Louie M. covers conventions for www.comicsheatingup.net
Where are the CHU Gamers at??? We ventured into some different territory at Game On Expo; a large gaming convention in Mesa, AZ catering to any type of gaming platform.
When I wasn’t reading comics growing up, I had a controller in my hand. What’s great about Game On Expo is the exposure to all gaming platforms and it was seriously awesome! Here are some highlights:
I spent the first 2 hours of my day reliving childhood in the free arcade room. They had a really incredible array of arcade games, pinball machines, simulators, and Guitar Hero. There was also live music throughout day which added to the energy of the room. They had some incredible games that I recall donating many quarters to such as TMNT, Mortal Kombat, Final Fight, and the Simpsons. I also love pinball machines and spent some time on vintage Star Wars and Kiss themed machines, they even had custom made Walking Dead!
Several gaming rooms were spread throughout the convention center. There were various console tournaments, retro gaming rooms, tabletop gaming for fun, or you could buy into Magic The Gathering to win a box. One area of geekery I never experienced was tabletop gaming. Some people were nice enough to let me sit in for a while at Ascension and Superfight tables, and it was an experience I want more of. It was time consuming but I definitely get the appeal of playing person with a big group.
There was a various array of gaming panels, spotlights on voice actors for Halo, Overwatch, and Doom, as well as live podcasts. Being a console person myself, I had to see the panel on the SNES Playstation protoype. As legend goes, these were all supposed to be destroyed after the Sony and Nintendo partnership fell apart, but one made it into the wild. It’s both a part of gaming history and a look at an alternate timeline. It has Sony’s CD Rom technology with a distinct Nintendo look and feel. It was there and playable. I’m glad Sony did their own thing, but fun to see what could have been.
The exhibit hall was very diverse. There were all types of gaming vendors and an artist’s alley. Even codercamps.com was there to encourage gamers to learn to code. There were many vendors selling retro game consoles and it was a great trip down memory lane. So many consoles from years gone by: Turbo Grafix, Virtual Boy, Sega CD, Dreamcast and Lynx!!!! I forgot all about Lynx, I spent insane hours on that handheld and just about forgot it ever existed
You don’t always have to buy old consoles to relive the good old days. Plenty of modern products that will play the old game using modern technology. You can pick up plenty of new inventions that will play multiple obsolete cartridge types at once, plug into HDMI, and have wireless retro controllers.
No Con fatigue for these cosplayers, there were out in force posing for pics and taking part in contests. There was even a Corgi cosplayer. Check out the pics!
Game On Expo will continue to expand with its solid organization and friendly staff. It was a great family atmosphere as well, definitely something fun to do with the kids. If you are in the southwest for the next Game On Expo, check it out: http://gameonexpoaz.com/
If you are gamer, tell us what you like to play in the comments.
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Nice write up Louie. Sorry haven’t emailed you about the other stuff been very busy with work and family. But that’s a story for another day lol. Dude it looked like you had fun. When I was growing up SNES was my thing. My cousins had the NES and playing with both was a blast. Duck hunt and super Mario was the sh#ts lol. I still have a SNES, Sega genesis, N64, playstaion2 and 3 and a gameboy color. And I want a NES lol. My boys love to play N64 cuz of the Pokémon games lol. Good time playing these game consoles lol.
Not a worry Jesus, take your time. Those old systems are fun, you may want hold on to those SNES games, was surprised that some had some value. It looks like those off brand consoles that play NES cartridges are actually pretty sweet, they play nicely with newer TVs. I’m with you on Duck Hunt, i love that game lol!