A gaming convention is a gathering centered on role-playing games , collectible card games , miniatures wargames , board games , video games , or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three business days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel.
13-399: The Portland Retro Gaming Expo ( PRGE ) is an annual gaming convention and trade show celebrating gaming and video games as part of popular culture. This includes current video games , retrogaming , arcade games and pinball , board games , collectible card games and panels and Q&As with videogame industry pioneers and personalities. In the summer of 1997 a group of gamers from
26-868: A games festival held over twelve days in France. The annual Gamescom in Cologne is the world's leading expo for video games . While games are often a large part of science fiction conventions and other hobby conventions, gaming conventions are distinguished by focusing on games and game-industry guests. The Penny Arcade Expo is the largest gaming convention in the US, with over 70,000 attendees at both its East (Boston) and Prime (Seattle) events. Gen Con has an emphasis on RPGs and features events for RPGs, CCGs, miniatures and boardgames with 60,000+ unique attendees over four days in 2017. Origins focuses on miniatures wargames and boardgames with 12,902 unique attendees in 2014, but also has
39-579: A gaming convention as well. Costume balls, art auctions, and screenings of movies may all take place. Lectures, workshops, or panel discussions on gaming might be part of the programming, or for some cons, even the focus. World Boardgaming Championships The World Boardgaming Championships is a convention held yearly since 1999 by the Boardgame Players Association . It was previously held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania , but it moved to
52-456: A large component of RPG and CCG players. DragonCon is an example of a large convention with a focus on popular culture and comics that includes a large gaming contingent and 35,000-40,000 attendees, but isn't dedicated solely as a gaming convention. A smaller genre of gaming conventions are those devoted to the hobby of historical miniature wargaming . World Boardgaming Championships , PrezCon and Euro Quest are game conventions representing
65-618: A themed museum, art shows, indie games, obsolete media formats, a collectibles live auction, many classic and modern tournaments and live DJs and bands. Multiple presentation tracks with industry alumni and content creators cover gaming-related topics and culture. An ongoing feature have been panel presentations by industry alumni such as David Crane (programmer) , Garry Kitchen , Joseph C. Decuir , Howard Scott Warshaw , Jennell Jaquays , Rebecca Heineman , Ed Fries , Matt Uelmen and other former Atari , Activision , Imagic , Nintendo , Sega and Microsoft employees. The retrogaming heritage
78-553: Is also represented by the Portland Retro Gaming Expo logo which recalls the iconic Atari CX40 joystick in front of stylized tree rings , highlighting Portland's lumber industry history. Gaming convention The largest gaming convention, Spiel , is a trade fair held in Essen, Germany that focuses on German-style board games and RPGs. A similarly large event is Festival Ludique International de Parthenay (FLIP),
91-512: Is not generally discouraged by the convention management; in fact, pick-up games are a large part of the appeal of gaming conventions. There is almost always a dealers' room where various game manufacturers and related companies sell their products. Many game companies choose game cons to reveal new products. Creating consumer excitement is greatly facilitated at gaming cons, but word can spread fast, and games may equally well become instant failures at conventions. Often there are other activities at
104-638: The Portland Retro Gaming Expo and found a permanent home in the Oregon Convention Center . Initially focused on retrogaming, the Portland Retro Gaming Expo quickly expanded to a wide range of gaming aspects. The show features a large free-play arcade with hundreds of coin-op and pinball machines, multiple console play areas, the official Blockbuster World Video Game Championship, the Classic Tetris World Championship ,
117-536: The Seven Springs Mountain Resort in 2016. It is next scheduled for July 20 to July 28, 2024, at Seven Springs Mountain Resort near Pittsburgh, PA. This convention replaced Avaloncon, which had been run from 1991 to 1998 by Avalon Hill . Each year, the convention pulls approximately 2,000 people from around the world to compete to be named champion of their favorite games. The 100 best-attended games from
130-677: The Pacific Northwest called the NorthWest Classic Games Enthusiasts ( NWCGE ) gathered for their first meeting in the Seattle , WA area and decided to create an annual gathering. In 2001 this event grew to a weekend show and combined with an annual Atari Championship sponsored by a local arcade, which had been running since 1996. In 2006 NWCGE spawned a local event in the Portland, Oregon area which subsequently renamed itself to
143-447: The end of the century, cosplay would become a staple at a number of events, including gaming conventions. Gaming conventions typically have games scheduled for various time slots. Most gaming cons use some system of pre-registration to ensure that games are neither over-full nor under-full. Competitive games, such as Magic: The Gathering , typically have tournaments set out where players meet in matches. Prizes can be quite large for
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#1732883634830156-476: The hobby of Tournament Board Gaming Open Gaming, Demos, Jr. Events and more dedicated to the face to face board game hobby. The World Boardgaming Championships and PrezCon are considered two of the largest events dedicated solely to board games. WBC runs the first week in August each year and PrezCon runs the last week of February each year. A Cincinnati, Ohio duo debuts the first known modern cosplay in 1908. Near
169-499: The winners. There are also competitive role-playing games , where the best roleplayers, most successful parties, etc. get rewarded. The RPGA runs competitive Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs at many conventions. Most scheduled RPGs, however, are not competitive. The types of games often include many of the following: Open gaming goes on throughout any such convention, and it is common that all seating in common areas will be taken by people playing pick-up games. Pick-up gaming
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