VectorGamer Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I plan on having a kick ass retro gaming party next Saturday night. I have limited space so a max of 15 people will be attending. Here's what I have planned so far: 5 color and 1 B/W TV (may be replaced by a 6th color TV) 6 consoles - Colecovision, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Commodore 64 and Atari Flashback 2 One laptop running MAME32 and classic arcade games One Lynx handheld Medieval Mayhem head-to-head tournament Defender, Stargate and Robotron Aggregate High Score tournament Laptop with a pre-1984 playlist mixed with midi/wav files of classic arcade jingles and sounds Burgertime Cookies Pizza Scoopables with salsa Maybe a veggie tray Soda, iced tea No hot wings so that the controllers don't get saucy No alcohol as it is family-oriented Anyone else that have thrown retro gaming parties that have additional ideas down to the nitty-gritty for a successful party? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Bomberman. It's a little newer than the consoles you're planning, but the early Bombermans (TG-16/SNES) have a classic look and it's always a hit for multiplayer tournaments. Also, any kind of multiplayer Tetris or early puzzle game is usually good for casual players. A couple of whiteboards work well for keeping score tallies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animagnum Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I accidentally had a retro party once when I was in college. It was my birthday, so I took my hard-earned monies to the grocery store and bought a lot of booze thinking that'd be enough for a party. I think I also bought some Triscuits or something like that. Veggie cream cheese spread to go with it, perhaps. Anyway, later that evening, people came over and we were having a pretty decent time hanging out. At one point I mentioned I had a Sega Dreamcast and a NesterDC disc with around 500-600 games. I also had a gigantic, ancient, Sony front-projection TV where we could play it. The thing looked like you could open it up to melt Nazis if you wanted. It was old. So yeah, an instant retro-gaming (albeit with the help of an emulator) broke out on my birthday. It was great. I am not much of a host, so I was glad the Dreamcast was there to be my wingman that evening. Now that I have a quality collection of real retro games, I could host a proper party at some point. In retrospect, I wished I'd have spent that money on some pizzas or soda. People had such a great time rediscovering some of their old favorites. rmaerz, that does sound like a kick ass retro gaming party. I think you have pretty good coverage in the video game department, so my only suggestion is to make sure you have plenty of salsa. I have found that those Scoopables chips tend to make the salsa well run dry much faster than intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 I just added an NES and 7800 Flashback to my arsenal for this Saturday's party... Also, I'm amazed that I have not seen an abundant number of threads on this topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari6660 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I've never thrown a retro party. Just regular old, gaming ones in general but now that I see the way you set yours I definitely wanna throw one. I'd recommend doing a few other emulation based things outside of MAME for any systems you don't have or want to include but don't have enough TVs for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 I've never thrown a retro party. Just regular old, gaming ones in general but now that I see the way you set yours I definitely wanna throw one. I'd recommend doing a few other emulation based things outside of MAME for any systems you don't have or want to include but don't have enough TVs for. Good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 The timing of the party with the Indy 500 requires that I have an Indy 500 tournament instead of Defender. I should receive my second racing controller this week. Should be cool with individual qualifying for the bracket and then a head-to-head knockout tournament. Maybe a small glass of milk for the winner and a kiss of a brick paver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1500 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Went to one last year and had fun. Basically, a garage was turned into a video arcade, complete with full cabs, a pinball machine, home consoles, a few computers & even a cocktail. Much fun was had. I even brought a 27 inch TV for anyone to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 Went to one last year and had fun. Basically, a garage was turned into a video arcade, complete with full cabs, a pinball machine, home consoles, a few computers & even a cocktail. Much fun was had. I even brought a 27 inch TV for anyone to use. Two people are bringing over 19" TVs which is cool. I wish my garage was clean enough. Otherwise it would suit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Pepper1983 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 (edited) Every few weekends I would go visit some friends and they always wanted me to bring my nes, sms, snes, or genesis. I think 15 people is the most we ever had there at once. I remember one night two friends who had never played zelda before insisted on playing zelda 1 all the way through. I didn't see it all because I fell asleep but their boyfriends confirmed that they beat it around 4:30. They said they want to try zelda 2 some time. Another time one of them said she had never seen the ending of a mario game before and made me show her the ending of mario 1, 2, and 3 in one night. And she wanted to see it with no warping, except for skipping past world 7 in mario 3. Edited May 11, 2009 by Sgt.Pepper1983 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevincal Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 A retro gaming party would be incomplete without an N64, 4 controllers, Mario Kart 64 & GoldenEye 007... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 We had a big bomberman party in 1991 so I guess it wasn't retro at the time but it sure was fun. We had two TG-16s playing 5 player games. I just picked up a cheap projector tonight that I want to use to hook up my Atari on our patio. If everything goes well, I'll planning on holding a nighttime Atari party this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 A retro gaming party would be incomplete without an N64, 4 controllers, Mario Kart 64 & GoldenEye 007... I have an N64 but that falls out of the time range of the classic era... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 I can add a PowerJoy to my list of consoles! Picked it up last night at Goodwill for $2.97. I will post pix of the whole setup this Sunday morning and a review of how things went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevincal Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 A retro gaming party would be incomplete without an N64, 4 controllers, Mario Kart 64 & GoldenEye 007... I have an N64 but that falls out of the time range of the classic era... It's still sort of retro though. I doubt the classic gaming police would show up and arrest you if you were caught playing the N64 in the midst of other classic consoles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Pepper1983 Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 A retro gaming party would be incomplete without an N64, 4 controllers, Mario Kart 64 & GoldenEye 007... I have an N64 but that falls out of the time range of the classic era... The 64 may not be considered classic, but any system that is out of date, including the game cube, ps2, and original xbox is retro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinChargers Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) Of course no retro gaming party would be complete with some 80's music blaring from a boom-box in the background. Break out your B-52 and Poison cassettes!! Edited May 12, 2009 by TwinChargers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missioncontrol Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) It's too late for this, but my boy's last birthday party was a retro gaming event, rather than standard invitations I created some promotional flyers to hand out to his friends as the invitations. I also posted a few of the event flyers in the gameroom along with some other flyers from other gaming events that I could find. The kids mostly played either warlords on the Atari or Mario Cart on the 64 since both were 4 player games. They had a blast... Edit: oops wrong copy, (had my address) Edited May 12, 2009 by missioncontrol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameGirl420 Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Of course no retro gaming party would be complete with some 80's music blaring from a boom-box in the background. Break out your B-52 and Poison cassettes!! Good call!! Sounds really fun!!!! Mmmm chips and salsa always makes a party good. Hope it goes well. I might throw a retro party myself actually soon I just bought an 80s Care Bears record player and a vinyl copy of the soundtrack for Rock n Roll High School. Plus I have a vintage Pong now, I so would like to test it out at a party . The one I'm gonna throw is gonna have alcohol tho....nothing like getting drunk and playing some Pong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbarius Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) It's too late for this, but my boy's last birthday party was a retro gaming event, rather than standard invitations I created some promotional flyers to hand out to his friends as the invitations. I also posted a few of the event flyers in the gameroom along with some other flyers from other gaming events that I could find. The kids mostly played either warlords on the Atari or Mario Cart on the 64 since both were 4 player games. They had a blast... Nice flyer you did there, but 1PM to 4PM? Rather short event, don't you think? Did it really end at 4PM or how long went the party on? Sufficient number of players provided, taking into account the different consoles and different games on each of them (because there is more players than systems, some are watching, while others play, but surely everyone wants to get their turn), as well as enough food and drinks (could be (partially) brought by the guests themselves - like who can make a cake, who makes a salad, and so forth) this could easily be 1PM to 4AM Edited May 13, 2009 by Herbarius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missioncontrol Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) A few kids stayed longer, I had 3 TVs going and the pinball machine in working order. He had about 10 guest I think. It was a kid's party so they were happy with pizza and games, as far as kids watching verse playing, I think they had fun both ways, either cheering along and playing... Edited May 13, 2009 by missioncontrol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbarius Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Oh, I see. Somehow it slipped past me that it was a kid's party, so my 4AM suggestion was a little extreme But after all its nice everything turned out great and they had fun. And of course watching someone play games, especially multiplayer games can be very entertaining, if you're in the right mood almost as entertaining as playing it yourself... After all I remember how much I enjoyed watching my father play PC games as a kid (even if I barely understood what was going on) and later how much my little brothers enjoyed watching me play Edited May 13, 2009 by Herbarius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) how about peeps turning up as classic gaming characters (less mario and sonic) like pacman, jet boot jack, manic miner (or was it miner willy) monty mole/bounty bob etc (or some alien called ET) Edited May 13, 2009 by carmel_andrews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I think multiplayer games are the most fun. There was a period when I had every month or so a little Bomberman party. I liked those top-view racing games too, like Super Off Road, Nitro (amiga). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 I bought an RF modulator from the Shack the other night to connect one of the flashback systems to the B/W 5" Sony Watchman I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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