2024 Guest Speaker List
Times all on Saturday – Located in Magnolia
10:00 am – How to Play Pinball
Andrei Massenkoff
Schoolteacher and 2011 World Pinball Champion, Andrei Massenkoff, will show you how. How do you think they do it? I don’t know – what makes them so good? From basic to world-class methods, learn the art of pinball techniques and strategies so you can play your best and have even more fun playing
pinball! Q & A session will follow.
11:15 am – Pinball Museums – Keeping Pinball Alive
Pacific Pinball Museum Founder Michael Schiess,
Pacific Pinball Museum Executive Director Evan Phillippe
Join the non-profit Pacific Pinball Museum’s founder Michael Schiess and Executive Director Evan Phillippe for an overview of what separates a museum from a barcade, and how an important mission of preservation and universal access helps the amazing game of pinball survive into the 21st century and beyond.
12:00 Noon – Developing Jersey Jack’s Elton John Pinball
Steve Ritchie (remotely), Duncan Brown
Hear the tales of the mechanicals, electronics, software, and art work of the game from these industry veterans. They have collected stories, ideas, and perhaps a few pictures over their decades making pinball machines. You never know what might happen, but it is sure to entertain.
1:30 pm – Lawyers, Games and Money
General Computer Goes to Court
Steve Golson
A look behind the scenes of the many legal disputes involving GCC, including:
- Atari’s 1981 lawsuit over Super Missile Attack, GCC’s enhancement kit for Missile Command
- licensing Crazy Otto to Midway, which led to Ms. Pac-Man
- character trademarks and royalties
- forty years of controversies about Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man
3:00 pm – From Mortal Kombat to Multiball – 30 Years of Game Development with MXV
Mike Vinikour, Stern Pinball
Imoto Harney, Marco Pinball
Explore the fascinating journey of Mike Vinikour, an Associate Game Developer at Stern Pinball. Beginning his career in 1994 at Williams Bally/Midway with titles like Mortal Kombat, Mike transitioned into pinball and has since contributed to iconic Stern games such as Stranger Things, James Bond 007, The Mandalorian, and Guardians of the Galaxy. This seminar delves into his career path, showcasing how his passion for gaming and expertise in arcade classics led him to become a pivotal figure in the pinball industry.
4:00 pm – A Tale of 2 Krulls
Matt Householder, Dave Staugas, Warren Davis
Join Matt Householder and Dave Staugas as they recount what it was like to design/code Krull for 2 very different systems: Gottlieb’s coin-op hardware and the Atari VCS. Copies of a new booklet by Matt and Jeff Lee on Gottieb’s Krull will be for sale. Warren Davis will then join them for Q&A on their experiences
in arcade gaming.
5:15 pm – Are You a Game Designer? Help Us Shape Atari’s Future Arcade
Games Forum
James Knight, James Anderson
The modern-day Atari has partnered with Alan-1 with a strategy to create new and innovative location-based entertainment experiences. Our first title is released at CAX 2024! Atari’s Asteroids Recharged Arcade is an updated version of the console release using Alan-1’s arcade cabinet hardware and software technology called the Video Arcade System™. The system includes a custom I/O board (the i/o Tower) that significantly reduces input latency and allows for the integration of “virtual pinball” effects into modern game engines; such as a pinball knocker, centrifugal fans, large and small shaker motors, etc.
Knowing that great teams make better products, Alan-1 is openly asking for members of this community to join our game dev team to help us help Atari make new Arcade cabinets that are fun and innovative–that find a market in bar arcades, bowling alleys, and family fun centers around the world.
Play Asteroids Recharged and Alan-1’s beta title Avian Knights at CAX and come to our forum to discuss how we can improve them. Also, discuss which titles we should make next or pitch any new game ideas you’d like to see made. Lastly, we are giving away an Asteroids Recharged at the show, so please come to learn more about our official CAX Asteroids Recharged tournament and how to participate.
6:30 pm – Peek Inside the I,Robot ICY-II and 3D Video Hardware System
Jess Askey, John Manfreda, Dave Sherman
I,Robot was the FIRST video game platform to do realtime 3D rendering of objects due to the mad engineering of Dave Sherman and his MONDO hardware platform. The elusive Atari ICY-II custom ASIC has always been a mystery. Learn about this hardware, how it started, how it works and what it does
and get a peek under the hood of one of the most fascinating video game hardware platforms in existence!
7:30 pm – Atari Pinball Engineering: Stories and Prototypes
Steve Ritchie (remote), Steve Calfee, Rich Adam, Mike Albaugh (remote), Jeff Ball, Dan Kramer, Mike Hally, Dale Luck, Eugene Jarvis (remote), Owen Rubin (facilitator)
Join us for an engaging discussion about Atari pinball with the engineers and designers of the games, as they tell stories of their time in the Atari Pinball division. The story of a 20 year quest to finish the Atari pinball prototype Pipeline will be told.
Saturday – Located in the Show Lobby
8:00 PM – How to Play Pinball
Rick Stetta
Pinball playing legend and multiple time world champion Rick Stetta returns for his
highly informative session to help you learn the techniques he uses to get those champion
level scores.
2024 Live Music
All times on Saturday – located upstairs in the Santa Clara Ballroom
7:00 PM – Vector Hold
8:15 PM – Character Select Band
9:30 PM – Super MadNES
10:30 PM – DJ Desmond Crisis
