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Hardcore retro gamers unite to play old favourites in Winnipeg

Winnipeg's gaming community came together this weekend to relive the early days of video game history.

Organizers of the second annual retro gaming event said close to a 1,000 people were expected to gather to play old hits Saturday.

"For most of us, we play games as a kid and now we've grown up and these games kind of went forgotten for a while," said Kyle Rudge, Retro Gamers Winnipeg communications director. "Now we want to bring it back, and we're starting to have kids ourselves. We want our kids to enjoy that experience with us."

Forty vendors and three charities were involved in the event, which Rudge said has doubled in size since last year.

"One of the things about video games is that it really builds community," said Rudge. "We've got probably close to 1,000 people today and all of us can talk to everybody else because we have one thing in common."

While there were many classics on hand, Rudge said a few games in particular stand out as his favourites.

"For me ... it's Super Mario Brothers 2, but it's the original one that was only released in Japan," said Rudge. "So we have it here for people to try and see how far they can get in one life."

While new technology has made for games both more realistic and more surreal than past generations, Rudge said there's something about the primitive games that still excites and attracts younger people.

"To us, we see all the new games and there's all these new graphics and we get really excited about that, but when a kid comes in and they see all these old games, it's just fresh eyes and they get so excited about these things that we have long [forgotten]," said Rudge. "To see them come alive to something that was made in 1980. It's exciting to see."

All proceeds raised at the event are going to charity, Rudge said.