CORGS Con, the retro gamer’s yard sale

Retro gaming is yet one more vice I enjoy along with my Hot Wheels, although I don’t think I’ve spent as much on old video games as I have on my Hot Wheels…how bad is that? When I heard mention of a retro gaming convention last month or so over at the GameOn podcast, I marked it on the calendar. I knew it would be my kind of gamers - old gamers that remember high scores and multiplayer games that required you have friends close by.

And I was dead on. The Central Ohio Retro Gaming Society (CORGS) had filled up the basement of a church with retro gaming vendors and fans. It was organized but basic. If anyone went expecting some sort of great convention they would have been disappointed. I had a good idea of what I was walking into. I remember going to game conventions with my dad back when the NES was still hot shit. Of course, back then I was 9-years-old and at the mercy of my father when it came to buying anything. But it was a blast, I mean, c’mon - a hotel ballroom filled with video games!

I remember at that convention there was a table with boxes filled with manual and maps on it. Best part was they were all free! I scored big with that too because I found a map for Metal Gear and a map for Section Z. I’m sure I grabbed a few manuals too but since I was playing Metal Gear at the time finding that map turned it into a new game, and that map turned it into the first NES game I ever completed (excluding SMB).

I don’t remember if my dad bought any games for me at that convention but just the trip was enough of a high that I still remember it pretty clearly to this day. And I don’t suspect I’ll forget this trip to CORGS Con any time soon either. And this time I did buy a game.

Just about everything is “retro” these days

There were maybe a dozen vendors on hand, mostly the indie shops, but they had an amazing spread of gaming gear. Everything from Atari to Genesis, and Intellivision to GameCube. There were also tons of the old electronic handheld games, you know, the Tiger-ish games like football and baskeball. There was a classic Simon that I nearly bought, but since it was “behind the counter” I didn’t ask the price. As I was admiring the stuff behind the table I noticed a game that was very familiar.

It was an electronic Star Wars game. It was a 2-player game that plugged into the wall or ran on batteries. It was an “attack the Death Star” game where you had to be quicker than your opponent to press the shoot button. One button would attack the other would defend. If you both attacked, the one that hit first would get the point. If one hit attack and the other defend, the attack would get blocked and point would go to the defender. It was an odd game, honestly, but the pay off was the Death Star in the middle would flash and play the theme song when someone one.

My best friend neighbor and I would play it constantly. I’m sure my mom found it at a garage sale and didn’t pay more than a dollar for it. Today it is somewhat safely packed away with the rest of my “vintage” Star Wars stuff in grandma’s attic. But there at CORGS was the same game with a $50 price tag on it. Fifty bucks?! It was in slightly better shape than how I remember mine, but mine did have the wall adapter and it didn’t look like this one did. It’s not like I would really sell it, but it’s neat to see what it is worth, at least in context of a gaming convention.

Retro shopping requires cash

I did learn one valuable lesson - bring cash. I should have known better considering it was in the basement of a church, but I went there with no more than $8 in my wallet. To be honest, I was wasn’t really expecting to buy anything because typically the retro stuff is way over-priced. But naturally there were a couple things I wanted and I had to go digging in my car for some coin. Nobody there accepted credit card.

I got an old NES Advantage controller, something I’ve been wanting for a while since I got my PowerPak. Too bad the Advantage is like stupid expensive on-line, no less than $10 base price and then tack on shipping it always seemed to come out to $15 or more - way more than I’m willing to pay for that. But how lucky am I that one vendor had it for $8. I emptied my wallet down the last sweaty bill and moved on figuring my shopping spree was over since I was cash-less.

Of course, at the next table I found something else I wanted. It was a Robocop NES cart and it was only $3. Again, finding this on-line ended up being near $10 and considering I do have the ROM for it (and every other game) it was hard to justify. But lets not forget I had no cash. I asked the guy if he could take card but knew he wouldn’t because credit card fees for these guys is a killer unless you buy $20 or more. I had him put the cart aside and I went back to my car digging through the change tray and fortune smiles about thee because I had just $3.00 in quarters. (BTW, Robocop is next championship attempt)

While I did score a few items I had been wanting, the highlight of the event was one old man. I apparently had made the right choice in wearing my Tron t-shirt because I had more than one comment about it. “Tron!” I heard yelled, but this one old guy came over and asked about the shirt and told me stories of his kids and their Tron toys. I told him I had some Tron reproduction toys and he seemed to enjoy that. We BSed about the movie and the possible Tron 2.0 movie, heck he even mentioned The Big Lebowski when the conversation landed on Jeff Bridges. This guy was alright.

I was certainly out-nerded at CORGS but it was the first convention-type event where I felt I could hold my own. But going to the Star Wars convention as we did a few years ago, it was a bit different. Sure, I love and know the Star Wars movies, but the Star Wars universe reaches far and wide - way beyond my knowledge and care. At Star Wars you felt unworthy if you didn’t know Lando’s middle name or Lobot’s hat size. At CORGS I could appreciate everything that was there. I’ve studied and experienced enough gaming history that I felt at home. Everyone there was incredibly nice too. I never got a wiff of the arrogance that usually comes with any retro/vintage crowd. Everyone was there to revel in their own personal childhood and it was nice.

The CORGS web site is a little lacking in my book, so I might offer some web site help as a donation for their cause. The convention and what they’re trying to do is a good thing and something I can get into and care about. But even if that doesn’t happen, CORGS events will always be on my calendar.