This Saturday me and my Geeky Gals went to Scandinavia’s largest retro gaming convention, Retrospelsmässan in Gothenburg! Like last year we got to host a Tetris competition in Super Tetris 3 for Super Famicom, and this year we also held a tournament in GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo 64 :D You can read more about the competitions on Geeky Gals blog, meanwhile here’s some pics the convention :)
People at Restrospelsmässan 2018
Finals in Golden Eye 007 at RSM 2018
Tetris competition runner up and winner at RSM 2018
You can always bring your own controller to the competitions
People at RSM 2018
RSM 2018 Tetris finals
Winners Golden Eye Competition RSM 2018
Since I left my little girl at home with her dad I couldn’t stay at the convention much longer than the duration of the contests we hosted, but I did get a few minutes to quickly scour the market XD Also I had made a few deals beforehand ^_^ I am really pleased with all the items that came home with me :D First of all I got 4 more Tetris games for the Tetris collection!! One was a gift from Sonefors <3 the other three I bought from my friend Kralleman :) The three I bought are a bit rare to come by here in Sweden, one is a prototype of Tetris Attack for the Super Nintendo. It reads SNS-AYLE on the label and I think it’s either North or South American. The other two are games I already have as well but from different regions, one is the NES classic Tetris but the Asian version, this one has a beautiful light grey cartridge <3 The other is a Brasilian Tetris 2 for Nintendo NES. From Sonefors I got a PC CD-rom big box version of The Next Tetris :D I am happy to have also brought home an old PC that I bought a while back from my friend Nesfrk, he has been fixing it for me so I hope it works now, if it does I have SO MANY PC CD-ROM Tetris games to try out :D :D
Tetris Attack Prototype SNS-AYLE
NES Tetris Asian Version and Tetris 2 Brasilian
NES Tetris Asian Version light grey cartridge
Tetris Asian version for NES light grey cartridge
The Next Tetris PC CD-ROM Atari
Here’s the cool vintage PC that Nesfrk brought to me at the convention, it is clever since the screen is mounted on top of the computer so it doesn’t consume as much space <3
I also found a few Philips Videopac games! (Or Magnavox Odyssey as it was called in North America) They all had some sweet boxart, and Blobbers was apparently quite rare, but the best one is definitely Hot Love! XD It has been my latest focus in my collecting to find Erotic games for various retro video game systems! :D I just find it so fascinating and funny, especially when it’s really shitty graphics! XD Hot Love for Magnavox Odyssey 2 even came with a free condom!! LOL Unfortunately though Turtles had the wrong game inside, Turtles is number 49 in the series, but inside I found cartridge 52 which is a game called Killer Bees, so now I have to start searching for the Killer Bees box and a loose cartridge no. 49…
Philips Videopac – Magnavox Odyssey Hot Love condom
Philips Videopac Blobbers complete
Lastly I also found a Sega Genesis game that I’ve had my eye on many times. Boogerman A Pick and Flick Adventure! Now I came across it at a cheap price and in really minty condition ^_^ Thanks to MSX at Butik Mackapär for always selling such cool games! I also recently acquired a Genesis so I can play it too! :D
I wish I had more time to explore the rest of the convention, but I’ll have to do that next year :) Then my daughter can come with me as well :D I’m still really happy with my findings in such a short amount of time ^_^
Last weekend I visited Retrospelsfestivalen in Malmö. A retro gaming convention in the south of Sweden that is now running for the fourth year in a row. This year they had changed the venue to a place called Inkonst. I really liked this new venue, they had used the stage downstairs for the marketplace which was awesome. So many retro games for sale, awesome sellers and tidy tables filled with retro gaming goodness ^_^
Games for sale
N644 games
Boxed Game Boys
So much SNES
Famicom
NES games
Mr. Gimmick
Lots of retro games
Sachen games
My little Pony and games
PC Engine and Game Boys
N64 controllers
NES games
Nintendo64
Retrospelsmässan at RSF
Quartex table of retro games
SFC
Retro Bit Bros selling games and merch
SNES and GBA
SNES games
Super Famicom
The market
Japanspel
Apart from games you could as usual also find a lot of retro gaming merchandise, artwork and crafts :)
Buying retro games
Pappas Pärlor bead art
Turtles riding a dino
Pappas Pärlor
Games and merch
Knitted beanies from bleepwear
Pappas Pärlor flowers
Sluskafan art
Table filled with games and merch
Upstairs there was a large area decorated with various console demo kiosks and arcade machines that were set to free play. They also had a demo corner surrounding the small stage where the competitions were held. Unfortunately I didn’t have the energy to stick around all day (I’m over 7 months pregnant right now), so I missed all the competitions and the lectures that were being held :( It was all really nicely set up though, and well organised :)
Super Mario Bros
Arcade gaming
Arcades
Candy cabs
Blast City
Donkey Kong Cocktail table
Gaming corner
GBA demo stand
Metal Slug
Ms pacman
Move
Start Game
MS Pacman arcade
N64
Playstation demo stands
PS2 demostand
The arcade
Scene
Sega Saturn demo stand
Retro Gaming
Scattered around the place were small personal collections on display, like Final Fantasy and Game & Watch :)
Final Fantasy Collection
Game & Watch
Game & Watch collection
I had a great time at Retrospelsfestivalen and I’m already looking forward to next years convention! It’s always great to get to meet all the friends I’ve gotten to know in the retro gaming world of Sweden ^_^ And of course I bought some cool stuff as well ;D I’ll make a post of that soon! Meanwhile, check out Geeky Gals post from the convention to read more about a cool game called Wünderling that was being showcased at Retrospelsmässan :D
This year we finally got to attend Retrospelsmässan again, Sweden’s largest retro gaming convention! Thanks to Sven666 and Quartex who revived the franchise :) It was a blast as always, and bigger than ever! They used a larger venue, and this year there were finally not a single issue regarding the queues! Good job guys! :D
I had a table shared with a my friend Cleareyes this year, where I sold off some of my doubles. I was also given the task of arranging a Tetris competition during the afternoon :) I had picked out a Tetris game and a way of competing that wouldn’t be too time consuming. I chose Super Tetris 3 for Super Famicom. In 2-player VS mode we had tryouts of 64 people that competed :) 32 remained, and then 16, then 8, then 4 and eventually just 2 people who battled for the title of RSM’s Tetris champion ^_^ I hardly managed to take any pics during the competition but I got to borrow some from my friend and also avid Tetris collector Daniel Engdahl :) Thanks!
I got to play a versus game with the winner afterwards. First to 3 wins and he beat me by 3-2. I got distracted in the last match XD
Me and Johan battling in Tetris
Focused
Me with Johan Paradis, the Tetris champion
The convention was a blast, unfortunately I didn’t have time to explore all the tables and all the exhibitors as much as I would have liked. I spent most of the time talking to friends that I bumped into :) It’s such a great place for all of us nerds to gather and hang out ^_^ I’m already looking forward to Retrospelsmässan 2018!
Geeky Gals Becki & Heidi with Cleareyes
Karl and his N64 obsession ^_^
Pappas Pärlor in his new T-shirt
Daniel “Nize” Engdahl, thanks for the Tetris competition pics :)
Cleareyes found some toys XD
My buddy Matt8bit and others competing in Tetris
Sol Sunhede competing against Johan Paradis
Lovely Spellinnea and her friend competing in Tetris
A lot of people have asked me if I know a place where you can find a calendar of all the Retro Gaming related events and conventions in Sweden, I don’t, but I can make one! ^_^ I’ve made a short calendar on the right side of the page, but also this page where I’ll update as soon as I find out about new conventions or events that are retro game related! If you know or hear about any events feel free to drop a comment and I’ll add it to the list :D
Upcoming retro game events & conventions in Sweden:
2018
MAY 26th
Göteborg RETROSPELSMÄSSAN
Sweden’s largest retro gaming convention. Loads of games for sale, games to be played (both arcade and console), competitions like the Swedish Championships of Super Mario and other events. See posts from previous Retrospelsmässan >>
SEPTEMBER 1st
Malmö RETROSPELSFESTIVALEN A retro gaming festival (convention) in the southern part of Sweden. Loads of games for sale, games to be played (both arcade and console), and usually some fun competitions and events. See posts from previous Retrospelsfestivalen >>
SEPTEMBER 29th
Västerås RETRO GATHERING Retro gathering is a pure retro game and vintage computer convention, the longest running one in Sweden. Here you can find anything from old C64 and Spectrum to Nintendo and PS2 See posts from previous Retro Gatherings >>
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Events that will most likely come back next year:
RETROSPELSMÄSSAN, Gothenburg
Sweden’s largest retro gaming convention. Loads of games for sale, games to be played (both arcade and console), competitions like the Swedish Championships of Super Mario and other events. See posts from previous Retrospelsmässan >>
RETRO GAMES, Stockholm
A retro gaming convention in the capital of Sweden with a lot of focus on arcade games. Loads of arcades are displayed there for you to try out. There’s also a market section and competitions, like the Swedish championships of Pac-Man. See posts from previous Retro Games >>
Apart from these events there’s of course a lot of permanent retro game inspired places to visit, I will fill up the list below with places that are worth a visit for any retro game enthusiast ^_^
HEY ARCADE @ Roq bar, Stockholm
An extensive arcade with loads of machines, everything from classic shmups to the great rhythm and music arcades from Japan ^_^ Read about my visit here >>
CAFÉ PÅ BIT, Skellefteå
A really cute café filled with retro games and some arcades that you can pay to play and retro games that you can buy ^_^ Read about my visit here >>
MACKAPÄR, Gothenburg
A vintage retro store containing everything from cool furniture and accessories to obscure retro video games :D
SPEL & SÅNT, Norrtälje
A video game store that also holds loads of retro games
This weekend in Stockholm was really awesome and totally surpassed my already high expectations :D After attending a book release and having an awesome after party at an arcade on Friday I spent Saturday at a retro game convention called simply Retro Games :) This is the third year in a row that Retro Games is being held, and I’ve missed it the previous years due to so many other conventions taking place this time of year here in Sweden. Also Stockholm is kind of far away for me.. but this time I was determined to check it out, and boy am I glad I did! :D
I was there already when they started setting up, so I could get some nice pictures of all the arcades. I’ve heard that the Retro Games convention is more focused on gaming than the buying or selling of retro games, and this was kind of true. The venue was smaller than a lot of the other retro game conventions, but the ratio of sellers contra arcades were different here. THERE WERE SO MANY ARCADE MACHINES! In the main room with the vendors there were 7 various candy cabs, both newer and older ones, containing great shmups set to free play ^_^ I just think these Japanese cabinets are so beautiful <3 Sorry for the picture spamming below, but DAMN they’re just all so pretty! XD
Atomiswave arcade green buttons
100 Yen
START
Bullet hell shmup on arcade
Arcade candy cabs
New Astro City arcade
Sega New Net City joystick
Shmups on arcade
Shmups on arcade
Orange arcade joystick
Bullet hell shmup on arcade
Astro City 2 arcade
New Astro City arcade
Atomiswave arcade green joystick
Sega New Net City
Bullet hell shmup on arcade
Atomiswave arcade cabinet
Green arcade buttons and joystick
Black arcade joystick
Japanese arcade cabinets
Japanese shmup on Atomiswave arcade
Black arcade joystick
Japanese shmup on New Net City arcade
Yellow arcade joystick
Sammy Atomiswave arcade
Shmup on New Astro City arcade
Black arcade panel
playing shmups
Then there were even more arcades in the other room! Old classics such as Space Invaders, Defender, Tempest, Pole Position, Centipede, Missile Command, Asteroids, Robotron 2084 and also a few that I wasn’t as familiar with like Battlezone, Space Firebird and Space Duel. Missile Command is really hard in my opinion.. but I really enjoy Tempest, Asteroids and Robotron 2084! Also Battlzone was really interesting with different controls ^_^
Vintage arcades
Battlezone arcade cabinet
Battlezone arcade cabinet
Battlezone arcade cabinet
Centipede arcade cabinet
Centipede arcade cabinet
Centipede arcade cabinet
Centipede arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Robotron 2084 arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Tempest arcade cabinet
Space Invaders arcade cabinet
Asteroids arcade cabinet
Asteroids arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Defender arcade cabinet
Pole Position arcade cabinet
Pole Position arcade cabinet
Pole Position arcade cabinet
Pole Position arcade cabinet
Missile Command arcade cabinet
Missile Command arcade cabinet
Space Firebird arcade cabinet
Space Firebird arcade cabinet
Space Firebird arcade cabinet
Space Duel arcade cabinet
Space Duel arcade cabinet
Space Duel arcade cabinet
Space Duel arcade cabinet
Vintage arcade cabinets
There were of course still a lot of great sellers there to show off some awesome goods! This time I took the train up to Stockholm though so I had to restrict myself from buying the whole place XD I didn’t buy more than I could carry ^_^ But I had so much fun talking to friends that were there and meeting internet acquaintances and new people as well! I barely had time to browse through everything that was being sold XD
Mixed games
Talking SMD
Sven666 selling some really good games!
Super Famicom games
R-Type 3 SNES VS SFC
Ghoul Patrol on SNES!
Anders and Michaels old school table
Atari 400
Amiga games
Atari 130XE
ZX Spectrum games
Horrible CDi games XD
So many games!
Arcade joysticks
Kristin finding l00t
Anders selling vintage games
NES games
Arcade parts
Saturn and Playstation games
Svensk Videospelsutveckling (Swedish game development)
Svensk Videospelsutveckling (Swedish game development)
Martin selling his book with Thomas
Athletic World and Earth Bound repros
Boxed NES
stuff
Buttons
Browsing
Flashback and modded Gameboy
Cassettes
Cyberbots Saturn
Cyberbots Saturn
Game & Watch Donkey Kong Hockey
Hats
Motaro selling loads of retro games
MSX games
Neo Geo games
Söders Spel & Skivhandel
Neo Geo MVS 120 in 1
NES and arcade stick
Part and pieces
Anton showing off a Perfect Dark Soundtrack on vinyl
Perfect Dark Soundtrack vinyl
Retro Games has three years in a row held the Swedish Championships of Pac-Man at the convention. I’ve never played Pac-Man on arcade but thought I might as well try it out. I actually managed to get the 6th highest score and made it to the take-outs! :D Then I lost XD
Pac-Man arcade cabinets
Pac-Man arcade cabinets
Pac-Man
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man arcade cabinet
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Blomman hosting the convention
Awesome gaming tattoo on Pac-Man contestant ^_^
Barklund knowing all the tricks in Pac-Man SM
Ghost and Pac-man
Pac-Man arcade cabinet
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man arcade cabinet
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man on arcade
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Pac-Man Swedish Championships
Such pretty, such heavy XD
Pac-Man and the champion lurking behind it
Retro Games is definitely not the biggest retro gaming convention in Sweden, but it has a nice mix of both playing retro games and buying them, and also of course a really nice lineup of people attending it! :D I will definitely try to go back next year ^_^
Last Friday I drove up to Västerås to attend Retro Gathering on Saturday, my favorite Retro Game convention in Sweden ^_^ Retrospelsmässan is also really nice, but as a retro game buyer there’s just more variation at Retro Gathering :) You can find everything from vintage computers, Atari and Commodore to newer PS2 and 3DS games. There have been more newer games lately compared to the first couple of years that I started attending, I hope they don’t take over though, because I love that there’s a place I can go to find these old obscure computers and consoles! I mainly focus on old cartridges and cassettes when I’m at Retro Gathering. Nintendo and Sega I can find at all the other retro game conventions in Sweden anyway.
So this year I was also asked to host an exhibit of my Castlevania collection, so I was there an hour earlier to set it up. People seemed to like it, but there were also a lot of visitors that asked me where it was. My cabinet had been hidden behind a roll-up behind the scene where they hosted the competitions, which was a shame… but people who looked found it anyway :) For those that missed it, this is what it looked like:
Castlevania Collection
Castlevania Collection
Castlevania Collection
Castlevania Collection
Castlevania Collection
The first thing I spotted was a boxed Colecovision that Japon was selling. I snagged it right away, with a bunch of games and a steering wheel controller ^_^ Pontus and Jan at Japon are really nice and gave me a good deal on it :)
Pontus at Japon
I love visiting Zeela’s table, it’s always filled with obscure and colorful things :) He also had a really fun rarity, Softporn Adventure by On-Line systems! On-Line systems later became Sierra, and on the picture of the “sexy” cover are executives and writers from the company, to the right is Roberta Williams, famous video game designer, writer and co-founder of Sierra On-Line who created for example the King’s Quest series :) This is the game that later became Leisure Suit Larry. Such a cool piece of history! I would have bought it if it wasn’t so expensive XD Also I’m not that into text-based adventures… ;D
Softporn Adventures – On-Line Systems
Softporn Adventures – On-Line Systems
Apart from this he showed me the TRS-80, a computer that I had bought from him a while back that I got delivered here ^_^ I needed one to play my Tandy Tetris game! It’s apparently some kind of Tandy computer.. It was in really nice condition though ^_^ Original box, and I got both a boxed joystick and a big box full of games with it! :D
Ready to hook up!
Tandy TRS-80
Tandy games
Boxed Tandy games
He also had a bunch of other cool stuff ^_^ Like Strip Poker and Centrefold Squares for Atari ST, I bought these for a friend who had been looking all over the place for Atari ST games XD He AND his girlfriend were thrilled and couldn’t wait to play it!! Haha!
Gakken TV-Boy
Zeela’s table
First laptop from Ericsson ///
Bentley Compuvision
Deluxe Strip Poker back
Deluxe Strip Poker
GX4000 – Amstrad home console
Centrefold Squares
Centrefold Squares back
M5 CGL Home computer
There were so many games for sale, and retro game related stuff ^_^ Spel & Sånt had brought some Virtual Boy rarities, they had the three games that I am missing! But they were darn expensive >_< Another seller had setup Zelda on CDi for whoever wanted to try it out XD The creators of Alwa’s Awakening were also there displaying their game which is almost done now, it will be released on Steam :)
Coleco Vision and Vectrex
Retro Game arts
Famicom
Games for sale
Atari 2600
Game Boy
NES
Virtual Boy gems
Sega Master System
Cheap retro games
Games for sale
So much Batman!
Zelda on CDI on display for whoever wants to try it
Cartridges for sale
Games for sale
Games for sale
Alwa’s Awakening
Jumpman Junior
My friends Nathalie and Andreas from up north were also there, and they were selling some of their games. Nathalie tried to sell me a weird DS game, and Andreas wanted me to upgrade my version of Tetris 2 to a mint copy XD I did end up buying Paperboy 2 from them though ^_^ Andreas is a pixel-perfectionist and he had some upscaler connected on display with Super Mario Bro 3, I don’t like when the picture is perfect and the scanlines are too obvious ;P I prefer it the original way with an old CRT and a bit of a glitchy pic XD
Nathalie & Andreas
Good sales pitch by Nathalie ^_^
but no thanks XD
I already have this Tetris game XD
Super Mario Bros 3
Too much scanlines XD
I finally got around to buying the game Photon that has been under development and on display for years at these conventions ^_^ It’s still not finished, but I bought an early version of it :) I also got to talk a bit to the man behind it who told me a bit about the Sord and the community around it :) Apparently there was a club back in the day that released a magazine here in Sweden called “Sordisen”, he had a few issues for sale. He also showed me a few different versions of the system. I almost went and bought one from Zeela, but then again, I don’t have any games for it yet.. so I think it’ll have to wait.
Photon
Photon
Sord computer
Sordisen Magazine
Sord M5 Pro
Sord M5 Pro
Sord M5 Pro
I competed in the yearly Swedish Championships of Pong this year as well :) I won the first take out but lost to my second opponent.. I haven’t been practicing enough, or rather, I haven’t been practicing at all XD I need to get my husband to start playing it with me!! The champion can be seen in the video below, damn that’s an intense Pong game!
Swedish Championships of Pong
Pong championships
As usual they also had a bunch of games and systems set up so people could try them out :) I saw an Intellivision there which reminded me that a seller had promised me from the previous Retro Gathering to bring me one, when I found him though he had already sold it to someone else :((( Hopefully he can set me up with another one.. I have so many Intellivison games and no Intellivisions to play them on XD
Games set up to play
Commodore VIC-20
Commodore C64
Amiga
Coleco Vision
MSX
Texas Instruments
Atari 800
Sinclair ZX Spectrum
Videopac Computer G7000
Fairlight on ZX Spectrum
Crew setting up the games before opening
Intellivision
Colour Genie
Atari 1040 ST
Atari 2600 & NES
Vectrex
Amiga CD32
Sega Master System
Sega Mega Drive, SNES & N64
They also had some other exhibitors, one collection of Sonic games and one of Handic for the VIC 20 :)
Sonic Collection
Sonic Collection
Sonic Collection
Sonic Collection
Handic Collection
One of the best things about going to retro game conventions though is all the people! I met so many old and new friends, and people are so friendly :D
Söders Spel & Skivhandel
Matt8bit
Andreas
Spel & Sånt
Vira & friend
Retrospelsfestivalen
Retroplay
Anders and people :)
After the convention we went out and met up with a bunch of retro gamers, and we found Kralleman and PingeAhlin there who had missed the convention, but had been off on more exciting business! They had scored a bunch of old arcades and other rarities from a connection they had. I was lucky enough to get to go check out their loot :D They had gotten rare prototypes for the Videopac, old minty posters with ads for the Luxor computer, boxed Vectrexes, a Taito Space Invaders arcade cab and a Super Bug arcade with super mint manuals, a really old wooden arcade and an original Break Out arcade. The Break Out arcade had only been played on 64 times, which means it’s hardly been used more than factory testing. That’s pretty rad XD
Box of Videopac prototypes
Videopac prototypes 2-sided
Old luxor ad
Old luxor ad
Old luxor ad
Old luxor ad
Old luxor ad
Boxed Vectrexes
Taito Space Invaders arcade
Super Bug Arcade manual
Super old arcade
Old orange Break Out arcade from Atari
As you can probably figure, Retro Gathering has outdone themselves again and it was an awesome convention! I’ll go through my loot in a later post when I’ve gone through it all ;D
Retro Video Gaming 