The Stephenson Families' Great Californian Adventure

2 words - CALIFORNIA EXTREME! Yes, geek fest number 2 was upon us, infinately less geeky that CGE but definately more hardcore geek-tastic. CalEx is a yearly arcade game collectors expo primarily aimed at collectors of vintage arcade video games but with a wider audience being catered for by more recent games as well as pinballs. This is an event I had wanted to attend for many years and finally it was pretty much on my doorstep. Unfortunately things have been very busy in the Stephenson household lately so I could only attend for one day but it was a superb day out. There were several hundred video games and probably the same amount of pinballs, all set to freeplay. Most of the games come from private collections (not sure I'd want my games there for public consumption!) and there were some one of a kind rareities and prototypes, as well as some incredibly restored games from the early to mid 70s. There was also an arcade auction taking place (as it sounds - bid on lots, each one being a full arcade machine), a film festival mostly consisting of documentries on classic games companies and events, high score compos and much more. Some of the machines on the show floor were also for sale at pretty reasonable prices. I decided to pass this time, but it hurt! ;-)

7 hours of classic gaming ensued, followed by a long but satisfying drive home... great times, definately one to repeat next year.

Its Taito-tastic!

Geeky-gamer or just "big boned"? You decide ;)