From a Facebook group to a gaming conference, TORG Gaming Expo is gearing up for its biggest year yet

The TORG Gaming Expo is in its eighth year, and it promises to be bigger than ever.

TORG — officially known as The Ohio Retro Gamer — has grown to the point that it is now referred to as “the largest gaming expo in the state of Ohio,” according to its statement. website. On Saturday and Sunday, TORG will host a convention that caters to all gamers’ needs, said Rachel Osherowitz, the fair’s co-owner and operator.

“It’s two days of all video games, buying, selling, playing, developing, everything,” Osherowitz said. “Anything and everything you can think of and relate to in video games will be there.”

The organization itself has humble beginnings, starting nearly 13 years ago as a small Facebook group dedicated to buying, selling and trading vintage video games and consoles, Oscherwitz said.

“I was one of the first members there [were] “It was like 40 of us, which was a big deal,” Osherowitz said. “And a few years after we started the group, some people wanted to meet and said, ‘Oh, this could be fun.’”

The event has increased attendance numbers significantly since its first run in 2015, Oscherwitz said.

“It kind of evolved from there, from a group of 40 people who met for one year, and then a bunch of people heard about it,” Osherowitz said. “So the next year it was 200 people. The next year we actually rented a place and it could seat 500 people.

Because of this continued growth, Oscherwitz said TORG has expanded from one day to two full days of events for the first time ever.

“This is our year where it’s very different, because this is our first two-day year,” Osherowitz said. “Everyone wanted to do a two-day event, so we thought: ‘Well, maybe we can do that.’”

Another new feature of the fair this year is the Saturday After Party, an event that includes themed activities for players, including drinks and free arcade games. It will also feature live music, a “Rock Band” battle of the bands game, a cosplay wrestling event staged by Extreme Fight World, and a real-life Mario Party game, Oscherwitz said.

Another big change at this year’s show is the addition of a panel set to include legendary voice actors from the Mario series, Osherowitz said. Special guests include Charles Martinet (Mario), Samantha Kelly (Princess Peach), Laura Faye Smith (Rosalina), and Kenny James (Bozer).

“This has been our goal for a very long time,” Osherowitz said. “Four or five years ago, we would joke and say, ‘Oh my God, we will never have Charles Martinet.’ When we get Charles, we can say we have succeeded.”

The Mario franchise is an iconic cornerstone of the gaming community, said Braden Aust, a fourth-year chemical engineering student and current president of the Buckeye Gaming Collective — also known as BGC — said. He said that the game’s characters have the ability to bridge generational gaps and that some of his first gaming memories include playing “Mario Kart: Double Dash” on his GameCube.

“I think almost everyone grew up in some way [Mario] “In their lifetime, with all these new games coming out and new characters and all that, the whole game genre has stayed the same,” Ost said. “I think that helped a lot because even as people grow and change, so do games [bring] “They’re still together.”

A notable focus of TORG is the community aspect, said Osherowitz, who has followed the group since its early days on Facebook. This sense of belonging is what drew Ost to video games from a young age.

“It was a big thing for me in elementary school, to be able to talk to a bunch of my friends at school and then have that connection,” Aust said. “Playing games with them was still quick and easy, something we all really enjoyed and had a good time with.”

Aust said gaming continues to be an important presence in his life, as the community has provided him with many important friendships throughout his college experience.

“I actually met some of my best friends now at Ohio State through classes and then I was with them at BGC,” Aust said.

As students adapt to a post-COVID-19 world, Ost said BGC aims to expand the range of social events it offers. The gaming community only benefits from large, community-driven events like TORG Gaming Expo, he said.

“I think a lot of people form relationships around the games themselves. And so when you get to these in-person events and these big community things, a lot of times, you take the focus away from the game and focus more on the people,” Ost said. “It can be a great way to go.” And really unique for people to strengthen those relationships, or build new relationships and focus on other things now that you realize you don’t need the game to get along with those people.”

Accessibility and diversity are two values ​​of the gaming community that TORG is trying hard to foster, Osherowitz said.

“When our tickets went on sale, he was the first person to buy a ticket [got] “Automatic promotion and it was a 60-year-old woman named Judy,” Osherowitz said. “We have eight 9-year-olds who volunteer because they love doing it, so it’s a diverse community.”

The fair is mostly run by these volunteers, whose contributions add to the close-knit atmosphere of TORG and the Games as a whole, Oscherwitz said.

“It’s not just a video game convention, it’s a family reunion for a lot of us,” Osherowitz said. “This is the only time we meet here.”

More information, including how to purchase tickets for the exhibition, can be found on the TORG website website.