Coleco strong-arming homebrew publishers and fan sites

[StopDrop&Retro]

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That poor girl... you can just tell by the look on her face she is not thrilled to be there.

 

And Disney wonders why their starlets turn to porn?

[dj_convoy]

One would hope that the crushing failure of this ill-conceived expo would mean the end of Cardillo and his sniffing around the community. You have to kind of just shake your head at how a "COLECO" show has so little "COLECO" content.

[shawnphase]

no smiles in attendence, i see

[Andromeda Stardust]

Why is it every time I see a pic of Cardillo, all I can think of is Poochie from the Simpson's?

poochie.JPG

That episode was a trip. They even added some random extra into the Simpson's family for the entire episode.

[Jaymiester]

Judging by his previous comments / actions, I believe he will claim it was a Total success and demand all threads, pictures or video's that claim otherwise be removed from the Internet permanently.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

I think there are some people who would never admit to their mistakes by choosing to attend, but no matter how people want to spin it, I'm looking at actual real videos taken by random people who are at the expo. Here's one that was just posted about 30 minutes ago showing a nearly empty vendor area with vendors sitting around bored with not many customers in sight:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXdu8joDAGT/

 

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Those are real actual photos of what the show floor looks like!

 

And just to be fair, there ARE people playing in the game room at least as shown in this video: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXdv1Hbjtgq/

 

But also strange there isn't a single ColecoVision console set up at the "Coleco" show.

Those poor, poor vendors, sitting around waiting...

[TrekMD]

Wow, I feel sorry for the vendors.

[TPR]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Iu1X6ZBqw

[Shawn]

So as of yet no reveal of the Rainbow Brite game? That was the only thing that was of any real interest to me. Even if the guy and his show suck I was still curious to see what the new mini arcade is (was?) going to look like when it hits store shelves (if it does?).

[Omega-TI]

[Lord Innit]

Lordy, I wish someone did a cosplay as a tumbleweed.

[TPR]

So as of yet no reveal of the Rainbow Brite game? That was the only thing that was of any real interest to me. Even if the guy and his show suck I was still curious to see what the new mini arcade is (was?) going to look like when it hits store shelves (if it does?).

 

There was what looked like the game running on a PC yesterday with a Rainbow Brite banner behind it, but I haven't seen anyone post about it today. There was no 'official announcement' made about the game and nothing at all mentioned about the mini-arcades. I wonder if these will become vaporware?

[StopDrop&Retro]

The big question is: will they have another in 2018?

 

They can try to spin it however they wish and vendors will be politely silent about their disappointment, but they'll show their true feelings when the time comes to renew their spot for next year. Good luck with that. Cardillo is going to have to make the decision next year whether to continue the train wreck and (likely) have an even more disappointing show than 2017, or admit defeat and remember COLECON as a once in a lifetime event. Sadly, he can probably cancel the whole thing and save face because no one will remember this in a month, much less a year.

 

 

The Expo could have made sense and been great if they had actually put on a good event. IMO, a handful of arcade machines, some wal-mart tables with consoles, mostly unknown guest speakers, random cosplayers, and featured vendors with garden gnomes and crochet knick-knacks doesn't make for a "great" retro gaming expo. Especially when not a single well-known retrogamer, homebrew publisher, or YouTuber was present.

 

It was not the "idea" that wasn't solid, it was the team behind it putting it all together.

 

You hit the nail on the head. In order to run a good expo you need to give your expo goers something they can't get through their computer screen. A bunch of rom running emucades, retail priced merchandise, and no-name "celebrities" with nothing else to do on a weekend isn't going to cut it.

 

I love the community aspect of it but getting people from the scene to attend is a big one. It sounds dumb but one of the things that really makes me travel to a convention is the prospect of meeting people I've only seen online or played their game. Even if it's just to say hello and take a photo, attend their panel or get something signed, that's still more than I can get from the desk I'm sitting at right now. People want to bring back something brag worthy and those "guess who I met!" posts on social media sell the convention as the place to be.

[+davidcalgary29]

We should have our own colecovision show. Perhaps an Atariage show somewhere not too far from Canada so we can attend. Like in Canada but you know buffalo or somewhere not too far.

 

Small venue, small charge to attend as a vendor to cover rental of a small room facility. Free to the public to buy stuff and 1 day only.

Great idea, except the thing about Buffalo. Toronto or Montreal is just fine, and please make it around Xmas time so that I can fly in and attend.

[Greg2600]

Wow, I feel sorry for the vendors.

 

Actually game reseller I know said he did well there.

[TPR]

Oh man! Everyone needs to go watch this video right now!!!

 

https://www.facebook.com/paul.snearowski/videos/o.596195503873576/1788667907814158/

 

I wish I could embed it. But start around the 2:00 mark. It really shows off just how sad and pathetic the Coleco Expo really was. What an embarrassing disaster for Chris Cardillo and his team.... GOOD! They absolutely DESERVE it!

[Dr Manhattan]

The irony is that with such a low turnout you might have been able to score a few deals from all those sad, lonely vendors. I genuinely feel sorry for them. Most of them probably have no idea about the drama surrounding this event.

[+evg2000]

Maybe they had the vendors and attendees sign an NDA stating that they can't say the show sucked.

[enoofu]

Looks like Chris spent all his effort at the ticket booth on this expo, trying to sell games and stuff before they enter inside.

 

Guess RWB next trademark will be Fleece

[+cmart604]

 

For reference, this is what a real retro convention looks like:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol! That's one handsome guy talking to Al. ?

[TPR]

This guys' second video is even better! Really shows off that there is NOBODY at the expo! Click:

https://www.facebook.com/paul.snearowski/videos/vb.100000128972500/1788563681157914/

[Special Teams]

Lol! That's one handsome guy talking to Al.

What's he playing with in his pocket?

[+cmart604]

This guys' second video is even better! Really shows off that there is NOBODY at the expo! Click:

https://www.facebook.com/paul.snearowski/videos/vb.100000128972500/1788563681157914/

Ouch. That's a similar number of people to the vendor set up night at PRGE.....at 10PM.

[+cmart604]

What's he playing with in his pocket?

Spare change? ?

[enoofu]

Did Coleco just give up after Chris alienated the CV retro/homebrewers community?

 

Not like Coleco has ever spent money on marketing or community outreach to generate buzz.

They also basically pissed the homebrew/retros they were sponsoring cheaply.

Booth at the New York Toy Fair probably cost around 4000 dollar to be manned, and they probably spend a few thousand dollars to buy the Coleco website.

Website and their Facebook and twitter is probably outsourced with the rest of RWB or Castle Windows companies when it is up so the running costs probably isn't that bad.

Edited August 6, 2017 by enoofu