2025 Long Island Retro Gaming Expo: introduction, guests, staff, fellow attendees, panels August 21, 2025

Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Aviation, Books, Computer, Education, History, Internet, Magazine, Media, Personal, Photography, Podcast, Radio, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Video Games.
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Feel free to skip ahead to part two (touring the expo) or part three (conclusion and pickups).

INTRODUCTION
2025 marked the 10th anniversary Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, held annually (except during COVID) in the Cradle of Aviation Museum, on the right end of Museum Row in Uniondale*. For the 10th anniversary, LI Retro celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System‘s New York area launch, introduced to the world in places such as Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream.

*I had no idea that LI Retro’s first year was the same year that East Garden City (a.k.a. Nassau Hub) was absorbed into Uniondale and is no longer a census-designated place. Keep that in mind when you read my earlier recaps.

I have attended seven of LI Retro’s nine years. I started small in 2017, only spending two hours there on Sunday afternoon. I was there the entire weekend in 2018 and ’19, and have used my weekend pass on two of the three days since 2022. By 2023, I had to spread my recaps out into three parts because I took so many pictures, mostly of the exhibits (as seen in 2024). That’s what I’m doing again this year.

Tickets went on sale in February and guests were announced in July. Some of those guests will be chronicled below.

You’ll be happy to know there weren’t any mishaps this year. None of my equipment was wrecked and no cups of coffee were spilled.

ARRIVING AT THE MUSEUM
My mom pulled into the Cradle of Aviation Museum parking lot at 9:38 AM on Saturday.

I exited the car with badge QR code printout in hand. I had the lanyard for my badge wrapped around my neck, along with my Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens and Speedlite 430EX II attached. (I only used the latter on for flash photos, and never during panels.)

Inside, I was ushered to the box office where my QR code was scanned and I was handed my weekend badge. I attached to my lanyard and made my way to the first of four panels I had in mind. We’ll see photos from those later in this post.

The LI Retro staff is great and I’m honored to know them. Sunday morning, I met up with staff member Ryan Shapiro and he took this selfie of us:

Thank you, as always, Ryan.

PHOTOS WITH GUESTS AND CANDID PHOTOS OF THEIR TABLES

John Lester (Gamester81)
John is among the first on YouTube with a channel devoted to video games and collecting. Beyond that, he started Game On Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in April. He is the co-owner of CollectorVision Games and developed their Sydney Hunter series. Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan is the first in that series available on modern consoles.

I got a photo with John after his The Evolution of Retro Collecting panel.

Check out his LI Retro vlog:

Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson
Pat and Ian have been a fixture at Long Island Retro Gaming Expo since 2019, and I never miss their panel, recorded live for their Completely Unnecessary Podcast (a.k.a. CU Podcast). Like John Lester, Pat Contri’s YouTube journey began in 2008 with his Pat the NES Punk series, a fictionalized take on his life as a video game fan and collector. Pat’s YouTube channel also includes Flea Market Madness (sometimes featuring Frank, a fellow New Jersey transplant in San Diego), The Video Game Years retrospective, the aforementioned CU Podcast in video form, and the Not So Common Podcast with Alex Faciane.

Alongside the many Charlie Brown/Peanuts Christmas TV specials, it’s an annual tradition of mine to watch Pat the NES Punk Christmas episodes every December. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but the first two are the most sentimental. Incidentally, I can’t look at R.O.B., the original face of the NES, without hearing the Punch-Out!! opponent “voice.”

A big component of this year’s LI Retro was print media’s role in video game preservation. Pat’s Ultimate Nintendo series does its part. I have been a loyal reader since the Guide to the NES Library, which I bought from Pat (along with Pat the NES Punk DVD sets) in 2019. I helped fund Guide to the SNES Library later that year and last year, the latest book (as seen behind Ian, me, and Pat): Guide to the N64 Library. Pat, Ian, and an all-star lineup of reviewers break down every release for Nintendo’s first three home consoles. I used the Ultimate Nintendo app after each day of LI Retro to add any NES pickups to my collection. (Buy Ultimate Nintendo books here.)

Thank you to Kristen for taking this photo:

I returned the favor by having Kristen pose with Pat and Ian:

Adam Koralik
Sunday afternoon, “Mike Camera” and Adam Koralik met a third time. (That’s my server name on his Discord.) Adam’s trusty Sega Pluto prototype was part of the Retro Gaming Museum exhibit and he was more than happy to discuss it with attendees and have them try out its few playable games.

And of course, I had to get a selfie:

More exhibit photos can be found in part two of this year’s recap.

Matthew Sussman
While I did not meet actor Matthew Sussman, the original English language voice of Meowth in the Pokémon anime, he was a big draw, as seen in this Saturday photo.

I learned from an attendee in line outside the museum Sunday morning that Matthew is a fellow photographer, also in the Canon ecosystem. His camera of choice is the EOS R6 Mark II.

Ryan Burger
Ryan is the publisher of Old School Gamer Magazine, a literal mom-and-pop operation, at least at conventions. On staff at LI Retro were his wife Becky (who took the photo below), and their daughters Paige (the manager) and Rachel.

Ryan graciously gifted me with Old School Gamer Magazine Issue 46, which I held in our Sunday morning photo. You’ll see it again among the pickups in part three. Ryan was part of the third Saturday panel I attended: The Role Print Media Plays in Video Game Preservation. One of Ryan’s fellow panelists was…

Leonard Herman
I remain grateful to The Immortal John Hancock for introducing me to Leonard Herman at their joint 2018 panel. It inspired me to buy Phoenix IV and many other books. I have become good friends with Lenny and his table manager Patrick Wong, and a fixture at any panel Lenny is part of. (If I got the title wrong, either of you can let me know and I’ll edit post haste.)

Lenny is putting the finishing touches on Phoenix 5, to be released in two volumes in 2026 via Jeremy Parish’s Press Run, a division of Limited Run Games. (Jeremy and two rotating Retronauts co-hosts rounded out Saturday’s print media panel.)

Lenny with Patrick Wong on Saturday:

Patrick took our photo on Sunday:

One of the books I bought two years ago was ABC to the VCS, and I think Lenny would be proud that I bought five Atari VCS/2600 games this year. I was inspired to do so because I sought out any games programmed by the quartet of…

Dan and Garry Kitchen, David Crane, John Van Ryzin
Regrettably, I was too shy to approach Dan, Garry, David, or John, but I bought Ghostbusters (designed by David, programmed for 2600 by Dan), Donkey Kong (programmed for 2600 by Garry), and Pitfall! (by David). I couldn’t find H.E.R.O., designed by John. And because of my shyness, I didn’t buy any of their new games made for the 2600.

The new games, by Audacity Games, included:

• Circus Convoy (by David Crane and Garry Kitchen)
• Casey’s Gold (by Dan Kitchen; in second photo above)
• Alien Abduction (by John Van Ryzin)

That takes care of the guest photos. Photos with fellow attendees are coming up after a look at the quartet of panels I saw.

PANELS

Saturday Panel 1, 10:30-11:30 AM
Panel Room 2 (now upstairs in The Sperry Classroom)
John Lester (Gamester81)
The Evolution of Retro Collecting: From Hobby to Industry

Saturday Panel 2, 12-1PM
Main Theatre
Pat Contri and Ian Ferguson
CU Podcast Live!

The main topic for this edition of The CU Podcast was this video by Phil1Up Collects:

Next on the agenda, NES trivia:

I got the first question right: Which game was released for the NES licensed, unlicensed, and licensed again? I raised my hand and answered “Pac-Man.” I was right, and earned a sticker. As a supporter of The Gaming Historian (and yes, I read a quote in a video), I chose a GH Patreon supporter sticker to go with the one I have from my days as a supporter.

Alex and Daniel Greenberg in the audience:

Q&A:

As usual, I had a question: playing off the Gaming Historian sticker, I asked if Pat or Ian had been in touch with Norman Caruso since he announced last April that he was giving up pursuing the YouTube channel full time. Great news: Norm is still creating. He co-hosts An Old Timey Podcast with his wife Kristin.

Pat was surprised that we went the entire Q&A session without invoking the ill-fated vaporware known as the Intellivision Amico.

As of publication on August 21, the full episode is up, with the Phil1Up Collects video discussion heard starting at 1:15:30. NES trivia and the Q&A are not included. I will update with video clips when posted.

9/29 UPDATE: Sorry for the delay. There is one video and here it is:

Saturday Panel 3, 2:30-3:30 PM
Panel Room 2
The Role Print Media Plays in Video Game Preservation, moderated by Luis Aguasvivas (NPR, Debug Magazine, member of New York Videogame Critics Circle)
Panelists: Leonard Herman, Ryan Burger (Old School Gamer Magazine); Retronauts podcast host Jeremy Parish (Limited Run Games’ Press Run division, Video Works YouTube series and corresponding books [NES Works, SNES Works, Virtual Boy Works, SG-1000 Works]), rotating co-hosts Kevin Bunch (independent researcher, Atari Archive website and YouTube channel, author of Atari Archive Volume 1: 1977-78) and Brian Clark (translator, author of Gameplay Harmonies)

One other tidbit from this panel is Jeremy Parish lamenting that his early 2000s articles for now-defunct websites cannot be accessed because they weren’t archived.

I devoted most of my Sunday to photographing the exhibits and freeplay areas, buying any games I didn’t buy on Saturday, mingling further with guests, and actually playing freeplay games for the first time in years. (Oh, and I bought fried ravioli from a food truck; another first for me.)

So, the one panel I saw that day had to be Lenny’s.

Sunday Panel, 3-4PM
Panel Room 2
Leonard Herman
The History of the History of Videogames

9/29 UPDATE: Leonard posted video of his panel. (Of course, you see me front and center snapping away.)

PHOTOS WITH/OF FELLOW ATTENDEES

My friend Timothy (a.k.a. Sho):

Timothy and C.J. (I forget which vendor she was with):

Daniel Greenberg (Winterion Game Studios):

Daniel and his wife Alex:

Anthony and two of his friends:

I can’t say no to a photo op if someone asks, and I was more than happy to honor Anthony’s requests.

That is the end of post one. Head to part two for a tour of the marketplace and exhibits. Part three features a conclusion, and pickups photos.

I’ll leave you with photos taken before I left for home on Saturday and before I walked back into the museum on Sunday.