Official Songbird Report for CGE2K2

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NOTE: Some commemorative "CGE 5th" Lynx carts and Jaguar CDs are now available
for purchase while supplies last. Both are photo slideshows from the past four
years of CGE, and each is hand-numbered. Price is $39.95 for the Lynx cart, and
$29.95 for the Jaguar CD. Shipping is free worldwide for one or both items.
Only 60 of each will ever be produced, and fewer than half are available as of
this writing. Please contact me via email at songbird (at) atari (dot) net to
reserve your copy prior to sending payment.

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I was happy to be a part of another successful CGE in Vegas. It was good to see
such a strong turnout for the show, especially in light of our current economy
and post 9-11 travel concerns. My hat's off to everyone who made the
considerable effort to attend. Great to see quite a few familiar faces as well
make some new friends this year.

I finally sacrificed some suitcase space and brought a few of my favorite 2600
carts along in hopes of getting them autographed. Most of the ones I brought
are the actual carts we played as kids some 20 years ago, so it was fun to
finally be able to thank the Activision and Atari guys who made such wonderful
games. Hopefully I can get the rest of my favorite games signed next year, as I
missed a few opportunities this time around...

The Songbird booth stayed fairly busy throughout the show, with only a few
lulls in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday. It's both exciting and
tiring to show off all the cool new (and old) Jaguar and Lynx releases to Atari
fans; fortunately Scott Walters once again volunteered to help man the booth,
so I got the occasional chance to gulp down some food and even walk around the
show for at least 30 minutes. Also want to thank Glenn Bruner, who I finally
got to meet in person, as he and Scott both brought a lot of equipment for me
to display at the booth.

Vendor Night was fun but really difficult to pull off -- mostly our fault, as a
group of us waited an hour (!) in line just to eat at the nearby and excellent
Main Street Station buffet. By the time we got back for Vendor Night, the band
was blaring and a number of arcade games had already been shut down. Still
managed to play a few games, which is more than I've done in past years. And
it's always nice to sit and chat, so I didn't mind the quiet end to the
evening, and I look forward to a similar event in next year's show.

On the Lynx front, people were suitably impressed by CyberVirus. I think I sold
all but one of the copies I brought, which was in the 10-12 range. I also got
several nice comments from people who had bought Ponx and Lexis in previous
years, talking about how much they enjoyed those games. Bjoern Spruck really
did a fantastic job with the high-color engine for the Lynx CGE 5th slideshow,
as fan after fan was stunned by the photo quality appearing on the Lynx screen.
Having the pics fade in and out and the MOD playing in the background rounded
this cart out as a professional production.

On the Jaguar front, Protector SE got a lot of play time as a new release, as
did Skyhammer, and naturally I had the CGE 5th slideshow running early in the
show, too. On Sunday one soon-to-be Jag fan got hooked on Zero 5, and I watched
him beat the first three missions on his first try! He couldn't say enough good
things about the Jag after that. That's why it's fun to go to these shows, and
demo games -- even non-Songbird games -- because there are so many gems for the
Lynx and Jaguar, and most people don't realize how unique some of these games
are compared to other systems.

I managed to sell three Jags and four Lynxes while at the show. I then
proceeded to leave a small box of Jaguar carts behind in my booth after the
show ended -- thanks, Larry, for not putting all those on eBay! ;-) And I
picked up a few shrinkwrapped 2600 titles like RealSports Boxing for $5 each at
the B&C booth for my personal collection. Also snagged a few of the new
releases for the 2600 and 7800, too.

The Dig Dug Drop was quite a sight to behold. Contrary to some posts I've read
so far, it seemed like everyone was generally excited and having fun with it.
Definitely a feeding frenzy, though, but what did you expect? I stayed out
beyond the fringe until it was too late to grab an unopened box, but no big
deal.

To John, Sean, and Joe: you guys have done it again with CGE2K2. Tons of arcade
games, amazing special guests, new game releases, and so much more. There's a
genuine sense of camaraderie and excitement exhibited by nearly everyone at the
show. It's no wonder that CGE is in my opinion the best gaming show anyone
could attend. And special thanks as well to Don, Scott, and the rest of your
volunteer staff who are always willing to help and stop by occasionally to ask
if I need anything. That's really cool.

To everyone who didn't make it out this year: start saving your pennies now,
and join us next year for CGE2K3! :-)

Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
http://songbird-productions.com


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