FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Weirs Beach, NH, 5/21/07 – In 1967, a small team of engineers, led by Ralph Baer, designed the world’s first videogame console – The Magnavox Odyssey. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first videogame console, legendary gaming pioneer Ralph Baer will attend the annual International Classic Videogame & Pinball Championships on Saturday, June 2nd from 3:30pm until 7:00pm.

For the ninth annual installment, the tournament will take place from Thursday, May 31st through Sunday, June 3rd, 2007. The annual event is held at the Funspot Family Entertainment Center in Weirs Beach, NH. Funspot is home to the American Classic Arcade Museum – the largest classic gaming arcade in the world.

The American Classic Arcade Museum is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to restoring and displaying vintage coin-operated amusements. The museum celebrates the origins of the arcade industry. Popular video games from the past, including Asteroids, Pac-Man, Centipede and Defender are just a few of the over 200 games in the classic arcade museum. The museum also contains static displays of game history and the walls feature many posters of vintage arcade games.

Each year, championship-caliber players from across the United States and around the world gather for four days of classic game competition, and the fun of playing their favorites in the world’s largest collection of classic arcade games still operating in an arcade setting. In prior years, players have come from Australia, Canada, England, Israel and Finland to attend this fun-filled event.

For 2007, the entire 4-day tournament has been revamped to provide players with more individualized competitions and to allow for easier tracking of the scores. There will be a 6-game pinball tournament and a 12 game video game tournament. Another new addition this year will be the All Atari Competition featuring 10 classic Atari games. There will be $250 cash prizes for each 1st place winner of the individual contests – the Video Challenge, the Pinball Challenge and the All Atari Competition. In addition, cash prizes will be awarded to the winner of each daily Mystery Game Tournament; a popular segment which requires entrants to compete on only one game.

The video and pinball games used for all of the competitions will not be announced until the start of the tournament at noon on Thursday, May 31st. This is to provide a fair playing field for players who don't have access to those games throughout the year.

Players may videotape their game play for high score verification. All other videotaping and/or filming at this event must be pre-authorized with the Funspot management.

ABOUT -- The 9th Annual Classic Videogame & Pinball Championships is co-sponsored by Funspot and the American Classic Arcade Museum. The event will be held May 31st though June 3rd, 2007. Tournament hours are Thursday Noon-10pm, Friday and Saturday 10am-11pm and Sunday 10am-5pm. Admission is $30 and includes 200 game tokens. Registration will be at the door only.

The Funspot Family Entertainment Center is located on Route 3 in Weirs Beach, NH. The facility has been owned and operated by the Lawton family for over 55 years. The 60,000 square foot center also contains 20 bowling lanes, a miniature golf course, a 400-seat Bingo hall, a restaurant, the D.A. Long Tavern, and a state of the art indoor golf center featuring six Full-Swing Golf Simulators. Funspot and The American Classic Arcade Museum are open year-round.