Want to check out some retro games? A friend of mine asked me this and suggested that we take a trip over to the Black Country Games Fair on the outskirts of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands in England.
Can You See In The Dark?
My first impression was less than stellar. The Black Country Games Fair was held at The Robin R’n’B Club, apparently a new venue for the event. It was so dimly lit that I found myself struggling to read the titles of some of the games in some areas. I even resorted to using the torch (flashlight) on my phone a couple of times. In addition, there was a sticky residue on the floor that was strong enough in places that I had to put a bit of force into pulling my foot up. Neither of these points probably seem out of place for a club, but they don’t make the best environment for a gaming event.
The venue itself was reasonably sized, but it was quite cramped walking around. It’s free to get in the event (after the first hour), which likely does contribute to the crowding by attracting people who just want to have a browse.
Alex Kidd to Zoop
There were stalls set up by quite a lot of traders, mostly consisting of small businesses but I did come across one person selling off their personal collection. The focus between them was certain on retro games, but games as new as the Xbox One, Switch, and PlayStation 4 were found for sale in some stalls.
While games as old as the Commodore 64 and Amstrad could be found, most of the titles were between the third and fifth console generations. So there were plenty of titles for Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive (Genesis for our American readers), PlayStation 1 & 2, and most platforms in between. I’ve highlighted those as they were the most common, but they did have Xbox, Saturn, and so on.
The selection of games was fairly wide. There were the more common games to the extremely rare. There was even a copy of Zelda’s Adventure for the Philips CD-i and some stalls with niche Japanese-only titles.
Games were mostly used copies, often clearly showing their age (particularly the SNES boxes, if they were boxed at all). The occasional stall had some pristine copies available though, at the prices you’d expect.
As well as used games, you could find consoles both original and modded. By modded, I both mean in the dodgy way and the more respectable modded consoles, such as handhelds with better screens. There were also a couple of stalls with Pokémon cards, gaming-related books, and other bits and pieces.
The Experience
Aside from the issues mentioned with the venue, it was certainly interesting to wander around and look at the games. Some of the older consoles like the ZX Spectrum were from before my time and I missed out on the Sega Saturn when I was younger, so many of the titles were new to me. A lot of the older hardware had accessories dotted around too, so learning about those was something I enjoyed.
It is very much a trader-led event though. Aside from the stalls, the only thing of note was a somewhat haphazard Tekken tournament that people entered on the day and started with a participant not turning up.
I’d not go to the Black Country Games Fair looking for a good deal unless looking at the items below the <£10 mark (approx $13 USD). While it seems some traders were open to bargaining, most of the pricier games I checked could be found at better prices on eBay or at other stores, sometimes for significantly less. Deals like 4x PlayStation 2 games for £10 certainly aren’t bad though, even if the games were fairly common ones.
While the deals weren’t great, it was nice to indulge in some nostalgic moments. Seeing that copy of Pitfall for the SNES and remembering what it was like to play it as a kid or a collection of Dreamcast cases is something that isn’t experienced too often.
Verdict
The Black Country Games Fair isn’t something I’d go out of my way to visit again, but there were some enjoyable aspects to the event. It’s a nice blast from the past to browse through all the old titles, if not somewhere that I’d plan on spending much.
Want to read more? Please check out more of our Event Coverage. Or want to check out some of the latest games? Maybe some of our game reviews will be of interest.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
