Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade

The weekend of Saturday, June 11 – Sunday, June 12, you and up to 4 friends are invited to “Test Your Geek” in the first-ever Geek Olympathon!

The Portland Geek Council of Commerce & Culture (PGC3) has joined forces with Portland’s geekiest businesses, organizations and individuals for a truly epic 2-day event challenging you and your friends to compete in geeky contests and win fantastic prizes including the grand prize: A trip for 2 to San Diego Comic-Con, provided by Things From Another World!

Sunday, June 12 from Noon – 5pm, Ground Kontrol will be hosting the Great Controller Untangle & Console Gaming Contest (whew!). Participants will be tasked with untangling the correct controller from a mess of miscellaneous gaming controllers, then plugging it into a system and playing the first level of a popular old-school console game.

It’s totally free to register your team and participate. For more details, visit the Team Registration page on the Olympathon website. To view the rest of the event details (including 2 huge parties, of course), visit the Olympathon events page.

Read the full press release after the break!

READ MORE  >

UPDATE 6/7: Corrected the email address – please make sure you add PDXGameOn@gmail.com to your friends list, and send all inquiries to PDXGameOn@gmail.com as well! Sorry for any inconvenience.

On Wednesday, June 22 we’re hosting a special party with Google Places! Keep reading to learn how you can participate.

Want to win a night of free games with food, drink and prizes provided by Google Places?

Here’s how you play:

1. Log into Google Places or Create a New Account at: http://www.google.com/hotpot
2. Add us as a friend: PDXGameOn@gmail.com. This lets us see your reviews as well as where you fall on the reviews leaderboard.
3. Sign up and start reviewing your favorite businesses.
4. The first 100 people who have at least 50 reviews of businesses on Places by 5pm PST on June 19th will get an invitation to our Game On! party for a free night of arcade games, with food and drink on Google Places. It’s that simple!

The more reviews you do, the more stuff you get. Here’s the breakdown:

• 50+ reviews will grant you unlimited game play, appetizers, and 1 drink on Google.
• 100+ reviews will grant you unlimited game play, appetizers, up to 2 drinks on Google and a t-shirt.
• 200+ reviews will grant you unlimited game play, appetizers, up to 2 drinks on Google, a t-shirt, and a $15 gift certificate to Ground Kontrol (for future use).

PLUS: anyone who reviews at least 100 businesses qualifies as a Google Power User, making you eligible to be invited to other awesome activities and prizes! Sound good? Then go to Google Places and start reviewing! Got any questions? Send ‘em to PDXGameOn@gmail.com.

Stay connected with Google Portland: Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Offers | Newsletter

Come check out the amazing art of local studio Supergenius at Ground Kontrol during First Thursday! The art will be up throughout the month of June but the artists will be in attendance tonight.

A message from the artists:

Supergenius is a local studio of digital artists and animators dedicated to pushing the bounds of quality and creativity in video games and interactive media.

We have several teams specializing in all visual facets of game development from 2D to 3D and everything in between. This includes concepts, illustration and previsualization, environment design and creation, character design, creation and rigging, visual FX, UI design, character animation, cut scene and trailer production and whatever game developers need to make their games look and play as fantastic as possible.

We have worked with many developers on many different licenses including Tales of Monkey Island, Super Hero Squad, Sam and Max, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, Deadliest Warrior and many more. When not working on games for clients we have internal passion projects we focus on.

We are all artists of one type or another and are grateful to be able to do what we love for a living. We consider Supergenius to be one part production studio, one part university, one part think tank and one part sandbox where learning, teaching and experimenting are equally as important as producing art for our clients. We strongly believe in maintaining a positive atmosphere where everyone helps and pushes each other to be better artists and better people in general.

This is a small collection of what we produce as individuals on the rare occasions we are not working. Since Ground Kontrol does not allow live animals, volatile chemicals or radiation in their establishment we are limited to showing off our “appropriate” and “non-lethal” visual work. We sincerely hope it does not bore you to death, only that it drive you to drinking, which they will happily accommodate with their fine selection of local and imported libations.

Thank you and enjoy the show.

WHAT: Supergenius “We Corrupt Children” First Thursday Art Opening

WHEN: Thursday, June 2, 7pm-10pm.

COVER: No cover, 21+.

Can you roll a critical hit every time? Can you untangle a ball of console controllers in seconds flat? Or do you just want to beat Spock at UNO? Tonight, you need to be at Ground Kontrol!

In mid-June, the Portland Geek Council of Commerce & Culture presents The Geek Olympathon, a weekend-long series of geeky contests and events! However, tonight, we’re previewing a few of these events to give you a chance to get a taste of what’s to come (a few hints: fun, victory, tragedy, and beer!)

We will be running small contests in Ground Kontrol’s lounge between 7 and 9pm on Thursday May 26th. You can compete in as many or as few contests as you’d like, but if you want a shot at being the night’s ultimate winner, you’ll want to take part in every event. Prize packs featuring items from PGC3 members will be given to the top winners in each event and the overall top winner will also be part of a very special ceremony during the Olympathon.

Bring some friends to Ground Kontrol and start building your Olympathon team by competing in tonight’s events! Who knows what secret powers you hold?

Find an outline of events and more info after the break!

READ MORE  >

Bright lights! Brainiacs! Question after question! Ground Kontrol’s Video Game Quiz Show is not just another pub quiz, it’s a full-on big screen game show – complete with lightning rounds, buzzers and fabulous prizes!

Join your charismatic co-hosts Brandon Anderson and Daniel Grubbs as they present a totally home-brewed, often hilarious and absolutely unique game show night at 9PM every last Thursday.

In May it’s a console clash of the titans! Hosted by special guests Matt Hunter, Steve Haske, and Rich Lau from the A Jumps B Shoots podcast, this month’s episode covers the hosts’ Greatest Consoles Ever - aka the SNES vs. PS2 Edition! Can Kratos kill Chrono? Might Mega Man maim Max Payne? Be here to watch the carnage firsthand!

How do you play? A 9pm, we kick off a round of “pub quiz” style trivia. Teams of 5 can participate in these rounds to rack up as many points as possible. The top 3 teams then choose 1 player each to represent them in the final “Jeopardy!” style round!

Game play challenges randomly hidden during the final round offer teammates a chance to tag in and help earn points!

Not only is it fun to play, it’s a blast to watch, too. So whether or not you know the difference between a Koopa and a Goomba, come on down!

WHAT: The Video Game Quiz Show - Greatest Consoles Ever / SNES vs. PS2 Edition, hosted by A Jumps B Shoots!

WHEN: Thursday, May 26. Starts at 9pm.

COVER: It’s totally free to participate or watch! This is a 21+ event.

As many of you well know, twice a month Ground Kontrol throws a free play party – our entire lineup of pinball and classic video games is set to free play, and a small cover at the door gets you into the all-night gaming marathon! Our next free play party, scheduled for Thursday May 19th, will also feature a special Pac-Man Battle Royale tournament!

On Thursday, May 19th, The “Pac-Man Battle Royale Rumble” will challenge Pac-Fans to compete for a special prize package of Pac-Man BR goodies like coasters, beads and t-shirts, along with a Ground Kontrol gift certificate!

To play, come down to Ground Kontrol and sign up by 7:00pm. There will be a clipboard on the Pac-Man BR machine and we’ll accept up to 12 players max.  Update: We removed the player cap, so come one, come all! Groups of 4 will compete, with the ultimate winner from each group remaining in the game until he or she is defeated. Each player will get a small Pac-Man gift for participating, and the last Pac-Man standing will get a collection of  swag provided by NAMCO America along with a $10 GK gift certificate!

WHAT: Pac-Man Battle Royale Rumble, a fun Pac-Man BR contest during Third Thursday’s Free Play Party

WHEN: Thursday, May 19th. Sign up at Pac-Man BR between 5-7pm. First game starts at 7pm.

WHERE: Ground  Kontrol Classic Arcade, 511 NW Couch St.

COVER/COST: It’s just $5 to enter Ground Kontrol during the Third Thursday Free Play Party, and all games are set to free play. There’s no extra cost to compete in the Pac-Man Battle Royale Rumble! This is a 21+ event.