This post is about six months overdue. My sincerest apologies to those I interviewed in September.
What do you think of, when you think of
Portland, Oregon? Hippies hugging trees and eating Free Trade granola? Hipsters
drinking Starbucks and ironically wearing vintage band tees? I do too, and I
live here. The last thing I ever
thought I would hear about, in Portland, would be retro games… Really? Old, clunky machines with bare-minimum 8-bit
graphics and early synth music are still beloved? Why, yes, indeed! Every year,
in late September, an entire exposition featuring such things, properly named
the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, is held.
This hidden coin of an expo was a
surprise to me, kind of like when you found out Samus was a girl. Held at the
Doubletree in downtown Portland, it was a retro hub of classic systems from
decades past, from Atari to Nintendo, and from Sega to original Xbox,
Playstation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. Those last three consoles don’t seem to
make one byte of sense, do they? According to the website (retrogamingexpo.com),
classic video game is any from a system released prior to the most recent
generation by any game manufacturer.” With that loose definition, the three
last consoles do, in fact, count; however, their presence was overwhelmed by
the much older machines that are more affiliated with the term. Keeping that in
the back of my mind, with my press pass around my neck, I gingerly entered the
bustling market-like area. My first experience was an olfactory overload with
the funk of a few hundred eager nerds who took this expo more seriously than
personal hygiene. It was apparent that I was in the right place. I practically tiptoed around the different booths, drinking
in the bright colors of the arcade machines surrounding me, and enjoying the
familiar sounds of games that had long been forgotten by the people at large.
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| Anthony Dandrea, at the Ground Kontrol booth |
My first stop was the Ground Kontrol booth. I had the
esteemed pleasure of speaking with Anthony Dandrea, one of the co-owners of the
twelve-year-old establishment. He explained
to me that “[Ground Kontrol is] a retro arcade with [a] bar… basically
an arcade for the arcade generation, all grown up.” An adult gamer’s paradise!
What better way to spend your Friday than drinking and rediscovering old
favorites on even older systems? The wild popularity of the arcade, located on
NW 5th and Couch, didn’t happen overnight, though. According to
Dandrea, back in 1999, when it started, “[It was] just a small store, selling
‘80s memorabilia, like Mr. T bubblegum cards, 8-track tapes… and it had a few
arcade games.” Those arcade games became so popular, that the focus shifted
from selling memorabilia, to being an arcade itself. Today, with arcade games being so hard to acquire, it’s
incredible that Dandrea, and the other owners, were able to fill a 3,000 sq.
ft. space. Since Ground Kontrol’s infancy, the owners have been finding people
to buy, sell and trade games with, building a rapport with the small, but
enthusiastic retro gaming community. “We’ve gained a reputation for taking good
care of arcade games, understanding their importance, and generally
appreciating them, so people are happy to bring [their] games to us.” (To know
more about them, visit: groundkontrol.com Making a mental note to see the wonder for
myself, I forged on, continuing my two-day retro gaming journey.
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| The art of 8bitcraft.com |
As I wandered further
into the labyrinth of cartridges and cosplayers, I stumbled across something I
did not expect: 8-bit art. Decorative
magnets, depicting cherished sprites from fan favorites such as Super Mario 2, Legend
of Zelda, Bubble Bobble, all the way through Final Fantasy VII. I remember
these plastic beads from my childhood: You lay them out in a pattern on a small
pegboard, and then with a piece of parchment paper over the top, you iron it to
fuse the beads together. This would usually result in a piece of “art” that was
most of the time, for me, completely obscure. Was it a flower? The Blob? I
could never tell. Until I saw the “bead sprites,” made lovingly by Josh and
Lydia England of 8bitcraft.com, I could never imagine
that such pixelated beauty existed. I immediately bombarded the couple with
questions about their wares, which they were happy to answer. According to
them, their inspiration to create these pieces came from a Flickr page they
stumbled upon about five years ago, which featured the sprites they remembered
from their youth. After trial and error, they mastered the craft, and expanded
their palette. The couple has been selling these off and on for about five
years at the Retro Gaming Expo, and the Last Thursday street fair on NE Alberta
Street. The website itself, however, is only a few months old. “[After taking a
break,] we decided to get back into it, ‘cuz my husband thought it would be
really fun… and this time we would make a web store, instead of just selling
them at expos. We can reach a bigger audience [that way].” The magnets vary in
price from $4 to $12, and kits to make a sprite yourself, are also available.
If 8-bit is too small for you, they take commissions up to 32-bit (check the
website for the form to fill out)! As I continued my expedition, I wondered if
8-bit art could be accomplished on another medium… I quickly found out at the
next booth.
Stay tuned for Part Dos!
Stay Nerdy and Beautiful
