Fun fun fun, although the "time warp" theme was only evident in the program handout, and I became aware of it for no other reason then that I was bored in the bathroom.

But who really goes to arcade game expos for cleverly executed themes?

Not I! I was there because for a mere twenty-five dollars I was able to play an unlimited amount of classic games from my youth. For one weekend a year I can re-live the hours I've whiled away on such classics as Pin-Bot, Donkey Kong, Jr. and of course, Galaga. Oh sweet, sweet Galaga!

In my old age I've found it harder and harder to dump my hard earned money (somehow it was easier when it came from mom) into increasingly complex and overwrought games. Once I found myself dropping up to two dollars into a machine for sixty seconds of game play, arcades seemed to lose their allure.

In downtown San Jose this past weekend, however, all was forgiven. Laid out in the convention hall behind the Tech Museum of Innovation was a maze of games either loaned out by collectors or for sale to eager purchasers.

Around the perimeter vendors hawked pinball parts, wires, and little flashy things for the hard core types, and the program said something about workshops and seminars, but the majority of attention was focused on the gaming floor.

There were rows of pinball machines from at least the last five decades woven amongst twisting halls of games organized seemingly at random. Warner Brother's Roadrunner game was placed next to Tron, which was next to Donkey Kong, Jr. I strolled through the same corridors of games over and over, and each time found a treasure I had missed.

The majority of my time was spent at a game called T-Mek. This two-seater beauty not only provided hours of fun blowing up rival meks, it also came equipped with a stellar sound system which thrummed and vibrated every time I visited firey destruction onto a rival. T-Mek supports up to six players, but they only had two linked up. One guy squatted there for three hours, thwarting my attempts to play. I shall have my vengeance upon him, and all his issue.

Other games that held my interest: Marble Madness, 720, and this cool whirly-gig thing in which you were on a foot-powered flying machine. It was a really spiffy sim with a big screen, but there was always someone on it and all I could do was watch.

Since this is technically a review, I'd better spew out a few criticisms. First of all, there were several machines which were not set to free-play. I nearly had a heart attack when I sidled up to Galaga and it told me to "insert coin."I paid my twenty-five bucks, damn it, I expect free play! Luckily I found a table top version, crisis averted!

Also disappointing were the machines in poor repair. There were two Trons at the expo, one wasn't set to free play, and the other was frozen on a frizbee match. I gazed longingly, and moved on. Several games had a tendency to freeze up or reset, but most were running well.

At the end of the day Saturday I walked out of the Cal Extreme Expo, down the long echoing hallway and out, blinking, into the sunlight. I had aching arms, reactivated carpal tunnel, and filthy, filthy palms.

It was beautiful.

Marin Carpenter