Author Archives: Pat Milligan

RetroGameCon 5 (November 18th & 19th) Vendor Applications are Live!

If there is one thing RetroGameCon is known for more than anything else, it’s the HUGE vendor marketplace filled with hundreds of tables of video games, one-of-a-kind artistic creations, and more! It’s one of the top reasons to make the trip to RGC, and each year we strive to make our vendor marketplace front and center at the convention.

RetroGameCon 5 (November 18th & 19th, 2017) Vendor Sign-ups are live! If you are interested in becoming a vendor, please fill out the vendor application.

 

Upcoming Event: International Tabletop Day 2017!

RetroGameCon & Play the Game Read the Story present: Geek and Sundry’s International Tabletop Day 2017!

Join us on Saturday, April 29th from 11:00AM until 9:00PM as we gather at PTG:RTS (689 North Clinton Street, Syracuse – same building as Spaghetti Warehouse) for a day filled with fun gaming activities!

We’ll have board game free play with a huge lending library of games to choose from, plus:

Tabletop tournaments (tba) with awesome prizes

Charity raffle baskets ($1 tickets)

A bake sale for charity

Video game free play with classic/retro consoles by RetroGameCon and modern console free play by New York Gamers Federation!

…and more events TBA!

100% of any proceeds from the raffles and bake sale go to Extra Life, which benefits the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital here in Syracuse.

This is a very kid-friendly event, with TONS of board games for gamers of all ages.

It is also a great opportunity to socialize with like-minded individuals from around the area and make new friends through gaming! If you are looking for a group to play a game with at the event, just find any RetroGameCon team member with a “staff” shirt and we’ll set you up with people to game with!

Everyone who attends this event will get a free ITTD/RGC button (while supplies last)!

We hope to see you there on April 29th! This is going to be awesome!

-RetroGameCon & Play the Game, Read the Story

RetroGameCon 5: Coming November 18th-19th, 2017 in Syracuse, NY!

Hey, gamers and convention-goers!

We’re happy to announce that we’ve secured dates for this year’s convention!

On Saturday, November 18th, and Sunday, November 19th, we’ll be celebrating our FIFTH anniversary with RetroGameCon 5 at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse!

We can’t believe it’s been nearly 5 years since the first RetroGameCon, and we are incredibly humbled to have grown from a small swap meet at Driver’s Village in 2013 to a 3000-person, weekend-long event with all kinds of popular gaming celebrities, cosplayers, and musicians.

We’re well aware that the bar is high for our 5th show, and we’re already working hard to make this our best convention yet!

The best place to keep tuned to RetroGameCon for news and updates is the facebook page, at www.Facebook.com/RetroGameCon.

We’ll also put any important updates on this website as they come down the pipeline.

See you all in November! We can’t wait!

 

RETROGAMECON 2016 RECAP!

RETROGAMECON RECAP!

Where to begin? RetroGameCon 2016 was a blast! We’re sore, tired, and physically and emotionally drained, but we had a phenomenal time and we are incredibly thankful to everyone who came out and supported our show this past weekend.

Some shows are all about numbers, and we did host thousands of gamers from New York and beyond, but we mostly want to talk about PEOPLE. We are grateful to so many generous and fantastic individuals. Our staff of volunteers ALL worked incredibly hard and went above and beyond, and are some of the best people we’ve had the pleasure of working with. We owe them everything!

Thanks to our fantastic vendors, our venue The Oncenter and their staff, our incredible artists and exhibitors, extremely generous sponsors Microgame Play and Trade, Play the Game Read the Story, GameShell, Sharkey’s Bar & Grill and Dave & Buster’s, supporters, and donors, the Syracuse Society of Geeks, Syracuse Smash / Cusetown Beatdown, Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, Wizards Pinball, CNY Pinball, Buffalo Pinball, Kirwan’s Game Store, Syracuse Crunch, The Strong Museum / International Center for the History of Electronic Games, Sprite Lovers, Haranshire, and more.

We’d also like to extend a huge thank you to our awesome, accommodating, and gracious special guests The Gaming Historian, Pat the NES Punk, Thor Aackerlund, Scott Zientek, Rerez, Pete Dorr, Joe Granato, Jeffrey Wittenhagen, Chipocrite, The World is Square, Sammus, You Bred Raptors?, Destinyamber, smzeldarules, Bec’s Cosplay Wonderland, Chibi Kitsune Cosplay, Morgul Cosplay, Vicious Cosplay, Kara’s Cosplay, and DJ Silenze.

We also feel the need once again to thank YOU, the people who came out and attended RetroGameCon 2016. It was our pleasure to host you, and we hope you had a good time. We know that the couple who got engaged at RGC did – congratulations (we didn’t catch your names)!

We’re already thinking about next year, and ways we can create an even better experience for our attendees. We strive for constant improvement and we will be creating an attendee survey soon (and of course, we will be giving out some random prizes to those who help us out by answering the survey).

In the meantime, we’ll leave you with a little thing we made–it was in your convention program–to let you know that WE WILL BE BACK next year to show Syracuse how fun a celebration of video games can be!

1 MORE DAY!!

As you can imagine, things are crazy at RGC headquarters getting ready for RetroGameCon 2016. We wanted to take a moment to talk about some specific details for this weekend:

SHOW VENUE: The Nicholas J Pirro Convention Center (Oncenter) at 800 S. State Street, Syracuse, NY 13202

SHOW HOURS: SATURDAY 10AM-9PM (VIPs at 9AM)
SUNDAY 10AM-6PM

Magic: The Gathering 2K tournament participants will register and pay the entry fee at registration.

VIP TICKET & TICKET PRE-ORDERS will pick up their badges using their photo ID at registration. If someone else purchased your tickets for you, you must have either that person with you, or a copy of the receipt/invoice.

PARKING is available in the lot across from the the S. State Street or in the parking garage (follow the signs). Parking is $5.

FOOD: the Oncenter will have two concession stands open. There are also countless great restaurants within a few blocks. No outside food or beverages are allowed.

RE-ENTRY: You may leave and re-enter the building. You must display your attendee badge in order to get back into the Oncenter.

The VIP after party at Flame is on Saturday from 9PM-Midnight. YOU MUST HAVE A VIP, VENDOR, SPECIAL GUEST, OR STAFF BADGE TO ATTEND THE AFTER PARTY!

CHECK OUT OUR DIGITAL PROGRAM HERE!!

 

Things to do at RetroGameCon 2016

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There are countless activities for gamers of all ages at RetroGameCon, from cosplay contests to ultra-competitive gaming tournaments. Here are some of the things to do at RetroGameCon:

Vendors: Nearly 100 unique vendors with over 200 tables of games, consoles, and art to browse.

Exhibitors: Indie game companies, as well as industry giants like Sony and Nintendo can be found on our exhibition floor

Special Guests: Some of your favorite YouTubers attend RetroGameCon, as well as popular cosplayers and musicians

Cosplay: RetroGameCon features several cosplay contests, including a kids competition, plus other cosplay activities like the Cosplay Dating Game, a costume repair station, and more!

Music: RetroGameCon 2016 is our most music-filled show yet, with musical performances by You Bred Raptors?, The World is Square, Sammus, Chipocrite, and DJ Silenze.

Tournaments: Fighting game tournaments (Street Fighter V / Smash multi-platform) by Syracuse Smash, with game console prizes, a $500 pot bonus, and more! Retro tournaments with awesome prizes & custom trophies in the free play area! Magic: The Gathering 2K, Pokemon, and YuGiOh tournaments sponsored by Kirwan’s Game Store.

Panels: Unique and interesting panel presentations on a variety of gaming-related topics. We spend a lot of time and effort brainstorming and recruiting talented and knowledgeable panelists for this portion of the show.

Console free play (Sponsored by Microgame Play & Trade): Our video game console free play area has over 40 game consoles and TVs with games from all eras for you to try. Our selection for the free play area changes each year!

Tabletop free play (Sponsored by Play The Game, Read the Story): RetroGameCon isn’t just about video games. We have a huge tabletop free play area with a generous lending library, plus staff on hand to help you learn new games! Our tabletop free play area also usually has giveaways and prizes, just for playing games!

Charity: Our featured charity is Extra Life, which helps heal sick kids locally at Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. Our convention features an “Extra Life Stage” where attendees can come play games on a huge 12′ projector screen while being streamed for an internet audience, with free giveaways throughout the show.

Kids Area: RetroGameCon is a family friendly event, and for the little gamers in our lives, we have a place where parents and their kids can participate together in making video game related crafts, coloring, and playing kid-friendly tabletop games. Please note: children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times – we do not provide a day care service. 

The Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator (Sponsored by Syracuse Society of Geeks): A Star Trek themed cooperative video game in it’s own room. Each player takes command of a different station aboard a single spaceship!

Pinball (Buffalo Pinball, CNY Pinball Club, Wizard’s Pinball): You can usually find at least a few pinball machines set up at RetroGameCon, sometimes even a high score challenge, a machine or two up for sale, or a live-streamed episode of “Bro, Do You Even Pinball” by Buffalo Pinball!

LARP: A LARP (Live Action Role Play) demo by Haranshire.

Movies: A movie room, featuring FREE showings of award-winning video game documentaries.

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Special Guests at RetroGameCon 2016

Did you know that RetroGameCon 2016 will feature our biggest guest list yet? This year, we will be welcoming numerous guests to the show, including YouTubers the Gaming Historian and Pat the NES Punk, 1990 Nintendo World Champion Thor Aackerlund, musical acts Sammus, Chipocrite, DJ Silenze, You Bred Raptors? from NYC, and Squaresoft-inspired 5-piece band The World is Square, plus cosplay special guests!

Many of our special guests will be putting on panel presentations and joining in other special activities. Check out our complete guest list here!

Have you bought your tickets yet? Why wait? They’re available here with a pre-sale discount!

 

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