In October at the Oregon Convention Center is the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Every previous generation console that ever came out is here. You can buy it or play it. The expo hall is split in half. Half is nothing but stores all selling retro stuff and even a few current games. You’ll also find extra stuff such as clothing pins, Pokémon cards, and comic books to name a few. You can spend your entire time just browsing around the stores. I had a moment in the past when I attended this before where I really took my time. Before I knew it, two hours went by!
The other part of the expo is a big arcade including a free-to-play arcade, a Tetris tournament arena, and a console free play area. If you have ever wanted to play at an arcade without putting in money, you can do that at this convention. You’ll see lots of pinball machines, and classics such as X-men arcade, and Pac-Man to name a few. It was here where I finally beat X-men arcade. If you are feeling up for it, you can enter the Tetris tournament. I spent a few minutes watching it. You’ll see a big projector screen and it’s kind of fun to watch.
The console free play area is just like the one at PAX. You check out a game for a console that is hooked up to a TV and you can play there for as long as you want.
Out of all the retro conventions I have gone to in the past, this one was quite impressive. Many voice actors were there from games we know. I got to meet and get an autograph from the guy that is the voice actor for Mario, Charles Martinet. It was so cool to meet him and listen to him imitate his Mario character. As I kept walking around, Atari had its own playable station with different Atari’s set up. Some of the games were even remade. I was impressed with how PAC-MAN looked on it. They are even starting to make new Atari games! I got to play a few. There will be a whole line up coming out this fall and you can see the selection at the Atari Age website.
In honor of the 40th anniversary of Nintendo, I checked out a Nintendo Art Museum. Many displays of the cartridge covers for the NES were there. I was impressed as I saw many titles that I never knew about. Next door was a Nintendo lounge with forty NES systems hooked up to play. Each console has a game in it with a display containing the game’s background information. It was fun to go back in time as I played Chip’n Dale from the old cartoon. This was a game I used to rent from a nearby video from where I used to live.
Back in the main expo hall, I came across a company called Modretro. On display at their booth were recreated original Gameboys and one Nintendo 64 that is going to output in 4k. I tried Tetris on the Gameboy. The screen and the gameplay looked real slick. I spent a few minutes interviewing one of the staff there. “ The company formed a year ago,” he says. “Our founder grew up modifying consoles. He has a love for retro gaming.”
I learned from him that the new remade Gameboy is going to be compatible with all the old games for it. So far, they have just worked on it Nintendo products. In response to whether or not they will go to other systems that are not Nintendo such as the PS2: “Everything is on the table for what we can remake. We are a young company.”
They plan to not to be super expensive for their prices on their products. Games are going to be offered from $39 – $49. If you want one of their Gameboys, gorilla glass will be $199 and $249 for the sapphire glass. Be sure to check the website for the release dates. I wish this company the best and will for sure check back on their website.
On my way out, I made one final stop at a display of an NES game called Copper Jacket. It is a scroller shooting game that is a lot like the well known game Contra. The gameplay showed the character you play going upwards as you take out the enemies and pick up weapons. The guy running it runs his own company called Moonshine Studios. It is just him and it is his side project. He made the whole game and it took him a year. I liked the game enough that I decided to help him out and buy a copy.
That was this year’s experience for me at PRGE. Here are some things to know: Tickets are not as much as PAX. It was $57 for me this year. I can do everything I want to do there in a day. Friday and Saturday are the best days to attend because the expo hall doesn’t close until 8pm and the arcade is open until 10pm. On Saturdays, the whole thing opens at 9am. If you go on Sunday, you’ll have from 10am to 5pm. Park in the convention center garage. All day will cost you only $15. I would get there no later than 9am. You only have a few options for food in the building and they are not much for selection if you ask me. You’ll more than likely have to leave the convention. Be sure to look around the convention center on your map apps before you come.
In the next article, I’ll be going back to PAX West 2025 for some final thoughts. Hope you will join me then.