This year, the Vintage Arcade Video Game Museum is joining the organisation of the fourth Retro Game Experience in Pego, thus expanding the space dedicated to arcade games. This event will be an exercise in playful linking between classic and current video games, allowing young people to enjoy and, in many cases, discover how the world of audiovisual games has evolved, from the arcade machines of the 70s to the most modern consoles of today.
The travelling Arcade Museum will bring classic video game machines from the 70s, 80s and 90s to Pego, and we will also have a representation of its collection of retrocomputing and retroconsoles. It will be a space designed for all audiences, from 6 years old, so that both young people and entire families can enjoy a collective space for interaction, creativity and dissemination. Nostalgic and new users will be able to share experiences and even compete in the tournaments that this year will feature two memorable games: Street Fighter II and Wind Jammer. The first is a well-known arcade game from the 90s that starred fighters such as Ryu, Ken or Blanka, while the second was released by Data East as a sports game for the Neo Geo arcade system in 1994.
But visitors to this gaming fair in Pego will also be able to enjoy other classics such as Metal Slug, Super Sidekicks 2, Super Pang and Tetris. We will see how consoles such as the Megadrive, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Play Station and Atari 2600 have evolved to the present day. In addition, as a novelty this year, there will be a tour of retrocomputing, with computers such as Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga 500, MSX and Amstrad.
Although the area dedicated to the latest video games is still one of the favourites for our teenagers and young people, we maintain the structure of group tournaments organised by Omega World, with games such as Super Smash Bros., FC24, Fortnite and Mario Kart. Long-term competitions will reward the three finalists of each tournament. In addition, all attendees of the event will be eligible for one of the prizes that will be raffled off throughout the day, such as controlled cameras, retro-emulator consoles and this year's star prize: a Nintendo Switch console. The prizes are provided by the event's sponsors, local companies Tramuntanet (fibre optics), Sunsionet (IT) and Pablankus (Gamer).
In this fourth edition of the Pegolina meeting with the game, there will also be an area dedicated to simulators and virtual reality, and there will be no shortage of board games, thanks to the collaboration of the local establishments Capritx and Gent D'ací, with which Valencian titles such as La Fallera Calavera, L'Esmolet and Sangonera will be recovered, among others, with very diverse themes, such as mental agility games like The Mind or social outreach games like Feministime.
OmegaWorld has also decided that all its December events will have a collection point for new and second-hand toys in good condition, which will be sent to the Valencian towns affected by the DANA. Thus, on Saturday, December 21, in the morning and afternoon, the municipal market of Pego will become a solidarity point, as well as being a place of entertainment and competition.
That same day, The Market Square will host a visit from Santa Claus and his Elves to collect letters and requests from the little ones, who will also be able to enjoy an inflatable park to play in.
Educational leisure at Nadal Jove in Pego
Although the Retro Game Experience is probably the most emblematic activity of the municipality's youth Christmases, there will be no shortage of other activities that have already been consolidated in Pego over the last few years, which take place during the holiday period at the Infojove facilities. Thus, the first scheduled workshops will serve to prepare the decoration of the youth centre, and this year the trees that users make can also be taken home.
A group of young European volunteers from the NGO DeAmicitia will also be returning to Pego. They have prepared a series of short theatre performances aimed at the elderly at the Sant Joan de Déu Residence. There will also be Christmas film screenings at the CiJ, cooking workshops for preparing crepes and table football tournaments.
But this year, Nadal Jove in Pego will also feature a communication workshop given by journalist Carlos Ortuño, so that young people can learn the keys to public speaking and put them into practice. Verbal and non-verbal communication and the fear of public speaking will be the central themes of this training activity, structured over three days, two of which will take place during the Christmas holidays.
