age1.jpg)
When I walked
through the door I was not expecting the wall-to-wall
crowd that was filling every open space.
![[Photo: Crowd just inside the entrance]](images/age2.jpg)
Once I made it
through the door I found a well-known Macintosh
software company with a large display of new
games. Aspyr is located in Austin and was showing
off new games on the Power Mac.
![[Photo: Aspyr booth]](images/age3.jpg)
Next to Aspyr
was the Atari Age booth with Alex and Albert
manning the long line of Atari 2600. They
were one of the sponsors and had a large booth.
![[Photo: AtariAge's 2600 consoles]](images/age4.jpg)
![[Photo: Del at AtariAge]](images/age5.jpg)
Several vendors
had tables full of game cartridges from Atari
2600 to Xbox and everything in between. There
was a good showing of 5200 and 8-bit games.
![[Photo: Assortment of new and used 2600 games]](images/age6.jpg)
The Atari museum
had a full size display covering from pong on
one end to the Jaguar on the other.
![[Photo: Atari History booth]](images/age7.jpg)
![[Photo: More Atari history and prototypes, Jaguar VR]](images/age8.jpg)
Our good friends
at Goodwill Computer Works had a large display
table from the museum full of various game systems,
and tons of vintage stuff to sell.
![[Photo: Goodwill Computer Works' display of vintage gear]](images/age9.jpg)
AtariCart and
Pixels Past were side by side and had several
game cartridges for sale. Joe Grand was
there showing and selling his SCSIcide cartridge game
on the 2600.
![[Photo: AtariCart and Pixels Past]](images/age10.jpg)
B & C ComputerVisions
had a small table and was selling software.
![[Photo: B & C ComputerVisions]](images/age11.jpg)
Around the floor
you could find things like in this photo. An
Atari 800 next to a Commodore floppy drive,
a Radio Shack color computer, and a TI 99 all
playing like it was the 1980s not 2003.
![[Photo: Gamer playing Pac-Man on an Atari 800]](images/age12.jpg)
There were several
Texas Atari users wandering in the crowd. Several
of us had chatted numerous times on the internet
but now we got to meet face to face. Greg and
Tim worked the JagFest booth most of the day
while Rick had his own table. Here's Del, Rick
(hat on), Greg and Tim, all members of the Thursday
night Atari chat line.
![[Photo: Texas Atari users]](images/age13.jpg)
![[Photo: Greg and Tim running JagFest]](images/age14.jpg)
![[Photo: Atari Jaguar players]](images/age15.jpg)
Some of the larger
crowds were gathered around the free coin op
machines and pinball games.
![[Photo: Pinball machines]](images/age16.jpg)
![[Photo: Free coin ops]](images/age17.jpg)
Here's my three year old showing me she's big
enough to play the game.
![[Photo: Del's little girl]](images/age18.jpg)
The show was
open from 10:00 to 20:00 on Saturday and had
a great turn out. The guys were
already looking ahead to next year, a two day
event and a larger hall.
I'd like
to thank all the nice people who also commented
that they read MyAtari magazine each month
and enjoy it. Below are just a few links
from people who attended the expo that you should
check out.
Until next month...
del@myatari.net
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