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Game On Expo

Overview

Game On Expo (gameonexpo.com) is an active annual gaming event that describes itself as 'all encompassing' because it covers not only tabletop gaming but video and arcade gaming too. It later expanded to include anime. It was first held in Mesa in 2015 but moved to the Phoenix Convention Center in 2017. Its traditional August dates changed in 2024 when it moved to March.

Background

Game On Expo was co-founded by John Lester, the Marketing & Community Manager for Collectorvision.

The organisers are all major players in the videogaming world. Thor Aackerlund was the original Nintendo World Champion, winning at PowerFest 1990. He was featured in the documentary, Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters. Mike Iarossi was the Nintendo World Champion four years later at PowerFest '94. He's a Twitch streamer. Chris Tang won the Sega World Championship, Rock the Rock, in 1994, along with over forty other titles. He worked at Atari and Capcom. He's been the commentator for the Classic Tetris World Championships since 2010. Dorion Whitlock was a finalist at PowerFest '94 and co-hosts the podcast, The Pioneers of eSports.

It's unrelated to Game On! Sierra Vista, a pop culture event at Fort Huachuca that coincidentally ran for the two years prior to Game On Expo.

History

Chronology of Arizona Conventions

# Date Location Chair Guests Book Web Notes
1 2015
28 Aug
30 Aug
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
2 2016
5 Aug
7 Aug
Mesa Convention Center
Mesa
3 2017
11 Aug
13 Aug
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix
4 2018
10 Aug
12 Aug
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix
5 2019
9 Aug
11 Aug
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix
6 2020
7 Aug
9 Aug
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix
1
7 2021
6 Aug
8 Aug
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix
2
8 2022
5 Aug
7 Aug
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix
9 2023
11 Aug
13 Aug
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix
10 2024
15 Mar
17 Mar
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix
11 2025
4 Apr
6 Apr
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix


Notes

  1. Game On Expo 6 was cancelled in May 2020, due to the COVID-19 crisis.
  2. Game On Expo 7 was also cancelled, due to the COVID-19 crisis.


Attendance

1 2 3 4
2015 2016 2017 2018
4,072 7,191 8,476 10,054

Guests

Game On Expo generally features too many guests to list in the table above. Here are the guests announced for each event:

2015: Mark Soderwall, Keith Robinson, Rob McCallum, Brenda Huff, Jirard "The Completionist" Khali, Pat "The NES Punk" Contri, Norman Caruso, John "Gamester81" Lester, The Game Chasers, Retroliberty, Jason Heine, William "Willie!" Culver, Mike Kennedy, CollectorVision Games, Joe Granato, Mike Iarossi, Angelica Danger Dawn, Luluko Cosplay, Courtney Leigh, Firelight Cosplay, Kiba the Cosplay Corgi.

2016: Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, Darin De Paul, Al Lowe, ProJared, Jirard "The Completionist" Khali, AlphaOmegaSin, Metal Jesus, Pat "The NES Punk" Contri, Johnny Millenium, Norman Caruso, Alex Faciane, Pete Dorr, John "Gamester81" Lester, The Game Chasers, Scottsquatch, 8-bit Eric, RetroLiberty, Rob McCallum, Thor Aackerlund, Chris Tang, Chris Pope, Mike Iarossi, Jason Heine, Courtney Leigh, Amber Brite, CollectorVision Games, Kiba the Cosplay Corgi.

2017: Dave Fennoy, Melissa Hutchison, Patricia Summersett, Carolina Ravassa, Anjali Bhimani, Josh Petersdorf Mark Meer, Ellen McLain, John Patrick Lowrie, Quinton Flynn, Master Daniel Pesina, Brian Glynn, Kerri Ann Hoskins, Dr. Phillip Ahn, Lia Montelongo, John Parrish, Phil Moore, Mark Crowe, Andre Meadows, Metal Jesus, Norman Caruso, Pat "The NES Punk" Contri, Ian Ferguson, Game Sack, AntDude, The Game Chasers, Wood Hawker, 8-Bit Eric, Chris Pope, Amanda Hosler, Thor Aackerlund, John "Numbers" Goldberg, Courtney Leigh, Mike Iarossi, Dorion Whitlock, Chris Tang, Amber Brite, Brenda Huff, Jeffrey Wittenhagen, Kirby the Cosplay Corgi, Kama Bree aka Khainsaw.

2018: Troy Baker, Jennifer Hale, Steve Downes, Jonny Cruz, Greg Bryk, Carlos Ferro, Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil, Andre Meadows, Master Daniel Pesina, Anthony Marquez, Elizabeth Malecki, Richard Divizio, Brian Colin, Eric Wile, Tom Filsinger, Wood Hawker, Pat "The NES Punk" Contri, Alex Faciane, Jimmy "Lots of Games" Graham, Bill & Jay from The Game Chasers, Chris Pope, Chris Tang, 8-Bit Eric, John Riggs, Reggie Williams, Erik Pierson, C.J. Wilson, White & Fonda, Tyler Esposito, Joe Granado, Jack "Dead Flip" Danger, Imoto Arcade, Terry and Dan Diebold, Brett Weiss, Jeffrey Wittenhagen, Jacob Ross, Sid Seattle, Jaded, Jared Thorbahn.



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Last update: 24th February, 2025