Classic Gaming Expo


Classic Gaming Expo was a gaming convention dedicated to the people, systems and games of the past, with an emphasis on old video games. The Expo was founded in 1999 by John Hardie, Sean Kelly and Keita Iida, In 2000, Joe Santulli replaced Iida as the show's co-organizer.
The conventions have typically been held in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, but have sometimes been held in Silicon Valley.
In addition to the expo, Kelly, Hardie and Santulli founded the Videogame History Museum, a traveling museum of classic video games and equipment that is on display at events like E3 and GDC. In April 2016, the traveling museum celebrated the building of a permanent facility known as the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas. Currently, as of May 2020, Hardie is the resident curator.

History

In October 1995, videogame collectors Hardie, Iida and Etler, founded North Atlantic Videogame Aficionados at Video Game Connections, Etler's videogame store in Howell, New Jersey. The purpose of the quarterly event was to provide a meeting place where videogamers could meet and discuss videogame collecting as well as a place to buy, sell and trade games. The group was a hit and attracted collectors from all around the north east from Canada to South Carolina.
In 1998, Hardie and Iida decided to make NAVA national. They teamed up with Richard Tsukiji to include classic gaming memorabilia at Tsukiji's annual World of Atari show. The show was held in Las Vegas at the Holiday Inn Boardwalk Hotel and Casino on August 21–23, 1998. The event was such a success that Hardie and Iida decided to break away from World of Atari and, along with Sean Kelly, created their own show, Classic Gaming Expo.
Classic Gaming Expo has been held at the following dates and places: