Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2018 Event Coverage - Our Adventures with Pixel Game Squad's Riff & Gabbo
28In this video, we share our experiences with you from our first ever visit to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo.
Since I launched the channel and really started to focus on retro video games, one gaming show was always on the top of everybody's list, that is the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. The Northwest seems to be a haven for retro gaming, and if you look at some of the most popular YouTube personalities they are actually based out of Oregon. John Riggs, Metal Jesus, Kinsey Burke, Kelsey Lewin, The Immortal John Hancock, even my good friend Castlemania Ryan is based out of the state of Oregon. There's got to be something to it, it can't just be a coincidence.
My travel started Thursday afternoon as I drove two and a half hours from Champaign to Chicago to fly out of the Midway Airport. Once I got to the airport I got my first good pickup of the weekend. My flight was oversold, so I offered the option to move to a different flight that did not have a connection, it even got in a few hours earlier! On top of that I also got several hundred dollars and travel vouchers that I can use for a later convention. Nice!
Once I landed and got checked into the hotel it was time for me to crash out. The next morning I it was back to the airport to pick up Riff and Gabbo The Giver from the Pixel Game Squad. We talked all the time but I never met them in person, I didn't know what I was going to run into but I figured it would be fun. Once the boys got checked into the hotel it was time to head to grab a bite to eat, and go to the convention center. We walked around the free play area quite a bit, it was pretty much the only thing you could access on Friday as vendors were not setup to sell until Saturday morning. The free play area was super fun, they had classic arcade cabinets, they had amazing pinball machines, there were actually a few booths that were selling as well. That's where I got my first pick up of the event when I managed to score a copy of Rampage for the Sega Master System.
We decided to go see if we could find some local retro gaming stores & went to a store called Retro Game Traders. They had everything, literally. They pride themselves on having complete collections and if there's something missing they want to know so that they can try to get it in. I saw copies of games I have never seen in the wild before, including the Flintstones! But what I really liked that they had was an original 1980s era Millennium Falcon, and the sound effects all worked. if I would have had the money, the room, and the place to store it I definitely would have taken that home.
After getting breakfast Saturday morning the three of us went back to the convention center, hungry for pickups. I went to the show looking for several specific titles, but I really didn't see them the first day. What I did see, however, were a ton of people who are absolutely loving the Retro video game hobby. I saw people interacting, sharing stories, sharing their love, sharing their passion.
One of the coolest things I got to do is spend some time talking with Walter Day from Twin Galaxies. We all know who Walter is, he's been featured prominently on the King of Kong and the community for decades. We talked about everyday stuff, he knew the area where I lived, he had questions about the industry I worked in, specifically RC drones. We probably had a solid 15-minute conversation that had nothing to do with video games. It was surreal but it was also awesome.
Sunday was my big day to get most of my footage done. I forgot to grab my tripod out of the car Saturday, that's why I had to do my interviews on Sunday. Dummy. The good thing was that give me a chance to really assess what I saw Saturday and plan out the interviews I wanted to do. I hope you all have enjoyed the interviews on the channel, they were a lot of fun and I think they played pretty well. I also managed to get a few pickups finally, mostly Master System stuff but I did manage to get some really cool games for the Famicom Disk System.
Sunday night consisted of Riff, Gabbo and I heading to get something to eat and going back to the hotel where Gabbo schooled us and kicked our butts in Street Fighter.
We ended up heading to a local game and collectible store, where Gabbo grabbed a couple games for the Wii. From here we went to another game and collectible store that was super cool. Our last stop before going our separate ways was going to 5 Guys for some lunch. From here we went to the airport to go home.
It was bittersweet when the Portland Retro Gaming Expo was over, I absolutely loved spending time with everyone. It was awesome to get to know people on a personal level outside of YouTube. This is a trip I will always cherish and remember, I'm also super thankful for everyone who actually saw and recognized me and stopped to say hi too. I'm already planning my next convention visit, I just need to determine which show I'm going to next.