Washington D.C. Metro area.

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lurknomore

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The 5th DC Metro area CAG Meet-up/Game Swap

Dave & Buster's
White Flint Mall - 3rd Floor
11301 Rockville Pike
North Bethesda , MD 20895

3:00 pm onward ...(we have been going 3 hours+)

Saturday, April 26th

who plans to attend-
thebob101
lurknomore
G-Nitro
jmiller80
MCalvert1
cleaver - unless he is drafted in the 1st round
s0undwav3
abhinav- maybe
FlamingMoogles
GenDV138 - maybe


BTW, we have had minors (-18) join us before at D&B without issue. If you are a minor and wish to attend without your own guardian, shoot me a PM and I'll give you my cell phone # if you are concerned...and I'll walk you in. Again, it hasn't been an issue yet.
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Any CAGers around here? Really disappointed as the scene pales in comparison to Boston's video gaming scene. Any suggestions or local mom and pop shops? The Maryland-Virginia-DC area seems to be pretty weak.
 
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Awesome pics Gen. I had a lot of fun today, and well worth the lack of sleep for midnight shift. lol

I'll get my plans up soon for the Kings Dominion trip for June. Gonna iron out how many tickets I can purchase at the discount rate I receive.
 
[quote name='G-Nitro']Awesome pics Gen. I had a lot of fun today, and well worth the lack of sleep for midnight shift. lol

I'll get my plans up soon for the Kings Dominion trip for June. Gonna iron out how many tickets I can purchase at the discount rate I receive.[/QUOTE]There's a good chance I'll go, if I'm still living in the area. Although the division of my company split up that could get $21 King's Dominion tickets, I will still look into seeing if I can get my ticket that cheap.

Thank you so much for not having the group decide what I eat. :D Please don't drag me out to Pei Wei in our area. :p
[quote name='Atherius']Hey - it was great meeting everyone - thanks for having me. You guys now represent both my entire gaming and friend population here. Any time you guys want to meet/hang out, by all means, let me know.

Also for Xbox live / PSN, my call sign/tag is the same.

See you guys soon.[/QUOTE]Yeah, I kind of did the same when I moved into the area back in June 2009. I only knew two people from my college, along with just a few online friends in the area (such as one I talked on AIM with since 2006). I went to the CAG meet-ups along with meeting a bunch of others. Roughly, I've met up with around 15-20 in the entire area on CAG.

I still gotta plan a trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. While I know it doesn't have as many roller coasters as KD, I've been wanting to go there most all my life and never went there. Right now I'm going alone (or paying one CAG friend from Richmond area to go). If anyone may be interested, let me know sometime (I may even pay for the hotel room fully).
 
I'd be up for BG trip - my girlfriend is still living in Tampa until she can find a gig up here - so, needless to say, most my weekends are free. Plus it would be interesting to see how different it is from the one in Tampa. I don't know if I could make a mid-week KD trip because of just starting a new job, but you never know.
 
[quote name='Atherius']I'd be up for BG trip - my girlfriend is still living in Tampa until she can find a gig up here - so, needless to say, most my weekends are free. Plus it would be interesting to see how different it is from the one in Tampa. I don't know if I could make a mid-week KD trip because of just starting a new job, but you never know.[/QUOTE]
I figure you have been to BG Africa (in Tampa). I've been wanting to go there pretty much all my life, but didn't get the chance last time I was in Tampa (back in 1993). Since I live just over three hours from BG Europe (in Virginia), I might as well go there (wanted to go there for years also).
 
[quote name='Atherius']I'd be up for BG trip - my girlfriend is still living in Tampa until she can find a gig up here - so, needless to say, most my weekends are free. Plus it would be interesting to see how different it is from the one in Tampa. I don't know if I could make a mid-week KD trip because of just starting a new job, but you never know.[/QUOTE]

I lived in Tampa from 04-06. Right off of Bruce B downs near I-75. Welcome to the area.
 
Sorry I missed out yesterday. Excuses? 30 page term paper due tomorrow, in-laws in town, and 3 month old son who's begun waking up at 530 am out of nowhere. CAG promise: I will be at the next meet-up, no excuses!
 
[quote name='mm2barry']I lived in Tampa from 04-06. Right off of Bruce B downs near I-75. Welcome to the area.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I graduated from USF (actually spent most my time on the SP campus, but took a lot of classes in Tampa) so I know the New Tampa area well.

I was born and raised in Tampa, and lived on the same street in Old Carrollwood (Busch and Dale Mabry) for almost 30 years - it was getting really old. Over the last 3 years, I had an opportunity to live on Davis Islands - which was awesome. I worked in Ybor, so my commute was 10 minutes and the scenery was really nice. VA has been a big change - only been a month, trying to let it grow on me.
 
[quote name='mm2barry']Sorry I missed out yesterday. Excuses? 30 page term paper due tomorrow, in-laws in town, and 3 month old son who's begun waking up at 530 am out of nowhere. CAG promise: I will be at the next meet-up, no excuses![/QUOTE]
If I get off my ass and start a Crab Town (in Glen Burnie, MD....should be a much closer drive for you since it's near I-97) meet-up (want to go when they get Punch Out back up and running), you can go to that, or even the next D&B meet-up this Fall at Arundel Mills.

Stuff happens, no worries. Unless I already planned something, I can usually make most any meet-up since I typically have nothing else better to do.

Oh yeah, I even plan to go to our local crappy Six Flags America in May, just before the schools let out.
 
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Good to meet everyone in person yesterday.

I promised Indifference my impressions on Haunted House, so here goes . . . I popped it in the Wii last night for a little while, and played through the first two levels (at that point, the batteries in my Wiimote died because I hadn't charged them for months). It's actually, surprisingly, not as bad as I expected. Granted, since it was built up to be the worst game in the world short of Rock Revolution, my expectations were extremely low. :lol:

In the original Atari 2600 game, the goal was simple: wander through a haunted house searching for pieces of an urn, while avoiding ghosts, bats, and spiders. I was surprised at just how much this new game keeps from the original game -- it really is a direct homage rather than simply a game sharing the same name. The "story" placed on top of it was a bit nonsensical, and the move of making the "journal" fragments that you find throughout the game only readable from the title screen menu and not within the game itself was a weird one. Still, other than that, there were a lot of similarities -- your goal is to search for items in the haunted house (there is mention of the urn in the story, but I didn't run across anything to actually do with it in the game itself yet); when there's no light, your character is just a pair of eyes wandering around; the main enemies are the ghosts and creatures wandering the house. Some additions, like the use of fireplaces as checkpoints, were clever add-ons.

Where the game really falters more than anything is in repetitiveness. Your entire goal is to go around from room to room, searching furniture and other objects for items (keys, matches, candles, journal fragments, coins, etc.). The same furniture is repeated over and over from room to room, to the point that it can sometimes be hard to tell where you are just because everything looks the same. The ghosts and rats also always look the same (I would assume that at some point bats and spiders are added into the mix, as they were the other enemies in the original, but I have yet to see either). Likewise, the same sound effects are repeated a bit too often. Overall, while the graphics and sound initially do a good job of creating a spooky haunted house feel, they get old a lot more quickly than they should.

Then again, blasting an update to an Atari 2600 game for being repetitive may be missing the point to an extent, since on the Atari 2600, the game was nothing but repetition. To that extent, the game remains faithful to the original; perhaps a bit too faithful. I can say that back in the Atari 2600 days, this game would have seemed amazing. It's funny how much 30 years can change our perceptions.

Overall, I can't say that I'd recommend it, but it's really not that bad. If, like me, you grew up with the original (as I noted yesterday, Haunted House was actually the very first game that I got with my very first game system when my parents got me an Atari 2600 for Christmas in 1981), it's interesting to see how the concept holds up (and doesn't hold up) to modern gaming.
 
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Another great meetup; it was great seeing everyone again/meeting the new folks. And don't let those pictures fool you. I may be posing like a thinker, but I'm actual quite the dullard. ;-) I'm not sure if I can make the KD trip, but we should set something else up in the summer, as well. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like Wolf Trap has something game-related concert every year now.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']If I get off my ass and start a Crab Town (in Glen Burnie, MD....should be a much closer drive for you since it's near I-97) meet-up (want to go when they get Punch Out back up and running), you can go to that, or even the next D&B meet-up this Fall at Arundel Mills.

Stuff happens, no worries. Unless I already planned something, I can usually make most any meet-up since I typically have nothing else better to do.

Oh yeah, I even plan to go to our local crappy Six Flags America in May, just before the schools let out.[/QUOTE]

definitely let me know about SF, i'm down for that! also, if you ever want to grab a beer, let me know, we can meet up somewhere a little more central to the two of us.
 
Ha, looks like I spoke too soon. I just saw this on their site:

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony

Contrary to my initial assumption, this is a different event from Video Games Live. I took a look at their catalog, and I think there's enough of a difference that I'd be up for checking it out. It's still a few months away, but it's something to think about. I'll repost this when it gets closer to July 8th.
 
[quote name='The Great BM']Ha, looks like I spoke too soon. I just saw this on their site:

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony

Contrary to my initial assumption, this is a different event from Video Games Live. I took a look at their catalog, and I think there's enough of a difference that I'd be up for checking it out. It's still a few months away, but it's something to think about. I'll repost this when it gets closer to July 8th.[/QUOTE]

Just bought my lawn ticket to Play! I made the mistake of trying to buy a lawn ticket at Video Games Live there in 2009 (I think) and it was sold out. If you're planning to go, get your tickets now and pay the ticketing fees. They're less than buying a seated ticket at the gate!

Also, don't forget that you can bring food and drinks (including alcohol) to consume on the lawn!

MjC
 
[quote name='mm2barry']definitely let me know about SF, i'm down for that! also, if you ever want to grab a beer, let me know, we can meet up somewhere a little more central to the two of us.[/QUOTE]Ha, getting me to drink a beer is a hit or miss. Most CAGs never seen me have one before, but I'll do it at times.;)

Anyway, your area of Annapolis is around 25-30 minutes from me. I sometimes drive there. If we were to try a central location, it would probably be towards the center of Anne Arundel County (around Pasadena, Severna Park, Crofton, or Gambrills). We will see what happens.
 
[quote name='arcane93']Good to meet everyone in person yesterday.

I promised Indifference my impressions on Haunted House, so here goes . . . I popped it in the Wii last night for a little while, and played through the first two levels (at that point, the batteries in my Wiimote died because I hadn't charged them for months). It's actually, surprisingly, not as bad as I expected. Granted, since it was built up to be the worst game in the world short of Rock Revolution, my expectations were extremely low. :lol:
modern gaming.[/QUOTE]

I am glad you found some enjoyment in it. I played the XBLA version for about 2 hours for a review I never wrote. I hate to spoil it but the protagonist from the original game is supposedly the antagonist in the remake. Not awful but not unplayable. Thanks for the feedback. It was a pleasure meeting you on Saturday.

I probably won't be able to make a KD or BG trip.
 
[quote name='The Great BM']Ha, looks like I spoke too soon. I just saw this on their site:

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony

Contrary to my initial assumption, this is a different event from Video Games Live. I took a look at their catalog, and I think there's enough of a difference that I'd be up for checking it out. It's still a few months away, but it's something to think about. I'll repost this when it gets closer to July 8th.[/QUOTE]

I went to their show in 2008 at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, performed by the BSO. It was a good show, but my friends and I felt it was a bit on the short side. Show started at 8, and IIRC it was over a little after 9:30, and there were no encores.

The set list was :

PLAY! Fanfare
Mario
Battlefield
Sonic
Metal Gear Solid
Kingdom Hearts
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Chrono Trigger / Chrono Cross
World of Warcraft
HALO
Zelda
Castlevania
Super Shinobi
Lost Odyssey
Guild Wars

I did pick up the Dear Friends, More Friends and Distant Worlds Final Fantasy music CDs at the event, so they may still be among the merchandise available.
 
[quote name='MCalvert1']Just bought my lawn ticket to Play! I made the mistake of trying to buy a lawn ticket at Video Games Live there in 2009 (I think) and it was sold out. If you're planning to go, get your tickets now and pay the ticketing fees. They're less than buying a seated ticket at the gate!

Also, don't forget that you can bring food and drinks (including alcohol) to consume on the lawn!

MjC[/QUOTE]

I just bought my lawn ticket as well. Look forward to hanging out with anyone who goes
 
[quote name='Bloomy']Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy will be performed at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore on 7/30 (same weekend as Otakon). Nobuo Uematsu will be there, and there are $150 tickets that include a post concert meet and greet with him and the conductor.

http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,9,2,1,1,3&PerfNo=10344[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the heads up, just told a bunch of my friends about this. I might be going to this, anyone other than bloomy thinking about going?
 
[quote name='abhinav']Thanks for the heads up, just told a bunch of my friends about this. I might be going to this, anyone other than bloomy thinking about going?[/QUOTE]
I'm thinking about going but I might have work that night.
 
[quote name='Bloomy']Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy will be performed at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore on 7/30 (same weekend as Otakon). Nobuo Uematsu will be there, and there are $150 tickets that include a post concert meet and greet with him and the conductor.

http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,9,2,1,1,3&PerfNo=10344[/QUOTE]I want to go but I'll be at Otakon or a co-workers party all day. As big of a FF fanboy I am, it will not work out. Otakon gets priority over everything for the weekend.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']I want to go but I'll be at Otakon or a co-workers party all day. As big of a FF fanboy I am, it will not work out. Otakon gets priority over everything for the weekend.[/QUOTE]

I'm thinking about hitting Otakon for the first time in like 4 years, maybe we can do a small CAG meetup there...
 
I know I talked about a possible Kings Dominion trip in June, but sadly I may not be able to take any time off that week due to work priorities. Since i can't lock down dates, I'm going to have to scratch those plans at this time.

I did get tickets to the Wolftrap concert, so I look forward to seeing people there!

And of course I will be at Otakon. Got my hotel room, and I'll be partying it up all weekend. :D
 
Need to buy my tickets to Otakon (I'm going all three days, already got word my gf wont be coming, I'm essentially in the clear, muahaha).

I'll also be buying tickets to the PLAY! concert. Lawn since I'm cheap.

I got my PAX Prime ticket already (not the physical badge, but I bought the ticket online), I really need to start planning that trip soon.
 
Know what? I'm going to say it out loud and I need opinions/retorts:
Call of Duty Black Ops single player sucks. There. I said it!
It is such a scripted disappointment. I need more paths. It's just one big set piece after another with unlimited enemy respawns until you cross a magical threshold. I'm done with that series. I truly hope that another military shooter can evolve the genre. Until then, I'm going to give Crysis 2 and the more recent Halo's a whirl.
 
I don't play enough CoD to have an opinion just yet (I only played CoD4 and MW2).

Anyway, that sucks about King's Dominion. I may just consider taking over making plans myself, only because I have quite a bit of vacation to use from work and can see if I can get the really cheap tickets through work).

I do still plan to go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, some way.

I did go to our local Six Flags America park on Friday. Joker's Jinx is down for a while.
 
@ Mana, how is that Six Flags? I have heard from a few people that there are usually more rides not running than those that are? Would hate to spend money to get in, only to find most things are shut down.
 
I was in the Hyattsville Target yesterday and though I didn't know about the inFAMOUS 2 thing I did look at the clearance section (as I always do in Target). No dice.
 
Target is so hit or miss that I no longer waste my time driving there when I see a deal on CAG. The ones near me always are at the highest clearance prices.
 
I was in the Annapolis Target a little while ago. The clearance rack has been either bone dry or pathetic for a long time now. No Infamous 2's to speak of. I asked the guy and he told me that i wasn't the first person to ask about it, so some other CAGers clearly stopped by.
 
[quote name='horns456']I tried the Gaithersburg Target and nothing.[/QUOTE]Been to that Target before. Not much luck with clearance there.

[quote name='bvharris']I was in the Hyattsville Target yesterday and though I didn't know about the inFAMOUS 2 thing I did look at the clearance section (as I always do in Target). No dice.[/QUOTE]Been to that Target before. Can't remember its clearance section too well.

[quote name='horns456']Target is so hit or miss that I no longer waste my time driving there when I see a deal on CAG. The ones near me always are at the highest clearance prices.[/QUOTE]It's a very hit or miss. I probably got lucky most in Ellicott City, Laurel, and Glen Burnie South, but typically I rarely see anything

[quote name='mm2barry']I was in the Annapolis Target a little while ago. The clearance rack has been either bone dry or pathetic for a long time now. No Infamous 2's to speak of. I asked the guy and he told me that i wasn't the first person to ask about it, so some other CAGers clearly stopped by.[/QUOTE]Haven't been there in a while, but only one time did I ever see good games on clearance there.

[quote name='nightmare452']Nothing at the Rockville MD Target.[/QUOTE]Been to Rockville Target. Can't say I've seen much clearance there.

[quote name='abhinav']Columbia Target didnt have it. Very depressing, I really want this deal.[/QUOTE]The Target I'm at a lot, yet I rarely see clearance games there. Usually has nothing.

[quote name='Midnite']No dice at the White Marsh or Cockeysville Target for InFamous 2.[/QUOTE]I was in White Marsh Target this weekend (next to no clearance if I remember correctly) and was in Cockeysville Target one month ago (not much luck).

I've probably been to more Target stores than anyone here, going to Ellicott City, Columbia, Glen Burnie South and North, Annapolis, Laurel, Hyattsville, Bowie, Greenbelt, Wheaton, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Baltimore (near Modawain Mall), Towson, Cockeysville, White Marsh, Middle River, Westminister, Bel Air, Pikesville, and Abingdon.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']
I've probably been to more Target stores than anyone here, going to Ellicott City, Columbia, Glen Burnie South and North, Annapolis, Laurel, Hyattsville, Bowie, Greenbelt, Wheaton, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Baltimore (near Modawain Mall), Towson, Cockeysville, White Marsh, Middle River, Westminister, Bel Air, Pikesville, and Abingdon.[/QUOTE]

Yup.
 
Is there an official group/outing going down for the Play concert? I know there is mention of lawn seating - is anyone interested in an official gathering? I'd also be down for a carpool or train pool kind of dealio.

- J
 
I took a trip to Ellicott City and picked up the Genesis game "Quackshot starring Donald Duck" for $2 including case and instructions. Not bad at all. I can see another visit with my wife in the near future. Here's where I got the game:
Taylor's Antique Mall
8197 Main Street
Ellicott City, MD 21227
booth 306

The booth is upstairs. There's very slim pickings in the booth, but the city as a whole is a great place to spend half a day.
 
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