Dallas area video game champs to celebrate new Disney film

Oct. 22, 2012 - PRLog -- Two North Texas video game icons are asking gaming fans to join them in celebrating Disney's 'Wreck It Ralph' at it launches nationwide.

The upcoming film features video game characters from all generations of gaming, something that appealed to both Ben Gold and Patrick Scott Patterson, gaming champs currently residing in the area.

"I am retired from competitive gaming but love to promote the culture and history of gaming," said Gold, "When I saw the trailer for the first time, I wanted to do more than watch this with my 11 year old son."

Patterson, who works to promote gaming history in a variety of media work, says the film was a long time coming.

"We've reached a point where you'd be hard pressed to find a person who hasn't been touched by at least one generation of video gaming," he said. "This film serves as proof of that to everyone, young and old."

Gold and Patterson are attending the 3D showing of 'Wreck It Ralph' at Northpark's AMC 15 theater at midnight on November 2. They have opened a Facebook group that invites gamers from around North Texas to join them for the screening as well as a pre-screening gathering at a yet-to-be-determined location nearby.

"I do not know the gamers in the DFW area and thought a simple gathering to watch a midnight showing would be fun for everyone," Gold said. "Even though this is a late showing, I want this to be a family friendly environment that parents with older children can attend and celebrate their childhood."

The Facebook group can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/events/297432890363223/

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About Ben Gold:  Gold was one of the first champions of video gaming in the early 1980s, based out of Richardson, Texas at the time.  After appearing in a LIFE Magazine photo shoot in 1982, Gold won a pair of televised gaming competitions in 1983, including one aired nationwide on ABC series 'That's Incredible!'  In 2010, he was inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame.  During his time in competition, Gold once held the world record on Q*bert, one of the classic game characters featured in the Disney film.

About Patrick Scott Patterson:  Patterson has gamed for more than 30 years and continues to do so.  After a run through some of video gaming's first pro tournaments in the 1990s and setting several world records in recent years, Patterson has become known for promoting gaming culture and history across various forms of multimedia.  He was invited to a gaming-related visit to Stanford University in 2011 and featured by ESPN in a 2010 story.