Located in the same convention center as the ever-popular Anime Expo, L.A. Comic Con is an annual convention celebrating pop culture, including video games. Besides tournaments of more recent games (e.g., Street Fighter 6), the convention had something for Old School Gamers like us. Compared to previous years, this year’s gaming section was located in the Japanese pop culture-inspired section known as Akiba Station. Although the name would lead you to think only Japanese-developed or inspired games would be on display, there was much more than that.
Upon walking through this section, I found the Arcade1Up booth featuring their cabinets of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, NBA Jam, Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, and Big Buck Hunter. Although it was nice to see that they had a special convention discount of $50 for the cabinets, I was already familiar with these. What caught my attention was the Arcade1Up Claw Machine. Given the rising popularity of claw machines in the US, I found this to be a curious addition to any private arcade collection due to its free-play nature, which is almost unheard of (free-play arcade cabinets are much more commonplace).
As I walked around further in Akiba Station, I noticed the MIX (Media Indie Exchange) section, where independent game developers showcased their latest titles. Among the several independent titles featured, two stood out to me due to their connection with old-school gaming. Known best for Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games featured the upcoming Mina the Hollower for play. Yacht’s own Marketing and Licensing Director, Celia Schilling, went over the gameplay with me and described how the game was designed to be reminiscent of GameBoy Advance games. Afterwards, I went to the Wayforward Technologies booth, where they had Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution for play. At the booth, I spoke with Voldi Way, the Tyrannical Overlord (CEO and founder) of the company, who shared how Shantae was just released physically for the GameBoy Advance (GBA). Although the game started development on the GBA and resumed development within the last couple of years, the game is reminiscent of games from that platform. Although these are recently developed games, these titles keep the spirit of old-school gaming and should be checked out.
Upon hearing that Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser would speak on the convention’s main stage, I made it a point to see. Interviewed by IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey, Dan briefly shared about what led up to the release of Grand Theft Auto III (GTA III) and the aftermath. Houser pointed out how it was at this same venue where they went to E3 2001 and noted how people “seemed completely underwhelmed by something we thought had the potential to be amazing”. After its successful release in October 2001, Houser noted how “they didn’t even have enough money to make copies of the game. We couldn’t make it quick enough, and the game just kept selling”. Even as they entered 2002, he noted that they “kept thinking it would stop and it just never stopped”. Beyond GTA and Rockstar, Houser closed the conversation by sharing how he also writes American Caper, a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics.
Whether you are into arcades, console gaming, or PC Gaming, L.A. Comic Con offers something for every gamer. We want to thank L.A. Comic Con for allowing us to cover this event, along with special thanks to Celia Schilling of Yacht Club Games and Voldi Way of Wayforward Technologies for speaking with us. If you attended LA Comic Con before, let us know what you think. Our next stop will be the Portland Retro Gaming Expo from October 18-19, 2025, and we hope to see you at our booth!
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