The 2016 Classic Arcade Gaming (dot com) Invitational Tournament   March 2016, Alameda, California

Introduction    (click here to skip to table of contents)

     The final edition of a Classic Arcade Gaming (dot com) tournament will be held at a new venue for a CAGDC event - High Scores Arcade, in Alameda, California (which is beside Oakland, and just east of San Francisco).  While it is a first-time location, we're fortunate to have previous event partners on board for the tourney (more on both of them is just below).  The two day invitational-only event will take place over the last weekend in March; specifically, Saturday March 26 and Sunday March 27, 2016.

    Like all the other editions of a CAGDC tourney, it is being co-organized by myself (Mark Alpiger, administrator of this CAGDC web site), and my location partner.  This year, I have two great partners - the husband and wife team of Meg and Shawn Livernoche, who own the arcade (and, who I partnered with for two events around 5 years ago, when they were located in New Jersey).  As always, all of the great features of previous tourneys will, of course, be continued for this event.  One of the best of those features is the ability of an entrant to actually pick a game (from the potential list of titles) to appear in the final set of tournament games.  This truly makes it an event that accommodates those who are part of it, and maximizes everyone's enjoyment.  Details on all of the 'player-friendly' features appear further down this page.

    One huge player-friendly feature at the event is the offering of two prize purses; one will be for a 'pro' division of players, and the other will be for a non-pro 'regular' division (pro players are defined as anyone who has won a main draw cash prize in any past HSA event or CAGDC annual tourney, or have had more than one established world record on a major title).  This setup will ensure that most contestants at the event won't have to directly compete against the top tier players in the hobby (as far as the ranking placement goes), thus making it more likely than ever that they'll be able to place 'in the money'.  Now, both purses feature three individual prizes, and together, the total is hundreds of dollars in prize money !  Plus, we're implementing, for the first time at a side tourney event, awards for the top finishers on individual games (which are randomly chosen).  There will be six prizes in this section of the awards, plus there's even one more prize category that's never before been offered - specifically, it's for the highest three ranking qualifiers who are at least 50 years in age (in other words, a 'senior' !).  All told, that makes for fifteen individual monetary prizes this year, which is a record number for a CAGDC event !

    As was the case for the last two CAGDC tournaments, we'll again be utilizing the incredible electronic scorekeeping system that was devised by tourney entrant David Cruz.  As always, CAGDC and David have innovated features that no other system has, and we'll have personalized results available for every single entrant in the event !  Additionally, contestants can keep track of all scores turned in for each title for any one player (or for everyone), and they will also have the ability to sort the complete event results in multiple ways.  Also, anyone with an android device can set it up to notify them when their ranking drops, which is an incredible asset for players to make sure they keep their quest for a great finish alive.  All of these unique capabilities will help everyone maximize their success by tracking themselves and other players such that they will be able to gauge where to best place their efforts at any point during the event.

    One final note about the features concerns the awards; for this edition, there's both a record amount of prize money (for a side tournament event), and the aforementioned record number of individual prizes ! Specifically, the total purse will be $620, all of it in guaranteed monetary prizes, and for the first time, outside of a main tourney event, we'll be having trophies this year for the winners of each tournament division, including for that brand new category, the senior division (again, it's for entrants that are at least 50 years in age) !  With all these chances to win in the tourney, be sure to come out and get your share of one of the more than a dozen cash prizes !  See all the details further down the page.

    Meg, Shawn, and I will look forward to seeing everyone come out and enjoy all the competitive fun, in Alameda this March.  And, since this is final edition of a CAGDC event, it's definitely one that's not to be missed !

Who will be there    (click here to go to table of contents)

    Currently, 14 players have signed up for the tourney (leaving just 6 entries available).  Both myself (Mark Alpiger) and Meg and Shawn will be signing up quite a few of each, and remember that we'll cap the entries at 20, so don't wait to join in !  I'll note that approximately the first dozen players who entered received the privilege of picking game titles to go into the event, and the organizers appreciate the terrific picks that were made !  Now, listed below are both the current entrants, and prospective players, with 'pro' division players (who qualify for a slightly bigger prize purse than the 'regular' non-pro division) noted as such.  Senior division players are also noted, and consist of entrants whose age will be 50 years old or older, as of the start of the tournament.

    Games listed under an entrant indicate tourney game titles that the player is good at.  Titles listed in green indicate that the player has chosen that title to appear in the tourney (including 'half-picks' that consisted of two entrants teaming up to put in one game).  So far, 12 tourney titles have been picked by contestants that signed up early enough for this privilege, and 0 titles have been chosen by the organizers of the event; additionally, 12 half-picks were chosen, with 8 of those becoming 4 'whole-picks'.  Thus, we have a finalized total of  16 'set' tourney titles.  While this is likely the final game count, there is the possibility that one more game will be chosen by the organizers in the coming weeks to go into the event, and if so, it will be announced here as soon as it is picked.

    Thank you very much to all the great gamers who have joined up, and thanks go out too for all the sign-ups that are still to come.  For those who entered early enough to make game picks, I appreciate your part in doing so, and that opportunity truly makes this your event !

    Wow - all those names sure make up one great list !  Well, be sure to sign up ASAP, and you can not only be part of this elite group of top gamers, and meet co-stars of The King of Kong movie (specifically, Brian, Pat and Donald, who are scheduled to appear, plus organizer Mark Alpiger), but you'll also be able to play an incredible mix of popular, and lesser-known but still great quality, game titles (click here for the list).  Oh, and one final note; we're scheduled to have a number of Atari game designers at the event, including at least one that will be competing, so you will have the unprecedented opportunity to see the designer of a game actually playing their own game title !

Reasons to attend    (click here to go to table of contents)

    For newcomers, what makes this a 'must-attend' gaming event ?  Well, High Scores Arcade is one of the nicest classic arcade gaming locations in the nation, with dozens of classic titles set up in the game room, including a number of pinball titles.  To check out the dedicated website for the location, click here.  Now, out of all of these great classic games, a selection will be picked out that includes popular titles that are specifically designed for gamers that have attended various events in recent years.  Also, while organizing this tournament (and past ones), I consulted with quite a few classic gaming aficionados to find out what they most wanted in an event, and what they would like to see addressed or perhaps improved upon (whether in regards to previous CAGDC events, or other events they've attended in the past).  So, based on that, contestants at this tournament can rely on the following things to be in place:

    .  the contest games will be working properly, with techs on call to address any issues that may arise

    .  the tourney results will be available in real-time; in addition, personalized ranking results for each gamer will be
       available, along with android app notifications for any decrease in ranking, both of which are CAGDC exclusives

    .  there will be a time limit (per my CAGDC contest rules) of one hour of play, maximum, to avoid titles being tied up for
       extended time periods; fortunately, most titles in the contest can only be played for a period of less than an hour; also,
       all games will be set at the factory / default difficulty settings, as is the case in all CAGDC tournaments and events

    .  an information board will likely be displayed, with pertinent tourney info and updates that all contestants need to know,
       or be aware of

    .  there will be fifteen monetary prizes (totaling $620 !!), including two sets of three that are each dedicated to divisions of
       players - regular and pro; each division will have first, second, and third place levels; the other nine cash prizes are
       for first-place finishers on six randomly selected tourney game titles, plus there are another set of three monetary prizes,
       for the top-ranked 'senior division' players (50 years old, or older); finally, the top winner in each of the three divisions
       will receive an award plaque - one for the senior division winner, plus one each for the top pro division finisher, and for
       the top regular division finisher

    .  and last, but far from least, there will be incredible choice as far as which games each player can play, along with there
       being popular, well-known titles, in the pool of contest games; in addition, entrants who signed up early received the
       privilege of picking a game title (from the game list) to appear in the final set of tournament games

Contest format, and the results ranking system    (click here to go to table of contents)

    What exactly is meant by a 'pool' of games, as mentioned above ?  Well, in a historic precedent that was first implemented by the inaugural version of this event in 2006, this tournament will actually let the players pick the games that they will play !  Each gamer can pick 6 titles to contest, from a pool of 16 or so contest games (16 have been selected by tourney entrants, and 1 more may be put in by the event organizers).  Now, contestants can actually choose to play more than six of the tourney games (including all of them, if they wish); naturally, only their best 6 results will count.  In this case, the best six results will be determined by their highest six percentages, as determined by the tourney calculation and comparison system (see below).  Because each player will likely have a different set of six games that will comprise their tournament games (tho it does not matter if this is the case or not), instead of playing against all other players on all contest titles (which is the method for all past gaming contests), you will actually only be playing against other players (for the best result, as determined by the contest calculation system) on the specific titles that you pick.  This ingenious method allows players to have optimal flexibility, and choice.  Oh, and just to make it clear, as one player asked about this; you may (of course) play each title as many times as you wish during the contest hours, so that you will have the best possible results.  One final note: since the pool of games is so large, there must be a contingency in place, for the unforeseeable situation where one or more games becomes non-functional, or unavailable, at contest time.  This is unlikely, and will be avoided at all costs, but it can happen, and there will be a reserved set of substitute titles in place, in case any are needed (the substitute titles may be announced later).  In any event, up-to-the-day information can always be found on this page.

    As mentioned earlier, another welcome situation is that there will be well-known, and popular, titles in the contest (see the official game listing in the first table below).  One reason that some events may have avoided putting in major titles is that there's the chance of one or two players 'clocking' the field (like Don Hayes, and others), since they are so good at so many common classic titles.  The ability to choose your own game titles to play in this tourney is a big help in avoiding this from being much of an issue (yet, it is still fair to the elite video athletes).  In addition, I'll be employing a scoring method (suggested by Donald Hayes and used over the years with great results) which uses logarithmic math to lend more accuracy to the deserved finishing places of all (qualifying) contestants than any other method I've seen.  Here's how the system works; after dropping non-qualifying player's scores (meaning, they turned in less than 6 scores) from any and all qualifying player calculations, each qualifying player's best six results (as determined by the six highest percentages for each, when comparing all of their best submitted scores for each game against the entire qualifying field's entire number of submitted scores) will be averaged to show their average percentile for the event.  Then, the ranking (from highest to lowest) will, of course, show the results of the tourney for the entire qualifying field.  OK - it sounds complex, but really isn't when it comes to calculating it, via computer power !

    A final note is about the scores allowed to be turned in at the event.  As shown in the game listing table below, a minimum score must be made on each tourney game in order to turn in the score.  This is to discourage people from playing titles that they really shouldn't be (because of too low a skill level), and it also keeps the difficulty of the score tabulation to a reasonable level for the tourney organizers.  As an example, the game Donkey Kong has a minimum (or, 'threshold') score of 25,000 listed.  Players scoring lower are not allowed to turn in their score, until they have raised it to at least 25,000 points, or more.

Contact info for the organizers    (click here to go to table of contents)

    For information on the regular, and the contest (for contestants only) arcade hours, see the second table below (note that those who have paid the entrant fee, or will pay in person, may come out and practice on Friday the 25th at no charge, though of course, no scores will be taken, since the event starts the next day; also, the arcade is currently scheduled to be open on Monday the 28th, and entrants may come out and play on that day at no charge, as well).  To contact me (Mark Alpiger) about contest matters, go to the e-mail link in the next-to-last paragraph below.  You may also contact Shawn Livernoche about any arcade matters via my e-mail link, and I'll forward things on to him.  Of course, please be sure to read through this entire page first, to see if your question is already answered, onpage.

Information for travelers    (click here to go to table of contents)

    Now, lets get to an important issue to most contestants (especially those traveling into the Alameda area) - the local amenities.  The arcade is located in an area that has extensive eateries, including a few fast food type of places.

    As far as lodging goes, there are a number of hotels in the area, and I have seen some great deals too on airbnb.  As always, you can use the Internet to find out what's available.  Note that two locations that entrants are staying at (and therefore, the possibility of ride sharing or room sharing exists) are:  Coral Reef Inn & Suites, and Bay Breeze Inn.  The latter location is under 2 miles away, and is the cheaper of the two, while the former is only 7/10 of a mile from the arcade, and is located on the same street !  Note that I've never stayed at either, so I'm not so much recommending anything as presenting information on two seemingly good locations, based on my research (and, I'll be staying at one of them myself).  If anyone is seeking, or offering, either room or ride sharing, mail me (the address is in the 'Final notes' section below) and I'll connect any interested parties up via e-mail.

    There's really good news about the area airports, partly since the closest one (Oakland International) is only about 5 miles from the arcade !  Of course, there are two other major airports in the area, tho the extra distance may not offset any airfare savings, especially figuring in transportation (i.e., cab vs. rental car).

Prize purse and entry fee info    (click here to go to table of contents)

    OK, let's get back to the 'nuts and bolts' of the event, and, specifically, the money matters.  The guaranteed monetary prizes make up a $620 total purse that's one of the biggest out of the past 16 CAGDC events !  Specifically, the breakdown is as follows; in the pro division, first place will receive $200, second earns $100, and third garners $50; the regular division features a first place prize of $100, with second earning $50, and third netting $25.  Another $60, in the form of six $10 prizes, will be offered to the top-place finishers on six games that will be randomly picked.  If the top finisher has already won a prize in the event, then the next-highest (non-prize winning) finisher on the game will get the $10 prize.  Keep in mind that anyone, no matter what their ranking in the event, can win one of these $10 prizes, which gives an opportunity to win to almost everyone who enters !  Oh, and last, but not least, is a new division, with awards of both money, and a plaque for the top winner - namely, the senior division, which is an idea that came from tourney entrant Franz Lanzinger.  The first place award is $20, and will go to the top-ranked person who is at least 50 years old at the start of the tournament.  The two next-highest ranking 'seniors' will receive $10 and $5, respectfully.

    Well, now that the prizes are known, what is the entry fee ?  The good news is that it includes both arcade admission, and free play on all of the games !  That's right - play as much as you want, with no quarters or tokens needed !!  All of this, for the four days (including the practice day of Friday and the extra bonus day on Monday), is just $50 !  The entry fee (other than those paying 'at the door', which is discouraged, and will cost $60) must be sent via online payment (credit cards are accepted if you don't have a PayPal account), with the final deadline day for receipt being on Thursday, March 24.  Payments made at the arcade location, during the tournament, must be in cash.  Note that entrants that are 'locals', who play at the arcade during normal hours, may pay Shawn or Meg Livernoche directly, at any time before the event weekend (tho it is much preferred for entrants to pay online, via PayPal).

Final notes    (click here to go to table of contents)

    As was the case at the last few CAGDC Tournaments, there will likely be media coverage in place at various stages of the event.  In addition, Shawn, Meg, and I will likely be covering the event via video, and we may also have partners / associates doing the same.  Notification will be clearly posted at the event, so everyone is aware that they, and their gaming, may be recorded and utilized for news, promotion, and other purposes.  In other words... you may be spotted by friends on tv, the Internet, and elsewhere, so prepare to be famous !

    Well, that sums up the contest parameters, and should address most questions or issues regarding the event.  If you feel there is something that I haven't covered on this page, then you may with your question, or even send a suggestion.

    The date of this page's last update was February 14, 2016.  Keep checking back for further updates, and, most of all, come out and support both the event, and classic arcade gaming !  Again, this is the final year for the event, so be sure to make it out and celebrate a decade of great gaming competitions !

Finalized game listing table    (click here to go to table of contents)

Arcade and contest hours listing    (click here to go to table of contents)

Online entry fee payment link    (click here to go to table of contents)

A view of the arcade    (click here to go to table of contents)

Sponsors of the event    (click here to go to table of contents)

David Cruz (left) receives a prize at the 2013 edition of the CAGDC Tournament.	David Cruz www.paperpengo.com David Cruz is an avid classic arcade game player (and world record holder !) who is the creative genius behind the tournament's electronic scorekeeping system (which uses MySQL and PHP), and the associated Android notification app. David is available for database, and other, design and programming work.  You can contact him at this link.
Eric Tessler (left) receives a prize at the 2013 edition of the CAGDC Tournament.	Eric Tessler Eric Tessler is an avid classic video gaming enthusiast who lives in southern California.  He has a terrific personal arcade, plus he supports the hobby with attendance and sponsorships, and (last but not least) is a huge Donkey Kong fan. For this year's tourney, Eric made a number of the expanded prizes and categories possible, so a big 'tip of the hat' goes out to him !
	Arcade Doctor www.arcadedoctor.com Arcade Doctor, located in Orlando Florida, is run by Keith Swanson, an arcade game enthusiast since Space Invaders came out in 1978. He really enjoys repairing classic arcade games, whether it's one that's not working at all, or one that just needs a minor fix. Keith has been working on video games, pinballs, and other arcade machines for over 15 years. He has also worked for several amusement companies as their technician, so be sure to put all of his experience to work for you, if you have any repair needs !

 
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