This past weekend was the second annual classic arcade and pinball convention, ZapCon, in downtown Phoenix. Held at the Renaissance Hotel, this two day event featured all the retro gaming your wrists could handle. The convention had pretty much four different areas for attendees to check out. The first being the main hall which housed the majority of the arcade machines and all of the pinball tables. Also found in the main hall was the vendor area which had around 6-8 tables that were selling pinball parts, video games and other nostalgic things. The second area was just outside of the hall which featured another 6 or so arcade machines, the rest of the machines were located upstairs which was also next to the theater room which you could catch several different films during the weekend. On Sunday I was able to watch the Japanese arcade documentary “100 Yen” which covered the evolution of the arcades in Japan and how it relates to the arcades (or lack thereof) in America.
It was an awesome blast from the past, I admittedly was more excited for some of the newer “classic” games that were the games I grew up with in the arcades like Mortal Kombat II, Ninja Gaiden, Sunset Riders, and X-Men vs. Street Fighter. The selection of older arcade classics however was impressive which made up the majority of the machines to be found. I spent the most time playing pinball because it was an experience that I kinda missed out on as a kid because the graphics of the arcades hogged my attention.
I really enjoyed my time at ZapCon and look forward to seeing what it becomes next year. I felt the crowds on Saturday made it seem like the venue was a bit small but the crowd on Sunday was a bit different and it seemed like it was the perfect size. Here are a few photos I snapped over the two days, if any of this sounds interesting then I would highly recommend going next year.
Legion of Sand 