PRGE - Portland Retro Gaming Expo - Oct 22,23 2016

[+Tarzilla]

What has Tarzilla gotten me into this time. He will pay for this!!!!!

Well, it probably will be the LAST time...

...and I'm only doing it so I can watch CMart punch you in the nuts...

[Rev]

Well, it probably will be the LAST time...

...and I'm only doing it so I can watch CMart punch you in the nuts...

PRGE is sooo far away. I can hardly wait....

[+cmart604]

Lol. I just bought new brass knuckles

[pimpmaul69]

Lol. I just bought new brass knuckles

rev's head will probably pop like a defeated "rock em sock em robot" if you knock em in the nuts with those babies...

[Guest LiqMat]

All I have to say is this right here is the mindset of Portland. After traveling all over the U.S. non-stop for the last five years there is nothing like this city. Everything has a bar in it. lol

 

http://www.spinlaundrylounge.com/

[Rev]

rev's head will probably pop like a defeated "rock em sock em robot" if you knock em in the nuts with those babies...

Nah

[fdr4prez]

While everyone is in Portland, don't forget to go to the classic arcade:

http://groundkontrol.com/

[Guest LiqMat]

While everyone is in Portland, don't forget to go to the classic arcade:

http://groundkontrol.com/

 

The pinball machines are great on the second floor.

[+freewheel]

The arcade at PRGE blows that place away. Yes, it's that good.

[Rev]

Revolution is confirmed to have a booth at Prge. What was I thinking.....

[+Tarzilla]

Revolution is confirmed to have a booth at Prge. What was I thinking.....

Hey, everyone, CMart got a bulk deal on "Smashed Nuts" brand brass knuckles. He'll be selling them on Friday, pre order and they will be personalized for a nominal fee.

[pimpmaul69]

Hey, everyone, CMart got a bulk deal on "Smashed Nuts" brand brass knuckles. He'll be selling them on Friday, pre order and they will be personalized for a nominal fee.

arent the brass knuckles shaped in the word "pwned"?

[+Tarzilla]

arent the brass knuckles shaped in the word "pwned"?

No, but they come in sets of two, they have the raised words "SLOW" on the right one and "DOWN" on the left one...

[fdr4prez]

[Guest LiqMat]

The arcade at PRGE blows that place away. Yes, it's that good.

 

Considering the guys at Ground Kontrol organize that free arcade at PRGE your statement is redundant.

[+nurmix]

The arcade at PRGE blows that place away. Yes, it's that good.

In number of machines, yes. In arcade atmosphere, not so much (based on my 2013 trip there). But still, impressive!

 

 

 

Sent from my Intellivision ECS using Intelli-Tapatalk

[BBWW]

We need to get all our tables in one GIANT section! I'll have GroovyBee on a leash.

[+freewheel]

I wasn't shitting on Ground Kontrol. It's a very cool place, it's just nothing like a classic arcade - at least where I grew up. GK feels like a bar that has a lot of arcade cabinets and pins in it. PRGE is basically just open floor space packed with row upon row of games, and the only real noise you hear is the crowd and the sounds coming from the cabinets. You're almost bumping elbows with your fellow players. Not listening to EDM and drinking a cocktail under blacklights.

 

I'll admit, it's been probably 5+ years since I've visited GK. Maybe it's less like a bar now. And I'm not even saying that's a bad thing, it's just not what a classic arcade is to me. Arcades in the 80s were basically the cheapest, crappiest retail/warehouse space anyone could find in a city, jammed with machines, and their sole purpose was games. I'd never even seen a licensed arcade until this century, and that was when everything was DDR and racing cabs.

 

Mind you, neither of them is full of cigarette smoke and pot dealers, so I guess they're not really like classic arcades at all.

 

Edit: pictures say it better.

 

This is what I remember of GK: http://groundkontrol.com/about-us/gk-3-0/nggallery/image/15

 

And this is what I see when I think "arcade": http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/inside-the-largest-video-game-arcade-in-the-usa/

[+nurmix]

 

Edit: pictures say it better.

 

This is what I remember of GK: http://groundkontrol.com/about-us/gk-3-0/nggallery/image/15

 

And this is what I see when I think "arcade": http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/inside-the-largest-video-game-arcade-in-the-usa/

That's a fair point. And I didn't take your post to mean you were shitting on Ground Kontrol.

 

To me, Ground Kontrol is kind of an idealized/romanticized version of a retro arcade. That said, I did have a couple arcades I frequented as a kid that were 'themed', for lack of a better word. And they were both rather dark, with accent lighting (don't recall if there were black lights). And the other place I played a lot was a Shakey's Pizza Parlor. The small arcade section there was also dark (the restaurant itself had dim lighting but the arcade section was even darker).

 

My own garage arcade is somewhat of a crossover of my childhood memories, and something that evokes memories of '80s styles. I have black lights, and black light reactive carpet, and it's dark. What I think makes it feel most like an arcade is that that's really all that's in there - games. At PRGE, you are surrounded by the arcade sites and sounds, but also the rest of the expo is next to you, as are other areas of the high-ceilinged hall that don't evoke an 'arcade' feeling as much as Ground Kontrol does. My $ .02

 

Here's my garage arcade:

 

 

 

Sent from my Intellivision ECS using Intelli-Tapatalk

[+Lathe26]

Ground Kontrol is an arcade aimed at adults instead of kids.

 

Arcades back-in-the-day = arcade games + soda + candy + kids with little money

Ground Kontrol today = arcade games + booze + food + nostalgic adults with money

[Guest LiqMat]

That's a fair point. And I didn't take your post to mean you were shitting on Ground Kontrol.

 

To me, Ground Kontrol is kind of an idealized/romanticized version of a retro arcade. That said, I did have a couple arcades I frequented as a kid that were 'themed', for lack of a better word. And they were both rather dark, with accent lighting (don't recall if there were black lights). And the other place I played a lot was a Shakey's Pizza Parlor. The small arcade section there was also dark (the restaurant itself had dim lighting but the arcade section was even darker).

 

My own garage arcade is somewhat of a crossover of my childhood memories, and something that evokes memories of '80s styles. I have black lights, and black light reactive carpet, and it's dark. What I think makes it feel most like an arcade is that that's really all that's in there - games. At PRGE, you are surrounded by the arcade sites and sounds, but also the rest of the expo is next to you, as are other areas of the high-ceilinged hall that don't evoke an 'arcade' feeling as much as Ground Kontrol does. My $ .02

 

Here's my garage arcade:

 

 

 

Sent from my Intellivision ECS using Intelli-Tapatalk

 

Wow. At that point it should be renamed from "The Garage" to "The Sanctum". Looks great,

[Guest LiqMat]

I wasn't shitting on Ground Kontrol. It's a very cool place, it's just nothing like a classic arcade - at least where I grew up. GK feels like a bar that has a lot of arcade cabinets and pins in it. PRGE is basically just open floor space packed with row upon row of games, and the only real noise you hear is the crowd and the sounds coming from the cabinets. You're almost bumping elbows with your fellow players. Not listening to EDM and drinking a cocktail under blacklights.

 

I'll admit, it's been probably 5+ years since I've visited GK. Maybe it's less like a bar now. And I'm not even saying that's a bad thing, it's just not what a classic arcade is to me. Arcades in the 80s were basically the cheapest, crappiest retail/warehouse space anyone could find in a city, jammed with machines, and their sole purpose was games. I'd never even seen a licensed arcade until this century, and that was when everything was DDR and racing cabs.

 

Mind you, neither of them is full of cigarette smoke and pot dealers, so I guess they're not really like classic arcades at all.

 

Edit: pictures say it better.

 

This is what I remember of GK: http://groundkontrol.com/about-us/gk-3-0/nggallery/image/15

 

And this is what I see when I think "arcade": http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/inside-the-largest-video-game-arcade-in-the-usa/

 

That's cool man. Just saying Ground Kontrol is a big reason why the PRGE arcade happens every year. I grew up in the 80s with multi-level dark arcades like Ground Kontrol so I feel right at home in that place. The other two great barcades in Oregon that I know of is "Game Over" in Lincoln City and "Level Up" in Eugene.

[m-crew]

That's a fair point. And I didn't take your post to mean you were shitting on Ground Kontrol.

 

To me, Ground Kontrol is kind of an idealized/romanticized version of a retro arcade. That said, I did have a couple arcades I frequented as a kid that were 'themed', for lack of a better word. And they were both rather dark, with accent lighting (don't recall if there were black lights). And the other place I played a lot was a Shakey's Pizza Parlor. The small arcade section there was also dark (the restaurant itself had dim lighting but the arcade section was even darker).

 

My own garage arcade is somewhat of a crossover of my childhood memories, and something that evokes memories of '80s styles. I have black lights, and black light reactive carpet, and it's dark. What I think makes it feel most like an arcade is that that's really all that's in there - games. At PRGE, you are surrounded by the arcade sites and sounds, but also the rest of the expo is next to you, as are other areas of the high-ceilinged hall that don't evoke an 'arcade' feeling as much as Ground Kontrol does. My $ .02

 

Here's my garage arcade:

 

 

 

Sent from my Intellivision ECS using Intelli-Tapatalk

luv it, only thing missing are a few Pins!!!

[+freewheel]

Yup, you guys definitely had swankier arcades than I ever saw as a kid. Multiple levels - did you also have a train in your living room??

So on the attendance thing, who has a booth? It seems like half of this forum does now.

 

PS: I didn't actually know people put blacklights in these things. I was kinda just making an early 90s rave club joke with that one. I see we're from similar backgrounds, nurmix

[DZ-Jay]

Yup, you guys definitely had swankier arcades than I ever saw as a kid. Multiple levels - did you also have a train in your living room??

 

So on the attendance thing, who has a booth? It seems like half of this forum does now.

 

PS: I didn't actually know people put blacklights in these things. I was kinda just making an early 90s rave club joke with that one. I see we're from similar backgrounds, nurmix

 

Modern "Arcades" are a much cooler affair than the game rooms of my youth. I recall that most arcades in the 1980s were either pizzerias, bars; or if they were dedicated franchises: smokey, crowded, smelly, and noisy rooms packed with all sorts of dirty and sticky cabinets, and with little room to move.

 

I've seen pictures of the modern ones, and they look like idealized versions of what we remember. The closest thing I've seen recently is the game room at my local bowling alley (which is mostly filled with those midway things designed to steal your money in exchange for "tickets"), or Disney Quest at the Disney Village.

 

I remember the first time I went to Disney Quest in the late 1990s (or early 2000s), before "modern arcades" were a thing. I thought I had died and woke up in heaven: there were three levels of game cabinets, all original, grouped by era; from the most recent modern stuff (including some cheesy "futuristic" VR crap), to the very early classic games we all grew up with -- ALL FOR FREE PLAY! OMG! I was ecstatic! I hadn't seen such a thing for over 15 years -- and even back then I had to spent whatever quarters I could scrape from between the cushions of the sofa.

 

I spent the entire day in that place, and my parents, sister, and even wife, were already bored and ready to go while I was still playing. They went out shopping and left me there by myself.

 

I know that now these places are "hip" and "trendy" and all that, but I really don't care about the atmosphere. I just want to play the games.

 

-dZ.

Edited June 3, 2016 by DZ-Jay