2003 Austin Gaming Expo Pictures - Page 1

The Austin Gaming Expo took place on July 26th, 2003 in Austin, Texas, which is also home of AtariAge! The show covered video games from their early years all the way up to modern game systems, as well as arcade games. Over 2,200 people packed the ballroom at the Austin Marriott North, and we can't wait for next year's show! The following pictures were captured by Albert Yarusso and Joe Grand during rare free moments. Enjoy!

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The Austin Gaming Expo took place at the Marriott Austin North, a relatively new hotel just north of the Austin border in Round Rock, Texas.

This picture was taken late Friday evening after most vendors and exhibitors had setup their tables. This is the calm before the storm.

A Gauntlet Dark Legends machine being loaded into the hotel. The Austin Gaming Expo had a good mix of old and new arcade machines.

Lines form as people wait to get into the expo. For a while in the morning, the lines actually stretched outside the hotel (and this atrium area is pretty big!)

After the doors opened at 10:00AM, people swarmed into the hall. The expo was extremely busy most of the day. This shot shows about two-thirds the width of the hall.

Another shot from the same location, with the camera panned a bit to the left.

Turning further still to the left, on the far wall you can see some of the LAN's Edge projection televisions being used for Xbox tournaments, and to the left part of the arcade.

Just one more shot of the hall. This picture was taken from the AtariAge booth.

One of the two registration tables (one was setup for those who pre-registered, the other for those who needed to pay at the door).

Mr. and Mrs. MegaManFan helping out at the registration tables.

RPM Indoor Raceway had one of their gokarts setup in the atrium outside the main doors.

The AGE Museum had a wide variety of systems on display from the original Odyssey all the way through the Xbox, along with an information placard about each system.

While many classic gamers would be familiar with the systems on display, the museum was very popular with many of the show's attendees who hadn't seen many of the older systems in years.

Next year with more space, the AGE Museum will be expanded to include more obscure pieces, as well as peripherals, software, and memorabilia.

Alex Bilstein at the AGE Information Table. This table had many of the door prizes on display, as well as AGE t-shirts for sale.

Alex talks to someone at the AGE Information Table. At the front of the table is the X-Arcade controller given away later in the day to one of the attendees who pre-registered online.

The AGE Arcade had a wide variety of pinball machines and video arcade games, all set to free play.

It's tough to find such a quality assortment of pinball machines in such great condition!

A pair of Rush 2049 machines, brought to the show by Sega Game Zone.

Old machines mixed with new: Dragon's Lair II and Space Ace sit next to a Tekken 4 (an original Dragon's Lair was also at the show).

More pinball machines--it was encouraging to see how popular the pinball machines were, as it was tough to find a machine that wasn't being played!

Some of the other video arcade machines--in the foreground you can see Asteroids Deluxe, Mr. Do! and Mr. Driller.

Nice overhead shot of some of the pins.

One of the most popular machines at the show was the DDR Extreme brought by Neko Neko Anime. It was used for a DDR Tournament that drew a pretty large crowd.

One of the local TV stations, News 8 Austin, was onhand doing live broadcasts from the show. Fox News 7 was also onhand later in the day.

Aspyr Media had a large setup at the show, with several PCs and Macs running game tournaments, as well as the public unveiling of the Activision Anthology for the Gameboy Advance.

People checking out the new Activision Anthology for the Gameboy Advance at the Aspyr Media booth.

Big Player and others enjoy games at the AtariAge booth. We had several new games and demos on display for the Atari 2600, 5200, and ColecoVision.

Many attendees hadn't picked up an Atari 2600 joystick in some time.

A show goer trying his hand out at Dennis Debro's Climber 5.

Many games and other items for sale at the AtariAge booth.

Thomas Jentzsch's new Thrust+ Platinum being enjoyed.

Someone obviously enjoying Manuel Polik's Star Fire, given that he's up to Level 06. On the right you can see Paul Slocum's Homestar Runner RPG demo.

Many of the games for the 2600, 5200, ColecoVision, Jaguar and Lynx that were available for purchase at AtariAge.

One last shot of the AtariAge booth.

Dale Crum of AtariCart. Dale had a wide variety of classic gaming items for sale, from buttons to t-shirt iron-ons, rubber stamps, and more. Dale also raffled off a Jaguar system.