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Events on the West Coast next week!

Added 2024-09-19 22:05:11 +0000 UTC

Hi folks! We've had our heads down working on some long-term projects, but in the meantime, there's some events where you can catch us next week. We're covering the whole West Coast with a presence at Portland Retro Gaming Expo and MAGWest on the same weekend, September 27-29!

Portland Retro Gaming Expo

We're back at PRGE! Once again, we'll be running the museum room, where we've got a fun exhibit planned for you.

This time, our theme is 1994: The Year Games Grew Up, a look at the different directions video games were being pulled in during that pivotal year three decades ago. On the one hand, there were tons of games based on cartoons and comics, but also more serious CD-ROM titles like Myst and panic over the violence in games like Doom and Night Trap. Our exhibit will celebrate all the contradictions of what "video games" were and what they would become, featuring a ton of artwork and video from our archives.

Frank will also be giving a talk about understanding video game prototypes! We think there's a lot of misunderstanding about what exactly a "prototype" game is, and Frank will set the record straight about what it actually means the next time you see a prototype cartridge pop up on eBay.

MAGWest

The same weekend, we're also stopping by MAGWest in San Jose! It's the west coast version of the Music and Gaming Festival (MAGWest), one of our favorite events. If you haven't been to MAGWest before, it's a unique melting pot of community creativity—and the only gaming event we've ever been to with a pool party.

Our library director Phil will be presenting about the upcoming VGHF Library and the exciting collections we've been processing, including a first look at some materials nobody has seen before. He also claims he's presenting a late-night panel on Saturday about Final Fantasy VII, but there's something suspicious about it.