About Us & Friends

Specialty Gamer is dedicated to providing gamers with a source of classic, modern and import games!! Specialty Gamer provides a forum dedicated to game collecting in the Pacific Northwest as well as many other topics.

We work closely with many local game shows to help promote our favorite hobby! Come check us out at the next Seattle Retro Gaming Expo or Portland Retro Gaming Expo in 2012!!!

The Seattle Retro Gaming Expo is an organization dedicated to creating a network of gamers in the Seattle area, and providing outlets for us to express our passion for all facets of the geek culture in general, and classic videogames in particular.

Began in the early parts of the millenium, NWCGE (Northwest Classic Gaming Enthusiasts) started having small shows designed primarily to give collectors an opportunity to swap games and stories. Since then, NWCGE has put on several shows, and members have gone on to form both the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, and now the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo.

Our aim is to provide people in the Seattle-Tacoma area with a space to share their love of videogames, and to meet like-minded individuals. We believe that collaboration and cooperation between gamers and the organizations that represent them will benefit everyone, and we are committed to promoting that goal through our shows and events.

Retro Gaming Expo, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon-based 501(c)4 non-profit cooperative organization dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for classic video and arcade games through the presentation of events and conventions that celebrate the historic contribution video games have made and continue to make in popular culture.

2011 will mark the 6th year of the Expo. The show has experienced incredible growth since the first in 2006 where we had under 200 attendees at the Vancouver, Washington Quality Inn. Since then we have moved the show closer to downtown Portland and enjoy many times the attendance of that first Expo.

PRGE seeks to continually improve the quality and depth of our events. It is through events like our annual Expo that we will meet our goals:

Educate

Our primary mission is to educate our visitors on the impact that video games have made on our society. Our main methods for doing this are through hands-on interaction with classic games and by hosting speaking engagemments from important figures from video game history.

Preserve

The first consumer video games were created over 40 years ago. As years pass and new systems replaced the old, it does not always occur to game manufacturers and owners to preserve examples of their games for the future. PRGE believes that, by demonstrating original game hardware and software in working condition, we provide a clearer example of video game culture through the years and a better experience for our attendees.

Inspire

Video games bring together multiple disciplines including mathematics, physics, art, music and drama. It is our belief that by highlighting video games of the past, we will inspire the game creators of the future in all of these areas.