Slackur's Obscure Gaming Theatre

Posted on Aug 21st 2015 at 12:00:00 PM by (slackur)
Posted under CCAG, conventions, 2015, awesome, best date for a gamer couple

[img width=700 height=395]https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/10461959_754083417985670_6956359912016280047_n.jpg?oh=0873a75dda3e3b346d5e53da08eb7ad2&oe=5672D036[/img]
So THIS is how you capture a bunch of gamers in a giant net.  Photo from the official CCAG Facebook page.

If there is anything that annually rejuvenates my enjoyment of video games beyond our little basement 'o fun, it's Cleveland's own 'Classic Console and Arcade Game Show'.  Sure, CORGS (a similar event in Columbus, Ohio) is awesome in its own right, but my beloved and I have been CCAGing for almost a decade, and there's still a sort of homegrown friendliness to the show that just resonates with us.  Maybe it's the vendors, many of whom immediately recognize us every year with a happy wave and plenty of stories to exchange.  Or the atmosphere, which is more laid back, friendly, and trusting than most larger conventions.  Perhaps its the incredible deals, such as the CIB Aquarius (practically sealed) a friend picked up for $25, or the complete Wii system with Motion Plus that another friend nabbed for $11.  It could also be the fascinating creativity some folks display, be it mods, custom arcade cabs, or handmade gaming items.



 photo CCAGFIZZ3.jpg
This photo taken seconds before the King of All Cosmos yawned and ordered everyone else squished and turned into a star.  Pictured is some of Fizz Man's handmade creations, more of which are pictured further down.

Either way, every year we set this wonderful Saturday aside to meet up with a few friends and spend the whole day in gaming bliss.  The arcade machines and pinball tables are set to free-play, old-school PCs are LAN-ed together for some DOOM, Command and Conquer, or just about anything else, there are countless boxes and displays of goodies for sale, and the whole day just zips by. 

Nowadays the lion's share of our retro collection finds come from these conventions, and this year didn't disappoint.

 photo CCAGLOOT.jpg
Loot.  Yes, my beloved found her personal Gaming Grail, a Treamcast.  Needs a little laser fixin', but other than that it came with everything.  I have a happy, happy wife.


But let's back up a bit.  This here's Mike.
 photo CCAGMIKE.jpg
Hi, Mike!

This gentleman's smiling face behind a table of gaming deals represents the CCAG experience we've had every year.  Sure, there are the occasional snippy vendors or crazy prices, but for the most part it's us hanging out with other gamers, playing some free games kindly set up by fellow enthusiasts, capturing the oddities and obscurities, and enjoying the culture and creativity of our colorful hobby. 

After so many years, it may seem that any convention becomes somewhat rote, and one may get used to or even bored with the same thing after awhile.  And yet, every time I'm pleasantly surprised at some new homemade item (such as this year's vendor who made pillowcases and throw rugs using the image of maps from famous games like Super Mario World and Skyrim), new items for sale (lately an impressive collection of professional-looking repos), or just some very cool folks showcasing great talent.

 photo CCAGFIZZ.jpg
This guy, he was just nice and awesomely talented.  I mean look:

 photo CCAGFIZZ4.jpg
I want to buy all his stuff, then take it home and get royally ticked when my kids destroy it and blame each other.

 photo CCAGFIZZ2.jpg
C'mon, have you ever seen cuter Octoroks?

As for other nifty new things, lately I've gotten much more into repros, mainly for the translation for games I could otherwise not play, or the cool unreleased games impossible to play outside of emulators.  I can finally play Bahamut Lagoon, DarXide, Grandia: Parallel Trippers, Mother 1 and 2, NWC 1990, Rendering Ranger, Sweet Home, Terranigma, and others I've already read about, and most of my repros have all come from CCAG and some excellent vendors.  There are systems set up and ready to play for testing and making sure said game is what you're looking for.  For better and worse, I've apparently been looking for a lot!  Even better, now there are a few repro vendors, so price is competitive.  Speaking of expanding...

The last couple of years saw CCAG grow into a much larger (and climate-controlled) space, and now going from table to table is nice and open.

 photo CCAGFLOOR2.jpg
Sure would be nice if my collection had this much space to breathe...

 photo CCAGARCADE.jpg
Unfortunately even at conventions, the site of a woman mastering a Tekken machine draws way too many stares...

 photo CCAGFLOOR.jpg

If you're like me, you can't pass a single box on these tables without diving in and looking for a hidden gem.  Yeah, but sadly... I often do find hidden gems and then have to look through each one even more carefully.  Sometimes I actually let the vendors leave at the end of the day.  Sometimes.

As well as the aforementioned repros, imports have featured more heavily, including games, model kits, manga, movies, toys, soundtracks, and other goodies.  Other recent additions are custom mini-arcade builds, a bigger emphasis on arcade and pinball parts and components, multicarts, and game display setups.

 photo CCAGVEND.jpg
Not to mention sometimes you find a table that just looks like someone took a bunch of your own stuff and brought it for sale.

This sort of sums up the best of what CCAG, or any great convention, represents.  A big slice of your favorite interests, met with many others celebrating the same, with new goodies to ogle and buy, and some great creativity on display.  There is a great mix of old and new, retro and modern, and comfortable and fresh.  It's an MMO in the most meta of the sense, with hundreds of players, cooperative and competitive, all there to enjoy the experience. 

If you haven't, you should definitely play sometime.
Smiley


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Comments
 
Congrats on the Treamcast!
 
I like the repros. I can see Holy Diver, BS F-Zero, and Splatterhouse. What other Repros did you pick up?
 
@OatBob:Thanks!  She is super excited, and plans on doing the repair work herself (should just be swapping the laser from a 'donor' machine we already have.)  The only other Treamcast we've seen was at the Digital Press store in NJ, and that was behind glass as a display.  I did realize later that it didn't come with the custom controllers, but I understand you can't use VMUs in those anyways, so not a big loss.

@Addicted: Yeah, I'm really into repros lately.  I also picked up Rendering Ranger, Nightmare Busters (SNES), Verytex (Genesis/Mega Drive), Grandia (GBC), and Invader (GBA).  I have a folder listed here to separate out the Repros from 'Collection,' as I don't count them as 'official' but just stuff I want to play.  There are still several out there I'd like to pick up!
 
I'm putting a tentative reminder on my phone for next year.  This is the closest gaming convention out there, so I feel I need to go, but I do need to ask you a question, Jes:  Could it be said that CCAG has a love for the more PC/DOS minded among us (and C64 and Apple)?
 
@bombatomba:Oh, definitely! In fact, one of our scores this year was an original 'big box' 7th Guest for PC, complete with the ol' Making Of VHS! And Age of Empires III. In previous years I've picked up dozens of PC games at CCAG.

And its been the best source of C64 carts I've found. There's even a vendor who brings and entire Commodore setup so you can test the disks he sells.  I've seen Apple stuff as well.

In short, yep.
 
This article just makes me wish there was something like this near my area!  Sounds like you had a blast Smiley
 
@slackur: Yep, I will probably start the repair work next weekend on the long Labor Day weekend!  Yay project!

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