OVGE -<2008>- Retro Gaming Returns! (08/09/2008)

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

For Immediate Release--

Contact: Jesse Hardesty
OVGE@cox.net


Oklahoma's Only True Retro Video Game Exhibition Returns!

Tulsa, OK – May 5, 2008– Classic video games will once again rise from history as mid-America's one and only OVGE returns to announce the fifth Oklahoma Video Game Exhibition.

On August 9, 2008 video game collectors and enthusiasts from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and even further will come together at the Marriott Tulsa Southern Hills Hotel in Tulsa to celebrate the history of the video gaming industry. “Before OVGE, people from the surrounding states had to travel across the country for events such as this, so it is nice to have something a bit closer.” said Jesse Hardesty, founder of the OVGE. Doors will open to the public at 9:00 a.m. and close at 5:00 p.m. Cost of admission for ages eight and above will be $3 dollars at the door.

In 1972, the video game industry launched with the sale of the Odyssey by Magnavox. However, in the early ‘80s an overflow of games and lack luster sales in stores forced many companies to close resulting in drastic drops in prices for their merchandise. Companies still in business could not compete with the low pricing and lost money from their over stocked inventory causing the great crash of the video game industry in 1983. Since the rebirth of the industry in 1985, with the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System, video game sales have flourished. According to the NPD annual statistics the video game industry reached nearly 18 billion dollars last year. These numbers will continue to grow in 2008.

Still, many video game players are returning to classic video games. Even with the advanced graphics and sound of today’s video games, why are so many people fascinated with the classics? “Even though modern game systems have amazing graphics and sound, the most important aspect of any video game is that it actually be fun to play. Because classic game systems, like the Atari 2600, had very simple graphics, game designers had to focus on the game-play. Those same games that were fun in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s are still just as much fun today,” stated Albert Yarusso, modern video game programmer and co-founder of AtariAge.com.

“With video gaming being today’s main form of home entertainment, the history behind it should not be forgotten,” said Hardesty. “The Oklahoma Video Game Exhibition is providing the youth and their parents a chance to visit and interact with that past.” Numerous video game systems, computers, and arcade machines, will be set up for the public to play. Vendors and exhibitors will have games, and other memorabilia on display with many items for purchase.

The OVGE is organized by gaming enthusiasts who want to share their hobby and passion for classic and modern video games with the public.

For more information, visit:

http://www.ovge.com
Oklahoma Video Game Exhibition (http://www.ovge.com)

We're back!

See you all in August!

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Oh heck yeah. I'll be there for some of that.

[namzep]

I'm going to try to go and don't think I have anything going on then.

[Flack]

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[Gapporin]

I'm in like Flynn!

...whoever he was.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

http://www.thelogbook.com/stills/movies/tron--flynn-digitized.jpg "was" being the operative word...

[8bitgamer]

Great news, indeed! I classic gaming show within driving distance of Dallas/Ft. Worth!

[98PaceCar]

I'm in and may bring some cool surprises along!!

[neist]

Ooo. More fun for us in Oklahoma.

I'll be there. :)

[Flack]

For those of you who have never attended an OVGE show, here are pictures I've taken at each year's show.

http://www.robohara.com/albums/OVGE_2003
http://www.robohara.com/albums/OVGE_2004
http://www.robohara.com/albums/OVGE_2005
http://www.robohara.com/albums/OVGE_2006

[Life of Brian]

I'm definitely showing up for this one!

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

Brian,

You the same one that e-mailed the OVGE back during the 2006 event wanting info for displaying your portablized consoles?

[icbrkr]

Oh thank YOU Rob. Thanks for showing pics of me a bit thinner. Now I gotta get into shape before the next show so my ice-flab(tm) isn't showing too bad.

[Life of Brian]

Yes I am. Good memory - that was a long while ago. I think I'll just bring along my stuff and carry it around with me for this one, though.

I'm doing what I can to get other portablizers to come as well: Link (http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?t=24080)

[Rifter01]

Yay.. Looking forward to it!

[ubikuberalles]

When I was at OEGE A couple weeks back I stated that I probably won't go to OVGE. However, at the time I was pretty sure the show wasn't going to happen. Jesse was evasive about the whole thing (probably wasn't sure himself). Now I'm thinking about doing it.

Will there be special hotel rates for this show?

[Flack]

It certainly wouldn't be the same without you there, Chuck. Hopefully you and the Pansters can carpool and save some gas money.

[Wraith Storm]

THIS is great news!!!

You can bet i'll be there. Hell, i'll be lined up before the doors open! Glad to hear that OVGE has returned!!!!!!

*HOPEFULLY* Atari Age will attend, once again.

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

The OVGE website is finally completed and updated once again. I even got the gallery from the last event in 2006 posted...finally...hehe.

There are special rates for rooms at the hotel. They still aren't the cheapest in town, but it is the Marriott and they are currently remodeling/updating all the rooms in the hotel. Anyway, they have quoted me a price of $109 a night. Which, might seem high, but they usually go for nearly $200 a night for the standard doubles on their website!

We also have plenty of space left and with a larger venue than past shows, that means we have more room than ever for you the collectors to bring stuff and show off your proudest pieces! Just give shoot me a message to reserve some space!

;)

[brykasch]

oh thank jeebus, gonna be getting a table at this years show me the wife and the little one will be there fo sho.

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

Show times have changed back to 9 to 5. I was getting some flak on the 7pm thing with some of the vendors/exhibitors who travel from out of state. I can see their point on this and so, show will close down once again at 5pm. In addition, I have moved the show back to the original two rooms we have always occupied in the past. It simply wasn't realistically gonna be possible to fill the extra 2000sf and so, I see no point in paying for it.

We finally have vendors and exhibitors confirmed and they have been added to the site. If you sent me info to be in the show and I don't have you listed on the exhibitor page, then PLEASE get back to me ASAP! The reason would simply be because you're request were lost in my HDD crash 3 weeks ago.

[ubikuberalles]

FYI: If you are a AAA member, be sure to mention it (when making reservations by phone) or click on the appropriate box (when making a web reservation). You save $5 per night. W00t!

Perhaps that's not much but every penny helps (use that savings to pay for your OVGE admission).

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

OVGE Draws Near!

Yes! We are now under 2 weeks away from OVGE's grand retro return! I would like to invite everyone to please look at the web site as there have been many updates. To summize, we are looking at the best vendor lineup and exhibitor variety we have ever been graced with at this year's event!

http://www.ovge.com

All of us at OVGE and the Ivory Tower Collections are very excited to be able to bring this event to you and invite you all once again to come and join in for a day of video gaming history, sales, exhibition, and most importantly... Family fun!

Tournaments have also been announced but are always subject to change. I'll keep you posted as more changes come in!

Thank you again and we all look forward to seeing you all there on August 9th!

:-D

[8bitgamer]

I'm certainly looking forward to it!

[Steve W]

Just a few days away now! There's only one thing that's bugging me... usually, days before a long drive like this, Retrogaming Radio releases a new show. It never seems to fail, when I'm going to be in the car for a long time, there's a piping-hot new episode to keep me entertained. But there hasn't been a new show since May. His shows haven't been quite as entertaining as they used to be, but still I'd like to have it to listen to.

[Flack]

Have you listened to all six episodes of You Don't Know Flack? There's a link from my website on the right hand side. It's not in the same league as Retrogaming Radio, but there it is. :)

[namzep]

I think I'm going to have to listen to retrogaming themes on my drive up to Tulsa.

[Steve W]

Have you listened to all six episodes of You Don't Know Flack? There's a link from my website on the right hand side. It's not in the same league as Retrogaming Radio, but there it is. :)

Aaaaah, I shouldn't make a joke. I really want to, though. I just don't want you to believe I'm serious. Oh, the dilemma. Oh hell, here it goes.

"I thought of listening to your podcast, but I didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel! Boom! Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience. Make sure you tip your waitress!"

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

For any that might be interested and need a good laugh, I did a live show and tell piece about the OVGE and classic gaming for the local CBS Affiliate here in Tulsa this morning.

Link is found as the top listing on the OVGE website.

http://www.ovge.com

See you all there on Saturday!

[Life of Brian]

I will be finishing my next portable Super Nintendo tonight and will be bringing it with me to the show tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

The bad news is that I had to pull out of this year's show due to a combination of factors, not the least of which is nobody to babysit my 10-month-old son for the day.

The good news is that the Phosphor Dot Fossils DVD will still be available at the show! A limited quantity of PDF DVDs will be available at Flack's table (and my huge thanks to him for hawking my wares alongside his new book, which is also highly recommended by the way), and he'll have the demo DVD there so you can see what you're getting into. LOL

Sorry I'm going to miss the show this year, but that goes with daddy duty I suppose. Everyone have a blast tomorrow!

[namzep]

Hoping to see a bunch of people there. I'll be wearing my DP nametag (still have it from the last show) so I should be pretty easy to spot.

edit: Sorry to hear that you're not coming, Earl. Takes the number of people I'll recognize down by something like 15%. :)

[Wraith Storm]

I'm going to be working on 29 hours with no sleep today (What wouldn't I do for vintage gaming?), so i'll be the one looking like a Zombie. :D

I'll probably be wearing either my B&W Sonic the Hedgehog shirt or my Iron Maiden shirt. But i'll certainly be stopping by and checking out Flack's Commodore book and Phospher's DVD.

This is gonna be great! I look forward to seeing some of you there.

[Wraith Storm]

Well I'm heading out! See some of ya there!

[Steve W]

I'm sitting in a Mazzio's Pizza on the drive back from Tulsa. All in all, a good show. I picked up a heap of games, books, and a shirt. I hung out with 98PaceCar and Ubik, talked to Flack, Icebreaker, and Crossbow, played a lot of Lemmings, and had a hell of a good time. Too bad PDF couldn't make it, but it was understandable. Now comes the hard part, the drive home.

[Wraith Storm]

It was great to have OVGE back again! It got some really nice finds.

I bought a few Lynx, PS1, and N64 games on the cheap. After years of wanting one I finally picked up a Panasonic FZ-10 3DO and 10 games.

I also saw Flack and talked with him for a bit and it was at his booth that I aquired the HOLY GRAIL of my findings... A Mouse Master. A FREAKIN' MOUSE MASTER!!!!!!!!

It may not be much to most people and it's such a simple little device, but it certainly makes life easier when dealing with my Atari STe.

I hope everyone else had a good time and a BIG THANKS to Crossbow and everyone else that made OVGE happen again!

[Life of Brian]

I had a lot of fun and it was great getting to finally meet some of you. I wasn't able to finish my new portable SNES on time for the show, but I took the one I finished last October to show around. Everyone had this reaction: :love:

Here are some pictures:

Me and my younger brother Sean.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01417.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01402.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01403.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01404.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01405.jpg

The guys from Game Crazy were apparently pretty excited :P
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01408.jpg

Free arcade machines are the best kind:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01411.jpg

Testing out some games, trying to decide what to buy:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01413.jpg

Getting some two player action going on:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC01416.jpg

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Our cable system carries one of the Tulsa TV stations, so I saw the very brief blurb they had on the 10 o'clock news. There weren't any interviews with anyone, but what was funny was that every third or fourth piece of video they showed in this montage of different video was a shot of those Pac-Man roller skates! LOL Lots of vintage machines in good working order, and for whatever reason, whoever shot/edited the video just fixated on Pac-Man roller skates. Yeesh. If this had been a Star Trek convention, that cameraman would've ignored all else until he found the one guy in the building made up like a Klingon, wouldn't he? :p

I'm really bummed that I missed the show this year, especially since it's looking like it was probably my last chance to "hang out with the grown-ups" for the forseeable future.

Huge, huge thanks to Flack for selling my DVD at the show - I'm glad some part of me was there. (Anyone who didn't get it can probably remedy that situation by clicking the ginormous red button in my sig.) Hopefully whenever OVGE returns I can darken its halls in person next time.


P.S. Pac-Man roller skates!

[Steve W]

Congratulations goes to Ubik, who won the door prize, which was a boxed Tomy Tron handheld/desktop arcade game. I was so jealous.

[Flack]

Thanks to everybody who came out and stopped by to buy a book or just say hey. I just posted a huge review of the show in my blog (http://www.robohara.com), with links to all the pictures I took as well.

[obliterator918]

OVGE was a blast. Here are my pics from the show:

http://picasaweb.google.com/brandon.staggs/OVGE2008

(I even wrote captions!)

Lesson learned: get shirts in XXXL and XXXXL sizes.

Life of Brian: that portable SNES was sweet.

Flack and 98PaceCar: you guys cost me 119 Euros, showing off your 1541 Ultimates that I just had to get. That is, if I'm high enough up on the waiting list for the next batch.

Looking forward to OVGE 2009.

PS: I still have a bunch of Retro Gamer shirts. Gotta find a way to sell those off online.

[obliterator918]

Here's an 8 minute walk around at OVGE 2008:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fpk4oO-gjk

[8bitgamer]

I had a great time at OVGE as well.

You can read my report/view my photos here:

http://brettweisswords.blogspot.com/