PINBALL WIZARDS CONVENE AT ARCADE EXPO
In a time when video games are often purchased through streaming services and downloaded instantly, nostalgia for garish wooden cabinets and pinball tables with intricate mechanisms has pushed interest in classic coin-op gaming to heights not seen since the 1980s.
Houstonians can indulge their love of the old school video game culture at the Houston Arcade Expo. The annual event offers two days of programming, performances, workshops, vending, tournaments and casual gaming. Here are the top five things you can look forward to.
1. LOTS AND LOTS OF FREE GAMING
Coin-op games were purposefully hard so that they could relieve people of their quarters and put some real honor in the reward of getting your initials on the high-score list. Luckily, the Expo isn’t that sadistic. The standard entrance fee into the convention comes with free play on over 300 arcade and console games, some of which actually go all the way back to the 1930s.
2. EXPERIENCE GAME CULTURE
In addition to the games themselves, the expo has a plethora of attractions. Musical performances by bands like Harp Twins, The Consortium of Genius, Radio Cult, Atari Matt and Loaded Popcorn Jam are all related to gaming in some way, particularly how music from video games has inspired generations of musicians. There will also be cosplayers and a
3. TAKE HOME PIECES OF HISTORY
Like a comic convention, the Arcade Expo can be a great place to add to your collection, or even to start one. Vendors deal in everything from hard-to-find console titles to full arcade cabinets and pinball tables.
4. RARE GAMES
Emulators have made the idea of rare games seem obsolete, but there are still some out there worth experiencing. Some of the more memorable things you can try at the Expo are the “World’s Largest Pac-Man,” “Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker,” “Missile Command” using the trackball instead of the home version featuring the joy stick and the rarely seen pinball game “Warlok,” of which only 412 were ever made, according to the pinball site pinside.com.
5. XVRCADE
Houston has its own VR arcade, and you can get a chance to experience it at the Expo. They’ll be showing off their four-person multiplayer games in demonstrations. I’ve had at least one chance to try out these latest group VR outings, and they are completely immersive. It doesn’t hurt that Houston is a hotbed of VR technology, what with the Omni Virtuix being made here, among other things. The format is clearly not going anywhere, and XVRcade is a chance to play on the cutting edge.