Hoogeveen, Netherlands – A retro gaming fair in Hoogeveen is drawing crowds of collectors and enthusiasts, offering a rare marketplace for classic video games and consoles. The event, held today at Activum, features over 200 stalls brimming with titles for systems like the Game Boy and nintendo DS, alongside more modern offerings.
organizer Michael Steenbergen launched the Retro Gamebeurs to fill a gap in the Northern Netherlands’ gaming community. “We organized the stock market, because things like this were not yet in Drenthe and actually not in the Northern Netherlands,” he explained. Last year’s inaugural event exceeded expectations, attracting 2,100 visitors-nearly double the anticipated 1,000-prompting organizers to expand the venue to encompass almost the entire sports center. Steenbergen anticipates 3,000 attendees this year, with a hopeful target of 4,000.
The fair provides a platform for both game shops and individual collectors to buy, sell, and trade. While the focus is on games from the 1980s and 90s, Nintendo Switch titles are also available. steenbergen, himself a dedicated collector specializing in Game Boy games since 2010, emphasizes the personal passion driving the hobby. “One collects art or stamps, I collect games. All my life I have been a gamer,” he said, acknowledging the vastness of the collecting world: “When you see other collectors you know: it can always be crazier.”
