It was then time to meet the Advance Team. The first person I met was Keith Ammons. He was one of the two Emcee’s, and the Advance Team tour manager. Keith was letting everyone know about the hourly drawings for chances to get in the Money Machine for chances to win all kinds of great Game Boy Advance merchandise. Plus he’d ask the crowd trivia questions where you could also pick up more Nintendo stuff. I had to abstain from answering any of the Nintendo trivia questions. Mind you, and Planet Trivia players (and most of our readers) would clean up here. Just a little hint.

I got two words for you... PLANET GAMECUBE!

Gimme Gimme GIMME!!!

While Keith was busy asking questions, and I was taking pictures, I met the rest of the Team. First up was Jason Steele the tech, who set up audio and spun CD’s. Then I met Sam Adame who helped Keith with contests and took pictures. I then got to meet Rob Neill who was the actual main emcee of the event, who arrived a little later.

Once Keith was finished we chatted about his thoughts of the Game Boy Advance Summer Tour.

Billy: So do you play a lot of games?

Keith: I’ve been a gamer for a long time. I have a Game Boy Color, and bought it mainly for travel. I also play a lot of Age of Empires, Playstation, and PS2.

Billy: So what do you think of Game Boy Advance?

Keith: The first thing I thought was, "This is really cool!" It’s really a step forward in portable gaming. I was hired in April and have had a GBA ever since.

Billy: So are you having a good time with this job?

Keith: Oh yeah, it’s a lot of fun get to see the kids get all excited.

Billy: What’s the weirdest or craziest thing you’ve seen so far?

Keith: Well, while we were at Whitewater in Atlanta there was a 10 year old kid with his parents walking across a street about 50 feet away. All of a sudden the kid started screaming, “Yoooshi!!!”, pointing to that Yoshi over there. The kid runs across the street…through traffic and people. It was scary and funny at the same time. The kid just bolted across the street!

Billy: How about with the older gamers?

Keith: I guess there would be the hardcore gamers out there. This guy came up…he was 16 or 17. He had a GBA the day it came out, bought Castlevania, Tony Hawk, and F-Zero and had beaten them already. We were asking him for some tips!

Billy: So with the games you’ve played so far, what are your favorites?

Keith: I would have to say Tony Hawk, Castlevania, and Rayman Advance.

Billy: What about the people that come to the booth? What seem to be their favorites?

Keith: Well I would have to say that the older gamers are attracted to Tony Hawk. The younger gamers like Rayman Advance and Super Mario Advance.

Billy: Okay, well this is all cool and everything, but I have to ask you….Can I get a picture in the Money Machine?

Keith: Sure! But you gotta put on this suit…

Hide the Kids! CALL TEH COPZ! I'm takin' over!

I'm gonna DIE in here!

This really isn't easy!

Grabbin' the GBA MONIES!

Believe me, it’s not as easy as you would think. Hehehehe. I don’t remember exactly how many I actually got. I think it was around 28-30 in around 30 seconds. But since I am over the age of 14 (a bit more…SHUT UP!), I had to keep one hand in my pocket, and I couldn’t bend down to reach for the dollars on the ground (grrrr). But I nabbed enough dollars to grab a couple sweet GBA goodies. Hey, like I can really complain! I got to be in the money machine!