Details are as always still shifting around, but here is the current lineup of speakers for the show. These speaking sessions will mostly be held on Saturday, but exact times are not set yet.
Atari PanelMichael Albaugh, Al Alcorn, Bob Flanagan, Ed Logg, Owen Rubin
Hear stories from the genesis of arcade video gaming from the people who were there. A few of their creations include Pong, Battlezone, Asteroids, Centipede, Space Duel, Gauntlet, and Major Havoc.
** Are you an Atari alum who would like to participate in the panel? Contact us at
info@caextreme.org --- same goes for other sessions!
A Brief History of Gambling PinballsGambling Pinballs Versus Amusement Pinballs, and the Influence of one on the Other
John Osborne
John has been interested in pinball for most of his life. From early childhood being held up by his father to watch the ball roll, he became intrigued by the insides of his family's Bally Vogue. By age 12, John bought his own game, a Chigago Coin Sally, which is still in his collection. In junior college, he began writing to Wayne Neyens. He began to work at the local Gottleib distributor, then for his senior engineering project, set out to build a pinball game from scratch. It wasn't long before he was employed at Gottlieb, where he would go on to design highly regarded and innovative games like Hit the Deck and Volcano, not to mention the ground breaking Haunted House.
John will give some thoughts on a variety of subjects, including a presentation about gambling pinballs.
Air Hockey 101: Game Basics And A History Lesson From The ProsJoe Cain
Join professional Air Hockey player Joe Cain for a "master" class on the history of the sport, from its mysterious beginnings as a NASA space project to the creation of 3 generations of professionally-sanctioned tables used in over 50 World Championship events, an Air Hockey playing robot, appearances on the Tennis Channel and ESPN, and even an Air Hockey documentary! Learn about the rules of play, offensive and defensive principals of winning Air Hockey, and the specialized equipment that pro players use to demolish the competition. It doesn't matter if you haven't played it in years, Air Hockey still loves you!
Building a Videogame MuseumAlex Handy
Alex Handy, founder and director of the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment, will discuss the creation and on-going work at this non-profit institution, including its founding, on-going preservation work, and efforts to revive the first MMO, Habitat, for the C64"
Crazy Otto Then and NowBrendon "Jr. Pac" Parker and Steve Golson
Fourteen year-old Brendon "Jr. Pac" will give details on what inspired him to begin collecting arcade games at the young age of eleven. After years of skepticism from adult collectors, and lots of hard work, he has earned a good standing in the collecting community.
Brendon will discuss his most prized project, a full-cabinet recreation of what Crazy Otto might have been if it had actually come onto the market. Utilizing modern-day technology, he has faithfully recreated the original Crazy Otto game and designed a complete cabinet in the theme of the classic Ms. Pac-Man.
Steve Golson, one of the original designers of Crazy Otto/Ms. Pac-Man in 1981, will talk about the development and history of this iconic game.
Brendon's Crazy Otto machine will be available for play.
FAST Pinball & Mission Pinball: Bring your pinball games to life with new hardware and softwareAaron Davis, Brian Madden
If you’ve ever wanted to build your own real pinball machine, or if you’ve ever wanted to "rewrite the rules" for an existing pinball machine you love, then this talk is for you!
FAST Pinball makes modern pinball controllers and driver boards you can use to take control of new, custom, or existing pinball machines.
Mission Pinball is the group behind the Mission Pinball Framework, free and open source software you can use to power real, physical pinball machines.
In this session, you’ll learn how easy it is to get started with your own hardware and software, even if you’re not an expert computer programmer. If you can swap out a playfield, then you can build a machine from scratch! Demo hardware and software will be on hand.
Game Show Game ShowDan Amrich, Bowen Kerins, and Owen Rubin
Big money, big prizes, I love it! Really this time: someone will walk away with cash, up to $150! Contestants will be selected from the audience to play games, with the champions meeting in a grand final for cash. Come out and play!
Davis, Householder, Lee, Russo and Thiel: From Gottlieb to Beyond - Gottlieb Video Arcade AlumniWarren Davis, Matt Householder, Jeff Lee, Sam Russo, and David Thiel
A look at the various games and projects on which the five worked. This includes the smash hit, Q*bert, as well as other popular releases and a few which never got to the factory floor.
Featuring Q*bert co-creator Warren Davis, Krull designer Matt Householder, The Three Stooges programmer Sam Russo, and David Thiel, coin-op audio legend and the man who put *&$#%? into @&%*$! Also joining the group via Skype is Q*bert co-creator Jeff Lee.
Game Audio GuyDavid Thiel
Through anecdotes and video, David is going to share some of his favorite sounds from games he's provided sound for. David was there in the early days of video games, working for Gottlieb (Reactor, Q*bert), in the late 80s at Incredible Technologies (Capcom Bowling, Golden Tee Golf) and Data East (Laser War, Time Machine), and for the last nine years, Stern Pinball (17 titles including Tron and Star Trek), and currently Jersey Jack Pinball (The Hobbit). David will share some techniques from the old days and contrast them with modern game sound. Hopefully, he will inspire you to put headphone jacks on your pinball and arcade machines.
It's about time - Pinball has evolvedGerry Stellenberg
While the broader gaming industry has adapted to changes in consumer behavior and interests, the pinball industry and pinball machines have remained largely unchanged for decades. That's about to change. Gerry Stellenberg of Multimorphic, Inc describes how a new generation of pinball machines promises to make pinball gaming interesting again and relevant to today's consumers, operators, and entertainment centers.
Jersey Jack PinballButch Peel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected, Unexpected Journey": the inside story behind the design - and recent redesign - of Jersey Jack Pinball's second pinball, The Hobbit.
Learn about the original game as it was presented during Expo 2014, compared with the version that now approaches production.
Mercury Rising: The Killer Queen CommunityJosh DeBonis and Nik Mikros
Josh DeBonis and Nikita Mikros of BumbleBear Games discuss the unique following that's growing around their new hit arcade game Killer Queen. They'll discuss how, where, and why this community has coalesced, plus how fans have started hosting tournaments, league nights, online groups, and how you can join in on the fun. Finally, they'll share their optimistic vision for the future of Killer Queen, BumbleBear Games, and arcades at large."
Reverse Engineering Arcade Game HardwareMatt Ownby
Do you find yourself hoarding extra game PCBs for your favorite game? Are you afraid that every time you turn on your game, it may not work anymore? Do you wish you owned a certain game but can't because the hardware is too rare and expensive? It doesn't have to be this way! Matt Ownby, creator of the Daphne Laserdisc Emulator and Dexter Laserdisc Replacement Project will teach you the basics of how to reverse engineer classic arcade game hardware. He will tell the story of how he reverse engineered and successfully copied an extremely rare piece of arcade history from start to finish. Along the way he will explain how to read schematics, disassemble ROMs, use logic analyzers, and get inside the heads of the original engineers.
SATURDAY 5 PM and SUNDAY 1 PM
How to Play PinballPinball Professors will be there to teach you how. How do you think they do it? I don't know - what makes them so good? Learn from the master of pinball as they teach their art and techniques. Basic to advance methods, strategy development - learn how to play your best! Located in the hallway outside the show.
SATURDAY 6 PM and SUNDAY 4 PM
Panic Park TournamentSUNDAY SESSIONSSUNDAY 2 PM
So you want to buy a pinball machine: Acquisition, Feeding, and Basic MaintenanceTim Showalter & Chris Kuntz
In this Q&A session, we offer advice on how to find a pinball machine, what to look for in a used game, a little bit about how much to pay, some parts and maintenance advice, and the single most important maintenance tip.
SUNDAY 2:30 PM
Intermediate Pinball MaintenanceChris Kuntz & Tim Showalter
Are your flippers fried? Pops pooped? Shooter shot? Knocker knocked out? We can fix help you fix that with this Q&A session. 100% of your game's features can work well---accept nothing less! We'll show a flipper rebuild and how to check a transistor.
SUNDAY 3 PM
Killer Queen tournamentKill or bee killed in this 5-on-5 arcade tournament. Bring friends (or make some new ones) as you gather berries, ride the snail, and defeat the Queen… if you can! No experience necessary. Sign up at the Killer Queen booth. $5 entry fee per player--winning team takes all!
