WEBVTT

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Hey everybody, I'm Matt from Growth Mode Content.

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Welcome to Good News York. This is a very, very

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special episode. We got some exclusive media

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coverage of one of the biggest events happening

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on the Northeast, not even in Syracuse, not even

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in New York. No. But first, we should say hello

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to my spiky -haired, orange -dressed frello.

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Frello? Frello. I don't know if I want to call

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you a fellow or friend. I like to propose a post.

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Are you doing it? No, I got to ask you a question,

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though. Hold on, hold on. This is Mike. Yes,

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sir. Can you hold up your watch for a moment?

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I got to know, all right? Your watch has a bright

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orange face. Yeah. It's better than me having

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a bright orange face. Do you always wear that

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watch, or did you color code it with it? Oh,

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no, color code. That's what I was afraid of.

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Yeah, you didn't notice that? I have three watches.

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I have a black watch, a blue watch, and an orange

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watch, and I color coordinate to my outfit. Eventually,

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I want to get yellow. I want to get all the colors

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of the rainbow. But you know, I don't make that

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kind of dough yet, so I'm sticking with three

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watches for now. I can't believe you just noticed

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that. In the ninth grade, my English teacher,

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her name was Mrs. Cohenetti. And she had wooby

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-wed whipstick. Wooby -wed? That's how she talked

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when she was the English teacher. It was wild.

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She was a nice old lady, and what was real interesting

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about her is every day she would have her dress,

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her shoes, a pearl necklace, and her nails color

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coordinated. I like her. Identically. And now

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you just make me think of that sweet old lady.

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So should I start talking like this? I mean.

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Sorry, I wore my watch. We might get more clicks

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for that. We might get more clicks. Anyway, we

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got. Anyway, yeah. So it is Good News York, sponsored

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by Ads on the Go. Get ads on the go .com. Very

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excited. Because this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,

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October 10th through the 12th, it is Retro Game

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Con at the On Center right here in Syracuse,

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New York. Sold out, dare I say. It's sold out.

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On Saturday. On Saturday. And with us is the

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event coordinator, Nathan Grant. Nathan, welcome

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to the show, my man. Thanks for having me. We

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are so excited to have you for many reasons.

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One, we're all some more than others, but we're

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all gaming nerds of sorts. Our great friend,

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producer, coworker Danny Tripodi, who's behind

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the board right now. He's kind of your second

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-in -command, your right -hand man. Yeah, we're

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all in the same... Yeah, so he's another event

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coordinator for the event. So we've been very

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involved and supportive of Danny along the way.

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So we're just excited to have you and to talk

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about this. Yeah, I'm very excited. I just want

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to throw this out there before we even begin.

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This is the exclusive media Tour. for Retro GameCon.

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So you guys are not doing it with anybody else?

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Yeah, we're just kind of, we always open the

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door to any media people who want to attend,

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but we wanted to give you guys a chance to really

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get in there and cover all the great stuff we're

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doing this year, because it gets bigger and better

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every year, and there's only so much that we

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can do on our own to talk about it. I love this

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so much. Good opportunity for you guys to be

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able to help show a lot of that stuff that we're

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doing and highlight it. Dude, we've arrived.

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We've arrived, Matthew. Now he's looking like

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ET. I don't understand what's happening today.

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So last year was the first year that I attended

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GameCon. And I didn't even get to the second

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floor. So I took it all in and was overwhelmed.

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And I'm super, super excited. We're going to

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talk a little bit about some of the things that

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are happening. But I'd love you to just. Kind

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of give your rundown of what you're excited about

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and what folks are most looking forward to seeing

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this weekend Yeah, so just baseline one thing

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you can always look forward to at retro game

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con is think of a comic con lots of vendors lots

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of artists but it's all centered around gaming,

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whether that's retro gaming, modern gaming, arcade,

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computer, and even things like arcade and pinball

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together. There's a lot of crossover. We also

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have a huge tabletop gaming segment. And there's

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so much crossover in a lot of the different nerddoms.

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So we try to cover that. We try to make sure

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that there's something for everybody there. But

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on top of that... We're multifaceted. Mike. Yes,

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very multi. I'm writing down nerddom. That's

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a new word. It's one of those things I've had.

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Not if you're a nerd. Because we have our own

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little kingdom with how big it's grown. Right.

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And it's all nerdy stuff like this. So but, you

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know. not only are there going to be vendors

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selling games there, there's tons of free play

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games to play. Like we have a huge free play

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area. And what's cool about our free play area

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is we don't just have like the classic consoles,

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we will have old PCs hooked up. So we have like

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a computer LAN with multiple connected and people

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playing the same game together, as well as just,

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you know, the very retro stuff that, you know,

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maybe some people have never even played before

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the new generations get a chance to put their

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hands on. And then of course, arcade units are

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always fun to play and they're all set to free

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play. So you just. to go up and there's no coins

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needed, no tokens. You just go up and play. In

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addition to the free play stuff, we will have

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tournaments for various games going on, retro

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and newer games. And then I mentioned the vendors

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and artists. We have one of the biggest vendor

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halls for an event like this. Just so many different

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collectibles, actual games and consoles to play,

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and then great artists there as well. So that's

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kind of like baseline stuff we always have every

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year, but just gets bigger and better. We also...

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try to bring in a lot of great special guests

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and talent. So that could be voice actors from

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various games throughout the industry, old and

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new, as well as musical artists who either do

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video game cover music or, you know, variations

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of stuff like that that are popular within the

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communities or the nerddoms. The nerddoms. So,

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yeah, just those are a lot of the baseline stuff.

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There's obviously a lot of nitty gritty in each

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of those categories, but that's that's a lot

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of the stuff you can look forward to every year.

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Yeah, Nathan, this is amazing. This is technically

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the 12th, but you could argue the 15th. We don't

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need to get in the weeds with that. Don't pay

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attention to the actual how many conventions

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we've had. Just know that for 12 years, we've

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been bringing this event to Syracuse and it's

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getting bigger and better every year. And it

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is getting bigger and better. And you can monitor

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it on social media. You can see over the years

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how much it's grown. And again, you guys are

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sold out, which is phenomenal, the On Center.

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But I'm curious, and we're curious. Give us a

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little bit about your background. I mean, how

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does someone come from their own nerddom and

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say, you know what? I'm going to put together

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a retro game conference. Kind of give us the

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origin story of how this began. Yeah, so when

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you go to the event, you might think, wow, what

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company is putting this on? Who's backing this?

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But when it started, it was just one man, Ed

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Forth. He was the founder. He came up with this

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idea of, hey, we got a lot of like -minded people

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interested in this hobby in the area. 2013 we

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just had more video game stores than ever voltage

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video games had recently opened downtown and

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they're like a staple of the community now, but

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they were relatively new back then and then a

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lot of the Organizations that were here already

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that wanted to be involved were kind of around

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and he basically brought people together who

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he knew liked the hobby and wanted might want

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to be a part of this and so I was Technically,

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I was an attendee the first year, but he reached

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out to me personally because he knew I had some

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graphic design background and wanted me to design

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the flyer for it. So back then, it was only $5

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to attend. And so I made the flyer. And then

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from that year on, I was on the planning committee.

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And that's kind of how I got my foot in the door

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just by being, again, one of the local nerds

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who had this interest and wanted to come together.

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What was really interesting is the first year

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was probably about, you know, A little over 500

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people probably came out to that one. And it

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was held at Driver's Village in one of the conference

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centers that you can reserve. So starting with

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very humble beginnings. And now here we are selling

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out days at the On Center. And we've mostly stuck

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to the On Center as we've grown and gone from

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one hall of the On Center to both halls. So now

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we have two floors and the stages and all this

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stuff like that. So it's very interesting to

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see the humble beginnings to where we are now.

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I can personally tell you, you have because I

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went to a independent wrestling show at Driver's

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Village. Those conference rooms, they're not

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huge. So for you to go from there to the On Center,

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man, congratulations. That's wild. You guys are

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doing something right. Honestly, it's pretty

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impressive that you had that many folks at your

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first event to begin with. I think that was kind

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of like the sign of, okay, there's something

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here. And it definitely, we all came away from

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that first year feeling like that was amazing.

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This is something special. I didn't know then

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how special it would be for the community. And

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now it's like one of those things where we're

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like, well, what have we created? We can't stop

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this now. We just got to keep going. And that's

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the blessing and the curse of social media. And

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it sounds like, if I'm doing the math right,

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when you guys kind of started this is right when

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the social media explosion happened and then

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TikTok came along. And the one positive thing,

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and I guess you could say negative two, is that

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with social media, you can find like -minded

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individuals easier and create these sort of events.

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Yeah, and like, you know, that's a good point

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because I don't think any of us who work for

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Retro Game Con really like Facebook and Meta

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and stuff, but through our social media, we've

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been able to grow our community so much and just,

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you know, create events. We do so many things

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throughout the year. It's not just about the

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one weekend. We do little promotional events

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throughout the year. We started doing, for the

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past few years, our smaller event, the Spring

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Edition, which was called Retro Game Con Junior,

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but we changed it this year to Retro Game Con

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Spring Edition just because... A lot of people

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assumed with Junior it was for kids, when really

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we were just doing a Donkey Kong Junior or Pac

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-Man Junior pun. But people took that as like

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it's a kids event. We're like, no, no, it's just

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a smaller scale. So we call it spring edition.

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And yeah, it's obviously... aren't doing it at

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the on center and it's a smaller we did that

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at the elite gaming arena downtown this year

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and before that we were doing it at the museum

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of science and technology which was a really

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cool venue for it so it's always been like its

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own little special thing but yeah it's it's because

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of social media that we were able to grow this

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community and you know last year we started a

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discord and you know that was great to just make

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sure we get the message out there and like you

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mentioned so we sold out for saturday we still

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have friday Sunday passes and we have weekend

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passes still so people can still get on Saturday

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if they get the weekend pass because we kept

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an allotment of those But you know even with

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selling out. It's just you know being able to

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reach the people and let them know so okay Saturday

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looks like Saturday is gonna be selling out if

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that happened five years ago there wouldn't be

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as many ways to get that message out there. Now

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it's like with the Discord, the website, the

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social media, we're still going to probably have

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some people that are like, I didn't know what,

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I came out here. But that just happens with any

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popular event. And what we try to do is just

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accommodate as best we can. We still have Sunday

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tickets available. And Sunday, by the way, is

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the cheaper ticket. So if you're really like,

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money's tight this year and we all know it is,

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you still can attend. And it's not like Sunday

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is the bad day or the slow day. No. One of the

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things I can take pride in for our event is that

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we go to so many events like this, whether it's

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Comic Cons, gaming events, and Sundays are usually

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the slower day. Comparatively, it is slower compared

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to our other two days, but we still are pretty

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much as packed. When you see the crowds in the

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vendor hall and stuff, it feels the same as it

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did all weekend. It's like you're not missing

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out on anything. There's not like people go away.

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There might be some programming that like, you

00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:41.490
know, there's an event on Saturday only. OK,

00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:43.230
that might be something you'd miss out on, but

00:11:43.230 --> 00:11:45.669
you really get the full experience no matter

00:11:45.669 --> 00:11:47.529
what day you decide to go. Do you do you guys?

00:11:47.730 --> 00:11:51.490
Are you able to field any sort of customer service

00:11:51.490 --> 00:11:54.210
issues during like you just mentioned? You know,

00:11:54.230 --> 00:11:56.690
I showed up and I didn't. Is there a way for

00:11:56.690 --> 00:11:58.830
people to get in contact with any of the organizers

00:11:58.830 --> 00:12:00.330
if there are any issues throughout the event?

00:12:00.330 --> 00:12:03.429
So. On RetroGameCon .com, there's an email address

00:12:03.429 --> 00:12:06.090
there, info at RetroGameCon .com, that goes to

00:12:06.090 --> 00:12:09.009
myself and Pat, the director of the con. So we're

00:12:09.009 --> 00:12:10.129
running around, we're doing a million things,

00:12:10.149 --> 00:12:13.230
but we can at least get your messages and try

00:12:13.230 --> 00:12:15.490
to answer them as soon as possible. But the Discord

00:12:15.490 --> 00:12:17.470
that I mentioned has been a huge thing because

00:12:17.470 --> 00:12:20.230
if Pat and I are busy helping a guest get their

00:12:20.230 --> 00:12:21.669
panel started or whatever, we're not looking

00:12:21.669 --> 00:12:24.789
at our phones, there are people who... are very

00:12:24.789 --> 00:12:26.330
familiar with the programming we got going on.

00:12:26.350 --> 00:12:28.230
They're able to quickly answer. So the community

00:12:28.230 --> 00:12:30.830
kind of steps in and helps. And then at the event

00:12:30.830 --> 00:12:33.549
itself. the registration desk is full of a bunch

00:12:33.549 --> 00:12:34.830
of people who've been working with the con for

00:12:34.830 --> 00:12:37.690
years. So if they need to find one of us to answer

00:12:37.690 --> 00:12:39.730
questions, or if they just know the answers because

00:12:39.730 --> 00:12:41.950
they know it themselves, we can usually get those

00:12:41.950 --> 00:12:44.909
things taken care of right away. And that's just

00:12:44.909 --> 00:12:46.549
growing pains over the years. You learn what

00:12:46.549 --> 00:12:48.429
worked and what didn't the year before. So we've

00:12:48.429 --> 00:12:50.110
really refined, like, how can we help people

00:12:50.110 --> 00:12:51.750
the best? How can we get them the answers? How

00:12:51.750 --> 00:12:55.529
can we set up the event? You know, traffic flow

00:12:55.529 --> 00:12:58.309
is good. How can we communicate the messaging?

00:12:58.389 --> 00:12:59.750
There's all that stuff you got to think about.

00:12:59.809 --> 00:13:01.470
And you don't think about when you first set

00:13:01.470 --> 00:13:04.009
out to do these things. But year over year, there's

00:13:04.009 --> 00:13:06.110
always a, OK, what can we do better next year?

00:13:06.470 --> 00:13:09.750
We never are like, cool, we got it. Let's continue

00:13:09.750 --> 00:13:12.490
it like we did. Book it. Because unfortunately,

00:13:12.570 --> 00:13:13.929
we've been to events that feel that way, where

00:13:13.929 --> 00:13:16.289
it's like, I wouldn't say it's a bad event, but

00:13:16.289 --> 00:13:18.250
it's the same thing. You know exactly what you're

00:13:18.250 --> 00:13:20.269
going to get. It might be a fun time, but you're

00:13:20.269 --> 00:13:22.870
not coming and going, wow. And we always try

00:13:22.870 --> 00:13:25.000
to. plus it up, not just in terms of the amount

00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:28.059
of things we do, but customer service and how

00:13:28.059 --> 00:13:31.000
much fun people are having, you know. It's such

00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.340
an incredible event that you guys have put together.

00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.279
And I know we talked about it a little bit in

00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.500
terms of selling out, but can you just take one

00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:39.700
second and talk about just kind of how this compares

00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:41.779
to other events and things like that that are

00:13:41.779 --> 00:13:45.840
around the country, even? Yeah, so being in Syracuse,

00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:47.980
you know, we're limited in where we can host

00:13:47.980 --> 00:13:50.179
in. Luckily, we have the on -center here. But

00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:52.269
I think one thing that is a huge benefit of being

00:13:52.269 --> 00:13:53.809
in Syracuse is that it's not going to cost as

00:13:53.809 --> 00:13:56.049
much as some of the other events. Now, this weekend,

00:13:56.110 --> 00:13:58.889
we happen to time out the same weekend as New

00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:00.590
York Comic Con. And you're going to be spending

00:14:00.590 --> 00:14:03.590
so much more at an event like New York Comic

00:14:03.590 --> 00:14:05.250
Con. Not to say that New York Comic Con is not

00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:08.269
a great event, but it's such a bigger scale that

00:14:08.269 --> 00:14:11.169
the lines are going to be so much longer. The

00:14:11.169 --> 00:14:12.450
stuff is going to cost so much more. Even the

00:14:12.450 --> 00:14:14.210
autographs, you know, if you're paying, let's

00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:16.450
say, 60 to 70 bucks for an autograph or a photo

00:14:16.450 --> 00:14:18.950
at our event to meet one of our guests. maybe

00:14:18.950 --> 00:14:20.330
there's a guest you want to see more here in

00:14:20.330 --> 00:14:21.570
Comic -Con, but you're probably going to be sending

00:14:21.570 --> 00:14:23.830
like 200 bucks plus for somebody who's been in

00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:26.230
a Marvel movie or something like that. So you

00:14:26.230 --> 00:14:28.269
really got to think about like the value you're

00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:30.029
getting for the ticket price. And I think one

00:14:30.029 --> 00:14:31.990
thing that we can say is that for our ticket

00:14:31.990 --> 00:14:35.090
prices, you're getting really good value. And

00:14:35.090 --> 00:14:36.970
like I said, no matter what day you're going,

00:14:37.529 --> 00:14:40.490
you're getting everything that we offer. So and

00:14:40.490 --> 00:14:42.210
you know, the only time that changes is like

00:14:42.210 --> 00:14:44.549
maybe there's a. voice actor who's like I'm only

00:14:44.549 --> 00:14:46.350
gonna be there Saturday and Sunday so we communicate

00:14:46.350 --> 00:14:48.529
that stuff when there are little one -offs like

00:14:48.529 --> 00:14:50.370
that but for the most part and I think this year

00:14:50.370 --> 00:14:52.429
we actually have all the guests there all weekend

00:14:52.429 --> 00:14:55.210
long so that's not even a concern and everything

00:14:55.210 --> 00:14:57.629
else is is planted there there's no vendors that

00:14:57.629 --> 00:14:59.529
take off you know after the first day or anything

00:14:59.529 --> 00:15:02.070
like that so you're getting it all. Let's talk

00:15:02.070 --> 00:15:04.610
a little bit about some of those guests because

00:15:04.610 --> 00:15:07.190
one of the things that you have going on one

00:15:07.190 --> 00:15:08.889
of the things that we're gonna kind of help you

00:15:08.889 --> 00:15:10.570
with is is recording some of these things with

00:15:10.570 --> 00:15:13.340
some live panels with I don't want to say some,

00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:16.440
honestly, you have a full schedule Friday, Saturday

00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:19.279
and Sunday of these events in multiple rooms.

00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:21.840
Can you talk a little bit about what people see?

00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:24.080
So special guests are always like a big draw

00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.840
at the con because people want to meet the voices

00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:30.519
of the characters that they've played as in these

00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:32.940
games and stuff. And we have a good mix this

00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:35.559
year where it's not just the old retro vintage

00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:38.379
game voices that people remember, but some of

00:15:38.379 --> 00:15:41.639
the Up -and -coming artists or actors and stuff.

00:15:42.059 --> 00:15:44.279
So this year probably one of our big highlights

00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:48.799
is Ben Starr He was in the game Expedition 33

00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:51.820
that is Sweeping all like a potential game of

00:15:51.820 --> 00:15:54.320
the year. What are awards this year? I'm in fact,

00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.700
he was just nominated for his performance or

00:15:57.700 --> 00:16:01.179
supporting actor in a game or the golden joystick

00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:03.679
awards that happens every year, so he's Already

00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:05.759
like nominated for that and we have him, but

00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:08.240
he's also done He was the main character Clive

00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:11.620
in the last Final Fantasy Final Fantasy 16 So

00:16:11.620 --> 00:16:14.019
he's like the main lead in that he's been in

00:16:14.019 --> 00:16:15.799
a bunch of other games Hades 2 which just came

00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:18.740
out and is getting great Awards and reviews everywhere

00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:21.600
that he's one of the characters in that so it's

00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:23.240
cool to have somebody like that Who's like the

00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:25.580
new hotness he's also he's kind of like just

00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:28.139
a cool dude And he's been on like podcasts and

00:16:28.139 --> 00:16:31.000
stuff before and just people like him as a person

00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:32.809
not just because of his role, but who? he is

00:16:32.809 --> 00:16:34.929
and he's a gamer he loves he's like such a nerd

00:16:34.929 --> 00:16:36.350
himself he's like oh my god I love this game

00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:39.149
in this game so people are so happy to have somebody

00:16:39.149 --> 00:16:41.730
like that here because he's like somebody right

00:16:41.730 --> 00:16:43.250
now that people are like oh my gosh I want to

00:16:43.250 --> 00:16:44.929
meet him so he's gonna have his own panel and

00:16:44.929 --> 00:16:46.210
he's gonna obviously you have his tables out

00:16:46.210 --> 00:16:48.169
there so people can meet him and we have the

00:16:48.169 --> 00:16:50.429
professional photo ops we mentioned too so people

00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:51.950
can get a nice picture with them if they want

00:16:51.950 --> 00:16:54.720
to pay a little extra but That's, like I said,

00:16:56.019 --> 00:16:59.320
the modern examples. We also have a huge retro

00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:01.740
element this year, and not just retro, like old

00:17:01.740 --> 00:17:05.650
consoles, in the PC gaming space. One of the

00:17:05.650 --> 00:17:07.470
most popular gaming companies of all time is

00:17:07.470 --> 00:17:09.829
Valve. They've done the Half -Life games, Portal,

00:17:10.170 --> 00:17:13.230
Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead. They've done all

00:17:13.230 --> 00:17:15.069
these great games over the years that really

00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:18.609
were legendary for PC gaming. This year, we have

00:17:18.609 --> 00:17:22.549
a Valve reunion, basically. So probably the biggest

00:17:22.549 --> 00:17:25.109
highlight of the guests in that group is Ellen

00:17:25.109 --> 00:17:28.049
MacLean. She's the voice of GLaDOS, the AI that

00:17:28.049 --> 00:17:31.930
tortures you in the Portal games. So a very iconic

00:17:31.930 --> 00:17:33.809
voice. You're hearing that the whole time you

00:17:33.809 --> 00:17:36.400
play the game. is goading you on and everything

00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:40.039
like that. So to have that person be here at

00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:44.160
our event, and she's older, she's not like, she

00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.640
did voice acting for years and the fact that

00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:49.599
she's coming out to our city and gonna do panels

00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:52.339
and meet. fans at our event is just so exciting.

00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:55.079
So she's like probably the highlight of that

00:17:55.079 --> 00:17:57.819
group. But we also have Mike Shapiro, who's the

00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:00.279
voice of the G -Men, the mysterious men in a

00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:03.440
suit from the Half -Life games. And then we have

00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.980
multiple voice actors from the Team Fortress

00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:08.480
games. And those games are multiplayer games

00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:11.160
where the classes that you pick to play as are

00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:13.160
very iconic because of their voice work, their

00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:15.500
lines, their quips. They're funny. And these

00:18:15.500 --> 00:18:18.859
characters are so memorable. And the actors who

00:18:18.859 --> 00:18:21.490
are coming that voice them They're just, they

00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:23.509
turn on their character right away. So so many

00:18:23.509 --> 00:18:25.450
fans are gonna be excited to just be able to

00:18:25.450 --> 00:18:27.930
see them jump right into that. And you know,

00:18:28.069 --> 00:18:29.589
so beyond those, those are like the, I'd say

00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:32.130
the highlights, but there's so many guests in

00:18:32.130 --> 00:18:34.069
that category that we could be here all day just

00:18:34.069 --> 00:18:36.170
going over each one. So I'm not gonna highlight

00:18:36.170 --> 00:18:38.630
every single actor that we have, but it just

00:18:38.630 --> 00:18:40.690
goes to show you the variety. It's not just the

00:18:40.690 --> 00:18:43.589
new stuff. It's, you know, also a lot of the

00:18:43.589 --> 00:18:44.890
stuff that people maybe haven't played in a long

00:18:44.890 --> 00:18:47.690
time. And so to... go along with that. We have

00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:49.609
the Voices of Valve panel we're going to do with

00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:52.549
everybody there. We have one of the returning

00:18:52.549 --> 00:18:54.549
voice actors. First time that we're getting a

00:18:54.549 --> 00:18:57.390
returning voice actor is John St. John. So he's

00:18:57.390 --> 00:19:00.289
most popular for his voice as Duke Nukem. Oh

00:19:00.289 --> 00:19:02.309
yeah. I love that game. First in the shooter

00:19:02.309 --> 00:19:06.250
game. And he is such an amazing guest. That's

00:19:06.250 --> 00:19:07.730
why we wanted to bring him back. He also was

00:19:07.730 --> 00:19:10.819
in one of the Half -Life Side games that came

00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:13.720
out Opposing force or blue shift one of those

00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:16.740
like side games outside in the main series So

00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:18.559
we were like perfect. He fits in with the Valver

00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.720
Union as well, but he's a returning guest He's

00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:23.180
also also the voice of big the cat from the Sonic

00:19:23.180 --> 00:19:25.400
the Hedgehog game So people who are into that

00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:29.019
again totally the also cool just cool or Duke

00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:32.740
nukem especially so he's gonna be there and he's

00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:34.299
he's just a great guest we had him there before

00:19:34.299 --> 00:19:37.299
he came to our after party and hung out with

00:19:37.299 --> 00:19:40.069
people like so just the fact that Fans might

00:19:40.069 --> 00:19:42.069
have a surprise like that where they're actually

00:19:42.069 --> 00:19:44.069
rubbing shoulders not just like meeting the guests

00:19:44.069 --> 00:19:45.450
But maybe they're gonna have a drink with them

00:19:45.450 --> 00:19:47.150
at the after party, you know stuff like that

00:19:47.150 --> 00:19:49.170
sometimes happens That's really fun surprise

00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:52.009
at the event as well So Nathan Grant of retro

00:19:52.009 --> 00:19:54.650
game con this weekend 10th 11th and 12th of October

00:19:54.650 --> 00:19:57.390
at the on -center In addition to these panels,

00:19:57.410 --> 00:20:00.789
though, there's way more than that. There's cosplay,

00:20:01.049 --> 00:20:03.430
there's some free play. Talk about some of the

00:20:03.430 --> 00:20:05.849
other events. Yeah, so cosplay is one of those

00:20:05.849 --> 00:20:07.589
huge parts of the convention that some people

00:20:07.589 --> 00:20:09.769
just come specifically because they love cosplay.

00:20:09.829 --> 00:20:11.589
They love making their own costumes based off

00:20:11.589 --> 00:20:13.410
characters they like or some original characters.

00:20:13.890 --> 00:20:16.809
And so we want to give them a platform and a

00:20:16.809 --> 00:20:19.769
stage literally to walk on. So there's a lot

00:20:19.769 --> 00:20:21.910
of cosplay events. We have a whole cosplay department

00:20:21.910 --> 00:20:24.609
that helps come up with fun programming for the

00:20:24.609 --> 00:20:27.059
cosplay fan. So I think it sounds like a great

00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:29.809
to party I want to work in the cosplay department.

00:20:30.170 --> 00:20:33.450
Hell yes. Hell yes. Well, so that could be technical,

00:20:33.650 --> 00:20:35.970
where they are helping. We have a cosplay repair

00:20:35.970 --> 00:20:39.349
station. And then we have events. We have a cosplay

00:20:39.349 --> 00:20:41.450
speed run on Sunday, where people are given a

00:20:41.450 --> 00:20:43.549
short amount of time to try and come up with

00:20:43.549 --> 00:20:46.970
craft supplies and stuff on the spot. But the

00:20:46.970 --> 00:20:48.549
biggest thing, when it comes down to it, is the

00:20:48.549 --> 00:20:50.750
cosplay contest. People love doing the stage

00:20:50.750 --> 00:20:52.529
walk, showing off. So even if they don't win,

00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:54.210
they get to go on the stage, show their costume

00:20:54.210 --> 00:20:56.339
they made. That's awesome. Probably one of my

00:20:56.339 --> 00:20:57.859
favorite things about the con is the kids stage

00:20:57.859 --> 00:20:59.299
walk because it's just the cutest thing ever

00:20:59.299 --> 00:21:01.740
to see these kids that are so excited. Yeah.

00:21:02.099 --> 00:21:04.779
And so small sometimes dressed up as these characters

00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:07.960
going out on stage. So, you know, we have prizes

00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.059
and stuff for the top winners for different categories

00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:13.039
in both the kids and adults cosplay contest.

00:21:13.099 --> 00:21:15.599
But that's just such a huge element of it as

00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:19.680
well, because for every game and comic and, you

00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:23.079
know, other nerddom out there, it's like there's

00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:25.430
so many different options for what people could

00:21:25.430 --> 00:21:27.410
press up as. And sometimes they're really creative

00:21:27.410 --> 00:21:29.589
and really technical. Sometimes you're really

00:21:29.589 --> 00:21:32.589
impressed with what people come up with. And

00:21:32.589 --> 00:21:34.450
so a lot of stuff to see. And even when you're

00:21:34.450 --> 00:21:36.430
just going around the vendor hall, seeing some

00:21:36.430 --> 00:21:38.309
of these cosplays walking around is just impressive.

00:21:38.390 --> 00:21:39.829
You're like, look at that. And people are taking

00:21:39.829 --> 00:21:41.690
pictures on the fly and asking, oh, can I get

00:21:41.690 --> 00:21:43.609
a shot? And so it's just really exciting to see

00:21:43.609 --> 00:21:46.230
that element grow over the years for Retro Game

00:21:46.230 --> 00:21:47.970
Con as well. I feel like this is one of the only

00:21:47.970 --> 00:21:51.509
type of events where the audience, the participants,

00:21:51.930 --> 00:21:54.930
also become part of the event, you know? It's

00:21:54.930 --> 00:21:56.769
so neat how that... Yeah, whether it's the panels

00:21:56.769 --> 00:21:59.450
that they get to take part in, and some of them

00:21:59.450 --> 00:22:01.089
are interactive and stuff, too, a lot of the

00:22:01.089 --> 00:22:03.309
fun panels. The things that we put together,

00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:05.569
like the cosplay speedrun I mentioned, but then

00:22:05.569 --> 00:22:07.109
even just free play. It's like, if you want to

00:22:07.109 --> 00:22:08.930
come and just play a bunch of games, you have

00:22:08.930 --> 00:22:11.569
access to that. And it's the cost of the ticket,

00:22:11.690 --> 00:22:13.109
and then you're free to do that. You're going

00:22:13.109 --> 00:22:14.190
to fire me, because that's what I'm going to

00:22:14.190 --> 00:22:15.970
be doing the whole time. Listen, I'm not going

00:22:15.970 --> 00:22:19.329
to lie. That was my original draw. Playing Police

00:22:19.329 --> 00:22:23.029
Quest from 1996. No, listen, you gotta see, if

00:22:23.029 --> 00:22:25.130
you haven't been there, and you described it

00:22:25.130 --> 00:22:26.970
a little bit, but I just gotta tell you, man,

00:22:27.210 --> 00:22:32.289
it's like a museum. but you can play with everything.

00:22:32.849 --> 00:22:35.450
That's the best part, literally. So I went last

00:22:35.450 --> 00:22:37.710
year, and I brought my kids, and everything was

00:22:37.710 --> 00:22:40.029
like, oh yeah, that was the first computer I

00:22:40.029 --> 00:22:41.970
used here, and here's one that we did this, and

00:22:41.970 --> 00:22:43.930
by the way, this is this awesome game, and here,

00:22:44.009 --> 00:22:45.430
sit down and play it, I'll show you how it works.

00:22:46.890 --> 00:22:50.589
I was just gonna say, that reminds me of our

00:22:50.589 --> 00:22:52.569
talk about the generational aspect. Something

00:22:52.569 --> 00:22:54.349
we've seen every year, and it's probably one

00:22:54.349 --> 00:22:57.490
of my favorite parts, is how... you'll see families

00:22:57.490 --> 00:22:59.809
with their kids showing them the games they grew

00:22:59.809 --> 00:23:02.650
up with. And it's not like, oh, I don't want

00:23:02.650 --> 00:23:04.849
to play that old crap, Dad. No, they're sitting

00:23:04.849 --> 00:23:07.849
down, and they're getting into it. And then they're,

00:23:07.950 --> 00:23:10.150
OK, well, what's this? Oh, I've never even seen

00:23:10.150 --> 00:23:13.650
this thing. What's an Atari? And it gives them

00:23:13.650 --> 00:23:17.529
a chance. The captive audience is there to see

00:23:17.529 --> 00:23:19.109
all this stuff that we put out there for them.

00:23:19.329 --> 00:23:21.970
And seeing that generational impact where it's

00:23:21.970 --> 00:23:24.160
like, kids playing with their parents who played

00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:26.380
this with their parents and like It's all there

00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:28.500
under the same roof is so exciting, dude I tell

00:23:28.500 --> 00:23:30.660
you what and people might roll their eyes at

00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:34.519
this but for people who game like ourselves They'll

00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:37.779
understand, you know There there was a time when

00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:39.140
this happened with my daughter and it recently

00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:41.380
just happened with my son Where I'm playing a

00:23:41.380 --> 00:23:43.819
game and they came down and there and they picked

00:23:43.819 --> 00:23:46.000
up a control and they're like dad Can I play

00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.319
and you have that moment where you're playing

00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:52.430
a game? Not even a modern game That's cool, too,

00:23:52.450 --> 00:23:54.529
but like I'll be playing a game. That's you know

00:23:54.529 --> 00:23:56.589
an older one from my childhood And they're just

00:23:56.589 --> 00:23:58.809
as into it as I was and it's just like such a

00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:01.630
special moment man. It really is crazy Yeah,

00:24:01.650 --> 00:24:04.470
and and so being able to host something like

00:24:04.470 --> 00:24:06.410
that where it's like it can happen multiple times

00:24:06.410 --> 00:24:09.289
over the weekend For all the attendees it's so

00:24:09.289 --> 00:24:11.009
exciting It's just it's one of those things that

00:24:11.009 --> 00:24:13.150
you know there's always the fun and the nostalgia

00:24:13.150 --> 00:24:15.529
is great But like seeing stuff like that is just

00:24:15.529 --> 00:24:17.109
one of those things that really makes the event

00:24:17.109 --> 00:24:19.259
feel special And you know what? I'll say that

00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:21.380
you guys do an incredible job with that too,

00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:23.220
because when we talk about this, we're not talking

00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:25.200
about like three or four things, you know, you've

00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:28.019
got a significantly large section. And I remember

00:24:28.019 --> 00:24:30.779
last year going incredibly busy con. There's

00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:33.480
people all over the place, but there was no problem

00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:36.319
getting to, you know, some, if you really want

00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:37.680
to one particular somebody, you might have to

00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:39.500
wait for them to finish their turn. But there

00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.220
was more than enough other things to put your

00:24:41.220 --> 00:24:43.559
hands on and see. And it's, it's really impressive.

00:24:44.450 --> 00:24:46.589
One of the things I want to ask you, let's just

00:24:46.589 --> 00:24:49.569
peel the curtain back. What do you do with this

00:24:49.569 --> 00:24:53.269
stuff when it's not con time? So we have a retro

00:24:53.269 --> 00:24:56.049
game con office now. I got that for a couple

00:24:56.049 --> 00:24:58.289
years now. And it used to be a storage unit,

00:24:58.609 --> 00:25:01.950
but now we have our own office. So after the

00:25:01.950 --> 00:25:05.319
convention, it's a lot of... dumping everything

00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:07.480
in the office and organizing it for next year.

00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:10.079
And it takes a long time. It's not something

00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:11.619
that like, oh, everything's put away nice and

00:25:11.619 --> 00:25:16.400
neatly. But we have great volunteers for this

00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:19.299
convention. And it's not just the people who

00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:21.460
are putting on the event that come together and

00:25:21.460 --> 00:25:23.380
volunteer their time to do it. But there's some

00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:24.980
people that maybe throughout the year we don't.

00:25:24.990 --> 00:25:26.970
hear from them, but they show up for the event.

00:25:27.490 --> 00:25:29.589
And they help bring, I mean, these retro TVs

00:25:29.589 --> 00:25:32.470
are so, compared to the modern TVs. And we do

00:25:32.470 --> 00:25:34.470
have a lot of the modern ones, too. But to bring

00:25:34.470 --> 00:25:38.750
old tube TVs at the scale we're bringing, that

00:25:38.750 --> 00:25:40.769
takes a lot of effort. And so those volunteers

00:25:40.769 --> 00:25:42.769
that I mentioned are so helpful. And some of

00:25:42.769 --> 00:25:45.089
them do offer to store some stuff, too, throughout

00:25:45.089 --> 00:25:47.769
the year. So it's just, it's another example,

00:25:47.849 --> 00:25:50.450
even behind the curtain, of the coming together

00:25:50.450 --> 00:25:53.250
at this event. creates its and you know friendships

00:25:53.250 --> 00:25:55.230
are made to like there's a lot of a lot of my

00:25:55.230 --> 00:25:58.930
friendships were formed around 2013 when retro

00:25:58.930 --> 00:26:01.130
game gone started because of the coming together

00:26:01.130 --> 00:26:03.450
of like mines and we have some volunteers that

00:26:03.450 --> 00:26:06.109
even They just started last year and they were

00:26:06.109 --> 00:26:09.750
telling Patrick and I that this is I Met somebody

00:26:09.750 --> 00:26:11.890
who's one of my best friends just last year and

00:26:11.890 --> 00:26:13.210
it's like feels like I've known them my whole

00:26:13.210 --> 00:26:15.529
life They met them just for volunteering. Yeah,

00:26:15.890 --> 00:26:18.609
so it's just really cool to hear stuff like that

00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:21.059
Aside from the event itself and the attendee

00:26:21.059 --> 00:26:23.700
perspective, hearing that from within just warms

00:26:23.700 --> 00:26:25.099
our hearts. And it makes it worth doing, because

00:26:25.099 --> 00:26:27.460
there's times where we're like, this is worth

00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:29.980
doing. Because it's such hard work, especially

00:26:29.980 --> 00:26:32.039
for Patrick, the director. He's constantly 24

00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:34.900
-7 just on for this. I'm like, all right, I got

00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:36.779
to go to work now, Pat. Good luck. But during

00:26:36.779 --> 00:26:38.839
work, I'm getting those emails I mentioned that

00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:40.839
come to the website. And I'm like, oh, Pat's

00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:45.059
doing all right. So the effort that goes into

00:26:45.059 --> 00:26:48.450
putting this on is just well spent. It's a lot,

00:26:48.509 --> 00:26:51.049
and it's really exciting to see. There's videos

00:26:51.049 --> 00:26:53.450
that are circulating more and more on social

00:26:53.450 --> 00:26:56.589
media now of just that in a different form, where

00:26:56.589 --> 00:26:59.549
you're seeing gamers that have become friends

00:26:59.549 --> 00:27:02.250
by playing online, and then they meet for the...

00:27:02.250 --> 00:27:03.789
Oh, it's like, their family members... Yeah,

00:27:03.970 --> 00:27:05.630
their family members arrange it so that they

00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:07.390
get to finally... Like, they're across the country,

00:27:07.589 --> 00:27:10.150
and they finally, like, surprise them by meeting

00:27:10.150 --> 00:27:11.950
each other. Does that, anything like that happen

00:27:11.950 --> 00:27:14.970
at the... Yeah, because one thing that... you

00:27:14.970 --> 00:27:16.609
forget about, too, is there's events like this

00:27:16.609 --> 00:27:19.890
going on around the country. So sometimes this

00:27:19.890 --> 00:27:22.369
is the opportunity for people who are, oh, you

00:27:22.369 --> 00:27:24.309
know, I live in Texas, but I kind of want to

00:27:24.309 --> 00:27:25.890
come up with this event. And oh, my god, that's

00:27:25.890 --> 00:27:27.609
where my friend online works. So we see that.

00:27:27.650 --> 00:27:30.619
And even the people like when we. do like table

00:27:30.619 --> 00:27:32.200
swaps with other events and we'll go to let's

00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:34.079
say Long Island Retro Gaming Expo or something

00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.880
we're seeing familiar faces that we haven't seen

00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:37.920
in a while and it's like so the the convention

00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:40.240
is often a time and I'll even say that extends

00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:42.079
to like some of our great vendors and stuff and

00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:44.180
artists that we've had year after year it's like

00:27:44.180 --> 00:27:46.420
oh so good to see you again it's like you don't

00:27:46.410 --> 00:27:48.690
Think about that part of the community aspect

00:27:48.690 --> 00:27:50.490
of it. It's like, we're always focused on making

00:27:50.490 --> 00:27:53.250
sure the attendees are enjoying themselves and

00:27:53.250 --> 00:27:54.869
everything. But it's like, even the people who

00:27:54.869 --> 00:27:56.930
are helping put it on or are there to sell stuff,

00:27:57.329 --> 00:28:01.250
it's like, there's this feeling of family. It's

00:28:01.250 --> 00:28:03.009
really interesting to see. And that's the stuff

00:28:03.009 --> 00:28:04.690
you can never predict with events like this.

00:28:04.849 --> 00:28:06.470
It just kind of comes natural. Something that

00:28:06.470 --> 00:28:10.630
you guys do that needs to be talked about and...

00:28:10.680 --> 00:28:12.980
It's important is that you guys actually do stuff

00:28:12.980 --> 00:28:15.140
for you do a lot for charity with this talk about

00:28:15.140 --> 00:28:17.859
that Yeah, this might this might be the most

00:28:17.859 --> 00:28:19.799
important thing at the convention because all

00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:21.839
the fun I mean nostalgia cells we know everybody

00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:24.680
wants to go back to the net so that's why an

00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:28.339
event like this can thrive but We you know for

00:28:28.339 --> 00:28:30.000
all the complaints we might have about Syracuse

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:31.779
here and there the weather and all that stuff

00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:35.559
We do love our community and being able to help

00:28:35.559 --> 00:28:37.539
our community is important. And we always wanted

00:28:37.539 --> 00:28:40.500
to do a charity element for the con. And so for

00:28:40.500 --> 00:28:43.920
years, we've been very lucky because we work

00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:45.599
with a charity called Extra Life, which is a

00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.440
gaming focused charity. But what's really special

00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:50.980
is that their money helps Children's Miracle

00:28:50.980 --> 00:28:53.119
Network hospitals throughout the country and

00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:54.960
the upstate Golisano Children's Hospital happens

00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:56.480
to be in their network. So it's not like we're

00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:59.500
just going to this great Network that helps hospitals

00:28:59.500 --> 00:29:01.920
and then it's going off sure nearby. It's like

00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:05.119
right here in Syracuse and You know every year

00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:07.319
we've raised for at least the last five years.

00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:10.660
We've raised over $10 ,000 through the charity

00:29:10.660 --> 00:29:12.660
efforts and some of those are at the con we do

00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:14.759
we have charity raffles so like there's raffle

00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:18.359
baskets that people can enter to win and Usually

00:29:18.359 --> 00:29:21.079
great donations from like vendors and sponsors

00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:24.019
and stuff to help create those different sponsorship

00:29:24.019 --> 00:29:26.880
packet or sponsor I'm saying sponsorships, but

00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:32.230
I mean uh charity efforts and so You know, it's

00:29:32.230 --> 00:29:34.390
exciting to have stuff like that to help raise

00:29:34.390 --> 00:29:37.029
money locally, but we also started doing a charity

00:29:37.029 --> 00:29:40.529
auction So if we get like really hard to find

00:29:40.529 --> 00:29:43.750
things or maybe stuff that was signed from Guests

00:29:43.750 --> 00:29:45.150
like every year when we have the guests we'll

00:29:45.150 --> 00:29:46.849
be like, oh if you want to sign your banner That

00:29:46.849 --> 00:29:48.589
was hanging up behind you sure those banners

00:29:48.589 --> 00:29:50.690
can be auctioned off for charity So they often

00:29:50.690 --> 00:29:52.390
will be like, oh, i'm not even going to charge

00:29:52.390 --> 00:29:53.910
you for this autograph. Let me do this for the

00:29:53.910 --> 00:29:57.109
charity auction and that culminated last year

00:29:57.109 --> 00:30:00.109
with The biggest item to every auction was we

00:30:00.109 --> 00:30:02.430
had all the, or not all, but most of the voice

00:30:02.430 --> 00:30:04.430
actors from the big Baldur's Gate 3 game that

00:30:04.430 --> 00:30:07.190
was popular last year, won Game of the Year awards

00:30:07.190 --> 00:30:09.609
and stuff. We had all the actors that were here

00:30:09.609 --> 00:30:12.089
for that sign their big, giant 10 -foot banner.

00:30:12.210 --> 00:30:16.109
Oh, wow. And we were shocked. That thing sold

00:30:16.109 --> 00:30:19.809
for $10 ,000 at the auction. Wow. And this is

00:30:19.809 --> 00:30:21.390
another thing, talking about community. I'm not

00:30:21.390 --> 00:30:23.750
going to out who it was, but it was a local business

00:30:23.750 --> 00:30:27.029
owner here in Syracuse who loves the con, loves

00:30:27.029 --> 00:30:30.029
the game. And he knew he wanted to donate a big

00:30:30.029 --> 00:30:32.329
amount for the charity. And then he saw that.

00:30:32.349 --> 00:30:33.970
He was like, perfect. This is the thing I want.

00:30:34.069 --> 00:30:37.049
And so it was less about I want this item. It

00:30:37.049 --> 00:30:39.609
was like, I want to donate. And so we had a record

00:30:39.609 --> 00:30:43.069
-breaking $23 ,000 raised last year. Not going

00:30:43.069 --> 00:30:45.569
to say we'll match that again. Maybe we will.

00:30:45.890 --> 00:30:48.769
But that just goes to show, just like the event

00:30:48.769 --> 00:30:52.420
growing and the attendance going up. Stuff like

00:30:52.420 --> 00:30:53.819
this the charity elements. It's so important

00:30:53.819 --> 00:30:56.200
to us seeing it grow to that level is just amazing

00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:58.640
So and there's lots of other charity things throughout

00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:00.599
the event Like if you want to just directly donate

00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:02.220
we make sure there's like QR codes and stuff

00:31:02.220 --> 00:31:05.019
to do that but the the charity raffle baskets

00:31:05.019 --> 00:31:06.599
like I mentioned are such a fun way because it's

00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:09.119
like we try to You know take the donations and

00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:10.819
stuff and spread them into like different categories

00:31:10.819 --> 00:31:13.119
So there's a lot of people who do come I mentioned

00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:14.779
the tabletop gaming. We're really gotten too

00:31:14.779 --> 00:31:17.130
much into that but you know stuff like trading

00:31:17.130 --> 00:31:19.890
card games, D &D, and even just board games,

00:31:20.230 --> 00:31:22.809
we have a huge free play area for that as well.

00:31:23.269 --> 00:31:25.930
And so some of our charity baskets, there might

00:31:25.930 --> 00:31:27.789
be something that has all the dice, the starter

00:31:27.789 --> 00:31:31.130
kits for D &D, and then a couple board games.

00:31:31.210 --> 00:31:32.930
And we have some sponsors that donate stuff.

00:31:34.049 --> 00:31:35.829
So not only can you play the board games there,

00:31:35.829 --> 00:31:37.049
just like you can for the video games, but there's

00:31:37.049 --> 00:31:38.990
an opportunity to win some, and it's all going

00:31:38.990 --> 00:31:41.210
to charity. So really huge, important element.

00:31:41.309 --> 00:31:43.690
I'm glad you wanted to touch on that, too, because.

00:31:44.099 --> 00:31:46.359
It's easy to forget in the excitement of the

00:31:46.359 --> 00:31:48.140
nerdiness of like, oh my god, the games are so

00:31:48.140 --> 00:31:50.420
fun to play. But it's like, wow, we're actually

00:31:50.420 --> 00:31:53.319
impacting our community. And that is huge. It's

00:31:53.319 --> 00:31:54.980
amazing. That's really cool. And just being able

00:31:54.980 --> 00:31:58.440
to, we could be like, oh, we sold out on Saturday

00:31:58.440 --> 00:32:00.940
this year and last year. We're so proud of that.

00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:04.430
But really what that is telling us is, we're

00:32:04.430 --> 00:32:07.150
bringing that many people to our city and that's

00:32:07.150 --> 00:32:09.589
a huge important element too. What we did last

00:32:09.589 --> 00:32:11.430
year and this year too is we offered it up for

00:32:11.430 --> 00:32:13.269
any local businesses that wanted to do a retro

00:32:13.269 --> 00:32:15.980
game con discount. at their business, let us

00:32:15.980 --> 00:32:17.960
know, we'll advertise it. And so what happened

00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:20.019
was last year, a lot of the local downtown restaurants

00:32:20.019 --> 00:32:22.019
and stuff said they had their busiest day ever

00:32:22.019 --> 00:32:24.819
in sales. And just through an easy thing that

00:32:24.819 --> 00:32:26.539
we could be like, again, thinking of the community

00:32:26.539 --> 00:32:28.400
first. We have all these great businesses here.

00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:30.220
They know about us. We're bringing the people

00:32:30.220 --> 00:32:34.359
here. And even for our guests, we try to give

00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:37.079
little baskets and care packages for all the

00:32:37.079 --> 00:32:38.880
special guests at their tables. And we try to

00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:41.440
throw in local stuff, barbecue sauces and stuff

00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:42.980
we've done in the past for Dino. That's awesome.

00:32:43.529 --> 00:32:47.970
Things like that that are signature for Syracuse.

00:32:48.029 --> 00:32:49.970
Why don't we throw that in there? So they're

00:32:49.970 --> 00:32:51.789
not just like, oh, I got extra markers and hand

00:32:51.789 --> 00:32:54.670
sanitizer in my bag. But they're like, oh, little

00:32:54.670 --> 00:32:57.269
touches. And it's stuff like that. And we've

00:32:57.269 --> 00:32:59.009
worked with Visit Syracuse. They're a partner

00:32:59.009 --> 00:33:00.869
of ours, to really help plus that up, because

00:33:00.869 --> 00:33:02.690
they know, hey, this would be a good thing to

00:33:02.690 --> 00:33:04.769
do. They have the connects. And we just try to

00:33:04.769 --> 00:33:06.890
implement that. And that's what this show is

00:33:06.890 --> 00:33:09.930
about, is all the good news around New York.

00:33:09.990 --> 00:33:12.250
I mean, you're injecting money into the local

00:33:12.250 --> 00:33:15.819
economy. It's huge. So speaking of the local

00:33:15.819 --> 00:33:18.519
economy, the one other thing that we should touch

00:33:18.519 --> 00:33:22.980
on that is incredibly wild is the shopping opportunities,

00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:24.839
right? We've touched on a little bit the vendors.

00:33:26.539 --> 00:33:28.500
Talk just a little bit more about them, but also

00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:31.720
let's jump into retro game con itself has some

00:33:31.720 --> 00:33:35.170
of the coolest. Custom and I guess you'd say

00:33:35.170 --> 00:33:37.230
sort of limited edition merch, right? It's just

00:33:37.230 --> 00:33:39.670
a run for this year So yes, we have our vendor

00:33:39.670 --> 00:33:41.150
hall. I mentioned there's great artists selling

00:33:41.150 --> 00:33:45.009
wonderful themed art various mediums, too It's

00:33:45.009 --> 00:33:46.910
not just like all painting and sure there's all

00:33:46.910 --> 00:33:49.210
sorts of stuff And then of course the cut for

00:33:49.210 --> 00:33:51.170
the collectors out there you're gonna if there's

00:33:51.170 --> 00:33:52.650
a game you're looking for is a really good chance

00:33:52.650 --> 00:33:54.440
You're gonna find it I can't guarantee that the

00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:56.880
vendor's prices are going to be under retail.

00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:59.359
But you go in with that expectation. You might

00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:01.339
still find, I don't care. I know how much it

00:34:01.339 --> 00:34:02.799
costs. I want to get it. So there's that element.

00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:05.630
But every year, we've plus up our merchandise.

00:34:05.670 --> 00:34:07.369
So we have a whole retro game con merch booth

00:34:07.369 --> 00:34:09.889
in the front, right in the main lobby near where

00:34:09.889 --> 00:34:12.010
registration is. We have a huge multi -table

00:34:12.010 --> 00:34:15.230
set up. And we always have like a annual shirt

00:34:15.230 --> 00:34:18.269
and there's the VIP special edition shirt for

00:34:18.269 --> 00:34:20.489
the VIP ticket holders, which is another element.

00:34:20.510 --> 00:34:22.670
They're sold out for this year, but we always

00:34:22.670 --> 00:34:24.130
do that every year too. That has like a little

00:34:24.130 --> 00:34:26.710
VIP package that comes with it in addition to

00:34:26.710 --> 00:34:28.309
early access to the con every day. So like half

00:34:28.309 --> 00:34:31.110
hour early. Our merch this year is incredible.

00:34:31.110 --> 00:34:34.420
I'm wearing one of our favorite. I love it. It's

00:34:34.420 --> 00:34:36.960
called Retro Boy's Awakening. So Retro Boy is

00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:41.619
our mascot. He started off as a humble PNG of

00:34:41.619 --> 00:34:44.139
a Game Boy with a smiley face on him. Sorry,

00:34:44.260 --> 00:34:45.800
Nintendo, we didn't mean to steal your intellectual

00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:48.860
property. So a few years back, maybe 2016 or

00:34:48.860 --> 00:34:51.539
so, I sat down. I was like, let me see if I can

00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:54.059
draw him and anthropomorphize him a little bit

00:34:54.059 --> 00:34:56.510
to like a character. So. If you notice, see,

00:34:56.550 --> 00:34:57.650
I don't know, this one doesn't really show up,

00:34:57.670 --> 00:34:59.530
but if you look at our logos and stuff, he has,

00:34:59.530 --> 00:35:02.550
like, the Mickey Mouse gloves, Sonic the Hedgehog

00:35:02.550 --> 00:35:04.269
looking shoes, something that's a little more,

00:35:04.269 --> 00:35:06.769
like, iconic, and then makes him our own, rather

00:35:06.769 --> 00:35:08.750
than just, like, it's a... Because you see that

00:35:08.750 --> 00:35:11.449
a lot. You see a video game console with a smiley

00:35:11.449 --> 00:35:13.030
face is, like, kind of a character people have

00:35:13.030 --> 00:35:16.619
just done. So we made Retro Boy our character.

00:35:17.099 --> 00:35:19.340
So not only does he usually show up on our graphics

00:35:19.340 --> 00:35:20.780
and on our shirts, so this one, like I said,

00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:22.880
Retro Boy's Awakening is a really nice one done

00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:25.099
by one of our local artists and volunteers, Desi.

00:35:25.500 --> 00:35:27.679
She's amazing. She's done more than just this

00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:29.440
two. We have stickers and art pieces from her

00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:31.920
as well, but I won't spoil the surprise here.

00:35:32.760 --> 00:35:34.239
So we'll have all that there. We have, you know,

00:35:34.380 --> 00:35:37.920
limited edition art stickers. multiple shirts.

00:35:38.079 --> 00:35:40.039
And this year we got actually a really fancy

00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:42.440
kind of retro looking button down shirt that's

00:35:42.440 --> 00:35:45.079
going to be limited quantities. It has kind of

00:35:45.079 --> 00:35:47.699
like that unique pattern, almost like fresh prints

00:35:47.699 --> 00:35:51.000
of belly. That's you. Yeah, I got to get me one

00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:54.860
of those too. I may have heard about that shirt.

00:35:56.039 --> 00:35:57.980
I think I might have already put in my order

00:35:57.980 --> 00:35:59.539
with you. But I got to make sure I get one of

00:35:59.539 --> 00:36:00.960
those. I was going to say, it's one of those

00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:03.019
things that's limited supply. So we wanted to

00:36:03.019 --> 00:36:04.760
make sure we advertised that. Another limited

00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:06.559
thing that we did this year, and why I wanted

00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:08.760
to touch on Retro Boy, we actually have a plush

00:36:08.760 --> 00:36:11.619
Retro Boy that we're having this year. So really

00:36:11.619 --> 00:36:14.320
fun and exciting. He's a real boy. Yeah, he's

00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:17.380
a real boy now. It's just like Pinocchio. So

00:36:17.380 --> 00:36:20.960
it's really cool to just have fun stuff like

00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:22.920
that. And again, there's a limited supply of

00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:25.780
that. But just being able to offer more. Because

00:36:25.780 --> 00:36:27.659
people always, we always sell out of different

00:36:27.659 --> 00:36:30.980
shirt designs every year. And, you know, we have

00:36:30.980 --> 00:36:33.139
some of the coolest shirt designs that I've seen

00:36:33.139 --> 00:36:35.559
of events like this. And we're always trying

00:36:35.559 --> 00:36:37.920
to come up with new stuff, but we have custom

00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:39.800
pins. And a lot of times we think like, who are

00:36:39.800 --> 00:36:42.519
our guests? What can we theme some of the shirts

00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:44.219
and stuff around? So there's just a lot of variety.

00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:46.260
There's a lot there. It's not like, oh, the one

00:36:46.260 --> 00:36:47.440
shirt. I don't really like it. I'm not going

00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:48.960
to get it. We try to make sure there's a lot

00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:52.380
of options there. And our merch, there's lots

00:36:52.380 --> 00:36:53.900
of surprises. One thing that's really interesting

00:36:53.900 --> 00:36:56.039
this year. So I can't remember which year it

00:36:56.039 --> 00:36:59.539
was. Maybe 2015 or 2016, around there. 2017 maybe.

00:36:59.860 --> 00:37:02.139
There was a limited edition game called Haunted

00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:06.440
Halloween 85. And that's a whole scene in video

00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:08.579
games where it's like repro carts and custom

00:37:08.579 --> 00:37:11.960
made games. modern games for old consoles being

00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:14.820
made. So this game had a limited allotment made

00:37:14.820 --> 00:37:17.000
for Retro Game Con. And that now is a limited,

00:37:17.179 --> 00:37:18.840
you know, we only had a limited supply back then.

00:37:18.940 --> 00:37:21.579
It had like Retro Game Con logo on the box. And

00:37:21.579 --> 00:37:23.199
in the game, there was even Retro Game Con mentioned.

00:37:24.139 --> 00:37:27.119
That sold out. And so that you'll find copies

00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:29.000
of those on eBay for a lot of money and stuff.

00:37:29.260 --> 00:37:32.159
Well, they made a sequel to that haunted Halloween

00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:34.940
86 now, and they did a collaboration with Spirit

00:37:34.940 --> 00:37:37.500
Halloween stores. So that was something they

00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:40.840
did on their own. And they actually made a...

00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:43.760
they call it chiller blue cartridge version of

00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:46.420
this old NES game, or new, I guess, NES game.

00:37:47.179 --> 00:37:49.659
And gave us a limited allotment. So at our merch

00:37:49.659 --> 00:37:51.480
booth, we're going to have a limited supply of

00:37:51.480 --> 00:37:54.019
the sequel to the game that we had at our convention

00:37:54.019 --> 00:37:56.260
years ago. And yes, and it's going to have the

00:37:56.260 --> 00:37:58.460
box and everything. And we got little decals

00:37:58.460 --> 00:38:00.360
so that you know what number you have and stuff.

00:38:00.659 --> 00:38:03.539
So it's right there. So yeah, it's really cool

00:38:03.539 --> 00:38:07.099
to have stuff like that. So it's not just like

00:38:07.099 --> 00:38:09.760
a shirt and a hat and that's it. We love having

00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:11.099
those things. It's great. And, you know, I'm

00:38:11.099 --> 00:38:13.300
wearing proudly the shirt I have on right now.

00:38:13.360 --> 00:38:19.320
But it's just cool to... You have a new NES game.

00:38:19.340 --> 00:38:22.559
Yeah, dude. That's wild. That's custom for your

00:38:22.559 --> 00:38:25.179
event. Yeah. Think of what you just said. New

00:38:25.179 --> 00:38:29.699
NES game. 2025. This is the coolest... Everybody,

00:38:30.860 --> 00:38:33.019
every... Jemoke can make t -shirts. I'm not...

00:38:33.019 --> 00:38:36.699
You know, it's cool. This is mind -blowing. Yeah,

00:38:36.699 --> 00:38:38.900
it's awesome, man. That's going to go quick.

00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:41.340
There's limited to 100 copies. I think they're,

00:38:41.380 --> 00:38:44.099
and they're gone. But I bet you don't have a

00:38:44.099 --> 00:38:47.059
ceramic Mario that possibly smuggled methamphetamine

00:38:47.059 --> 00:38:50.119
across the border that Danny bought. One thing

00:38:50.119 --> 00:38:52.460
I want to make sure we hit, and this is for you,

00:38:52.579 --> 00:38:55.079
Danny. I thought of this as we were talking.

00:38:55.519 --> 00:38:57.480
I've heard you may have had a problem with people

00:38:57.480 --> 00:38:59.880
not realizing there's a downstairs at the On

00:38:59.880 --> 00:39:04.079
Center. Can we just do a quick PSA of go downstairs?

00:39:04.380 --> 00:39:06.480
Explore. I'll highlight some of the stuff that's

00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:08.960
down there. Our panel room, our individual panel

00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:12.760
room, is down there. There are also our bigger

00:39:12.760 --> 00:39:14.739
panels. They take place on the main stage. And

00:39:14.739 --> 00:39:16.699
now that we mentioned the main stage, I talked

00:39:16.699 --> 00:39:19.659
about the voice actor guests we've had, but we

00:39:19.659 --> 00:39:21.820
also have musical guests. We have a returning

00:39:21.820 --> 00:39:24.019
orchestra from Utica, the Half Moon Orchestra.

00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:27.360
They did an amazing set last year of orchestrations

00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:29.519
of video game music on our main stage. They're

00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:31.639
returning to do more, so we're super excited

00:39:31.639 --> 00:39:35.530
about that. We have a couple... bands that we've

00:39:35.530 --> 00:39:38.489
had in the past coming back. Super Thrash Bros,

00:39:38.710 --> 00:39:40.190
they've come to Retro Game Con before. They do

00:39:40.190 --> 00:39:44.210
metal covers of Retro Game Con, I mean Retro

00:39:44.210 --> 00:39:46.409
Gaming music. So that's really cool to have them

00:39:46.409 --> 00:39:48.489
back. And our main stage is downstairs, so you'll

00:39:48.489 --> 00:39:51.489
miss that, all that stuff. Also the food, there

00:39:51.489 --> 00:39:54.650
are concessions. At the on Center and you're

00:39:54.650 --> 00:39:56.909
hungry. We basically took the second ballroom

00:39:56.909 --> 00:39:59.590
We're like make that the the food area So all

00:39:59.590 --> 00:40:01.650
that good stuff and there's full bars and stuff

00:40:01.650 --> 00:40:03.769
like that down there, too So, you know your food

00:40:03.769 --> 00:40:06.230
and drink on while you're at the con and then

00:40:06.599 --> 00:40:08.460
Speaking to the music we're unfortunately sold

00:40:08.460 --> 00:40:10.619
out, but we have an after party on Saturday That's

00:40:10.619 --> 00:40:13.539
taking place at the song and dance and we have

00:40:13.539 --> 00:40:16.119
a nationally known video game cover band Power

00:40:16.119 --> 00:40:19.059
Glove Yeah headlining it so super excited to

00:40:19.059 --> 00:40:21.400
have them there for the first time we saw them

00:40:21.400 --> 00:40:23.719
Patrick and I were at mag fest down in Maryland

00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:26.159
this year and they performed we were like and

00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:27.599
they were then they had their table next to us

00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:29.000
there where we had our table so we were like

00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:30.280
talking I'm or like we got to get them to retro

00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:32.780
game console Super excited to have them there

00:40:32.780 --> 00:40:34.559
and our after party after party is always a lot

00:40:34.559 --> 00:40:36.440
of fun like I might have said earlier we had

00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:37.940
some of our special guests show up there and

00:40:37.940 --> 00:40:40.119
stuff too so who knows what surprises will be

00:40:40.119 --> 00:40:42.880
there but you know it's not just limited to this

00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:45.579
private event you know there is music at the

00:40:45.579 --> 00:40:47.679
con too and that's a huge part of it is and giving

00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:50.159
them that stage at our event we want to make

00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:52.019
sure people know that that's where it is and

00:40:52.019 --> 00:40:54.039
they can find it and and there are some big panels

00:40:54.039 --> 00:40:57.380
like the the voices of valve reunion one that

00:40:57.380 --> 00:40:59.829
has all those Half -Life and Team Fortress and

00:40:59.829 --> 00:41:02.230
Portal actors all in one. That's a big event.

00:41:02.429 --> 00:41:04.309
So they're going to be sharing the stage to do

00:41:04.309 --> 00:41:06.690
that downstairs. If I could recommend a band,

00:41:06.869 --> 00:41:10.289
there's a band out there that strictly does...

00:41:10.409 --> 00:41:13.429
the Tony Hawk skater soundtrack. I mean, iconic.

00:41:13.809 --> 00:41:15.670
They sell out wherever they go. I forget what

00:41:15.670 --> 00:41:17.929
their name is. Look them up. Just at least consider

00:41:17.929 --> 00:41:19.989
them for me. I will say we've we've thought about

00:41:19.989 --> 00:41:22.369
trying to get Tony Hawk here. You know, obviously

00:41:22.369 --> 00:41:24.070
hitting guest guarantees and stuff is tough,

00:41:24.070 --> 00:41:27.250
but he has he did. We're friends with a lot of

00:41:27.250 --> 00:41:29.050
the other con runners throughout the country.

00:41:29.110 --> 00:41:31.050
You know, they're friends with us and we always

00:41:31.050 --> 00:41:33.130
share ideas back and forth. And one of our close

00:41:33.130 --> 00:41:35.369
friends did have Tony Hawk at his show last year

00:41:35.369 --> 00:41:37.449
in Arizona, and it was awesome. So, you know,

00:41:37.849 --> 00:41:39.679
not. promising anything, but it's just so you

00:41:39.679 --> 00:41:41.559
know how the gears are working. We're always

00:41:41.559 --> 00:41:42.880
thinking of stuff like that. And that would be

00:41:42.880 --> 00:41:44.599
perfect if we had him there. Yeah, for sure.

00:41:44.599 --> 00:41:45.820
I mean, if we had him there, we'd get a half

00:41:45.820 --> 00:41:48.320
pipe. I was going to say we'd make room for it.

00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:49.800
You're going to have to build a half pipe. But

00:41:49.800 --> 00:41:52.420
you know, it's ideas like that. Even you just

00:41:52.420 --> 00:41:54.039
saying, oh, there's this band that does this.

00:41:54.059 --> 00:41:55.880
When we hear about stuff like that, we jot it

00:41:55.880 --> 00:41:57.219
down. We take a note. Or even if it's a mental

00:41:57.219 --> 00:41:58.480
note, we've got to remember that for next year.

00:41:58.579 --> 00:42:01.280
Because that's how Retro GameCon has grown to

00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:03.579
what it is. It's always learning from the last

00:42:03.579 --> 00:42:05.440
year. What can we do to make this bigger and

00:42:05.440 --> 00:42:07.400
better? And so it's a great mindset. So thank

00:42:07.400 --> 00:42:10.190
you. Thank you for reminding to highlight that

00:42:10.190 --> 00:42:12.590
there's more than just the vendor hall. There's

00:42:12.590 --> 00:42:14.489
little side rooms next to the vendor hall that

00:42:14.489 --> 00:42:16.449
have, we have a. Downstairs. Yeah, we have like

00:42:16.449 --> 00:42:18.130
a side quest room we're calling it this year

00:42:18.130 --> 00:42:19.710
and a lot of those fun things like the cosplay

00:42:19.710 --> 00:42:21.969
speed run that I mentioned will take place in

00:42:21.969 --> 00:42:24.329
there. So there's a ton of programming. And speaking

00:42:24.329 --> 00:42:26.070
of programming, one thing I wanna highlight is

00:42:26.070 --> 00:42:29.369
the best way to know what's going on is our convention

00:42:29.369 --> 00:42:31.130
program. We're one of the few that still make

00:42:31.130 --> 00:42:33.110
a physical printed program. Love that. And you

00:42:33.110 --> 00:42:35.969
know. It always sucks when we throw out leftovers

00:42:35.969 --> 00:42:37.630
at the end of the year, because it's a cool piece

00:42:37.630 --> 00:42:39.170
of memorabilia to have. Great collective. As

00:42:39.170 --> 00:42:41.510
well. But all that info is in there. So a lot

00:42:41.510 --> 00:42:43.449
of the questions we get could be answered if

00:42:43.449 --> 00:42:45.289
more people know. And what we started doing too

00:42:45.289 --> 00:42:47.300
is have. available digitally on the website.

00:42:47.579 --> 00:42:48.980
Oh, yeah. Danny pulled it up right here. That's

00:42:48.980 --> 00:42:50.699
great. When you open the website, there's a splash

00:42:50.699 --> 00:42:53.500
screen first thing that helps you go right to

00:42:53.500 --> 00:42:56.099
the program. And so you can look at it now to

00:42:56.099 --> 00:42:59.000
figure out what's taking place. It flips. Plan

00:42:59.000 --> 00:43:03.340
your event. What a time to be alive. And just

00:43:03.340 --> 00:43:05.860
scanning through it right now, you can see it

00:43:05.860 --> 00:43:09.000
shows our map of the vendor hall and the downstairs.

00:43:09.360 --> 00:43:12.019
There's a lot of great sponsors and ads from

00:43:12.019 --> 00:43:14.849
vendors that are going to be there. whatever

00:43:14.849 --> 00:43:17.110
your reason for coming to Retro Game Con is,

00:43:17.449 --> 00:43:19.929
you're going to be able to find something that

00:43:19.929 --> 00:43:22.949
appeals to you. And our programming, we try to

00:43:22.949 --> 00:43:25.969
make sure it's varied and detailed in the program

00:43:25.969 --> 00:43:28.289
so people know what's going on, where, and when.

00:43:29.050 --> 00:43:31.090
And like I said, even if, oh, I wanted to go

00:43:31.090 --> 00:43:33.070
Saturday, but it sold out, well, I'll grab a

00:43:33.070 --> 00:43:35.469
Sunday ticket. You're going to pay less for that

00:43:35.469 --> 00:43:37.349
ticket, and you're not going to be missing out

00:43:37.349 --> 00:43:39.510
on anything because we make sure the full convention

00:43:39.510 --> 00:43:41.690
experience is there. I think you guys are going

00:43:41.690 --> 00:43:45.389
to have to make this a week long. This is the

00:43:45.389 --> 00:43:47.809
second year we did three days. We went from one

00:43:47.809 --> 00:43:50.670
day the first year, and then I remember the first

00:43:50.670 --> 00:43:53.130
time we did a two day was a couple years later,

00:43:53.190 --> 00:43:56.190
and then now it's... up to a three -day, you

00:43:56.190 --> 00:43:58.489
never know. I mean, we're not near a Comic -Con

00:43:58.489 --> 00:44:00.789
level, but they are, you know, Thursday through

00:44:00.789 --> 00:44:03.070
the weekend immensely. Reality is, at this point,

00:44:03.070 --> 00:44:05.469
you could use a bigger place, but we ain't got

00:44:05.469 --> 00:44:07.489
no bigger place. So all you can do is more days.

00:44:07.489 --> 00:44:08.909
We get a lot of questions about that as like,

00:44:08.989 --> 00:44:10.610
what are you going to do? The dome. And that's

00:44:10.610 --> 00:44:12.389
kind of, yeah, it would have to be something

00:44:12.389 --> 00:44:14.210
totally different. We tried to do the fairgrounds

00:44:14.210 --> 00:44:16.250
a few years back, but there's a lot of red tape

00:44:16.250 --> 00:44:18.909
with state property. And, you know, I mentioned

00:44:18.909 --> 00:44:20.610
that charity element was a huge part of it. And

00:44:20.610 --> 00:44:22.869
anything that could infringe on being able to

00:44:22.869 --> 00:44:24.480
do our charity efforts, we're like, Sorry, we're

00:44:24.480 --> 00:44:27.059
not going to do it. We'd rather sell out on a

00:44:27.059 --> 00:44:29.719
Saturday than not be able to do the stuff we

00:44:29.719 --> 00:44:31.300
sell out. You'd rather sell out than actually

00:44:31.300 --> 00:44:34.280
sell out. Yes, exactly. Very good. I'm going

00:44:34.280 --> 00:44:36.139
to remember that one. I love that. See, I taught

00:44:36.139 --> 00:44:37.860
you the nerd -dom thing, and I remember that

00:44:37.860 --> 00:44:40.699
one. There you go. Two -way street. Any time,

00:44:40.719 --> 00:44:42.619
Mikey can learn something. That's important.

00:44:44.099 --> 00:44:46.840
Retro Game Con this weekend, come check it out.

00:44:46.980 --> 00:44:48.980
Sounds like even though Saturday is sold out

00:44:48.980 --> 00:44:51.519
for just Saturday tickets, you could still get

00:44:51.519 --> 00:44:54.239
in for the whole weekend. Yep, we do. We made

00:44:54.239 --> 00:44:56.480
sure there was an allotment. We have the number.

00:44:56.739 --> 00:44:58.659
We work with the fire marshal and stuff, and

00:44:58.659 --> 00:45:00.219
how many people will be there to figure out what

00:45:00.219 --> 00:45:04.079
our cutoff is. So we have that as a start. And

00:45:04.079 --> 00:45:07.639
that's what we go by. But yes, Friday and Sunday

00:45:07.639 --> 00:45:09.219
are still available. Weekend passes are still

00:45:09.219 --> 00:45:11.719
available. And that's what we always tell people.

00:45:11.739 --> 00:45:14.400
We get emails and stuff. The best way to secure

00:45:14.400 --> 00:45:16.820
your spot is to just get your ticket out of time.

00:45:17.659 --> 00:45:19.980
There's obviously online fees when you order

00:45:19.980 --> 00:45:22.559
online, but it's also a little cheaper ticket

00:45:22.559 --> 00:45:25.760
than at the door. So it evens out. We try to

00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:28.059
make it so people aren't like, we've all dealt

00:45:28.059 --> 00:45:30.119
with concerts through Ticketmaster and Live Nation

00:45:30.119 --> 00:45:31.840
and stuff. So it's like, we don't want to be

00:45:31.840 --> 00:45:33.380
that. We want people to just, you want to get

00:45:33.380 --> 00:45:36.300
in, you get in. And like I mentioned in the beginning,

00:45:36.719 --> 00:45:39.059
compared to other events, let's take advantage

00:45:39.059 --> 00:45:40.860
of the fact that here we are in Syracuse where

00:45:40.860 --> 00:45:44.590
we can afford to. Have a cheaper ticket for yeah

00:45:44.590 --> 00:45:47.050
like this. So and we have family passes, too

00:45:47.050 --> 00:45:49.989
So, you know a family four -pack might be oh,

00:45:49.989 --> 00:45:52.789
I'm going to bring my family. Anyway, this is

00:45:52.789 --> 00:45:55.250
perfect Well, it makes sense to save a little

00:45:55.250 --> 00:45:58.510
bit and get in and guaranteed. It's just stuff

00:45:58.510 --> 00:45:59.809
like that You want to consider as well? Yeah,

00:45:59.809 --> 00:46:02.090
I like I said I would just just buy the weekend

00:46:02.090 --> 00:46:03.969
pass because here's the thing This is one of

00:46:03.969 --> 00:46:07.650
those it's literally so big that I don't know

00:46:07.650 --> 00:46:09.110
that you can necessarily even see it in one day.

00:46:09.110 --> 00:46:12.139
So You might as well just go multiple days anyway

00:46:12.139 --> 00:46:15.099
and take advantage. I also love that you guys

00:46:15.099 --> 00:46:17.500
are in this beautiful sweet spot of like, you're

00:46:17.500 --> 00:46:19.460
big enough where there's this wow factor and

00:46:19.460 --> 00:46:21.199
you're going to get a big draw and sell out,

00:46:21.400 --> 00:46:23.280
but it's still small enough to where it's an

00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:25.860
intimate experience and it's very locally focused

00:46:25.860 --> 00:46:29.099
as far as charity and the community and just

00:46:29.099 --> 00:46:31.460
the experience itself. And not to compare to

00:46:31.460 --> 00:46:32.980
Comic -Con again, but that's kind of why you

00:46:32.980 --> 00:46:34.420
touched on something that I mentioned in the

00:46:34.420 --> 00:46:36.440
beginning too, is that the experience you're

00:46:36.440 --> 00:46:38.300
going to get. I think you're going to be able

00:46:38.300 --> 00:46:41.139
to do more with your time and money at Russia

00:46:41.139 --> 00:46:43.880
GameCon than if you did go to, you know, probably

00:46:43.880 --> 00:46:45.960
have a great time at an event like New York or

00:46:45.960 --> 00:46:48.980
San Diego Comic Con. Those are awesome. But you

00:46:48.980 --> 00:46:51.280
really are going to like be selling yourself

00:46:51.280 --> 00:46:52.920
short in terms of the amount of things you can

00:46:52.920 --> 00:46:55.400
do in a weekend. And I mentioned in the beginning,

00:46:55.460 --> 00:46:57.559
we're all trying to save money right now. So

00:46:57.559 --> 00:47:01.019
it's understandable. But if you can like spend

00:47:01.019 --> 00:47:03.280
a little less. Then you're like, hey, I have

00:47:03.280 --> 00:47:05.519
time to buy some stuff at the vendor hall play

00:47:05.519 --> 00:47:07.940
some free play games We and in our free play

00:47:07.940 --> 00:47:09.619
area. We also are gonna have some tournaments

00:47:09.619 --> 00:47:11.440
and stuff, too So we have you know, it could

00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:13.400
be some new games like Mario Kart World on the

00:47:13.400 --> 00:47:15.940
switch, too But then there's some retro ones

00:47:15.940 --> 00:47:18.420
like Tetris and stuff. So people maybe they got

00:47:18.420 --> 00:47:19.940
that competitive spirit in them They want to

00:47:19.940 --> 00:47:21.579
play something like that. They have that too.

00:47:21.639 --> 00:47:24.559
So it's just bang for your buck. That's what

00:47:24.559 --> 00:47:26.619
we try to make sure retro game kind is, is that

00:47:26.619 --> 00:47:28.300
whatever. And maybe that money is, like I said,

00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:31.179
going to charity efforts. We've had so many people,

00:47:31.199 --> 00:47:32.960
and this really warms our hearts, when we have

00:47:32.960 --> 00:47:35.119
somebody come up and say, like, oh, my god, my

00:47:35.119 --> 00:47:37.280
son had to stay at Golisano for a while, and

00:47:37.280 --> 00:47:39.300
they were so helpful. And it's always hard when

00:47:39.300 --> 00:47:40.340
somebody says that, because you don't want to

00:47:40.340 --> 00:47:43.500
say, that's great. But it's like, no, you're

00:47:43.500 --> 00:47:45.780
like, I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through

00:47:45.780 --> 00:47:47.139
that, but I'm so glad they were there for you.

00:47:47.159 --> 00:47:49.980
And what Extra Life does is, for the kids that

00:47:49.980 --> 00:47:53.659
are staying at Places like Golisano it provides

00:47:53.659 --> 00:47:55.940
games for them and stuff. So there were I remember

00:47:55.940 --> 00:47:59.280
a few years ago They told us like these there

00:47:59.280 --> 00:48:00.559
was like pictures of kids and there was like

00:48:00.559 --> 00:48:04.280
these ps3 consoles were Provided by extra life.

00:48:04.280 --> 00:48:07.719
So the kids are actually hands -on Seeing the

00:48:07.719 --> 00:48:09.800
fruits of that. Yeah charity efforts. So it's

00:48:09.800 --> 00:48:12.860
it's really really heartwarming and like I said

00:48:12.860 --> 00:48:15.250
probably my favorite thing about That's so cool.

00:48:15.469 --> 00:48:17.710
You're a good man, Nathan Grant. Nathan Grant,

00:48:17.909 --> 00:48:20.610
the event coordinator, Retro Game Con, this weekend

00:48:20.610 --> 00:48:22.630
at the On Center here in Syracuse, October 10th,

00:48:22.650 --> 00:48:25.570
11th, and 12th. RetroGameCon .com, is that right?

00:48:26.030 --> 00:48:29.070
Yep. Easy peasy. And we will be there all weekend.

00:48:29.170 --> 00:48:30.869
We will. We are the exclusive media partner.

00:48:30.869 --> 00:48:35.440
There will be excessive amounts of content. coming

00:48:35.440 --> 00:48:37.579
from Good News York on all of our stuff. So follow

00:48:37.579 --> 00:48:40.460
that. We'll be showing you the show. We'll be

00:48:40.460 --> 00:48:42.219
also helping to, it's not necessarily gonna be

00:48:42.219 --> 00:48:44.460
live stream, but we're gonna be recording a lot

00:48:44.460 --> 00:48:46.719
of the panels and events and making them available

00:48:46.719 --> 00:48:48.500
for folks after the fact. I'm glad you mentioned

00:48:48.500 --> 00:48:51.179
that, because looking at Saturday being sold

00:48:51.179 --> 00:48:53.079
out, well, if you guys are recording some of

00:48:53.079 --> 00:48:55.679
those panels that are happening, and you get

00:48:55.679 --> 00:48:57.860
to attend Friday or Sunday, and then you get

00:48:57.860 --> 00:49:00.179
to see the panelists on Saturday, it's like,

00:49:00.519 --> 00:49:02.239
that's why we really were thankful to be able

00:49:02.239 --> 00:49:03.599
to partner with you guys with this, because it's

00:49:03.599 --> 00:49:05.519
like, another one of those things year after

00:49:05.519 --> 00:49:07.019
year. How can we make it so people who missed

00:49:07.019 --> 00:49:09.940
out on X, Y, and Z can enjoy it? So thank you

00:49:09.940 --> 00:49:13.679
guys for partnering with us. We're honored. Talk

00:49:13.679 --> 00:49:15.639
about stepping it up. We're even already talking

00:49:15.639 --> 00:49:17.300
about ways how we can do it even better for you

00:49:17.300 --> 00:49:21.119
next year. Yeah. That's how it goes year over

00:49:21.119 --> 00:49:24.579
year. Love it. Creating partnerships and growing

00:49:24.579 --> 00:49:26.639
on them, that's what's made Retro Game Ton a

00:49:26.639 --> 00:49:28.780
success. And I'm sure you guys as well. So very

00:49:28.780 --> 00:49:30.820
happy to get the ball rolling. Thank you. That's

00:49:30.820 --> 00:49:35.260
it. Retro Game Ton. Big, big just tip of the

00:49:35.260 --> 00:49:37.539
hat. Before it even happens this weekend. Thank

00:49:37.539 --> 00:49:39.440
you. I've seen the caliber of this event before.

00:49:39.500 --> 00:49:41.659
You guys absolutely kill it. And I mean that

00:49:41.659 --> 00:49:44.440
to Danny. Danny's been quiet behind the board

00:49:44.440 --> 00:49:47.420
back there. But I know how hard all you guys

00:49:47.420 --> 00:49:51.610
work to put on this. Incredible event. And I'm

00:49:51.610 --> 00:49:54.369
sure you're so proud and incredibly exhausted

00:49:54.369 --> 00:49:58.349
next week. Yes, I made sure to take Monday off.

00:49:58.389 --> 00:50:00.650
I'm not going back to work after this weekend,

00:50:00.809 --> 00:50:03.550
because I've made that mistake in the past. And

00:50:03.550 --> 00:50:07.210
let me just quickly mention, one thing to remember

00:50:07.210 --> 00:50:09.929
is if you're in Syracuse and you love this event,

00:50:10.449 --> 00:50:11.949
we're always looking for volunteers every year.

00:50:12.030 --> 00:50:14.329
Usually around the summertime is when we put

00:50:14.329 --> 00:50:17.489
out the feelers for that. So if you volunteer

00:50:17.489 --> 00:50:19.880
for the con, you work. Usually like two, four

00:50:19.880 --> 00:50:22.539
hour shifts. Whenever you want throughout the

00:50:22.539 --> 00:50:24.460
weekend or where you're assigned you get full

00:50:24.460 --> 00:50:26.760
access to the convention otherwise So cool like

00:50:26.760 --> 00:50:28.800
I can I want to volunteer Saturday Well come

00:50:28.800 --> 00:50:30.960
on Friday and hang out and check out the con

00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:33.219
early and stuff So it's a good thing for people

00:50:33.219 --> 00:50:35.420
locally who want to really get it out. We need

00:50:35.420 --> 00:50:37.980
to help So it's and and some of like I said those

00:50:37.980 --> 00:50:39.880
great friendships and stuff that are born. What

00:50:39.880 --> 00:50:43.059
a great mention From people volunteering so I

00:50:43.059 --> 00:50:44.960
wanted to highlight that as well. That's so cool

00:50:44.960 --> 00:50:47.079
Nathan Grant Thank you for coming on the show

00:50:47.079 --> 00:50:49.599
retro game con retro game con comm this weekend

00:50:49.789 --> 00:50:51.389
But it's all we're going to be talking about.

00:50:52.170 --> 00:50:53.650
So strap in, folks. We're going to have a lot

00:50:53.650 --> 00:50:55.650
of fun. And go downstairs when you're there.

00:50:55.730 --> 00:50:58.309
Check out every room. The side rooms, the downstairs,

00:50:58.469 --> 00:51:00.989
the main level. So much going on. Listen, I'm

00:51:00.989 --> 00:51:02.769
going to give you my last bit of advice, and

00:51:02.769 --> 00:51:06.769
then we'll be on our way. Go check out that program

00:51:06.769 --> 00:51:11.429
that's online. Make your plan. Include a little

00:51:11.429 --> 00:51:13.110
walking around and food time, because you're

00:51:13.110 --> 00:51:15.110
going to need that. You're going to need to take

00:51:15.110 --> 00:51:18.440
a break halfway through. You know, power up.

00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:22.639
Power up. I love it. I love it. I like that Mike

00:51:22.639 --> 00:51:24.699
just discovered that I'm a nerd today. It's really

00:51:24.699 --> 00:51:28.559
fun. But make that plan so you can, you know,

00:51:28.639 --> 00:51:31.079
in these events, especially when you get having

00:51:31.079 --> 00:51:33.179
fun, you're wandering around the floor, you're

00:51:33.179 --> 00:51:34.239
looking at things, you're playing games, you

00:51:34.239 --> 00:51:35.739
don't realize, oh shoot, the panel that I wanted

00:51:35.739 --> 00:51:38.119
to see is about to start. Set those alarms on

00:51:38.119 --> 00:51:41.679
your phone, man. Like, do it right. And you will

00:51:41.679 --> 00:51:44.280
have the time of your life. Absolutely. And that's

00:51:44.280 --> 00:51:46.199
all I got to say about that. That's all I got

00:51:46.199 --> 00:51:49.179
to say about that. Thank you, folks. This has

00:51:49.179 --> 00:51:50.880
been Good News York. Like, follow, subscribe,

00:51:51.000 --> 00:51:53.460
do all that fun stuff. And also check out our

00:51:53.460 --> 00:51:55.599
buddy Zach from Ads on the Go. That's the official

00:51:55.599 --> 00:52:00.420
sponsor of this shindig. We love it. Thank you,

00:52:00.460 --> 00:52:03.659
Zach, for sponsoring Good News York. And we will

00:52:03.659 --> 00:52:05.699
see you tomorrow. Peace out.