Tickets now on sale for PRGE 2019!

posted on 4-13-2019

Tickets to PRGE are now on sale. As in previous years, all ticketing fees are built into the online price. What you see is what you pay! In addition, presale ticket buyers enjoy these benefits:

Purchasing admission online will save you over the door price
Your attendance at PRGE is guaranteed in the event of a sellout. We were very close to capacity in 2018 and this may be the year where we have to close ticket sales due to a sellout crowd.

Purchase PRGE 2019 tickets! »

PRGE expands in 2019

posted on 4-13-2019

PRGE is expanding in 2019, adding an additional 30,000 square feet of convention space bringing the total footage of the Expo to 150,000 square feet! As part of the expansion, we will be moving our panel rooms into the second floor Portland Ballroom space with more room for seating, better acoustics and easier queuing for attendees.

Our arcade has been bursting at the seams so we will be moving some of our tournament qualifiers and freeplay games to the lower meeting areas, freeing up more space in the Retrocade for a larger tournament finals stage, guest seating, and more arcade & pinball games. Additionally there will be space available to add more exhibitors than ever before.

We'd like to thank all of you for your loyal attendance over the years and for pushing us to make the event bigger and better. We listen to your feedback and push the boundaries of PRGE every year.

See how PRGE fits into the Oregon Convention Center in 2019 »

2019 Hotel List

posted on 4-11-2019

Hotels offering a discount during the show this year have been updated.
Lodging Link

Panel Application now available

posted on 3-12-2019

Interested in speaking at a panel for this year's show? Application form now availible. LINK

Panel Videos are now online!

posted on 12-14-2018

Panels Link
Along with the panel descriptions, video links to youtube are also available.

Best Volunteers in the Business!

posted by RecycledGamer on 5-31-2017

At PRGE you will notice people with these awesome logos on the back of their shirts (right).

Who are these people? They are the 1-Ups: our awesome army of volunteers.

Feeling lost, confused, need directions to nearest castle or maybe want to show someone your latest score from a vendor? Find one of them, scattered throughout the show hall, and they will help you right away.

The show's staff would sincerely like to thank them with the utmost gratitude and sincerity. Plain and simple, the show would not work without them.

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR 1-UPS!

Learn about volunteering at PRGE »

Apply to be a PRGE 1-Up volunteer »

PRGE Celebrates 40 Years of Atari 2600!

posted by RecycledGamer on 8-17-2017

On September 11, 1977, Atari released the Video Computer System (VCS) console, more commonly known today as the Atari 2600. It was slow to be accepted by consumers, selling less than a million units in 1977 and 1978 combined. Eventually Atari began to license popular arcade titles such as Taito's Space Invaders, driving sales to over 30 million units for the life of the console. Ultimately the Atari 2600 was sold from 1977 until 1992 and there were over 550 game titles created for the system.

Everyone who grew up in the 1980s remembers the iconic wood grain look of the Atari 2600 and the feel of its black rubberized joysticks. This was the console that showed the world that their television could be more than just a passive "boob tube". The 2600 ushered in a whole new industry that was unimaginable just a few years before. While Atari and the 2600 stumbled a few times in the early years, they ultimately lead to the start of a $100 billion industry that has more than doubled the revenue of the film industry.

We at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo recognize the contributions of the industrial designers, programmers and artists who brought this tenacious game console into the living rooms of the world. For the 40th anniversary of the Atari 2600 VCS, we have planned a special series of panels covering the hardware, games and history of the system. We are bringing industry experts and alumni from Atari and other third-party companies to share the rich history of the system with our attendees. In addition, we will have an arcade full of Atari 2600 systems that our guests can touch, play and enjoy throughout the weekend.

And we have a special surprise.

One of the most iconic things about Atari games was the incredible hand-painted artwork that was used on the game boxes and cartridges. While the games themselves were primitive due to the limitations of the technology, Atari used the package artwork to tell the story of each game and draw users into new worlds. The visual storytelling on the box allowed a few pixels to become a medieval knight or a blocky duck-looking thing to become a fierce dragon. One of the original artists behind the Atari package art is Steve Hendricks. He created the artwork behind such classic Atari 2600 titles as Defender, Haunted House and Warlords.

We were fortunate enough to host Steve at PRGE last year and he will be returning this year to hosting a panel discussing his time working for Atari. In addition, PRGE has commissioned Steve to create a new piece of custom art in the style of the original Atari package artwork to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 2600. His artwork, seen on the right, will be shared wth our attendees on our show badges, on the show program, on t-shirts and on special limited-edition die-cut posters designed to resemble point-of-sale posters for Atari 2600 games in the early eighties. Every attendee will get a badge and the programs are free with paid admission while supplies last. The t-shirts and posters will be for sale at the PRGE information booth in the arcade on the weekend of the Expo.

2017 will mark our 12th annual Portland Retro Gaming Expo. If there is any single game system that is most responsible for this event and its popularity, it's the Atari 2600. We've seen a lot of game consoles come and go during PRGE's lifetime, but there has always been the VCS. So we invite you to come down to the Oregon Convention Center and join us. Pull up a chair. Slap your favorite game into the cartridge slot, power up and hit reset. Before you know it, you'll be transported back in time to re-live the dawn of gaming.

Atari 2600 on Wikipedia
List of Atari 2600 Games
AtariAge - a website focusing on classic Atari video games
Steve Hendricks

History of PRGE Flyers, Badges & T-Shirts

updated by RecycledGamer

T-Shirt from PRGE 2009

Over the past decade we have create a wide variety of marketing materials, shirts, badges and show programs for each of our events.

Visit our new PRGE museum page and look back at some of these materials we produced and learn about the history of the Northwest's largest retro gaming convention. See the evolution of the Expo as we moved to larger venues each year and enjoyed ever increasing attendance.

Portland Retro Gaming Expo Flyer, Badge and T-Shirt Archive

Join Our Mailing List for the latest Expo News

by RecycledGamer on 1-13-2011

PaperBoy Get the latest classic video gaming news by joining our email mailing list. We send out information on our show as well as other events in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. We generally send emails every month or so and more frequently as we get closer to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo in September.