Conversations at SRGE Part 2

There were a lot more folks I met, and chatted with at the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. I walked away with a box full of cards, and candy. The candy was sort of in the box when I got it. Because of that, you have even more interviews.

Pixelkin

The website was created by a Mom, who saw all of the fun her kids were having with videogames. She read online, and found very little information that talked about what she was experiencing. It was mostly negative about how videogames were destroying families, and teaching kids to be violent.

Instead of believing these websites, the Mom began to organize ways to show families about games. Various kids -many of them now going to college- helped her decide on things like the name of the site, and what would be featured. Some of the writers on the site are those same kids now adults. One woman is studying videogame culture because of everything she did with Pixelkin.

Being a Native Videogamer, I remember the negativity towards games, and how some industry types enjoy misusing that. Instead, I want families to think about the great times playing Mario Kart, Super Mario Bros, and other games. Pixelkin is the website for just that.

The Illuminati

They were everywhere and nowhere at once. While hanging out at the game play room, I began talking to the volunteer heads. They were going through numbers, trying to find people they trusted to help out. It seems that this group volunteers at every major geek event.

The two gentlemen I spoke with said they were slowly working to gain power. With more and more people involved from their circle of friends, they could slowly take control of the Seattle Geek empire.

They spoke in hushed terms, and did not let me enjoy some of their pizza. It had been a long day, and they needed more true believers People they trusted. The game play area was the most hectic part, and constantly demanding because of system malfunctions, games needing to be changed, possible theft, and not the greatest air conditioning.

Their purpose known, one of them warned me about telling others, and then handed me his business card. He has a great Twitch that covers the entire Seattle Gaming Area.

Videogame Students

Many of the volunteers I met were students at a local college. They were all part of videogame degree programs. In fact, one of the colleges was represented right next to the front of the building. It was common to hear about what work they were doing, and why. If you had a friend working on a degree in videogames, you would likely find yourself volunteering for the show. In fact, the volunteer coordinator did that because she was friends with the main guys.

I had a ton of people tell me about their programs, and ideas for the future. I nearly signed up for a degree.

The Horror Folks

I think I hung out with them the most. They were friends with the videogame folks, and volunteered at the local horror cons. Most of the videogame students were pretty quiet, and kept to themselves. The horror fans had no problem greeting people, talking to folks, or invading personal space if needed.

One of them was a professional haunter back in Michigan. I told her about how my buddy Tuan had wanted to be a haunter but no one did it year round. Her parents were from a nomadic culture, which is something I study outside of videogames.

Used Arcade Guy

Julian is a major fighting game fan. He goes into tournaments, and has won a lot. To keep up, he has several arcade boards at his house. His table was simple, and sort of aggravating.

There was a CPSII board with Street Fighter Alpha 3. I didn’t have the money for it. But the price was really good. Then there was the Power Stone 2 arcade cartridge from $10. It needed repairs, which is why it was so cheap. He had really good products, at great prices.

Many of the games were imported, or from machines that needed to be fixed. It was a difficult job, and he could find some beauties. Julian is not with the crowd that promoted the North West Pinball and Arcade Show, seeing as he couldn’t get games at prices he wanted.

I went back to play games every day.

These Guys

I don’t have a card from them, but they were constantly being asked about games from other sellers. These Guys knew the pricing for everything, and how to properly sell or buy them. At one point they had Marvel vs Capcom 2 for $20. It sold before I could ask.

The Microsoft Folks

I didn’t interview them, so much as listen to them chat. One guy would be talking about Tom, and how he once did such and such. They laughed about it. Slowly it kicked in that Tom was a coworker at the games department. Every game sold had these gentlemen in the credits. It was a selling off of excess, wrather than a business strategy for them.

There was a Vectrex, and all sorts of interesting, and old PC games.

Postmates

Postmates is a delivery service for office folks. You make an order for specific items, someone buys them, and then drives to your office to deliver them. They are a hardworking lot that is likely keeping many an office afloat with good food, and needed supplies.

I was taking pictures of everything, when one of the folks at Postmates demanded I get my picture taken with her. That was really cool. After looking through their website, I realized why they were at a videogame convention. It’s because the job working for them is just like a game. You are riding around a giant open world area, trying to grab, and deliver packages to folks.

Steel Battalion room

The room had 16 Xboxes hooked up for deathmatch, and ten hooked up for Steel Battalion deathmatch. When setting up, every system had to be checked to make sure it played without hickups. This meant a monster deathmatch session right before dinner was served.

The games played were Star Wars Battlefront II, Halo 2, and Steel Battalion. Battlefront II, and Halo 2 could be played easily. Apparently nearly ten systems broke down, and no one noticed. The volunteer staff was top notch at switching things out, and fixing problems.

Steel Battalion is the type of game that needs a specialized controller. I had heard about it for years, and wanted to play. The problem is that the used market has it at 2.5x the original price. Thats the cost of an arcade game. It is also one of the most challenging games out there. If you forget to hit eject, your save file is erased. I should give it a bigger review later on.

Game Play Room

The game play room had ten systems playing at one time. There were extra consoles at the sign up area. We had to set up every TV, every console, and make sure they worked. There were Sega CD’s, Dreamcasts, NES, Super Nintendos, 3DO’s and more. For some of these systems, it was the first time I ever got to play them.

We had to use long power sources, and placed special spots to get in and get out of the inside area. It was cramped, hot, and always full.

Indie Game designers showed off their games in this room.

Near the back were three wonderful Candy Arcade Cabs. There was a game that was part deathmatch, part Samurai Showdown, and part Super Smash Bros. It was a lot of fun to play.

There was a four player gamecube set up with Mario Kart. I don’t know if they ever got it to play 16 people at the same time. I do know that one console kept twitching out during testing. It was a funfilled and intense job making sure everything worked, and played well.

Cosplayers

I was not expecting this, but some people dressed up to be here.

******

Alright, this is what I could find for this week. I hope you enjoyed it. Next week, I will talk about the facilities themselves, and the concert. Also, I should give just a basic tour of rooms. Perhaps if I get the chance, I can review all of the games I played. That is a lot of games.