A dimly lit hotel ballroom in Bellevue, Washington, may not be everyone's idea of time well spent, but for a good portion of the Seattle area gaming community this weekend, it was vintage gaming heaven. The second annual Seattle Retro Gaming Expo had its biggest turnout yet, featuring a Bad Dudes arcade machine for auction, several vintage game and accessories vendors, a variety of video game artisans peddling their crafts, an 8-vs.-8 Steel Battalion room, a console room for open play, and a variety of almost-hourly tournaments ranging from Super Mario Kart to Street Figher II.
I had a lot of fun sifting through hundreds of vintage games and accessories; it was like a gaming treasure hunt. It was amazing the items I hadn't remembered or seen in years, even more so the items I never knew existed, like the Sega Master System zapper (wtf, I had a Sega Master System, how did I not know?). I seriously regret not picking up the Mario Game & Watch I saw for $50. I also had my eye on a Diablo PlayStation disc, but alas, at $48, it's more than I even want to pay for Diablo III.
In the end, I scored a sweet ass freakin' WaveBird for only $20, so the entire day for me was a win. I was high on a mixture of bargain shopping euphoria and the pure joy of reliving a huge section of gaming history all day. If you ever have a chance to visit this burgeoning little expo, I highly recommend it. The Portland Retro Gaming Expo, the Seattle version's forefather, will be held at the end of this September.