Classic Game Fest in Review

Austin, TX rocked triple digit temperatures this weekend. The blistering sun was further aided by blue skies and a humidity that only drove that temperate higher with the lingering radiance providing evening temperatures that never seemed to get below 80 degrees.  Thankfully, I spent the weekend with the cool kids at the Palmer Center as they hosted the Classic Game Fest now in its 12th year. 40+ years of gaming history were on full display as vendors and presenters brought out everything from Intellivision to Xbox.  5 and 1/4 floppy drives sat along side R.O.B. with Moore game titles than you could shake a Sony Motion Wand at. There was so much crammed into a small space that as soon as you added people it became a cross between the dodging parts of Temple Run with the sneaky parts of Metal Gear with a dash of parkour a la Razor’s Edge.  In any regard, it was a blast that Bugs Bunny would definitely bring to his birthday party.

The whole shindig was split between Hall 1 and 2 where the vendors on one side and everyone else thing else on the other. With single day admission costing little more than the price of a movie ticket with in and out privileges, this was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday or a Sunday or both! 

Vendors

Buying or selling or just looking, there was enough for everyone.  Beyond the obvious games and systems, patrons were welcomed by Funko figures, original works of art, jewelry, stickers, and more covering all genres, systems, and featuring some of the most popular and even some obscure characters and titles.  Rarities were out on display with INSANE (but justifiable) price tags.  For the NES titles, I knew that I would have to get there eventually with titles like Bucky O’Hare (~$115), Metal Storm (~$150), and Little Samson (~$1300), but not today.  I did end up spending a bit on games though except for a couple of titles I was shooting for quantity over quality.  It was hard not to spend money. 

Arcade(s)

Over in Hall 2 was where the big events were happening. Wrapped around the entire room were dozens of uprights, multis, and pinball cabinets.  One day I’ll be able to walk past a Tron cabinet and not play it.  This was not that day.  Take you pick of a few different Ms Pac-Man cabs or Dig Dugs or work on your combos and fatalities with Mortal Kombat.  Austin’s Pinballz brought a wall of machines both upright classics and newer pinball titles.  Arcade4Home took another wall with a classic Nintendo Multi cabinet amongst others.  Between the two, there was a bevy of the shorter sit-down cabinets that I saw so many of in Japan as well as a a couple of larger standups like Killer Queen.  The best part was that they were all on free play.  Spend an hour or two just doing that and you’ve covered your admission.

Tournaments

Just off from the center of the room were where most the tournaments were happening.  A couple large projectors setup up for the multi player games like Smash Brothers, Tennis, and MarioKart DoubleDash. These tournaments were going for most of the day with energized announcers, players, and prizes. But what I found far more interesting was a group called This Controller Sucks.  Here was a group designing and building their own obscene controllers.  How obscene? How about trying to play Duck Hunt with a bazooka? Or maybe you want to play Sonic the Hedgehog with a stick style controller approximately 3 feet in height with tiny buttons at its base?  Or maybe a 5 foot wide and three foot tall board with only buttons but they are spread out from top to bottom and even along the edges? There was also a cigar box that had a bunch of buttons on it, but I never had a chance to play with that one.  This Controller Sucks was also running tournaments.  I would almost think they were more challenging.

Bands

Opposite the tournaments was the main stage.  Throughout the weekend we were treated to some great nerd core and chip tune music.  Though I isn’t get a chance to listen to everyone, the ones I did hear were truly masters of their craft.  From DJs, to metal bands, to classical piano. I was only able to catch a few, but when BitForce came out rocking the Mega Man 2 theme, I knew I was hooked.  It would be very awesome to have a nerd core music festival or tour or something.  Icarus Kid, Bit Force, 88 Bit… a man can dream.

Cosplay

What convention or festival wouldn’t be complete without some cosplay?  And there was plenty to go around.  There were professional cosplayers present as well as the amateurs.  And a contest with two categories for kids and adults.  With pop culture spreading so vast, I found it difficult to know the characters and costumes.  The originality in design, though, was outstanding.  One day, I hope to be on stage with them.  I have ideas… just no execution.

Day 1 vs Day 2

This was a two day festival though there was very little difference between the two days.  Saturday had loner hours as well as a VIP only time between 9am and 10am.  Saturday also had a single talking panel though I didn’t attend while Sunday had the costume contest. The biggest thing about day 1 compared with 2 was the vendors.  By Sunday afternoon, all the vendors were starting to get a little antsy about packing up, it seemed.  And rightfully so.  There was still a lot of merchandise to go.  This was my time to shine.  Though I thought I had spent all my money on the first day, as soon as special deal started being made, I wound up with 30 more games in my suitcase.  I’m so weak.

Final Thoughts

This was fun.  I have been to video game conventions before, but this seemed different.  Maybe I wasn’t as present before.  Maybe they happened long ago.  Or maybe I came to this one with a purpose.  Whichever it was, this was a blast.  Between the showings of video game history, museum style layouts of classic hardware and software, and all of the non playable merchandise of which to become amazed, I can honestly say that I am truly looking forward to next year while the ones that I have planned before then are going to have a lot to live up to.