The Classic Gaming Expo was a gaming convention focused on people, systems, and games from earlier times, with a special interest in old video games. The Expo was started in 1999 by John Hardie, Sean Kelly, and Keita Iida. In 2000, Joe Santulli took Iida's place as a co-organizer of the event.
The conventions were usually held in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, but sometimes took place in Silicon Valley. A major part of the event included visits and discussions with industry experts, such as Ralph H. Baer and Nolan Bushnell.
In addition to the Expo, Kelly, Hardie, and Santulli created the Videogame History Museum, a traveling museum that displays classic video games and equipment at events like E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) and GDC (Game Developers Conference). In April 2016, the traveling museum celebrated the opening of a permanent building called the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas. As of May 2020, Hardie is the museum’s current curator.
History
In October 1995, video game collectors Hardie, Iida, and Mike Etler started North Atlantic Videogame Aficionados (NAVA) at Video Game Connections, Etler's video game store in Howell, New Jersey. The event, which happened every three months, aimed to give video gamers a place to meet, talk about collecting games, and buy, sell, or trade games. The group became very popular and brought collectors from across the northeastern United States, including Canada and South Carolina.
In 1998, Hardie and Iida decided to expand NAVA to include more people nationwide. They partnered with Richard Tsukiji to add classic gaming memorabilia to Tsukiji's annual World of Atari show. The show took place in Las Vegas at the Holiday Inn Boardwalk Hotel and Casino from August 21 to 23, 1998. Because the event was so successful, Hardie and Iida chose to leave World of Atari and, with Sean Kelly, created their own event called Classic Gaming Expo.
Classic Gaming Expo has been held at these dates and locations:
- 1999 – August 14–15 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel
- 2000 – July 29–30 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel
- 2001 – August 11–12 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel
- 2002 – August 10–11 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel
- 2003 – August 9–10 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel
- 2004 – August 21–22 – San Jose – McEnery Convention Center
- 2005 – August 20–21 – Burlingame, California – San Francisco Airport Hilton
- 2007 – July 28–29 – Las Vegas – Riviera Hotel
- 2010 – July 31–August 1 – Las Vegas – Tropicana
- 2012 – August 11–12 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel
- 2014 – September 12–14 – Las Vegas – Riviera Hotel