Northwest Classic Gaming Expo

[y-bot]

Hi, I have nothing to do with this group and I think they hate me but since no one has posted about it I will.

NWCGE Sponsors Classic Gaming Weekend
NWCGE Expo 2K3 - Saturday, March 15, 2003
6th Annual Atari Championship - Sunday, March 16, 2003

go to www.nwcge.com

Rick Weiss is very nice but I don't know about some of these other guys. If you are really lucky the guy will show up who has all this amazing stuff and he'll tell you it's not for sale it's just for show. Funny thing though when a few minutes later someone else is walking away with it and they just bought it for some insanely low price. That guy rulezzzzz! Anyway I went last year and it was fun (not so fun driving home in the snow though).

y-bot

[y-bot]

oops, I forgot to say I'm not going 'cus I'll be at SXSW music thingy in Austin, Texas. I didn't even look to see where the NWCGE is at but last year it was in Redmond, WA (near Seattle).

y-bot

[The Young Game Collector]

I might go, sounds like fun!

[angusjake]

Hi, I have nothing to do with this group and I think they hate me
Not likely! It is a fun event and is on Saturday in Kirkland. It is followed the next day by the Atari Championship video game competition in Seattle - check out the site for details. Definitely a good event for all classic game collectors and well worth attending.

[Anonymous]

I'll definitely be there! I'll bring my camera and try to do a write up for those who were unable to attend.

[thekeepr]

Hey everyone...Keeper of the Old Games here.....I'm part of the group putting on the Saturday event(Rick,Lee,& Hans are doing more on Sunday than I am, but I will be there)...so don't miss either days....especially Saturday in Kirkland. I've been at the last 5 of these gatherings, and its worth be present to see whats goin' on. I'll hopefully have my classic computer table set up and running, plus there will be lots to see and buy!!! :D :-D O_O :) 8-) LOL The Keeper

[ianoid]

Yeh! I've been looking forward to this all year and I'm out of town for a trip planned in October! Yeh! I'm so happy I'm missing it!

And I'm so happy they planned it within 2 weeks of PC! Yeah!

Hopefully I can make it next year. I had so much to sell and trade, too.

ian, slitting wrists

[digitalpress]

I must have asked this a dozen times but never see the answer. I'll try again:

Approximately how many people have attended NWCGE in the past? What's the square footage (floorspace)? What "happens", is it like PhillyClassic (gigantic indoor flea market) or NJ Classic (local collector meeting) or CGE (Expo with speakers, bands, vendors, etc)? I really would like to travel to this event, it's the one I keep feeling like I've "missed" - but can't get a handle on what to expect.

[Charlie]

Damnit! I don't go to Seattle until the 28th for Wrestlemania, and my ass in it's present state is no shape to make the three hour trip. Sigh...

BTW, anyone who wants to lose weight quickly, I strongly suggest having hemmroids removed, because the resulting crash diet they put you on where you can't eat anything that makes you poopie. I've lost almost 5 pounds already, which is not good news because I'm under 150 now and I've got no energy. My tryout matches at Wrestlemania Axcess are in jeopardy now.

[y-bot]

@Joe-I went last year and it was in a church (one big room full of stuff). I would say there were maybe 50 or more people. There was a pretty interesting assortment of stuff there and lots of good deals to be had. There are pictures of last years meeting on their website www.nwcge.org. That's where my member photo is from. I encourage anyone who is thinking of going to go. I'm sure it will be fun. I got an NES Puzznic prototype cartridge for $1 there last year and I have had about 5 deals fall through trying to trade/sell it since. I would totally be there but I am going to Austin, Texas on Wednesday for South By Southwest.

y-bot

[thekeepr]

I seen your question about the meet at another MB....sorry I didn't get back to you earlier. The place we hold the expo is a church...square feet, possibly 2400 to 2800. We have tables available at the church, might want to bring your own if you have one...they all filled up last year, with an attendance of about 55 to 75 people, don't have an exact figure, each year we get more people attending. It's a combination of sales tables and displays, I personally set up a classic computer table, with a VIC-20, Ti-99/4A,C-64, and possibly an Amiga or XL with disk drive,Lots of games to play too. Lee has a table set up with display and sale items, Hans and Rick sound like they will have sales tables. We have a show and tell area too. Sometimes somebody brings something unique, last year a guy brought a working colored Vectrex hooked up to a console TV!! So that's about all of it...nothing too grndoise, the group is pretty informal, but we enjoy pulling this off each year. Then the Atari Competition follow's the next day. The Keeper :-D :-D :-D

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Please someone take some pics and i can see the expo.
Other thing... Have the Expo a webpage?
Thanks

[thekeepr]

Han's usually post pictures after the show on his Cyberoach website, and Lee does to at ResQsoft. The Keeper

[digitalpress]

Cool, thanks for the info! People ask me about events all the time and I've been feeling pretty much "in the dark" about NWCGE. This really helps.

@Arche_digital: here's their site: http://www.nwcge.org

And I found pictures! Here: http://www.cyberroach.com/cyromag/13/default.htm

So it's actually held INSIDE a church? Or one of those parish centers?

[rick weis]

Hi Joe,

Yes it's held inside a church! like Rob said each year it keeps getting bigger and bigger, i think we will have to find a bigger place within the next couple of years if it keeps growing at this rate! i think last year it was closer to 100 people over the period of the day. and there are deals to be had!! last year we had 3 vectrex that sold. 1 for 50.00 and 2 for 30.00 each!

i will be bringing a truck load of stuff to sell and a few nice items to display. and will have a PS2 set up with activision anthology..

hopefully you can make it to one of our meets sometime! if not i will see you at CGE!

Take care,

rick

woohoo my first post! :D

[digitalpress]

hopefully you can make it to one of our meets sometime! if not i will see you at CGE!


Sounds great! I won't be able to make 2003 but I don't think I can afford to miss another one. At this rate I'm gong to have to move out to the west coast!

Have a great time with the show.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Hey nice pics at Cyberroach, i like the Activision jackets :P

[Lee Krueger]

Hi, I have nothing to do with this group and I think they hate me but since no one has posted about it I will.

"Hate" is a pretty strong word. I'm sorry you felt slighted. I don't think any of the organizers would do as you described. For the most part, the folks up in this part of the country are pretty courteous ... they must have been an "out-of-towner" -- probably an ex-Califronian :D

BTW: The NWCGE Homepage is http://NWCGE.org.

We have been growing every year. We started in 1997 where only 14 of us attended. Last year we had about 140 folks show up during the course of the day. This year we expect about 200. There is always a surprise guest of some sort as there are quite a few Atari, Nintendo, Sega and now Micorsoft alumni in attendance (Hey! We hold the event in the backyard of Nintendo and Microsoft). A new piece of history always appears in the way of stories, hardware/software and some neat discussions with these folks.

The Atari 2600 Championship has typically filled the Hi-Score Arcade from wall-to-wall (it is a good thing the fire marshall never shows). This maybe the last year we hold the NWCGE Expo in a church hall as we ran out of tables last year. We try and keep the event as inexpensive as possible, so that attendees can spend their money on games and pizza. Even the Atar 2600 Champiosnhip is very reasonable ($5 entry fee, $10 w a nice T-shirt). The prizes are nice and I must say, I have attended quit a few video game contests over the years (going all the way back to the early 80's with Atari sponsored contests in the Bay Area), and the Seattle Atari 2600 Championship is my favorite. The local press is there, classic games, hardcore competition, and usually good food and classic 80's music DJ's. This year, the contest is held in a theater where it is planned to have an Atari projected upon the big screen.

Sorry to be a little windy here. But, I thought I tell a little bit about us gamers in the NorthWest. I encourage folks to join our maili/discussion list (details on the NWCGE webpage). We have a sister club in Vancouver B.C. (The Vancouver Classic Videogame Club). Between the two of us, there is quite a bit of classic gaming fun to be had in the NorthWest. Unfortunately for most folks in the US, the PacNW is too far for folks to travel... or to move for that matter. That is just fine with us. That means more for us. More solitude, more trees, more mountains, more clean air, more ocean, and more glaciers, more time to relax and play games during the cold wet winters. It is a very unique part of the world. I wouldn't live anywhere else, except maybe farther north into Britsh Columbia.

Feel free to drop me or the organizers a line if you have any questions about the big PacNW Classic gaming event this weekend.

Hope to se you there,
-Lee

[Lee Krueger]

BtW: PleasE ExcuSE my poor SPELLing and GraMMER uSAge in the PreVIOus Post. It's late and I am an overworked and underpaid aerospace engineer. Yawn!!!

Time for bed... 5:00 a.m. comes pretty early for me.

Take care,
-Lee

[digitalpress]

Damn. Now I REALLY wish I could go!

Thanks for the details, Lee. Have a gerat show!