Albert Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 PORTLAND CLASSIC VIDEO GAME EXPO ANNOUNCED August 2 – 3 in Portland, Oregon Portland, Oregon – July 7, 2008 – The NorthWest Classic Games Enthusiasts (NWCGE), a Pacific NorthWest-based group dedicated to the preservation and promotion of classic video games, announces the 2008 Portland Retro Games Expo. The Expo, now in its third year, brings together classic video game fans from across the NorthWest. Open to the public, it is an opportunity for nostalgic gamers to revisit their favorite video game systems of yore. The Retro Gaming Expo isn't just for collectors. Anyone with an interest in home video gaming will find something to enjoy. The Expo will feature vendors and exhibitions of classic game consoles as well as contests and tournaments. What is a classic video game? The classic gaming hobby is most closely associated with home consoles like the Atari 2600/5200/7800, Nintendo NES and SNES systems, Sega Master System/Genesis and other systems released in the 1980s and early 1990s. Visitors can expect to see these systems as well as many lesser-known systems at the Expo. Portland has a long history of support for the classic video game hobby, making it a great home for the Expo. In addition to a 1980's-style game arcade, there are many local stores where the nostalgic can still purchase classics like Atari's Yar's Revenge, Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. and the Final Fantasy series for Sony's Playstation. "There has been a lot of interest lately in older video games," said Rick Weis, one of the organizers of the Expo. "I think a lot of people who grew up playing Atari in the 1980's now have kids who play games. The introduction of family-friendly systems like the Nintendo Wii have renewed interest in the older games by parents who would like to show their kids the games they used to play." The Portland Retro Gaming Expo will be held on August 2 and 3 in a 7000 square foot exhibition hall at the Portland Airport Holiday Inn and Conference Center. Doors open at 10 AM on both Saturday and Sunday. The exhibitor and vendor hall is open until 5:00 p.m. and the classic game tournaments begin after the exhibitor hall closes at 5 PM each day. Tickets are available at the door. Single entry is $10 for one day or $15 for both. The family rate (up to 5 people in one family) is $25.00 for one day or $40 for both days. Rick Weis and John Hancock are available to answer any questions at rick@retrogamingexpo.com and john@retrogamingexpo.com. For more information: http://www.retrogamingexpo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecycledGamer Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Thanks for posting this, Albert! Rick, John (swlovinist) and many awesome volunteers and sponsors have been working hard to make this the best show yet. The response so far has been tremendous. Looking for anything special? Post it here. I know many of the vendors are watching this thread. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 Wish I could attend this show--been a long time since I've visited Portland. I'm sure everyone who attends will have a good time. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 This will be my first year attending. I'm looking forward to talking with people I've met at CGE, and meeting new people, and just having a great time. I'm getting in Friday afternoon, I'm wondering if there will be anything happening near the hotel Friday night. later, Charles www.evg2000.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecycledGamer Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 This will be my first year attending. I'm looking forward to talking with people I've met at CGE, and meeting new people, and just having a great time. I'm getting in Friday afternoon, I'm wondering if there will be anything happening near the hotel Friday night. later, Charles www.evg2000.com Hi Charles, We're certainly glad to have you! Unfortunately, there is not much near the hotel. The venue is great for the expo, but there are few other businesses nearby. If you will have a car, I recommend heading downtown to Ground Kontrol classic arcade. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wonder007 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Yes, I am looking forward to the show too even though I will only be going on Saturday. Anybody else from So. Cal going to the show???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Weis Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I'm getting in Friday afternoon, I'm wondering if there will be anything happening near the hotel Friday night. later, Charles www.evg2000.com i should know tomorrow if there is friday night set up, if there is, there will be a LOT going on friday night. 5 days and counting... can't wait!! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Weis Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Thanks for posting this, Albert! Rick, John (swlovinist) and many awesome volunteers and sponsors have been working hard to make this the best show yet. The response so far has been tremendous. Chuck Thanks Chuck! i think you've played a HUGE part this year, not only making us a new website and updating it DAILY and giving us insight to how it's working for us, you have done a LOT more! this buds for you! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 i should know tomorrow if there is friday night set up, if there is, there will be a LOT going on friday night. Rick If you think you'll be setting up Friday and think you may need some help let me know, I'll PM my cell # to you. Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+swlovinist Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 I wanted to thank all those who helped out this year with our show. It wsa definately a team effort, and I feel that this is the year we have a breakout attendance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecycledGamer Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 I wanted to thank all those who helped out this year with our show. It wsa definately a team effort, and I feel that this is the year we have a breakout attendance. I think the attendance will be Super Breakout. lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Somebody better post some pics tonight. Maybe I'll make it next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 So this was my first year to attend the NWCGE, and so far I've had a great time. Since I flew in from Sacramento, CA I didn't have anything to do, so I was able to help out with setting up. I was able to talk with some of the people I had met at previous CGEs and got to met lots of new people helping them bring in their stock. On Saturday I started buying stuff, and by the end of the day I had found some many great things at great prices that my suitcase is almost full. Hopefully I will have room for more stuff tomorrow. I put up some pictures, the can be seen here: http://evg2000.com/nwcge200808 later, Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 So this was my first year to attend the NWCGE, and so far I've had a great time. Since I flew in from Sacramento, CA I didn't have anything to do, so I was able to help out with setting up. I was able to talk with some of the people I had met at previous CGEs and got to met lots of new people helping them bring in their stock. On Saturday I started buying stuff, and by the end of the day I had found some many great things at great prices that my suitcase is almost full. Hopefully I will have room for more stuff tomorrow. I put up some pictures, the can be seen here: http://evg2000.com/nwcge200808 later, Charles Great photos. Wish I was there. Maybe next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wonder007 Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 Wow, I just came back from the show last night and I had a BLAST!!! There were great vendors and the activities like the Atari championships were fun. The NWCGE crew did an awesome job putting the show together. It was also great to meet people from the forums, Rick, swlovinst, Lee K, toymailman (this guy kicked everybody's butts in the Atari Championship games), evg2000, qixmaster, Batari (this guy's stuff is awesome), Toby and everybody else I forgot. I wish I could have stayed for Sunday. So, again, thanks for putting this show together and I HIGHLY recommend anybody that is into retrogaming to come to the show..... Oh, and I got some good stuff.......some new homebrews (Venture Arcade, etc...), some protos (a WIP of MASH, Astroblast and Fantastic Voyage) and some other nice Atari items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qixmaster Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 this was one hell of a show. I went with a truckload and came back with four boxes. I am so happy to have unloaded so much stuff. big thanks to rick, john, colby, toby, corey, myke, and charles for everything. and another big thanks to everyone who put money into the dreamcast raffle... your money paid for my gas home it was great seeing people come up from california... wonder and charles, very good to meet you and hope you make it back next year. i also talked with a guy from idaho. Hope we keep bringing them in from out of state next year. rick, sorry you didnt' win chunckout 2, I wish you luck in tracking down that cartridge. it was a good tourny. john, glad I was able to help you finish your weird ass vhs collection and start you out on a new omni collection toby, thanks for letting me crash and your place and buying me a beer, really helped out since I was coming from outta town to sell. charles, you rock for watching my booth and helping me think during the 50% off sale at my table. if you are ever looking for something specific let me know and I will happily send it your way. corey/myke - thanks for being cool side vendors and putting up with my massive amounts of shit and boxes everywhere. colby, all i can say is that you made my trip home especially easy. thanks for buying everything on my table at the end of the show. my lady friend is quite happy with the four boxes I brought home, compared to a large truckload. and anyone else I forgot, THANK YOU! by this time next year I am bound to have the same amount of stuff, so get ready to wheel and deal once again. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Just got back from the NWCGE, had a great time, got to talk with some great people, got my butt kicked in the contests, and got some great deals. Here are some picks of what I picked up: later, Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Weis Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 want to thank everyone who came to our show! it was the best turnout we ever had so far 130 people on saturday on 70 on sunday (not counting vendors both days) it was great to see everyone again and all the new faces like Jose, Charles, Colby this year at our show. want to thank all the people who gave me some sweet deals! picked up some very sweet items like weird ass atari 2600 clone $50 1990 nintendo world championship hat $45 PS2 boxed space invaders table top $50 Resident evil 4 placemat $10 SMB puzzle $15 many N64 games boxed and loose, way too many to list! high score t-shirt free pac-man bed sheets 10$ nintendo bed sheets 40$ sega rally t-shirt 5$ couple of Atari 2600 homebrews 25-45$ got to see a few WIP homebrew games that blew my mind!! will try to post some pictures once i get things back to normal here. my gameroom is a mess right now. @ Josh, that's ok! i came in 2nd and got the cart of it! great game! and i think it will a lot more then luck to get that cart, i gave a pretty good offer for it and got turned down. hope to see you all back next year! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrizzLee Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Good show. I truly enjoyed it. i finally won the Atari 2600 Championship (i've only been allowed to play in 4 of them). I need to practice for the next one. Some of the "younger" folks are truly amazing at the older games. Or it is that I am getting older. I got a few items for my collection. There was some nice demos of works in progress for homebrews as well as some protos. Got to meet Wonder007 and Charles. Great folks. I heard soemone make a comment that he has never met a badd person at any of these meets. I have to agree. Everyone is so frinedly and wonderful. The show was, in contrast to my drive home, wonderful. I had a horrible commute back to Seattle, I left early on Sunday (1:30 ish) and had to battle freeway grass fires and multi-car pile ups and some folks who must have got there license in a 3rd world country... I didn't know you could pass at 90 mph on the right on the shoulder...GEEESSUUS! I didn't get home until 7:00. No time to finish up work for... well work today... grrrrr... Thanks Rick, John and all who voluntered. -Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qixmaster Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Good show. I truly enjoyed it. i finally won the Atari 2600 Championship (i've only been allowed to play in 4 of them). I need to practice for the next one. Some of the "younger" folks are truly amazing at the older games. Or it is that I am getting older. I got a few items for my collection. There was some nice demos of works in progress for homebrews as well as some protos. Got to meet Wonder007 and Charles. Great folks. I heard soemone make a comment that he has never met a badd person at any of these meets. I have to agree. Everyone is so frinedly and wonderful. The show was, in contrast to my drive home, wonderful. I had a horrible commute back to Seattle, I left early on Sunday (1:30 ish) and had to battle freeway grass fires and multi-car pile ups and some folks who must have got there license in a 3rd world country... I didn't know you could pass at 90 mph on the right on the shoulder...GEEESSUUS! I didn't get home until 7:00. No time to finish up work for... well work today... grrrrr... Thanks Rick, John and all who voluntered. -Lee Lee, that sounds like a typical drive up I-5 to seattle. It seems whenever I venture up north past portland that the crazies come out and instead of a 5 1/2 hour drive, it turns into nearly a 7 hour drive. Glad you arrived home safely. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrizzLee Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Good show. I truly enjoyed it. i finally won the Atari 2600 Championship (i've only been allowed to play in 4 of them). I need to practice for the next one. Some of the "younger" folks are truly amazing at the older games. Or it is that I am getting older. I got a few items for my collection. There was some nice demos of works in progress for homebrews as well as some protos. Got to meet Wonder007 and Charles. Great folks. I heard soemone make a comment that he has never met a badd person at any of these meets. I have to agree. Everyone is so frinedly and wonderful. The show was, in contrast to my drive home, wonderful. I had a horrible commute back to Seattle, I left early on Sunday (1:30 ish) and had to battle freeway grass fires and multi-car pile ups and some folks who must have got there license in a 3rd world country... I didn't know you could pass at 90 mph on the right on the shoulder...GEEESSUUS! I didn't get home until 7:00. No time to finish up work for... well work today... grrrrr... Thanks Rick, John and all who voluntered. -Lee Lee, that sounds like a typical drive up I-5 to seattle. It seems whenever I venture up north past portland that the crazies come out and instead of a 5 1/2 hour drive, it turns into nearly a 7 hour drive. Glad you arrived home safely. Josh Well, it used to be a nice casual 3 hour drive. Nowadays, I-5 is a mess, especially on Sunday evenings. I thought that by leaving a bit early, I could get a jump on things. I thought folks would be comeing back form the Hydro races and the Blue Angels in Seattle. It was crowded both ways. BTW: Nice meetign up with you Josh. Thanks for the goodies. You had great prices and some really rare goodies at more than reasonable prices. Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Rose Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 The Portland Retro Gaming Expo will be held on August 2 and 3 in a 7000square foot exhibition hall at the Portland Airport Holiday Inn and Conference Center. Doors open at 10 AM on both Saturday and Sunday. The exhibitor and vendor hall is open until 5:00 p.m. and the classic game tournaments begin after the exhibitor hall closes at 5 PM each day. Argh! If I'd known about this in June, I could have arranged to be there sooooo easily. I took a side trip after OSCON and came back to Portland late Saturday, but flew out first thing Sunday morning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Weis Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/86757288@N00/...57606549050571/ youtube of R2D2 at our show: rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zodiacprime Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 I had a fantastic time at the show on Saturday! It was the best show I've attended since CGE last summer and the biggest reason for this is the people. I've said it before, but the folks at NWCGE are some of the coolest cats you'll ever meet in this hobby. Thanks for organizing such a rockin' show guys! @Josh, thanks for the killer PC games deal. I've summed the cover prices you were asking and you let me get away with that box for a fraction of that. Thanks man, this has filled several holes in my collection! @Rick, thanks for posting the link to my pictures. I think I have a few more from my phone that I'll post up there soon. I'll definitely see y'all at the next one, cheers! -Lance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Weis Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 @Rick, thanks for posting the link to my pictures. I think I have a few more from my phone that I'll post up there soon. Lance, Thanks for taking them! i wish i took more, i'm just not the shutterbug i guess.. glad you had a great time, it was a blast! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.