Portland Retro Gaming Expo proves retro gaming isn't dead

Written by Erik Kubik, kube00 Wednesday, 05 October 2011 11:00

Retro Gaming is very much alive. About a week ago I headed down to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE). PRGE is the perfect mesh of an expo meets a swap meet that focuses on retro gaming.

There were a number of vendors, free play arcade and console machines, and panels with speakers. This is a lot smaller then PAX Prime but it was still fun. I'd say at least 2000-3000 people showed up. If you're curious about the price, it was $15 if you pre-ordered tickets to get in for 2 full days. This is a very reasonable price considering I pay $40 to go to my local 3-day fantasy/gaming con.

Probably one of the better things about PRGE is that there are a lot of vendors selling the same product. Want a Sega Genesis Console? There is a good chance one guy will have it in a box for $50 and some other vendor will have it loose for $20. I saw a few things I had never seen before: systems like a JVC X’Eye, a Neo Geo cartridge system that was priced at $200 (which is a steal!), a TurboGrafx-16, and a 3DO. I also saw vendors who had retro art; both wood and pixel based. There was so many retro games, it was a collector’s dream.

Probably the oddest sight I saw was a guy selling “unreleased” games on Sega/SNES/NES cartridges. He had games like Starfox 2, Mother 1, and Mega Man the Wiley Wars. Gamers were buying these left and right. I guess they wanted the actual cartridge.

I got to listen to Thor Aackerlund and Robin Mihara speak about winning the Nintendo World Championship. It was really interesting to hear their take on the gaming industry and what things were like back in the early 1990s. They were selling replicate limited run NWC NES cartridges that they were autographing.

There were several tournaments. Street Fighter II Turbo for SNES, Madden 94 Football for Sega Genesis, 1990 Nintendo World Championships on NES, and Pac-Man Jr. for Atari 2600. By far the Street Fighter tournament seemed the most popular. I thought about signing up but its been years since I played SFII and I doubted I would last long. Instead I challenged my friend and several others to Mortal Kombat II on the Sega Genesis. I surprised myself by remembering how to play as Scorpion.

Ideally, if you were there just to buy, go on Sunday. Many of the vendors are willing to haggle and throw in items. My friend got a Sega Genesis system with several games for $20. I thoroughly enjoyed PRGE and I think I'll have to attend again next year.