Portland Retro Gaming Expo, the best place to go for Retro Games
Retro gaming is alive and bigger than ever and Portland Retro Gaming Expo proves it once again. There is something there for everyone from PCs from the 1980s, to Atari games, to rare SNES and TG-16 titles. The Gamers Lounge got a chance to visit the show once again and was lucky enough to experience everything.
I hadn't been since 2017, the show expanded this year and added more vendor space, moved panels upstairs and the Arcade has grown. There were all sorts of tournaments including the Tetris World Championship. The free play arcade and console areas were bustling.
I primarily went for the panels and the vendors. I really should have planned better ahead. In years past I had reached out to others going to see what they were going to be selling and could design my Saturday around that and panels.
I did attend the auction for the first time and watched people spend $1000s on video games memorabilia. I managed to find the time to hit up one panel about Nintendo’s failures and how they recovered. The panel looked at things like the Virtual Boy and the GBA e-reader. The later isn’t that much of a failure more of an experiment.
The Video Game Museum was neat, it had John Hancock’s complete Genesis collection and in depth history of the Gameboy. There was also a Nintendo Game Counselor’s corner which was setup how it use to be.
The show was very well organized and the staff at the convention center were very nice. It almost had a mini-PAX feeling with the way lines were directed. This mini-PAX feeling doesn't include the smell and overcrowding. Lots of vendors were willing to work deals. I saw lots of little kids and some families in the arcade, free play areas and roaming the vendors. The convention appears to all ages.
The highlight of the show was meeting Tim Kitzrow the voice behind NBA Jam and getting several things signed. If you follow me on social media you have seen the post about him doing a voice recording.
This is the last year PRGE will be held in October for now. The show is moving to August starting next year. But if you have any interest in attending, it's well worth the admission price which is still reasonable. This is probably the largest retro gaming con on the west coast and one of the biggest in North America. What started as a small con in a hotel (which I saw in 2010) has grown by leaps and bounds the last 9 years.