SoCal Retro Gaming Expo 2018 Report

After taking a break from the City of Industry to reside in the Ontario Convention Center, SoCal Retro Gaming Expo returned to Frank & Son Collectable Show this past weekend and brought all the attendees cool guests, fun panels, great tournaments, and best of all: gaming goodness!

Let's start first with the guest list. Topping the list was James Rolfe, the Angry Video Game Nerd himself, who hosted a panel and had an autograph line that literally encompassed the entirety of the con both days! Not content with offering just one amazing guest, the SCRGE guest list is a veritable who's who in the current retro gaming scene! The list continues with Patricia Summersett, who is best known as the voice actor behind Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild and several figures prominent on YouTube. These included The Completionist, Andre Meadows (Black Nerd Comedy), The Gaming Historian, Pat Contri (Pat The NES Punk), Alex Faciane, and The Game Chasers, with other notable figures also present! All the guests were present throughout the convention selling goods and being available for autographs and photo ops and also hosted panels of their own.

(Above: Some photo ops with A-to-J mascot, Hamachi, and some of the guests!)

With panels spread across both days, there was lots to do once you had got your shopping fix. (More on the shopping later!) The Gaming Historian showed off a preview of his long-awaited History of Tetris episode with what basically equated to a live version complete with a Q&A at the end! James Rolfe needed no introduction and his panel featured mostly questions but those present also got to witness some humorous line readings and fun anecdotes. The other panels were all great and all offered attendees a unique experience that filled the panel room each and every time.

SoCal Retro Gaming Expo isn't just about guests and focus panels though. An entire room was set-up for casual gaming and competition. Competition featured your typical fighting game fare with some cool prizes, but the casual gaming set-ups were probably most interesting and went as far back as the Atari 2600 complete with very ancient CRT televisions that seemed older than most of the attendees! We spent some time here trying our hand at a lot of games and we're not afraid to admit that we could have easily have spent the entire weekend sitting around playing games!

If you were bored with this then there was also an entire row of arcades set to free play for you to check out. The games ran all the way from Pac-Man to more current offerings. Along with this arcade setup were several amazing backdrops and set-pieces to take memorable photos with. These included backdrop scenes for Ryu's Stage from Street Fighter II and a Mike Tyson knockout scene from Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. Arguably the best in these backdrops was one featuring a Master Sword scene straight from The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time! We're pleased to note that A-to-J mascot, Hamachi, was popular enough at this last set that even the aforementioned Patricia Sommersett took a picture with him for her social media! Even though the con itself was relatively small there was always something to do and attendees were rarely wanting for something to fill their weekend with.

Now after you were done getting your fill on playing games and meeting some awesome guests you might be thinking about spending some of your hard-earned cash on some gaming items. You'd be in luck! SoCal Retro Gaming Expo offered vendors from all across the spectrum. Artists and collector-aimed booths rubbed shoulders with booths offering cutthroat deals on some classic, rare games and even booths from companies like RetroBit and Hyperkin. Going with the theme one was able to purchase old computer hardware, games from NES to PS3, and even modern clone hardware and accessories. There was literally something for everyone here and I don't think any attendee walked out empty handed or with a full wallet. I'll admit that the crew at A-to-J weren't even immune to this.

Per usual with conventions like this, Saturday was far more crowded than Sunday with the second day offering more breathing room if somewhat more depleted booths. Both days had unique events though so savvy attendees came for both and saw everything the show had to offer. With the 2018 show wrapped up we can't wait to hear what SoCal Retro Gaming Expo has in store for 2019 and beyond! A-to-J Connections will definitely be there and we'll be bringing you lots of coverage from the show floor!

-Manuel

For More On SoCal Retro Gaming Expo:
​http://socalretrogamingexpo.com/

Also be sure to stay tuned for more content form SCRGE on our YouTube Channel! (YouTube.com/AtoJConnections) Including panel clips and an interview with The Gaming Historian!