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Pros & Cons: Louisville Arcade Expo 2022

Yes, it’s that time of year once again, that time to walk around the halls of another expo and enjoy some amazing arcade games, video game consoles and what I look the most forward to, pinball. It’s time to kick off the 2022 convention and expo season with Louisville Arcade Expo. It’s been since 2020 that the Louisville Arcade Expo has happened which means attendees such as myself have long awaited for the opportunity to get our hands on the things we enjoy, the things that remind us of our childhood such as the sounds of a pinball hitting bumpers or watching as four random strangers together play a song on Rock Band.

I was curious to see if this year would be different and after being able to plan for two years this time, what LAX would have to offer and boy was I not at all disappointed. Upon arrival, I was welcomed by convention owner Corey as he helped me receive my passes for the weekend and I was able to get my hands on some great LAX apparel then it was time to walk into the show floor and the layout is exactly what I expected. A great selection of vendors selling numerous amounts of video game and pinball merchandise ranging from actual video games themselves to different gaming wares such as cups and even a vendor selling cutting boards with games on them such as my personal favorite, Galaga.

Raven enjoying one of her favorite games, River Raid, is just a small example of the gaming possibilities that Louisville Arcade Expo has to offer.

I wasn’t at all disappointed with the amount of vendors because that is one of the many things LAX gets right, is not flooding the show with booths because the real star of the expo is the amount of gaming you will be able to do. Stern Pinball was back again this year showing off their newest pinball machines such as Rush, The Mandalorian and Godzilla just to name a few with plenty of each game for people to check out. There was a lot to be had when it comes to pinball and this is my main enjoyment throughout the weekend because while one could very well emulate arcade and console games, you simply cannot emulate the experience of playing a pinball machine and its why I love coming here. I will say that one of my complaints is that there are always a variety of random pinball machines that are off or not working which is also true of a few arcade cabinets as well.

The Mortal Kombat panel featuring Mike Vinikour (left) & Richard Divizio (right) was great and fun to hear them tell stories about their time working on the games.

One of the highlights of the event was having Richard Divizio, the man that played Kano, Kabal, Quan Chi and more from the Mortal Kombat series of video games, at the expo on Saturday to sign autographs as well as a panel featuring Richard as well as former Midway employee and Mortal Kombat developer, Mike Vinikour to talk about their time on the games as well as answering a few questions from the audience. Louisville Arcade Expo always offers some great guests from the world of gaming and also some really great panels as well. Speaking of events, one of the things LAX is famous for are their tournaments and there were plenty to be had that weekend especially their famous “Fire Mario” tournament.

Louisville Arcade Expo 2022 absolutely did not disappoint and is still an expo that I highly recommend any fan of arcades, consoles and pinball to definitely check out as there will be something there to keep you busy with the PC gaming room featuring so many classic gaming PCs as well as a LAN center to play games such as Unreal Tournament and Wolfenstein on as well as the console room which also feels like a museum of sorts showcasing consoles from Atari all the way to Xbox. If you decided to attend, you definitely should get a weekend pass as it is absolutely worth the money plus, you won’t feel too terribly rushed to try and get in as much gaming as you possibly can because LAX is an event you should always have on your radar.

By Brian Daniels

Brian Daniels is the Owner/Editor of The Domain and has had the pleasure of covering the gaming industry as well as reviewing many different conventions for over ten years. Brian also has been podcasting for the same length of time on such shows as The Dragoncast and The Domain's very own podcast, The Next Level. Brian is also a huge gamer and loves collecting anything related to gaming.

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