CoasterBuzz: 20 Years Buzzed, Of kings and clubs

Another great article that's getting more into a time when I was on the site regularly, even if I didn't post very often. It's still unbelievable how a few people were so put off by the idea of you covering costs or, even worse to them, actually making money. One thing these articles have reminded me of is how many other sites were around that have gone away, including your games site. I toyed around with RCT and never really felt proficient enough to post anything on the exchange, but I always enjoyed seeing what other people, particularly Gonch (there was another guy that posted almost as often, but was whiny as hell), would post and get some ideas.

I've been here since April of 2001, but it wasn't until the game exchange and RCT2 that I really started using CoasterBuzz.

At its peak, I'd argue that we had some of the best RCT2 players/creators around as part of the games community. What we didn't do was venture outside of the CB exchange for the most part and I think didn't necessarily garner the recognition others did for their abilities.

I got rid of the pinball machine a while back. (anyone know who any of the other five winners were?)

And not to get too into the self-pleasure, I got a few prizes in the original RCT contests as well (and used the "Gonchar" name to boot!). I also apparently had no problem taking prizes from children half my age.

Man, that was so much fun. Then RCT3 sucked and killed it all.

Speak for yourself about BeastBuzz. Riding in Row 18 umpteen consecutive times, with seemingly broken ribs and all, was awesome for me! I remember the vast majority of the attendees crapping out after 1 or 2 rides. I wondered what was wrong with them. Little did I know the real question was what was wrong with me.

I still smile at the picture I took of the floral clock as we were leaving the park. I think it was something like 1:00 am. Dang that was a fun night.

Hey, remember when there was a DDR section of the Games forum? Good times.

Oh yeah, and that crazy group of kids that built their own arcade style DDR pads. Bet they are still in thier parents’ basement.

The DDR pads, or the kids?

Jeff you totally outed Lord Gonchar’s secret identity! I totally had a flash vision of the end of Spider-Man Far From Home...

Uh, we used his real name in every podcast episode.

ShaneDenmark said:

The DDR pads, or the kids?

Well... seeing that I bought my parents house and still have those pads, both.

Before he was a Lord, he was just...well...

Pat.

This chapter in time represents the years just before I started to lurk around the respective Buzz sites. Sounds like that first event at Kings Island was really memorable. I remember riding Tomb Raider in its first year, and my then-girlfriend-now-wife and I literally had no idea what we were even walking into. At all.

And the time I spent playing RCT2; wish I would have been around earlier for that era of CBuzz.

Looking forward to chapter 4.

That you didn't know what Tomb Raider was is a real testament to the park, and Jeff Siebert's insistence that it was a "totally immersive dark ride experience." We knew in enthusiast circles, certainly, but I was super impressed with what they did.

The next chapter is my favorite... I'm really proud of that one.

Lord Gonchar said:

I got rid of the pinball machine a while back.

I was the one that bought the pinball from Gonch. Had it for a few years, and then sold it to Redman822. So, it's been circulating around CBuzzers for a while... :)

Later,

EV

Yes, the pinball machine stayed within the enthusiast (and CoasterBuzz) community.

Had I not let it go, it would have been sitting in a spot where it would have received a decent amount of water damage from the tornado that came through last year. It was smart to leave when it did.

I'll buy it next, if you can get it to Orlando. 😁

Lord Gonchar said:

It was smart to leave when it did.

Now if we could only get those damn DDR pads to get a job.