beforemario at Gamescom 2015 - part 1

About three weeks ago I returned home from a great experience, tired but very satisfied. After exhibiting part of my collection at last year's Retro Game Event in Hilversum, The Netherlands, for an audience of about 3000 visitors, this year I had the opportunity to exhibit at the biggest video game stage in the world: Gamescom.

For those of you who don't know, Gamescom is a video game trade show that is held annually in Cologne, Germany. It is the premiere video game show in Europe and the world's largest gaming event, measured by exhibition space and number of visitors: with 345,000 visitors, more than 6,000 journalists and 700 exhibitors!

And this year, beforemario was one of the exhibitors!

badge worn with pride

The number of visitors to Gamesom is truly staggering; a sea of people that overflows the Koelnmesse for five long days. This year the event ran from the morning of Wednesday August 5 to the evening of Sunday August 9.

South gate, one of four entrances

The Koelnmesse is a huge conference center, with eleven large halls, some of which even have two levels. Gamescom occupies all halls.

All developers and publishers of PC, console, handheld and mobile games from around the world show their latest wares, with many as yet unreleased games on display and playable for the first time. People queue for hours to play a single new game for only a handful of minutes.

The booths are lavish affairs with zillions of screens, flashing lights and thumping music. Not the kind of place for people with sensitive senses.

Beforemario at the Retro Game Experience

Hi folks!

I realize it has been a bit quiet here the last few months. I expect to pick up the regular posting again towards the end of the year, but until then I will be quite busy with some other projects.

One of these is an upcoming exhibition of part of my collection. This will happen as part of a great three-day retro game event called the Retro Game Experience. It will be held in Hilversum in the Netherlands, in the weekend from September 12 to 14.

Retro Game Experience 2014

You may recall I visited the first edition of this event last year.

At this year's event, I will be showing a broad selection from my collection of Nintendo toys and games from 1965 to 1983. Many of the cool items featured on this blog will be on display. This will be a unique opportunity to see these items in real life. I don't believe something similar has been been organized before, except for the 2007 exhibition held by Isao Yamazaki in Osaka.

Besides the beforemario exhibition, there is much more to see and do. The 2014 edition promises to be even bigger and better than last year.

I am personally looking forward most to the arcade hall. I had a blast last year playing all these games in an authentic arcade environment. Here's the teaser for the event.

So, if you are in the neighborhood, please drop by in Hilversum. I would love to meet you!

Retro Game Experience 2013

About a week ago, in the weekend of September 14 and 15, a game event called Retro Game Experience was staged by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision located in the Dutch town of Hilversum.

The program looked very promising, so I headed to Hilversum on Sunday. I took my two daughters along, and hoped they would also appreciate the original arcade experience that was recreated there (they did).

The event was divided in three main areas. One the ground floor you could find a set of Japanese arcade games from the 90s and 00s and a large selection of home consoles and home computers. One floor up was the best part of the exhibition: a full-fledged arcade room with many games from the 1980s, including - obviously - a healthy selection of Nintendo arcade games.

It was a really hands-on affair; all that was on display was playable as well. The event attracted a good crowd but it was not too busy, so you did not have to wait too long to play.