הpp0¢הhd0¢הju1¢הlm1¢הrm38¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢updated 7:25pm 28.Aug.98.PDT¢¢WIRED MAGAZINE¢¢Something Old, Something New¢by Lauren Fielder¢¢6:20pm 24.Aug.98.PDT¢¢Trade shows that tout PlayStation, Nintendo, Sega, and their ilk would seem to signal the death of the classics. But there are still enough Atari, Intellivision, and Coleco enthusiasts breathing life into the old systems to conjure up a Pac-Man-sized convention of their own.¢¢The International Classic Video/Computer Game Expo, or more casually, World of Atari '98, took place over the weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, marking what Atari Gaming Headquarters Web site editor Keita Iida hopes is the first of many such shows to come. Atari Gaming Headquarters, along with the World of Atari's main sponsor and show promoter, Rich Tsukiji, sponsored the production with hopes of creating an atmosphere for serious classic game fans and new patrons on the retro game bandwagon. While the attendance was in the hundreds rather than the tens of thousands, Iida said the atmosphere was cozy, fun, and even more focused than the corporate spreads E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) and Comdex have become.¢¢"Everyone there had a shared interest in classic games. It was definitely more of a niche audience," said Iida. "Everyone was smiling and talking about games -- it was friendly. There wasn't the same sense of competition you find at an E3 or Comdex. You didn't have the companies competing for everyone's attention."¢¢The show was more than just a bunch of dusty systems and reminiscing game-players. Third-party peripheral company Nyko set up a booth to show off its new PlayStation Trackball Controller, an item that fans of Marble Madness, Missile Command, and Centipede will appreciate when trying to simulate the arcade feel on their Sony console systems.¢¢The showstoppers were the speeches by gaming industry legends: Rob Fulop, the designer of Cosmic Ark, Demon Attack, Missile Command, and many others; Leonard Herman, the video game historian and author of Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames; and John Harris, the designer of Frogger and Mouseattack, among others, for the Atari 8-bit systems. "Reading in a history book is one thing," Iida said. "But doing that, you really can't get into the same detail. Someone who is really into this stuff will dig seeing these people."¢¢Iida said he hopes that next year's event will grow in attendance, and he wants to begin planning the event even earlier. It's not likely, even with the dedicated followers, that the World of Atari show will ever be the size of E3. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.¢¢¢Copyright 1994-98 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved. ¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢¢
