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Northern Game Expo: A celebration of retro games, geek culture is this weekend

Inaugural 2015 event exceeded organizers' expectations

After the first Northern Game Expo exceeded expectations last year, organizers are planning to make the 2016 event bigger and better.

Michael Shanks, one of the Northern Game Expo organizers, said expectations last year were that between 700 and 800 people would attend the inaugural event, but more than 1,100 attendees were counted instead.

The expo caters mainly to retro video games – from older systems like the Super Nintendo and original Playstation – along with comic books and anime.

“A lot of people who are into (retro) video games don't have anywhere to shop for video game stuff unless they go on Ebay or something like that,” Shanks saide.

He said the expo filled a niche for many retro gamers in the region. 

This year's event will take place at the Caruso Club on Sunday (Oct. 16) from 12-6 p.m. 

Shanks said the new venue doubles the amount of space they had available last year. 

Around 65 per cent of this year's vendors also participated in the inaugural event, and include a mix of local stores – including Comic North, Hidden Level Games and MojoVerse – along with shops based in southern Ontario as well.

Shanks said vendors will occupy the main upstairs hall at the Caruso Club, while the downstairs hall will be dubbed “Charity Alley”, and will feature a number of fundraisers for a number of charitable organizations, including SickKids.

Troy Dittburner, an artist who builds custom arcade cabinets, will have a few of his machines on display at the expo, and all proceeds from the coin-operated games will go to the SickKids Foundation, in memory of his son Alister-Cru.

Shanks said this year's expo will also feature four local artists who will have their original work for sale.

Those artists are Rob Sacchetto, known for his zombie art; painter Marc Gagné; local sculptor Trevor TenHave; and Kyler Green, a freelance artist who does comics inspired work and also creates original character molds.

Admission for the Northern Game Expo will be $5 at the door.


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Jonathan Migneault

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