Twin Galaxies' Referees Present the 2005 Bounties

- Cash Prizes Offered for Specified Achievements

From Robert Mruczek, Twin Galaxies Chief of Referees:

Hello fellow gamers,

First of all, if you would like to participate in the forums that are discussing these bounties, go to 2005 Bounties

I started year 2004 off with a wave of home console and arcade “bounties” which totaled more than $3,000 of my own money. Over $1,000 was awarded, and I consider that money well spent. The new records established and inspired performances had to be seen to be believed

Thus, for the year 2005, I am announcing a brand new wave of “bounties” covering the arcade, MAME, and home console fronts. As always, the titles that I have selected represents those games and challenges that I have enjoyed playing across my 35 years of video gaming experience, or just watching the experts play.

As with my 2004 bounties, these will be personally paid by me to any gamer that can meet or beat the indicated thresholds per challenge. And as these bounties are paid for out of my own pocket, I will understandably be choosing challenges on titles that have great meaning to me.

Additionally, a few of my colleagues in the hobby have elected to offer their own “Bounty” prizes for titles and challenges that have special meaning to them. Adam Wood, perhaps Rhode Island’s most famous gamer, offers “Bounty” challenges on the Gameboy Advance title “Guardian Heroes”. Tom Votava, today’s most prolific NES player and a fellow Twin Galaxies referee, offers several “Bounty” challenges on the classic platforms “Super Nintendo” (SNES) and Sega Genesis.

And last but certainly not least, legendary gamer Bill Mitchell offers a unique 3-tier “Bounty” challenge on the classic arcade title “Galaxian” which is reminiscent in format of the vintage television game show “The $64,000 Question” in terms of a gamer’s decision to take the prize they have earned or opt for a higher payout, risking it all by foregoing the prize they have already earned in the process.

One of this year’s “Bounty” challenges is sure to bring a smile to the face of “Seinfeld” fans. Check out “Bounty” 5b and see what I mean.

My colleagues will be personally responsible for financially compensating successful claims on the challenges they have set forth, while I will be financially responsible for all of my own “Bounty” payouts.

Between the four of us, if my math is correct and if ALL the “bounties” are claimed, we have offered potentially $20,000 in prizes, an amount that dwarfs what I had originally offered back in 2004. And with nearly one hundred and fifty different ways to win a “bounty”, as some cover multiple variations and challenges, there is surely something for everyone !!

One of my favourite expressions is “I am not Bill Gates”…after all, who is (besides Billionaire Bill himself !!)…therefore, please understand that as I am sponsoring these bounties on my own, as a private individual, the attributed values are based on what is within my anticipated continuing financial means to do so.

However, modest though these “bounties” are, there is a potential cumulative payout that far exceeds what I had offered for the 2004 “bounties”, and this is no small commitment on my part, as well as the “bounty” awards that my colleagues have also offered. The current year’s various “bounties” range from $25.00 up to the largest single “bounty” that I have put up to date…$2,500.00…which is almost as much as all of last year’s “bounty” challenge prizes combined !! It is conceivable that an industrious and skilled gamer can make out nicely between now and the end of the year.

That being said, these “bounties” all have an expiration date of December 31st, 2005. Some prizes are awarded ninety (90) days from the date that a successful challenge has been both submitted and verified, while other prizes are awarded based on the highest score received by December 31st, 2005. Two prizes are awarded in installments due to their significant payout. Read the contest guidelines carefully, I implore you.

Listed below in sequence are the following:

1st - I thought it best to start with the exciting synopsis of what each of the bounties are, inclusive of the specific rules and settings that govern each challenge.

NOTE – one (1) “bounty” does NOT have the rules set forth yet, but should within a few days. My new VCR has not arrived, and I have no means to hook up my Sega DC to re-verify the rules. See “bounty” 97 (“Marvel vs Capcom 2”)…maybe one of you can help me out ?

2nd - The general rules of the competition, including the indemnification clauses which are unfortunately necessary, as this is money coming out of my own pocket, so I have to prepare for every contingency.

3rd – A list of approved emulators for selected vintage console and arcade challenges.

4th – Why these particular “bounty” selections, and where is the cash coming from ?

5th – And finally, my closing thoughts on these “bounty” challenges.

Read them carefully, I implore you, so that there are no bad feelings if a “bounty” challenge is partially met under the competition parameters.

I now have a dedicated Twin Galaxies forum to cover all rules, discussion and progress on the year 2005 “Bounty” challenges. All correspondence relating to the “bounty” challenges should ideally be publicly posted via a forum message there, although it is equally permissible to send me a private message (“PM”) via the same forum. However, so that everyone benefits from the wisdom gained from each reply, I ask that you please consider the public forum category your first and foremost way to contact me with questions regarding these “bounty” challenges.

Should any of you wish to privately convey a question regarding the “Bounty” challenges offered my my fellow colleagues, you are encouraged to contact them via Twin Galaxies private messages, or if you wish, drop me an E-MAIL or private message and I will gladly route it to them on your behalf.

And so, I welcome you to our collective year 2005 “Bounty” Challenges. My participating colleagues and I wish all interested gamers the best of luck, and most of all, to have fun.

Last year, I added what I thought was the “Challenge Difficulty Rating”, a personal opinion, for each of the challenges, based on a scale of (1-5) where “1” is easiest and “5” is hardest. I will continue to follow in that tradition for my own selected challenges, but this year there exists a few challenges that, on this scale, are effectively a “9”, and another that is definitely a “10”, without a doubt. I kid you not.

The “bounties” are grouped by platform for sake of ease. The platforms involved, in order with the related “bounty” challenge numbers, are as follows:

1. Classic arcade and MAME (1-39)
2. Atari 2600 (40-56)
3. Atari ST (57)
4. ColecoVision (58-64)
5. Nintendo GameBoy (65)
6. Intellivision (66)
7. Turbografix-16 (67-70)
8. Sega Genesis (71-72)
9. Sega CD (73)
10. NES (74-78)
11. SNES (79-83)

12.Nintendo 64 (84-90)

13. Sega DC (91-97)
14. Sony PS1 (98-102)
15. Xbox (103-112)
16. Sony PS2 (113)
17. GameCube (114-115)
18. PC-Personal Computer (116)

Adam Wood’s "Bounty" Selections:
1. GameBoy Advanced (117-118)

Tom Votava’s "Bounty" Selections
1. SNES(119-122)
2. Genesis (123-125)

And a final selection from Robert Mruczek:
1. SNES (126)

Something for everyone.

And although the above lists 126 “Bounty” choices, some contain multiple possibilities. In total there are nearly 150 possible “Bounties” to go for this year…with more to come !! As the year progresses, additional “bounties” may be added at any time, sequentially after “Bounty” 126, so keep your eyes peeled. I already have a GameCube title in mind once I can confirm the rules and settings, for example.

But enough of that…here come the “Bounty” selections, starting with the largest “Bounty” that I have put up to date, to get things going with a bang. Enjoy, and good luck, one and all.

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