This weekend I drove all the way to Västerås to attend the first Retro Gathering convention of 2016, they’ve started hosting two conventions a year since it’s become so popular with retro games and vintage computers here in Sweden. This Retro Gathering they called VCE, because it was a Vintage Computer Edition, and damn! There were a LOT of vintage computers there ^_^ I think it scared off a few of the Nintendo-fanatics though, since there were a bit less visitors than usually, but still there were loads of people! :D
It’s so much fun going to these conventions, mainly to meet with all the friends you’ve gotten to know through the common interests and also, of course, to buy shitloads of games!! This year was no different for me.. I came home with a massive haul. I will make a separate post once I’ve gone through it all XD Here’s picture of most of it stacked up in a couch! Just so you can get an idea ;D
I also really enjoy seeing all these odd old machines, they always have more things like this at Retro Gathering than any of the other conventions here in Sweden. Most conventions are strongly focused around Nintendo.. so it’s nice to see something different ^_^ Some of the things they had brought in this time I had never even seen before! So many cool machines ^_^ There was an Apple Pippin for sale (or even two, one was boxed and new!), there was also an Iris Crimson that appeared in Jurassic Park, and a bunch of other cool machines. These are just a few of them! Do you recognize them all? ;D I sure didn’t!
Most of the computers there were for sale, I was really close to buying the T2100 with the beautiful monochrome orange screen, but once I returned to buy it it was already gone >_< For only $34! I also glanced at the Japanese Commodore 64 which was quite rare, with a few boxed cartridges! So beautiful ^_^ I did however buy some other systems, like the Atari ST 1040 and a ZX 81 ^_^ Apart from computers there were LOADS of games for sale, both Nintendo, Sega and lots of other stuff! Pappas Pärlor was also there to sell some of his awesome custom bead arts ^_^ Apart from this you could find almost anything at Retro Gathering VCE! I even saw a Vectrex 3D imager! It’s 3D-glasses for the Vectrex, and they were boxed with 2 games! Super rare and also super expensive >_<
I’m super happy with my weekend trip to Retro Gathering VCE 2016! I met so many nice people, had lots of fun and I’m looking forward to the next Retro Gathering this fall ^_^ I’m quite exhausted now though, and I will be busy with my haul for a while, testing all the new games! :D :D :D I will update shortly with everything that I bought ^_^
Retro Video Gaming 
That does look like a lot of fun.
I still have my first computer which I used mostly for playing video games on :)
It’s a Texas Instrument IT/99 4A. And I still have most of my favorite video games for it. They’re on cartridge so load times are excellent!
Is that a Neo Geo MVS Twinkle Star Sprites for 2000 Krona? That’s like $230 USD right? Is that game going for that high these days?! Sucks, cause it’s one of the Neo Geo games that I still really want. I’ve heard from many people (including you!) that’s a ton of fun. :D
Cool, I think they had a Texas Instrument at the convention, there were like twice as many things that I just didn’t have time to photograph, I spent 70% of the day just chatting with people, 25% buying games and only 5% photographing XD I still carried that heavy ass camera with me all day! Hahaha.. I was so sore afterwards Z_z
Yes, Twinkle Star Sprites for MVS, in a Shockbox.. and yes it’s like $230 USD. It is extremely expensive.. I bought mine from eBay for just below 2000 SEK I think… It is one of my absolute favorite Neo Geo games though ^_^ Really is!
You got an Atari ST – cool! And I saw Dungeon Master amongst the game boxes too… one of my favourite games ever! That really is an amazing collection of computers and games you picked up. :)
Thanks ^_^ Yeah I’ve been wanting an Atari ST for a little while now, so I’m happy it was the first thing I found at the convention :D
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The machine you refer to as a Japanese C64 is a Commodore Max Machine. It’s a stripped down version of the C64 for the Japanese market. There was also a Japanese version of the actual C64, but that one is really rare.
There we go! Thanks Micke! It’s not easy memorizing all these cool computers you encounter during an intensive day of extreme amounts of impressions XD I do my best! Haha ^_^ I will update the post :)
I once had a PC which was kinda small in size, so I was playing a game once on it for almost 4 hours straight and out of no where it just fired up and burnt. Thank God I remained same.
Wow! That’s crazy! I sure hope that never happens to any of my consoles ;D