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candyciangaming · 6 years

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Convention Review: 8-Bit Coference

https://8bitconference.com/

I had the pleasure of attending my first video game convention this weekend, and I'm happy to report it was a fantastic experience from start to finish.

8-Bit Gaming Conference took place on the 28th and 29th of July 2018 at Griffith College, Dublin. This is the second year of the conference and the organizers should give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done. I only managed to get to the Saturday event, but I soaked up enough throughout the day to come back satisfied, but it left me wanting more!

8-Bit is the brainchild of Graeme Moore, and with the help from dedicated volunteers and the staff of Griffith College, the event went extremely smoothly and was great fun for all ages. On site were security personnel, a fire marshal, along with first aid attendants. The event was backed by a multitude of sponsors, such as AllCast Irish Gamers, The National Computer & Video Game Museum, The R.A.G.E, Four Star Pizza, The Guild of Nerds and Republic of Gaming, to name but a few. The entire list can be found on the events Facebook page (link at bottom). Many of these partners set up as vendors or donated to the conference in one way or another. 8-Bit conference 2018 was in aid of Inner City Helping Homeless.

General admission started at 10am, but early entry was granted to people with special needs at 9am, and there was also a quiet room on-site for people who needed it. Beanbag chairs were kindly donated by the crowd at Beanbags.ie.

My first trip in (after a coffee in Arthurs Cafe), was to the room set up by the National Computer and Video Game Museum. The room was filled with arcade machines supplied by Mini Arcade Systems, and the Museum had a choice selection of video game memorabilia and retro video games. I was more than over the moon to see boxed copies of Final Fantasy IV, Super Mario 3, and Sonic The Hedgehog.

Mini Arcade Systems supply a retro bartop console arcade, complete with tonnes of old 8 and 16bit titles. I had a go playing the original Shinobi game, which was an absolute blast. I would have stayed longer, but I knew I'd never get to leave.

The next room was a mixture of retro consoles, featuring a Dreamcast, Playstation1, SNES, and more. It was like a trip through time. Most impressive of all was a Gameboy hooked up to a massive LCD TV. Playing Tetris in HD never felt so good. The Gameboy was also modified to be used with an SNES controller. It definitely made for a great gaming experience. Super Smash Bro's was also on the go on GameCube, along with House of The Dead on Dreamcast.

Unfortunately, the PS1 didn't feel like working which was a let down. I'm a huge Playstation fan and it was a shame this particular Playstation wasn't working. There were other Playstations on-site, but it's a shame how one faulty system managed to make it's way through.

After a quick go of Street Fighter II on the SNES, I went upstairs to the main conference room. As I ascended, I was greeted by some familiar 8-Bit music playing through a PA system, along with a huge Mario Kart flag draped around the stairway.

When I entered the main room, I didn't know where to look first, it was my idea of heaven. Game Vendors as far as the eye could see. People gaming, people dressed up in Cosplay, and it was only 11am at this point.

After doing a lap of the floor, I seen a few familiar faces. The Guild of Nerds were hosting a Cosplay competition later on in the day, and had prints of different Cosplayers for sale. The Irish Chapter of the 501st Star Wars club were out in Force (pun definitely intended), and the RAGE (Record Art Game Emporium) had also set up a stall in the room, along with generously setting up a SNES for people to come along and play some games. The Ghostbusters were also on call for any ghostly problems that might occur throughout the day, just to be on the safe side!

A row of tables had been set up for some casual gaming, Destruction Derby 2 and Rayman 2 were on PS1, an emulation of Streets of Rage was on the Wii, Ninja Gaiden was being played on Xbox. Tekken 5 matches were taking place on PS2, and Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Time was on Gamecube. People were also on the Dreamcast having a few games of Crazy Taxi. A couple of Laptops were also set up with Wolfenstein 3D for those old school FPS fans, Quake 2, and Worms. It wasn't just games of yore however, Gamevan.ie had set up a few consoles with Fortnite on the go, along with having a vendors booth. I had my fair share of games at the retro table before heading off to do a little bit of shopping.

Rewind Retro Gaming and Retro Ralph sorted me out with some fantastic PS1 titles to ad to my collection. The games were all in fantastic quality along with being extremely cheap in price. I helped myself to a few games (and came back for seconds). Word of advice for people interested in coming to 8-Bit, I couldn't find an ATM machine on campus so come prepared.

I wandered over to Like The Bog Flower Designs and Beanies Art Mart who both had a fantastic selection of homemade figurines, stickers, badges, T-shirts and prints.

As the day went on, I took part in the Tekken 3 tournament, after days and days of training, I got my ass absolutely handed to me by Eddy Gordo, not the most graceful of losses, but it was a great bit of fun for all involved. Other tournaments were Mario Kart, Street Fighter, and Super Smash Bros.

One of the spectacles of the day was a 10-player Bomberman game being played up on the big screen in the main room. This was headed up by the lads at AllCast Irish Gamers, who were also the MC for most of the events throughout the conference. These lads know how to work a crowd and kept everyone entertained until the end.

I was in attendance for a few events on the main stage, the first of which being a panel of gamers discussing all things retro. It was interesting to hear other people's ideas about the way retro games are perceived by a modern audience, and do they still hold up as much today as they did when they were first released. They also held a relatively retro quiz which was a good laugh to see go down.

Ansonix was on the music side of entertainment for the day and kicked things off by performing his cover of the Streets of Rage theme song, before playing some of his own original works. I really dig this kind of 8-Bit style and I think Ansonix is someone we're going to be hearing a lot more of in the future. You can check out his music for free over at https://ansonix.bandcamp.com/.

I grabbed a Slushee from the Candy Pop Man and took a seat in time for the cosplay competition, headed up by the Guild of Nerds. Nate ó Cadhla was the MC for the competition, and there was a panel of cosplaying judges; Jichiie, Shonarrrrrgh, and Twin Tails Cosplay. Some of the Cosplayers really put in a lot of love and effort to both their costumes and their cosplay persona. A particual favourite of mine was Deadpool, who I tried to wind up by calling him Deathstroke (he wasn't too happy about that)…. The Cosplay competition was short and sweet, with the victor being Totoro (from the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbour Totoro).

The day wound down with the tournament winners competing on the big screen.

My only regret about 8-Bit Conference 2018 was not being able to hang around long enough to enjoy the entire weekend. I feel like I missed out on so much even though I was there for most of the Saturday. Next year I'll make sure to be in attendance for the whole weekend so I don't miss out on the fun. Graeme, and all of team 8-Bit should be really proud that they put on such a fantastic event that catered to the retro needs of veteran gamers, but was also a fun and insightful look for the younger generation.

My advice for people who would like to attend the conference in future:

Plan your route, Griffith college is located just outside of Dublin City and isn't a central location

Bring money, as there is no ATM on-campus

Most importantly, take part and have fun, you can sit here and read this review all you like, but trust me when I say, you need to be there to get the best out of it.

https://8bitconference.com/

Photos Courteousy of 8-Bit Conference

Partners associated with 8-Bit Conference

Griffith College Dublin

Trust Gaming

Ti.to

Beanbags.ie

Ansonix

The Pulse Group

Emergency Services Training Institute

Buyndplay/Video Games And Consoles Ireland

Republic of Gaming

Inner City Helping Homeless

AllCast Irish Gamers

National Computer & Videogame Museum

Mini Arcade Systems

The R.A.G.E.

LudoSport Ireland - Sporting Light Saber Combat Academy

Loud Room Studios

Bear Sporting Events Limited

Four Star Pizza

RetroGaming.ie

GameVan.ie

CCS Fitouts

Candy Pop Man

Facepainters Dublin

Retro Ralph Gaming

Rewind Retro Gaming

8-Bit Creations

Game Freeze

Like the Bog Flower Designs

Beanie's Art Mart

Guild of Nerds

The 501st Legion

Ghostbusters Ireland

Fierce Fun

Jairo Lopes

Altero-game

Dublin Games Festival

#8bitconference #8bitcon #griffith college #dublin #video game #retro games #review #review blog #gamer

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