History

The Northwest Pinball and Gameroom Show is an annual pinball and arcade game festival held in Seattle, Washington. The show draws between 2,500-3,000 collectors and fans each June to the Seattle Center. The festival began as a small annual event held by Washington pinball collectors, but in 2008 became a full-fledged regional convention featuring hundreds of pinball machines, arcade games, electro-mechanical games, speakers, vendors and tournaments.

2010

The 3rd annual Northwest Pinball and Gameroom Show took place at the Seattle Center June 11-13, 2010 and featured 260 pinball and arcade games. It drew close to 3000 attendees. Guest speakers included Steve Wiebe from the movie The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, pinball and arcade designer George Gomez (Satan's Hollow, Tron, Spy Hunter, Johnny Mnemonic, Monster Bash, Revenge From Mars, The Lord of the Rings, Batman), arcade and pinball sound designer David Thiel (Q*bert, The Three Stooges, Family Guy, Pirates of the Caribbean), and pinball designer John Trudeau (Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot, Judge Dredd, Black Rose, The Flintstones, Congo). Show featured IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) sanctioned "Northwest Pinball Championships," drawing top pinball competitors from around the world.

2009

The 2nd annual show at the Seattle Center was held June 12-14, 2009 drew 2200 attendees. The show was expanded with the addition of a second room filled with classic arcade video games, and the combined total of arcade and pinball machines reached 250. Guest speakers included game designer Dennis Nordman (Scared Stiff, White Water, Demolition Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, Wheel of Fortune), game artist and sound creator Greg Freres (Medieval Madness, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Revenge from Mars, Scared Stiff), music and sound designer Brian Schmidt, star of the documentary movie High Score, Bill Carlton, and Clay Harrell from This Old Pinball. Steve Wiebe returned, but instead of speaking, he made his 6th public attempt to reclaim the world high score on Donkey Kong. David Nelson from Twin Galaxies was on hand to referee Wiebe's high score attempt and watch many other world record high score attempts, as was Mark Alpiger from ClassicArcadeGaming.com. Walter Day hosted a press conference to present the International Video Game Hall of Fame's inaugural ceremony with 12 world record high score holders.

2008

The show’s first year at the Seattle Center was held June 6-8, 2008, featured 125 games, and drew 1200 attendees. Steve Wiebe from the movie The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters spoke about his experience competing against Billy Mitchell for the world high score on Donkey Kong, which was documented in the movie. Wiebe also demonstrated on a Donkey Kong arcade game some of his moves for scoring higher points and how to navigate harder levels. Other guest speakers included pinball and arcade designer Steve Ritchie (Firepower, Black Knight, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Star Trek: The Next Generation, World Poker Tour, Spider-Man, pinball software programmer Greg Dunlap (Monopoly, RollerCoaster Tycoon), electro-mechanical pinball restorer Tim Meighan, and arcade and pinball sound designer David Thiel (Q*bert, The Three Stooges, Family Guy, Pirates of the Caribbean).