RETRO GAME CON 2024: BRINGING RETRO UPSTATE
Since 2013, RetroGameCon has been bringing retro gaming–and gaming in general–to the Upstate New York Area. Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending the event at the Oncenter in Syracuse. As a resident of Rochester, it is rare that major conventions come close enough for me to be able to make the trip out, let alone for a whole weekend. Even though I was only able to go for one of the three days (the event started on Friday and went through the weekend), it was an incredible experience.
We walked into the convention center and we were instantly transported into another world filled with people in some of the coolest cosplays I have seen. Pokemon, Halo, Baldur’s Gate, and many I didn’t recognize from games I hadn’t heard of. Not only was everyone wonderfully dressed up, but the attendees and the staff were some of the nicest people I have met in a long time. I went as the hapless skier from Ski-Free and it was such a pleasure nerding out about 90’s PC games with the dozen or so people who recognized my costume. I even learned a hack for escaping the abominable snow monster that has haunted me since I first booted up a computer.
Speaking of older PC games, after going through security, the convention had set up a huge area dedicated to old PC and gaming consoles with old nostalgic titles like Unreal Tournament, Rayman, and even a Pac-Man set up with an original Atari controller. It took us a good while to even get out of this section and my nostalgia was sparking at nearly every station, including games I had entirely forgotten about and haven’t played since I was a kid.
While I did not get a chance to do any of the meet-and-greets that were available, there were a large number of cast members from one of my favorite recent games, Baldur’s Gate 3. Even though the sequel is not retro, per se, it harkens back to the original 1998 title in so many ways and I saw multiple people sporting cosplay of characters from the original, such as Volo (a rather verbose wizard and chronicler) and Jaheira (a seasoned druid and leader). It was incredible to see the joining of eras and the shared community of it all. For me, some of the retro games were nostalgic childhood staples, but there were also people there whose first experience of franchises such as Baldur’s Gate. No matter their age, everyone could find common ground in a hobby that they loved and it showed. The booths were also amazing this year and the vendors were so kind and willing to engage with people about their products. I ended up picking up some great stuff.
Next time I go to Retro Game Con (and there will be a next time) I want to block out the whole weekend if possible. There was so much to see and I didn’t even get a chance to engage with any of the celebrities who were offering photo-ops or to enter any of the cosplay contests. While I doubt I will go as the Ski-Free guy again, I’ll definitely be thinking about some other random nostalgia piece from my early childhood freeware PC games. Who knows, maybe Chip from Chip’s Challenge or, if I’m feeling ambitious, Robo from Chrono Trigger.
Book me for next year, I’ll be there no matter what I decide to wear!
Posts
Comments
Post a Comment