Official CAG Meetups - Sign up now!

[CheapyD]

Ok guys, after a lot of begging on my part, I manged to get this up and running:

http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com
http://img.meetup.com/img/logo/med/c/cheapassgamer.png (http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com)

Please sign up, even if you are unsure if you would actually attend.
It would be neat to see which locations have the most amount of CAGs.

Thanks!

[DRJ555]

Good idea.

[chow_ac]

I used to go to video game swap meets in the early 90s with my Dad. I was around 11 years old and I remember walking around and seeing the Super Famicom for the first time (SNES wasn't even out in the US yet) and another time seeing the Turbo Grafix CD system and begging my dad to get me one.

I always wished they'd have another one, but i have yet to hear about another.

This sounds like just what I remember.

[optimusprime]

I have signed up, and verified my e-mail address by clicking the link in my message, but I can't log in (it just keeps taking me back to a blank sign in screen every time I try to enter my e-mail and password). Cheapy, do you have any idea what the problem might be?

[CheapyD]

Sorry Optimus, no idea...

[optimusprime]

Got it to work...problem solved.

[daphatty]

I had the same problem. Had to open a new IE window before it would work. Now to see if Washington DC people will select the Capital City Brewing Company @ Union Station. Excellent place for a meet since the metro stops right there!

:D

[CheapyD]

Yeah, I think this could really be great, if we just get enough people...spread the word!
http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com/tellfriends/

[metroidkiller9]

signed up. ny represent!

[x0thedeadzone0x]

Ahh scary.......... don't think I'll be 'meeting up' with anyone but good idea newayz cheapyd. :? ((pshhh.. not to mention the fact that i'm a GIRL and on this site... and i'm 14... and i don't .. need... to be... ridiculed.. by a bunch... of... old...(ok not necessarily old) men... that are obsessed with... games...)) AHHHHHHHH *runs away screaming* :shock: :shock: :cry: :oops: #-o ](*,) :| =;

[metroidkiller9]

ridiculed? bah! were all about love here at CAG... okay well some of us are

[hackedfreak]

amazing how there's one in my city.

[Morpheus]

Looks like North Jersey is doing a killing. 3 out of 64 Cagers are there from the current specs. Come on North Jersey people signup so we can show the rest of the cagers where the majority of the cheapasses are. w00t!!! w00t!!!

Though I'm kind of disappointed that Hooter's in Paramus wasn't chosen as a location. h00t!!! h00t!!! =D

-Morpheus

[Spiritseed]

Signed up, 4 peeps from Indy woo hoo.

[Naughty_Insomniac]

I just signed up. But for my city, it lists the county! If you go to browse cities, Miami isn't even listed only Dade county. Strange, but I guess it's all good. :)

[MorganWebbLover]

I think it's a Cool Idea as long as we get enough people to join we could get together and swap games and deals and stories . Sweet!

[MorganWebbLover]

Cool enternai in G-ville too

[SneakyPenguin]

what no love for poughkeepsie? guess that means ill have to go to new york. hey cheapy is there gonna be a minimum age thing for the meeting? i hope not.

also, i think it should be moved to the weekend. doesnt have to be, it would just help those of us with school and parents and curfews.

[The-Bavis]

I am liking the idea of this becoming more like a swap-meet. I suppose it can be whatever type of thing each area turns it into. I'd be all for making some deal locally to save shipping with fellow CAG-ers.


I also remember swap meets back in the day. Only thing is, I was overseas b/c my dad was in the military at the time. They actually held the meet in the elementary school cafeteria and people had their computers set up to make you copies of programs on the spot. Just brought your own box of 5.25" disks! That's how I got a hold of classic games like "BC Tires" and "Big Top" on our 8088. Looking back, that was pretty freakin' immoral... If I meet the guy who wrote "BC Tires", I'll buy him a beer or something. Sorry, dude.

[ironmouse]

i love the idea but the meeting places closest to my area are still like 45 mins away

[The-Bavis]

You can suggest your own meeting place if the ones listed are too far.

[hohndog]

CheapyD, I'd like to suggest another meeting point, but I don't want to upgrade to the + membership and pay to do it. Any suggestions? Also, I vote to have the meeting during the weekend. I work late weekdays, like I'm sure many of us do.

[CheapyD]

I puchased a 6 month membership but I don't know if I can nominate in other cities.

Lets wait a week or so, and see what happens?

[sailorchrono]

I think Sunday would indeed be the best time, as some of us have school on Mondays, and thus not allowed to hang out that late :\

[burgundy]

Ahh scary.......... don't think I'll be 'meeting up' with anyone but good idea newayz cheapyd. :? ((pshhh.. not to mention the fact that i'm a GIRL and on this site... and i'm 14... and i don't .. need... to be... ridiculed.. by a bunch... of... old...(ok not necessarily old) men... that are obsessed with... games...)) AHHHHHHHH *runs away screaming* :shock: :shock: :cry: :oops: #-o ](*,) :| =;

I think you'd have more to worry about than ridicule.

Anyway, to whoever selected Woodbridge VA, I'm down.

[Persain]

who else was it that is in urbana, champaign. i dont have a car on campus so i cant meet up, but...

[D4rkewolfe]

Jacksonville, NC...come one more people in Jax

[Morpheus]

North Jersey where you at?!!! Looks like we need 3 more to topple NYC. Get on the gravy train and signup!!! I know there has to be more in the North Jersey area since someone cleared out the CC on 17. Plus, someone be tearing out BB GGC coupons at both BB's off of 17. You know who you are!!! So, get off your ass and signup!!! :lol:

Double-dime time at Hooters!!! h00t! h00t! :lol:

-Morpheus

[Oae]

Seems like a good idea to me if some more people in the kansas city area sign up. I think it would be cool to not only be able to trade/sell games with others but also just to know some more people locally who are into gaming.

[dmx10101]

The people are rep'n Jax, FL already five of us. Everybody vote for TGI Fridays, even though Docking Station is closer to me. TGI F is a bigger place.

[ironmouse]

for Ma i would like to suggest Framingham. 1. cuz i live there and 2. cuz its almost directly inbetween the 2 biggest cities (Boston and Worcester) in Ma

*note i didn't feel like paying money to suggest a place in the vote thingy*

[CheapyD]

Keep the signups coming!

CheapAssGamer is the #1 fastest growing Meetup in the last 7 days and #15 on the top topic list in the last 7 days
http://www.meetup.com/stats/

http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com
http://img.meetup.com/img/logo/med/c/cheapassgamer.png (http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com)

[Morpheus]

Keep it up North Jersey. We just gained a new member. Only 4 more to go to take down NYC from our rightful throne. :lol:

-Morpheus

[NewFiregaming]

Hey, where are all the greater St. Louis area people? I'm not feeling the cheapassgamerlove over here! I even became a Member+ so I could nominate my Gaming Center as a meet up place to give you guys free gaming on that monday night after the meeting!
By the way...what are the topics to vote on, or is there not really anything to vote on this time around?

[JimmieMac]

I signed up. I don't care where I have to go but I feel like this is an elaborate set up to steal my magic satchel.

[Hot Like Wasabi]

(<-----rpgrobert) I am shocked to see Jacksonville anywhere near the top of the list.

[ironmouse]

any1 in Ma want to meet up west of boston?

[dmx10101]

(<-----rpgrobert) I am shocked to see Jacksonville anywhere near the top of the list.
It's cause J-ville FL is the best.

[m_d_amore]

Unfortunately, fewer than 5 people voted on a venue, so the
Boston, MA CheapAssGamer Meetup is cancelled this month. Help
make it happen next month!


Come on guys whats up with you i know ive seen at least 5 others from the Boston area.
oh well always next month

[rmewpm]

How are we going to know who the other CAGers are???

[Naughty_Insomniac]

So did anyone actually have a meetup? How was it?

[The-Bavis]

I signed up. I don't care where I have to go but I feel like this is an elaborate set up to steal my magic satchel.

You can't keep your magic satchel forever; it will be ours!

[CheapyD]

How are we going to know who the other CAGers are???

They will the be the guys with a bunch of video games with them.

Hopefully, we will have enough people to get the meetups going this month.

Sign up!!!!! (http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com/)

[m_d_amore]

how did the jacksonville one go?

[JimmieMac]

My area failed me. Well, not just me, they failed you, CheapyD, but have no fear, I have infiltrated the servers of meetup.com and found their names and address. They will pay. Dearly. With a Vengeance. Part 3.

[dmx10101]

how did the jacksonville one go?
I wish I knew, I was going to go, but at the last minute I was called to work.

[WhipSmartBanky]

I couldn't get there, either.

[Hot Like Wasabi]

Myself and two others showed up at the first CAG meetup. It was cool to be able to talk about games other than mainstream hits with people. Finally I could talk about Suikoden with someone! lol.

[CheapyD]

Myself and two others showed up at the first CAG meetup. It was cool to be able to talk about games other than mainstream hits with people. Finally I could talk about Suikoden with someone! lol.

Awesome!
I am expecting/hoping that next month will have several meetups going on across the country.

You guys didnt happen to take any pictures, did ya?

[Hot Like Wasabi]

No, my digital cam is MIA but next time if I dont have it back I will bring a normal cam.

[daphatty]

Unfortunately, mine was cancelled. There weren't enough people signed up in my area...

[JimmieMac]

I'm hoping for the best.

[CheapyD]

Alright NYC crew, who else is down for Monday, April 5th?
We got 14 members (http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com/members/), we should be able to do make it happen.

[punqsux]

i have a question, whats going to be done at these meetups? just talk about deals and high five each other?

[CheapyD]

Well, I figure a lot of you probably have a whole crapload of games and some of which you might like to trade. I was thinking for NYC, we might go to one of those game lounges in the east village.
They have console setups as well as PC networks.

[CTLesq]

Well, I figure a lot of you probably have a whole crapload of games and some of which you might like to trade. I was thinking for NYC, we might go to one of those game lounges in the east village.
They have console setups as well as PC networks.

So long as I have enough notice that works. March 3 appears to be when things are tentatively scheduled for so I am cool with that.

CTL

[CTLesq]

This was in today's Style Section of the NYT's

Comfy Chairs, Flamethrowers for Rent

By ANNA BAHNEY
1,713 words
18 April 2004
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final
1
English
(c) 2004 New York Times Company

JOSE SANTIAGO had planned to take his 6-year-old son, Michael, to see the latest ''Scooby Doo'' movie on a recent Friday night, but Michael insisted on cooking and cleaning instead. So Mr. Santiago, 28, a construction worker, helped Michael with those tasks, traversing a kitchen floor tiled in black and white. He only occasionally glanced at the alien-annihilating flamethrowers next door.

The screen next door, that is.

At Game Time Nation, a video-game lounge in the East Village of Manhattan, Mr. Santiago and his son were engrossed in ''The Sims'' -- attending to virtual life tasks -- while all around were the roars and whooshes of car chases and interstellar shootouts. Mr. Santiago looked up from the little kitchen on his screen to the 17 other 32-inch flat-screen televisions in a horseshoe around him and Michael, and confessed to a sense of enjoyment.

''It's a lot cheaper than a movie,'' he said. ''We can always see 'Scooby Doo' tomorrow.'' But the next afternoon they were back at the lounge, accompanied by a thrilled cousin of Michael's.

Game Time Nation, which opened on East 12th Street in June, is one of some 450 video game lounges that have popped up across the country in recent years, offering pay-by-the-hour access to a library of games that normally retail for $20 to $50, on systems like the Microsoft Xbox and the Sony PlayStation 2, or on PC's. The lounges, a cross between the high-octane video-game arcades of the 80's and the relaxed Internet cafes of the 90's, mix the thrills of blasting enemies before an audience of friends with the comfort of a couch, a can of Red Bull at hand.

The current generation of graphically seductive game systems, beginning with the PlayStation in 1995 and including the Xbox in 2000, has brought gaming out of deep geekdom. Video games are sauntering further into the mainstream with Xbox and PlayStation lounges. They have sprung up in resorts like Telluride, Colo., and as adjuncts to dance clubs like Play in New York and Avalon in Hollywood, which last week installed a PlayStation 2 in its V.I.P. penthouse. Steven Adelman, an owner of Avalon, said the game area -- with Spanish Moroccan decor and table service -- fits the vibe of the club. ''If it gets away from what is cool,'' he said, ''we wouldn't go there.''

Offering a happy-hour substitute for 20- and even 30-somethings, video lounges might forever uncouple the terms ''hard core'' and ''gamer.'' They make video games accessible to adults who don't know the difference between ''Halo'' and ''Mojo,'' and are afraid to ask.

With sales of video games and consoles now surpassing Hollywood box-office receipts, the lounges ''are as important to the gaming industry as theaters are to the movie industry,'' said Mark Nielsen, the executive director of iGames, a company that provides games to an association of lounges nationwide. New ones are opening at 30 a month, he said.

In addition to young adults, the lounges draw teenagers seeking hangout space and a chance to battle squadrons of their friends at a time. Alexis Wallace, 16, and three friends from nearby Washington Irving High School sank into a sofa at Game Time Nation and sang along to the music video ''Stacy's Mom'' projected on the wall.

''I have the money today, so I got to pick the game,'' Alexis said. She paid $5 for an hour on PlayStation 2 and started with ''Resident Evil: Outbreak,'' but was befuddled by the controls. She swapped it for ''Kingdom Hearts,'' a Disney game.

Alexis' friends flanked her, suggesting strategy. ''It is an after-school hangout,'' one of them, Shawn Holloway, also 16, said. The teenagers live in different neighborhoods, so finding a place to meet that is not under the parental gaze is a primary quest. Before Game Time Nation opened, ''we would go to restaurants,'' Shawn said, ''but they don't let you sit there too long.''

Wendell Wilson, 14, had one word for the lounge: ''Sanctuary.''

Naturally, the lounges are popular for birthday parties for groups of fourth-graders, and sometimes for smaller celebrations. Gillian Safdeye, 15, sat on a sofa at Game Time Nation, her gold strappy sandals decorated with bows dangling above the floor, playing ''Mortal Kombat'' with her brother Daniel for two hours as a gift for his 11th birthday.

Daniel's giddy face was awash in perma-grin. As she struck blows, Gillian said, ''I like video games -- I grew up with three brothers.'' Although the Safdeyes have a PlayStation 2 at home, the Game Time Nation screen is bigger and the selection of games broader. There is also the chance to compete against other players networked together.

Wilson Kriegel, the 28-year-old owner of the lounge, has never had his own console, but he likens his business to a Starbucks (and wouldn't mind expanding to other cities). ''You get it the way you want it, however you want it, when you want it,'' he said.

Yet standing in Game Time Nation, it is impossible not to wonder how long the market can last. That is partly because the space is haunted: it is the former headquarters of the urban delivery service Kozmo.com, which was a casualty of the dot-com bust. The video-lounge concept is an update of the faded wave of video arcades, which offered an earlier generation of coin-operated games that were played standing up. In 1984, there were some 24,000 video arcades, according to Valerie Cognevich, editor of PlayMeter magazine, a trade publication, but the number vacillated for a decade and has been declining since.

Eddie Adlum, who has published the arcade trade magazine RePlay since 1976, said he is not sold on the idea of game lounges. ''It sounds plausible at its root, but I haven't yet seen financial success,'' he said. ''I'm just sitting back watching to see if it proves itself.''

Keith Feinstein, a video game historian and the curator of ''Videotopia,'' a traveling exhibition of more than 100 ''classic'' arcade games, observed: ''The 80's was the last time there was a real arcade culture. It was rebellious. Your parents didn't understand it -- they didn't play video games. Today parents do play video games.''

They are also more wary of the content. To allay concerns, lounges usually require a parental consent form, kept on file, before children can rent a game rated at M (for age 17 and over) or sometimes T (13 and over). Game Time Nation removes all M-rated games from the shelves during children's parties. Another lounge, the Game, in Smithtown, N.Y., on Long Island, lets parents set limits based on violent or sexual content. But both businesses have an exclusion clause for ''Halo,'' an M-rated shooting game that pits humans against a race of aliens, because it is so popular. ''Parents can say, I'll let my child play 'Halo,' but nothing else with an M,'' said Phil Cerami, owner of the Game.

Dr. Marchita Masters, a psychologist who works with juvenile offenders in San Diego County, opened a video game lounge called GameLords in Ocean Beach, Calif., with a business partner last August. Though she acknowledges that making a profit is one motive, she says she hopes to see young people in the lounge before she sees them at work. Neither she nor her partner, Rose Marie Munno, are video game players, but they see GameLords as a safe place for youngsters to hang out.

''Our place gets you out of your living room,'' Dr. Masters said. ''It turns video gaming from a solo activity into a social occasion. You're in a roomful of 30 or 40 people hooting and hollering. I predict it will become a spectator sport.''

Many lounges find that it can be a challenge to meet different generations' expectations of cool. ''I have to appeal to a 10-year-old kid, a 16-year-old wearing a skull-and-crossbone T-shirt, and a 38-year-old soccer mom looking to host a birthday party,'' Mr. Cerami said. ''It's a juggling act.'' His place on Long Island was all fluorescent colors when it opened in 2002, but at the behest of the older teenagers, the couches are now skull-T-shirt black, though the walls remain playroom green.

Players in their 20's and up who are commitment-phobic about owning a console are a coveted market for lounges. Philip Cheung, 40, and three co-workers from an art-installation company in TriBeCa drop by Game Time Nation to play ''Halo'' as if it were their local bar -- one where they can shoot each other.

''It has a kind of ease about it,'' Mr. Cheung said. ''At an arcade, you are constantly pumping the machine -- that's now more like a casino atmosphere. This is more laid-back.''

On a Friday night, Roccia Stella, 21, a D.J., walked through Game Time Nation with two friends as they began a night out. They didn't play, but Mr. Stella said, ''Honestly, I would come here with my friends, just to kill some time and play some games.''

He surveyed the black-and-white-tiled room, dominated by blue flickering light, and announced, ''All they need to do is fix it up.'' Shaking his head, he added, ''I wish I would have thought of this idea years ago -- I would have been a millionaire.''

Photos: GAME TIME -- Some 450 video-game lounges have opened, including one at Avalon, a Hollywood dance club, above, and Game Time Nation, left. (Photo by Jamie Rector for The New York Times); (Photo by Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times)(pg. 7); DUELISTS -- Steven Adelman, above left, and John Orozco at battle in the video-game penthouse at Avalon in Hollywood. Top, Gillian Safdeye, 15, treats her brother Daniel for his 11th birthday at Game Time Nation in New York. (Photo by Jamie Rector for The New York Times); (Photo by Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times)(pg. 1)

Document NYTF000020040418e04i0007m

[Mr. Anderson]

Looks like a couple people might go mine.... hope I don't get molested.

[JimmieMac]

Looks like a couple people might go mine.... hope I don't get molested.

Shit, that's the only reason I want to go.

[CheapyD]

hey, remember this?
I just checked their website and theve upgraded it pretty nicely...check it out.
http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com/

[evilmax17]

hey, remember this?
I just checked their website and theve upgraded it pretty nicely...check it out.
http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com/
http://img.meetup.com/photos/event/b/5/3/2/global_106386.jpeg

What kind of scheme you runnin'!?

EDIT: This post won't make sense, as I just learned that they change the picture upon every refresh. This is the one I saw though.

[SuprTnr2]

I went ahed and registered, perhaps a CAG meetup in the Dallas area?

[CheapyD]

http://img.meetup.com/photos/event/b/5/3/2/global_106386.jpeg

What kind of scheme you runnin'!?

EDIT: This post won't make sense, as I just learned that they change the picture upon every refresh. This is the one I saw though.
Right..i am confused.

[craven_fiend]

I wonder if jaket meets up with people....nah, theres no one else in Maine but him.

:rofl:

[CheapyD]

You can see his dot!
http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com/about/?country=us

[craven_fiend]

You can see his dot!
http://cheapassgamer.meetup.com/about/?country=us

Wow, so many states without a group, and yet Jake created one for an area that probably doesn't have many CAGs. If only my area had one, although I'd probably have to drive an hour or so if I wanted to be part of it. Good times for the other CAGs I guess.

[Jaket]

:cry:

[craven_fiend]

:cry:

:rofl:

Some Burnout 3 or Rainbow Six:BA? Might that cheer you up. HAHA

[SuprTnr2]

I don't want to pay to make a group in Dallas, I mean what kind of CAG'er would pay for it?