A Call To Action Comrades

CiDeRmAn · 09-03-2012 02:20PM

Musically, they were conflicted times, a mere youngling of 20 I was buying albums by Public Enemy and PM Dawn at the same time.... dark days indeed....

CathalDublin · 09-03-2012 02:57PM

Was planning a trip to the Thomas House tonight but Therapy in vicar street was canceled:(

Jack burton · 09-03-2012 08:50PM

Just so someone doesnt give out later on here we go

Was that the Neo Geo cab o1s1n?

And also PM Dawn? seriously?...I used to have faith in you but now it seems that reality used to be a friend of mine now set adrift on memories bliss

Dale Parish · 09-03-2012 09:39PM

My two pennies on this function at the moment (and many a tl;dr moment):

Originally I think Steve and I had thought of a computer museum with a bit of retro gaming on the side. However I reflected on this idea as more and more posts (don't get me wrong, from the same 8-10 people) making it into a sort of retro gaming .. convention?
I'v thought long and hard about this (and am completely open to debate/criticism)and have come to the following conclusions, as a retro gaming event:

It's not going to work. A spectacular flop, especially if people had gone to the trouble of getting (a) big names and (b) money for this event. It doesn't make sense to have a retro gaming even in Ireland. Although it would be nice for all the retro gamers out there, this unfortunately isn't the UK/USA where retro gamers number in their tens of thousands. You would at most, get 90% of all the Greater Dublin, Cork Galway and Limerick retro gamers in (and to be honest, there can't be that many). You would get a 3-400 hundred over a few days in from the general public. As a result, being quite empty all the time would make it feel like a fail.
It's not educational - not really anyway. Sure, there's a bit of history in the last 35 years of video gaming. This will not attract what the event will need the most; schools and universities. They will be the bulk of the people coming in. I for example (just having come out of secondary school into college) would be able to (most likely) convince my former school to bring in the region of 250-400 students there, as well as mentioning the event to college lecturers in the computer departments. Doing this with many schools (and offering a discount ticket price naturally) will draw in the masses.
It's not interesting. Well of course it is, but only to us and a few more. The likes of Dara Ó Briain or David Braben are not going to come along to an Irish Retro event without guarentee of the masses. Those names (to a lesser extent here of course David Braben) will have great influence on drawing people in; you also need something beyond retro gaming.

So what is needed?
Unfortunately, the following:

Some mainframe 1960s computers. Extremely rare in Ireland. It must be done if we're to incorporate what has influenced peoples' lives over the last 50 years.
Pay-to-Play proper arcade machines, Space Invaders, Pacman etc (of course you'll need a licence on the premises)
Most importantly, classes. Yes, classes. Someone to lecture the public (and students ;) ) on the history of computers and video gaming as a whole. Perhaps even some BASIC programming sessions too.
There was something else, but it went out of my mind. It was really good too.
Compolsary deodorant, for everyone . (nothing worse than a room full of sweat)
Modern video gaming introduction

[/tldr]
So basically what I'v written is entireley debatable, but this is how I feel it should be.

Thoughts?

Myrddin · 10-03-2012 11:19AM

Dale Parish wrote: »

My two pennies on this function at the moment (and many a tl;dr moment):

Originally I think Steve and I had thought of a computer museum with a bit of retro gaming on the side. However I reflected on this idea as more and more posts (don't get me wrong, from the same 8-10 people) making it into a sort of retro gaming .. convention?
I'v thought long and hard about this (and am completely open to debate/criticism)and have come to the following conclusions, as a retro gaming event:
It's not going to work. A spectacular flop, especially if people had gone to the trouble of getting (a) big names and (b) money for this event. It doesn't make sense to have a retro gaming even in Ireland. Although it would be nice for all the retro gamers out there, this unfortunately isn't the UK/USA where retro gamers number in their tens of thousands. You would at most, get 90% of all the Greater Dublin, Cork Galway and Limerick retro gamers in (and to be honest, there can't be that many). You would get a 3-400 hundred over a few days in from the general public. As a result, being quite empty all the time would make it feel like a fail.

But BASIC tutorials & mainframe computers will attract the masses?

It's not educational - not really anyway. Sure, there's a bit of history in the last 35 years of video gaming. This will not attract what the event will need the most; schools and universities. They will be the bulk of the people coming in. I for example (just having come out of secondary school into college) would be able to (most likely) convince my former school to bring in the region of 250-400 students there, as well as mentioning the event to college lecturers in the computer departments. Doing this with many schools (and offering a discount ticket price naturally) will draw in the masses.

People can learn all they want from the comfort of their own armchairs. If you want people to attend, your gonna have to tilt things to the fun side heavily. Speaking for myself, listeing to a lecturer for 45 mins about programming languages/obselete hardware isn't exactly what I'd call fun.

It's not interesting. Well of course it is, but only to us and a few more. The likes of Dara Ó Briain or David Braben are not going to come along to an Irish Retro event without guarentee of the masses. Those names (to a lesser extent here of course David Braben) will have great influence on drawing people in; you also need something beyond retro gaming.

Agreed, I just don't see how having lectures etc is going to make it interesting enough for people to actually get up & out in the numbers your talking about.

So what is needed?
Unfortunately, the following:
Some mainframe 1960s computers. Extremely rare in Ireland. It must be done if we're to incorporate what has influenced peoples' lives over the last 50 years.

With all due respect, they'd be nice as an oddity...but your getting away from arcade & retro gaming at this point.

Pay-to-Play proper arcade machines, Space Invaders, Pacman etc (of course you'll need a licence on the premises)

Goes without saying. Totally never thought about the licence though...good point.

Most importantly, classes. Yes, classes. Someone to lecture the public (and students ;) ) on the history of computers and video gaming as a whole. Perhaps even some BASIC programming sessions too.

I really don't mean any offence, but to me thats a snorefest.

Modern video gaming introduction

Explain this more, as in recent times or current gen?

No offence meant at all here, just open opinions in the name of progress

Myrddin · 10-03-2012 01:56PM

Just so I'm not just shooting down Dale, I'll put forward how I see it.

A dedicated, historic lineup on consoles as close to complete as we can get it. All protected & viewable only, no touching. Detailed write-ups of them all, with some technical info about them, & information about what they offered in terms of competing etc. Basically a history lesson on consoles from start to current. These could be loaned without worry from members here.
A hands-on play area, where the most common consoles are set up & available to interact with. This obviously wouldn't be as complete as the historic line-up because, well, it's Joe Public & they break things. These we could buy in, cheap as chips stuff like a 2600, mastersystem, nes, snes, megadrive, n64, cube, saturn, dreamcast etc. None of that is cost prohibitive enough that it couldn't be bought in [assuming sponsorship covers us]
A Home PC section. Stuff like Commodores, Amiga's, etc. Maybe set up & ready to use but demo only. So someone here attends them & can be the only one who interacts with them. Joe Public can hold the joystick/pad maybe? Again we can have plenty of info on them to hand & whoever is demo'ing them maybe can answer questions about them etc.
An Arcade area. It's be nice to have a handful of cabs there. As Dale mentioned, licensing wise though we could have an issue if they're not set to free play. Maybe a mame-cab can be there to cover all the basics & classics. Again, it can be supplemented with lots of arcade-info, pictures along the walls & loads of classic game information.
A Q&A session at designated times could be a nice feature. Maybe two or three members could man a panel & answer related/on-topic questions?
Refreshments/Sambo's/Drinks would increase comfort levels
Etc Etc

Start small, test the waters, & build from the experience.

Dale Parish · 10-03-2012 02:13PM

Even if they're free to play you still need a licence as they're classed as amusement machines

Myrddin · 10-03-2012 02:14PM

Actually, at the end of the event we could raffle off the bought in consoles. This would also generate revenue back by raffle ticket sales & would give the event some pull

Myrddin · 10-03-2012 02:16PM

Dale Parish wrote: »

Even if they're free to play you still need a licence as they're classed as amusement machines

Maybe someone here could look into that, why are they classed any differently to a tv & a console? I know the law is an ass...but there has to be some loophole there without going the license route?

Dale Parish · 10-03-2012 02:25PM

EnterNow wrote: »

Maybe someone here could look into that, why are they classed any differently to a tv & a console? I know the law is an ass...but there has to be some loophole there without going the license route?

You need to have a licence to allow people to use your PS3 publicly

Stupidly stupid I know
Edit: You also need a licence on the premises as well as machines, but given what should be a high profile event, I can't imagine it being too difficult to obtain a temporary one

Doge · 10-03-2012 03:01PM

Dale Parish wrote: »

However I reflected on this idea as more and more posts (don't get me wrong, from the same 8-10 people) making it into a sort of retro gaming .. convention?

No offense but this was posted in a Retro Gaming forum afterall.

I mean seriously, what reaction were you expecting?

DinoRex · 10-03-2012 03:38PM

waveform wrote: »

No offense but this was posted in a Retro Gaming forum afterall.

I mean seriously, what reaction were you expecting?

I think 'convention' is the operative word there.

Doge · 10-03-2012 04:14PM

DinoRex wrote: »

I think 'convention' is the operative word there.

Ah I see!

That would seem a bit too commercialized alright.

For a proper computer museum I think the state would have to get involved,
just how are the computer museums funded internationally?

It would need it's own permanent location, it might a bit too ambitious unless I don't know,
professors from colleges in that discipline get involved and the likes.

Dale Parish · 10-03-2012 04:51PM

waveform wrote: »

For a proper computer museum I think the state would have to get involved,

Insta-disaster :P
The idea was not for a computer museum, the population here isn't great enough to justify it. However with some old (proper old) computers there's a historical significance, which gives schools & universities reason to organize trip to said event.

Steve X2 · 10-03-2012 06:57PM

Quick post from my connection challenged kindle:

Looks like we really need to sort out some goals for this thing.
It's going to be impossible to keep everyone happy but we do need to come up with something that would interest the public in some way as well as keeping the die hards happy(people like us).

.

Steve X2 · 12-03-2012 11:46AM

We really need to have a chat about this thing and find what its going to be and if its going to happen at all.

I've been offered another potential donation(a pledge rather than cash down, like the last 2k) but I really cant accept anything any more until we have a clear idea as to what we're doing, if anything.
Most companies or organisations are going to want to know what they're getting involved in to be able to write off the donation to tax etc and cover themselves legally.

We definitely don't want to get ourselves(or me as the case may be with accepting donations) in any sort of legal trouble.

So for the moment I'm not going to be putting any more feelers out to any of the companies or organisations that I deal with until we can all agree on what's happening.
It was probably a bit premature to have done it in the first place but I didn't think I'd get any feedback from them so soon.

And just to be clear, I haven't accepted any funds of any sort from anyone yet.

.

CiDeRmAn · 13-03-2012 10:23AM

So, you need a idea of the event structure, duration, goals, promotion with local radio, Near FM, maybe Nova? And of course an anti-skanger device of some sort...
Maybe some books with no pictures in, that normally frightens the ignorant away.

Paracelso · 02-04-2012 10:28AM

Hi all,

I'm kinda new here and I'm glad I found more retro lovers as I am.

The project sounds interesting and I would love to support it in anyway I can.

I'm actually a video game collector (C64 area focused), CRPG "historian" and I have a small retrocomputing collection. Additionally I began to study by myself Game Theory and semiotics since last year

I have a lot of connections with the actual C64 cracking, demo and homebrew scene and I contribute to enlarge the CSDB archive when I can.

I'm not really interested in the console world, my cup of tea is definitely all the 8bit home computer world (C64/128, Amstrad CPC and ZX spectrum).

That was a bit of background, just to give you an idea if you all think I give you a hand in some way.

I'm very often around RAGE, so if there is any other collector who want to meet for a coffee and some retro chat, just give me a shout!

Doge · 02-04-2012 10:48PM

Paracelso wrote: »

Additionally I began to study by myself Game Theory and semiotics since last year

You....

.... Dude!

Welcome to the forum, I for one will really appreciate your contribution!

Bit of a c64 nut myself, but more as a gamer and audio lover, sadly I never had the brain for *poking* around with code.

Really glad to have a CSDB contributor on here, what is your username on there if you don't mind telling?

Paracelso · 03-04-2012 09:05AM

waveform wrote: »

You........ Dude!

Welcome to the forum, I for one will really appreciate your contribution!

Bit of a c64 nut myself, but more as a gamer and audio lover, sadly I never had the brain for *poking* around with code.

Really glad to have a CSDB contributor on here, what is your username on there if you don't mind telling?

Hey! No problem, I will be glab to give me contribution from a practical and theoretical point of view

I have some old hardware stuffs I might donate to the museum if it is needed. Anyway, let me know if you are progressing with the project and if I can give a hand!

You can find me here on csdb: http://noname.c64.org/csdb/scener/?id=2492

I was a minor scener in the past and since 2005 I have been in HF and active on CSDB with main focus on all the Italian Cracking Scene of the eighties and nineties.

Steve X2 · 16-04-2012 11:03AM

So, we still need to meet up discuss this but for a start how do people feel about a retro convention(either on its own or as part of another convention/event) around the December 2012 time frame?

I know this is a bit of an evolving and mutating beast at the moment but most people seem on board with a convention style event. Not everyone will be happy with a convention but it's probably a good place to start and see what kind of reaction we get.

As I've said before it's not going to be a money maker so the fact we don't need to turn a profit certainly takes away a bit of the pressure. If we can run it and break even(with sponsorship etc) then that will be a partial success. If we can run it, break even and a few members of the public turn up that will be a complete success

.

Myrddin · 16-04-2012 11:18AM

Steve X2 · 16-04-2012 11:23AM

EnterNow wrote: »

Hmm, Retrocon Dublin 2012 official Mascot???

By the way, www.RetroConDublin.com
Just in case we want to use it. It just points to Retrovia at the moment.

.

Myrddin · 16-04-2012 11:25AM

Steve SI wrote: »

Hmm, Retrocon Dublin 2012 official Mascot???

Hmm, I'm not sure it gives the public the right impression of us. They might think we're all CosPlay Fetishists

Steve X2 · 16-04-2012 11:27AM

EnterNow wrote: »

Hmm, I'm not sure it gives the public the right impression of us. They might think we're all CosPlay Fetishists

Or we can just have him change costume really regularly during the event. All famous characters from gaming history.

As the day turns to night he can dress more provocatively and revealing.

.

Myrddin · 16-04-2012 11:29AM

Steve SI wrote: »

Or we can just have him change costume really regularly during the event. All famous characters from gaming history.

As the day turns to night he can dress more provocatively and revealing.

.

That's a good idea, I've to be home by 6pm though

Steve X2 · 16-04-2012 11:31AM

EnterNow wrote: »

That's a good idea, I've to be home by 6pm though

Come on, you know you'll be staying for his midnight "performance".

.

Myrddin · 16-04-2012 11:35AM

Steve SI wrote: »

Come on, you know you'll be staying for his midnight "performance".

.

The YMCA Duet he does with Ciderman? No thanks, I've heard quite enough about that :pac:

OwaynOTT · 16-04-2012 12:12PM

Oh someone has posted in the call to arms thread. I wonder what insightful and inventive ideas will be discussed?
Ah Steve Si. Sensible post to get the ball rolling.
AH enternow another sensible ...!

How easily a thing like a retrocondublin can become sleazy and low rent.
Suppose it was enviatable to rake in the profits.

Myrddin · 16-04-2012 12:14PM

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Oh someone has posted in the call to arms thread. I wonder what insightful and inventive ideas will be discussed?
Ah Steve Si. Sensible post to get the ball rolling.
AH enternow another sensible ...!

How easily a thing like a retrocondublin can become sleazy and low rent.
Suppose it was enviatable to rake in the profits.

Hey lay off there buddy. I just designed the advertising banner...Steve told me to do it

A Call To Action Comrades

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