retro-link: Commodore, Amiga et al at Bay Area Maker Faire 2024

As part if the Vintage Computer Festivalers exhibit at the October 18-20 Bay Area Maker Faire, I brought in my Commodores, Amigas, Atari 520ST, and Tandy 102 on the Thursday set-up day. Little did I know that we had less exhibit area than last year's BA Maker Faire. Little did I know that my friends were bringing in so many of their own systems. I set up my systems, and a little later Christopher Satterfield brought his systems. We had the right number of systems for the amount of space on the two 8-foot tables. Then late in the day, Duncan MacDougall brought in more systems, and we were strained for space! When Friday came, we had the computers set-up one way. By Saturday, we had the computers rearranged a different way. When Jerold Kress came on Sunday to set up his C64 system, we rearranged again. However, our neighbor let us use a table he had not been using and let us use half of his exhibit space. Whew! We were glad for the extra room to spread out our systems.

The most popular systems at our tables were the Ultimate 64, almost continually running Super Mario Bros. to the delight of everybody, and the Nintendo Super Famicom system with Gameboy camera and Sony thermal printer. Christopher would hand out photo prints for free to those who posed for the camera.

There were lots of attendee questions about the systems, and I was struck by certain questions/observations. "Are these emulated?" Except for the A600GS, these are the real machines. "Is that ZeroPaige's Super Mario Bros. running on the Commodore?" Yes, it is! "I didn't know there was Super Mario Bros. for the C64?" It is a conversion from a few years ago. "It's amazing that the computers are still running after all these years!" They can be cranky at times, but once they are running, they are fine. "I used to have this." Well, you can have it again! "I worked for Berkeley and developed GEOS." Hey, I have to talk to you more! "Are those Amigas?" Yes, brand new for 2024 - the AmigaOne A1222+ and the A600GS. "I didn't know Amigas were still being made." Yes, you can still buy new ones. Here take this flyer. "I didn't know there was a Gameboy camera. How did you print this picture." The Gameboy camera was made back in the day, and the Sony thermal printer prints a screenshot of what's on the monitor. "I want to play Super Mario Bros." The Commodore is being used right now, but you can play a version of it on the Atari 520ST. "What you are doing to preserve these computers is great." Thanks!

25,000 attended the BA Maker Faire, and we had hundreds go through our exhibit. Friday, school children came through with their teachers, but by 3, they were gone and Maker Faire closed for late exhibitors to set up their tables. Saturday and Sunday were the long days with us having to stay until 5. It was grueling, but we survived!

As usual, Google has reversed the order of the the photos, i.e., Sunday pics being at the top and Thursday pics being at the bottom. Included are some brief videos at our Vintage Computer Festivalers tables, the last video being Thursday before the crowds poured in the next day. Also included are some photos of the neighboring exhibits, the surrounding area, and interesting bits.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan