Gaming Cons.

[Flam]

So what are some of the premier gaming conventions out there? More specifically ones geared toward retro gaming. Magfest? Are any of these worth travelling too? I’ve never been to a gaming convention, just Dragon Con. in the ATL. So I was wondering about the world of video cons.

[Aussie2B]

I don't know if I'd say it's necessarily one of the "premier" gaming conventions (and technically it's not a con; it's a festival), but I've been to the last six MAGFests and it's always a good time. Steadily growing too, with almost 10,000 people for this last one, and now there's talk of there possibly being a MAGWest, like PAX did in reverse. MAGFest has stations set up with just about every system you can think of, tons of arcade cabinets and pinball machines, dealers selling classic games, and some panels related to older games. MAGFest isn't solely about retro gaming, though. One thing it is really geared toward is video game music, so I don't know if I'd recommend it if someone doesn't care about the music in games. Concerts are a big part of MAGFest, and a good number of the special guests are composers. Personally, a big part of the reason I go is to hang out with friends from various online communities (mostly the video game music arrangement scene), so if I was going solely for what was on the schedule, I might be a little disappointed with MAGFest. But that's just me and I know there are plenty of people who go to MAGFest for things that I couldn't care less about like LAN gaming, tabletop gaming, internet celebrities like the AVGN, etc. and they still have a great time too.

[IHatedSega]

Well the title was a little misleading. I love the game rooms at Anime conventions, the businesses they get to supply all the older and new systems bring stuff to sell. They bring stuff I usually dont find anywhere else.

[BricatSegaFan]

Never been to con. The only one I ever hear about is Ushicon here in Austin and San Japan. Maybe one day.

[IHatedSega]

Never been to con. The only one I ever hear about is Ushicon here in Austin and San Japan. Maybe one day.

NO WAY!!! im going to ushicon. want to meet there?

[BricatSegaFan]

NO WAY!!! im going to ushicon. want to meet there?

Anime cons aren't really my thing. But I may check it out if I happen to have the day off

[IHatedSega]

Anime cons aren't really my thing. But I may check it out if I happen to have the day off

well its actually in round rock, and its from the 8th thru 10th. its a really lowkey con. i made friends there since we were around each other all the time. you can come at night and hangout in one of the party rooms in the hotel, they didnt check the badges there since it was in the hotel and any of the hotel guests could have partied with us too.
http://ushicon.com/

[The 1 2 P]

I've only been to one gaming con and that was Magfest....the first one. Outside of the fact that it was located directly in the middle of Silent Hill it was an ok event. However, I've honestly had much more fun at the gaming section of Otakon then I had at Magfest. One of these days I want to go back to see how much it has hopefully improved.

[InsaneDavid]

California Extreme (http://www.caextreme.org/) and the Pacific Pinball Exposition (http://www.pacificpinball.org/exposition) are a good time. Although I really hate the drive to the Marin County Civic Center so the PPE isn't something I absolutely attend every year but I do drop into the Pacific Pinball Museum at least once a year.

[Zthun]

I don't know if I'd say it's necessarily one of the "premier" gaming conventions (and technically it's not a con; it's a festival), but I've been to the last six MAGFests and it's always a good time. Steadily growing too, with almost 10,000 people for this last one, and now there's talk of there possibly being a MAGWest, like PAX did in reverse. MAGFest has stations set up with just about every system you can think of, tons of arcade cabinets and pinball machines, dealers selling classic games, and some panels related to older games. MAGFest isn't solely about retro gaming, though. One thing it is really geared toward is video game music, so I don't know if I'd recommend it if someone doesn't care about the music in games. Concerts are a big part of MAGFest, and a good number of the special guests are composers. Personally, a big part of the reason I go is to hang out with friends from various online communities (mostly the video game music arrangement scene), so if I was going solely for what was on the schedule, I might be a little disappointed with MAGFest. But that's just me and I know there are plenty of people who go to MAGFest for things that I couldn't care less about like LAN gaming, tabletop gaming, internet celebrities like the AVGN, etc. and they still have a great time too.

Where is MAGFest generally held? That sounds interesting, I might have to check that out.

OP, the main one that I know of is PAX. There's PAX Prime which is held in Seattle, and PAX East which is held in Boston. Those are huge conventions that rival E3, but they're fully open to the public. If you do decide you want to go, tickets for Prime go on sale generally in March or April, but you have to be on the ball with them. They go within a matter of hours now - and they're huge targets for scalpers.

[Aussie2B]

I've only been to one gaming con and that was Magfest....the first one. Outside of the fact that it was located directly in the middle of Silent Hill it was an ok event. However, I've honestly had much more fun at the gaming section of Otakon then I had at Magfest. One of these days I want to go back to see how much it has hopefully improved.

Wow, you were at the first MAGFest? That one only had 265 attendees. That was more like an over-glorified party than a serious con/fest. It's definitely DRASTICALLY changed since then. Even from when I started going, with MAG 6, it was still somewhat of a rinky-dink operation, but from everything I've seen and heard from my friends who were going since the beginning, it changed a lot from 1 to 6, and it's changed a ton since I started.

[Aussie2B]

Where is MAGFest generally held? That sounds interesting, I might have to check that out.

Around Washington DC in January. For the last couple years (and I think it's booked for years to come), it's been at the Gaylord National.

[DK1105]

Only gaming con I have ever been to was PAX east. Went last year and it was a lot of fun. I have been to a ton of anime cons and game rooms are hit and miss. My home con Youmacon in Detroit has a crazy game room. Some years they have a better selection than some arcades and its all free play. They also have a lot of console gaming and tournaments.

[mailman187666]

Only gaming con I have ever been to was PAX east. Went last year and it was a lot of fun. I have been to a ton of anime cons and game rooms are hit and miss. My home con Youmacon in Detroit has a crazy game room. Some years they have a better selection than some arcades and its all free play. They also have a lot of console gaming and tournaments.

I was going to say, PAX East is the only one I've been to but I'm lucky enough to live only an hour away from Boston. Its a great time with tons of things to see and do. The only downside to PAX is that if you want to try the bigger games, you may have to wait 3+ hours to try it out. I know at PAX 2012 there was a wait line to get into the real wait line for Borderlands 2. I skipped that wait althogether. I highly recommend it, as I've been going since 2010.

[xelement5x]

The only big retro game con I'd like to be able to get to is the Midwest Gaming Classic MGC up in the Milwuakee area in March.

http://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/

It seems to have a pretty devoted following of folks that head to it, plus it's a bit more centrally located for me instead of the east coast.

[Polygon]

I've been seeing a lot of good feedback from different Youtube channels about the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. The Game Chasers said they found more games and better deals there than they did at the Classic Gaming Expo. Which I'm hoping there's another CGE this year.

[Compute]

I've only been to Midwest Gaming Classic, and I love it. Definitely worth attending, imo. It grows bigger every year, and they always have some really neat new stuff to add. Good coin op representation as well. Something like 275 coin ops going to be there this year, in addition to the museum, tournaments, speakers, exhibits, etc etc.

[The 1 2 P]

Wow, you were at the first MAGFest? That one only had 265 attendees. That was more like an over-glorified party than a serious con/fest. It's definitely DRASTICALLY changed since then. Even from when I started going, with MAG 6, it was still somewhat of a rinky-dink operation, but from everything I've seen and heard from my friends who were going since the beginning, it changed a lot from 1 to 6, and it's changed a ton since I started.

I'm going to try to go to next years version. I heard that it was held in Maryland for a few years as well but I missed those years too.

[Aussie2B]

It's in Maryland now, has been since MAG 10. I think it was always in Virginia before that. I don't think it moved too far from the previous location, though. Both locations are straddling the state line, if I'm not mistaken.

[The 1 2 P]

Then I really should go considering I still work in MD. Hopefully it's still there next year.

[Tanooki]

It was new last year but in Louisville, ky they have the Louisville Arcade Expo though it well features old video games and pinball...buy, trade, play for free, lots of other stuff and runs for 3 days. It's running next month on the 8-10th and this year I'm local again so I'm checking it out. I heard for a first run it was fairly well sized last year with lots to see and do, this years supposedly expanded on that.