Well we’ve finally returned to the blog. I feel like we have way too much to tell. It’s been a big year for us to say the least.
One major event was the PRGE this past weekend. If you haven’t heard of it, you’ve got to check it out now! I have been wanting to attend this thing for years but never had the chance. In 2018, I had the wild idea to try and get a booth for us (to no avail). This year, we had a great opportunity fall into our laps at the last second. With just a few short days to prepare, we decided to take the booth, book our flights, and scramble like mad to make something for the show.
Long shot
Honestly, it felt super risky to invest so much of our hard earned revenue back into this one marketing opportunity. Did you know that an oversized bag costs $200 to ship? I felt like just buying the bag its own seat on the plane. Maybe in first class even?
However, it quickly became clear on Saturday that this would be worthwhile. You can’t believe the swarms of people- and nearly every one had a burning love of retro games. We had one big question on our minds however:
Would this demographic be open to a new video game?
If you have ever run a booth at an expo, you’ll agree that you start to get a feel for the type of people that walk by. Specifically, you figure out what they are looking for. Fortunately for us, a lot of really fun people were willing to stop by and try out the game. We even had enough sales of our Steam codes to get some mind-blowing fish and chips Saturday night.
Highlights
Sunday morning, something exceptional happened. The ever entertaining duo of Pat and Ian from the Completely Unnecessary Podcast stopped by the booth. I have loved listening to these guys over the years and their relentless take on the industry of video games. I’ve poured over the Ultimate guide to the NES library and used the app extensively. Needless to say, I was totally stoked.
The tweet above sums up a pretty special moment for Namo Gamo. We could not have anticipated their enthusiasm for the game. Looking at the Tecmo Super Bowl comparison sheets, Ian asked, “how do I get this in my life?” with Pat pointing out “this game was my idea I’ll have you know”. I knew we shared a mutual reverence for Tecmo Super Bowl (5 stars according to a certain nintendo guidebook), but I had no idea they would have been so excited.
The craziest part of this story is that this all occurred before learning that they were featured in the game. I had already created an unlockable team of YouTubers with Pat as the Point Guard and Ian as the Small Forward. Seeing themselves in the game was just the cherry on top. Check out their profile pics, custom attributes, and signature sneakers.
Ian even got a chance to try out the game before their podcast this week. Check out his review here. Then, watch for their team to appear in the very next update coming this weekend. And on a side note, I highly recommend Pat’s new book, the Ultimate Guide to the SNES library.
We can’t say enough about the warm welcome we received at the show this year. Thanks to Rick Weis for putting on a great expo, Tim at Retrotainment for your helpful advice, and the many newcomers to the Basketball Classics world. We hope to hear more from you.
