Portland Retro Gaming Expo - Oct 18 and 19

[+cmart604]

How fun!

 

Someone stole us a Sydney Hunter overlay at our table during the PRGE

 

Karma Police has been called motherfucker!

Really? What a douchebag....wait, who collects single overlays? Jason, can you account for your whereabouts this weekend?

[retroillucid]

Really? What a douchebag....wait, who collects single overlays? Jason, can you account for your whereabouts this weekend?

Probably someone who doesn't plan to buy the actual game and just want to get the rom file

Better buy yourself a Hive multicart, otherwise you'll not be able to play the game on real hardware

 

Anyway, I'm one of those who believe in karma ...so......

[+GroovyBee]

Someone stole us a Sydney Hunter overlay at our table during the PRGE

Thats pretty low. I had a proto game stolen from AA's booth at CGE a few years ago. It hasn't stopped me sending things to shows or attending them myself. It just means you have to have eyes in the back of your head at large public events .

[retroillucid]

Thats pretty low. I had a proto game stolen from AA's booth at CGE a few years ago. It hasn't stopped me sending things to shows or attending them myself. It just means you have to have eyes in the back of your head at large public events .

Geez.... How lame!

[Rev]

Cant you put GPS on carts and overlays?

[JasonlikesINTV]

Really? What a douchebag....wait, who collects single overlays? Jason, can you account for your whereabouts this weekend?

It was me I flew out to Portland to steal an overlay....worth it

[+cmart604]

It was me I flew out to Portland to steal an overlay....worth it

Lol!

[+Lathe26]

Ok, just to compare this year's CGE to this year's PRGE (an earlier post was with last year's PRGE):

• Both were a lot of fun. Each has their own strengths. I'm not trying to bash either expo.
• PRGE had way more vendors, probably 3x as many. It also seemed like the average vendors brought more inventory per table. This means more games and systems for sale with more variety.
• However, CGE had much higher concentration of Intellivision stuff. It also had Blix and more upcoming games being demo'ed. That said, PRGE had more quantity of Intellivision items and had more Intellivision homebrews for sale (however, homebrew quantity varies wildly from year to year).
• CGE had more Blue Sky Rangers attending (12 vs 1). Probably easier to lure them to Las Vegas than Portland.
• PRGE had a bigger arcade and more pinball games (though CGE did well here).
• CGE had HUGE museum of stuff to see. PRGE had none.
• The talks were close but I give the edge to CGE.
• The extra 1/2 day at CGE was pretty cool.
• PRGE has very well organized auction. It has a 2 hour schedule and they have already posted a tentative list of this year's auction items here. I really, really wish CGE had done this. There was no announced or displayed items beforehand. Attendees were left ply people for rumor nuggets to see if the 5 hour open-ended time block was going to be worth sitting through. This made attending the CGE auction a struggle for those of us with spouses who aren't that much into games. This my only big criticism of an otherwise fantastic CGE.
• As a city, I enjoyed Portland more (better beer, better doughnuts, great chocolate, higher quality food, more history). However, Las Vegas was quite the fun experience as well.

Anyways, that's my 2 cents.

[wolfy62]

Ok, just to compare this year's CGE to this year's PRGE (an earlier post was with last year's PRGE):

• Both were a lot of fun. Each has their own strengths. I'm not trying to bash either expo.
• PRGE had way more vendors, probably 3x as many. It also seemed like the average vendors brought more inventory per table. This means more games and systems for sale with more variety.
• However, CGE had much higher concentration of Intellivision stuff. It also had Blix and more upcoming games being demo'ed. That said, PRGE had more quantity of Intellivision items and had more Intellivision homebrews for sale (however, homebrew quantity varies wildly from year to year).
• CGE had more Blue Sky Rangers attending (12 vs 1). Probably easier to lure them to Las Vegas than Portland.
• PRGE had a bigger arcade and more pinball games (though CGE did well here).
• CGE had HUGE museum of stuff to see. PRGE had none.
• The talks were close but I give the edge to CGE.
• The extra 1/2 day at CGE was pretty cool.
• PRGE has very well organized auction. It has a 2 hour schedule and they have already posted a tentative list of this year's auction items here. I really, really wish CGE had done this. There was no announced or displayed items beforehand. Attendees were left ply people for rumor nuggets to see if the 5 hour open-ended time block was going to be worth sitting through. This made attending the CGE auction a struggle for those of us with spouses who aren't that much into games. This my only big criticism of an otherwise fantastic CGE.
• As a city, I enjoyed Portland more (better beer, better doughnuts, great chocolate, higher quality food, more history). However, Las Vegas was quite the fun experience as well.

Anyways, that's my 2 cents.

I think I need to see Portland!

thank you for the great info. I have been to Vegas many times and It is time to see and try something new!

[+Lathe26]

Forgot to mention: CGE had more Intellivision folks from AtariAge drinking beer together. You can determine whether you consider that a good or bad thing. :-)

[+Special Teams]

Sorry we didn't get to chat more. I had the wife and kids waiting for me back at the hotel and left around 1:30. Next year let's all plan something.

 

Portland is a fun city. It's small and pedestrian friendly. I always stay at the Embassy Suites downtown, and there are plenty of places to go and things to do. We went to a "haunted" pizza place in Old Town and of course hit Voodoo Doughnuts across the street from the hotel.

[S1500]

I also hit Voodoo Doughnuts. There is ALWAYS a line to get in there. It's especially crowded in the morning, like everyone trying to get into a nightclub.

[+Lathe26]

My wife and I got married at Voodoo Doughnuts several years ago (the larger one on the east side of the river). Their doughnuts are a lot of fun and unique. However, if you want to try gourmet doughnuts with incredible flavor, try Blue Star doughnuts near the Crystal Ballroom.

 

We stayed at the Crystal Hotel, which is part of the McMenamins breweries. Not a good hotel for kids but great for adults. We had a lot of good food there of course.

[+freewheel]

Voodoo Doughnuts is a little slice of heaven. Knowing that it's possible to have a retro gaming con with more vendors (and more stuff per), I definitely need to hit up Portland next year. CGE was cool for unexpected reasons, but a bit of a letdown in terms of a shopping experience. Not that my wallet complained, mind you.

 

Oh, and I'm still bitter than I didn't win the GAME.COM. Always on the lookout for shitty consoles (finally got a HyperScan this summer!).

[Metal Jesus]

OMG I was so hung over for most of this expo! We close down TWO bars, got cut off for being rowdy and had a KICK-ASS time. Here's the PROOF!

 

[Metal Jesus]

 

With the help of my Metal Militia & the Portland Retro Expo, I went NUTS and added over 50 games to my collection on 15 systems including 2 that are new to me.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

I missed seeing any of you AA folks this year despite looking around and asking. It seems most sellers in the dealer room didn't know Unit number. With luck we'll bump into each other next year.