Clint Thompson Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 The weekend went super fast but it was pretty friggin' cool to be at MGC 2010 this year! Lots and lots of stuff going on and, if you are not careful, easy to miss out on some of the sections. My one and only complaint (a'bit of a minor one at that) is that all the sections were segregated... (consoles, arcades, pinballs, computers, etc. etc.) While it works well for the sheer amount of awesomeness going on these days with MGC and everything being included (instead of just a single, focused event for one particular system), I sort of felt like the warmth was sort of missing or lost of a nice well packed single room. Of course, this event has grown tremendously in size since I first started going to it with the JagFest2k1 stuff. I was only there Friday evening and at the event itself Saturday until around 6PM. (Something you definitely would like to have 2 days for to fully enjoy and not feel rushed with all that is going on) but as I had business to tend to on Sunday, I couldn't allot the time for that. Now on to the good stuff.... Sheraton really did go out of their way in letting the event just reign hell all over their hotel floor. =) I was sort of surprised at the amount of rooms and all the stickers and so forth on the floor but I'm guessing Sheraton doesn't mind any of the extra attention they are, with no doubt, able to obtain in supporting this event. Also, being a pizza fanatic that I am... I will mention that their pizza was absolutely fantastic! We all had some UNO's when arriving Friday evening but dare I say this pizza had a way at making your taste buds fall to their knees and scream "OH!". The free beer that came with it was pretty good too, considering I'm not much of a fan of beer to begin with. Was there not anyone else who had some of this mouth wateringly delicious pizza there also? Puts a lot of chains to shame... just wait... Sheraton Pizza Co. The amount of pinball games was just draw dropping. Never have I, in my life, been in a single room with that many machines dedicated to balls. But no, really. It was pretty bad ass... and was a fantastic opportunity to play tons of pinball games in person that I've only ever really seen online in the past. Huge props for having that setup! High Speed has always been a favorite of mine but Space Invaders has seemed to find a way into my heart now Also I should mention that having some of the super old pinball machines on display... from 1959 for example, was a real treat. Talk about enjoy some true history! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiImraqjb0w The arcades were pretty sweet too... it was fairly jam packed in the arcade room and the chance of any single arcade unit being unattended was slim to none. There was a line behind us of several other people just to play California Speed! Which I would like to add, is pretty awesome from Atari Games and for the going price of $650, I would have snatched it in a heartbeat if I had a way to get it back home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZB3212JMg4 The computer and console museum was a nice venture to graze your eyes upon. Quite a few rare and unusual consoles with tons of games found their way to the floor. I had enjoyed a lot of firsts here this year, including playing an Apple Pippin for the first time... a Neo Geo CDZ for the first time and seeing the Atari Video Phone first hand in person was pretty sweet! It was also nice to touch the Atari XL expansion bay and give it a quick looksy. I got sidetracked and forgot to even look at the PCB much. I got to play Winter Games on the Lynx for the first time and also the Tetris clone on the Jaguar CD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE_tNzGPzdI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdOMuu8kP9g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1Sfg81jJPc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgRVgAxGoyY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2xZAFP86Cs I almost forgot to mention the cool bag that you got after purchasing admission... came with some Red Hot Sauce and some flyers of sorts. I honestly haven't had the chance to even go through them aside from noting that there was a bottle of hot sauce in our packs.... I'm just curious if anyone will smell any Red Hot in the Jagfest section anytime soon lol... (Jason ). =) The marketplace was huge.... really, really huge. Lots of super cool and rare imports even. Jaguars were going for about $60, which while I'm out of the loop on that... seems sort of pricey. Then again, I am out of the loop so perhaps that is the going rate these days. I roamed the area about 4 or 5 times but nothing stood out that said "BUY ME NOW OR REGRET IT!" I was really hoping to see some USB Joysticks for sale by Legacy Engineering somewhere/somehow, that was was not to be, however. At least.. if it were, I did not see it. There was a pretty awesome Polk Audio setup for Guitar Hero and Rock Band Fanatics that gave you the feeling of really wanting to rock out with your socks off! If I ever get a 360 again, I may very well pick a pair of those bad boys up! Prior to the event on Saturday, VGEXPO (I believe?) it was... had some Karaoke Partying going on downstairs. Pretty good stuff and everyone is clearly having a great time . I couldn't stay long because I had the family with me but from what I got, good times indeed =) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMT3_a9cmuc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uyUyg9OpiQ I got to meet up with Dan from AVC and Jason at the Jagfest section. It was cool kicking it with you for a hot minute (no pun intended due to sauce or anything lol ). I got to play networked version of Doom on the Jaguar for the first time ever... against my 7 year old daughter even! haha... I seen Marty Goldberg in passing a few times (sorry I didn't attempt to help you earlier, by the time I had asked you were already done or close to it... should have nudged me and told my ass to help out! ) I seen Dan Loosen but he was very busy being preoccupied talking to tons of other people. Gary also seemed preoccupied with other stuff... I think I remember him looking at his laptop quite often... or at least down at something... so I'm guessing it was a laptop. Memory... heh.... Anyways, aside from the videos I've posted above, there are a few more on my youtube account you can fumble through and see if you like. (I'll be adding more over the course of the next few days since they are 100mb shots each and I'm on a shoddy wifi connection) ((also will post pictures in a few days when my Flickr account has more space )) Next year... Next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Something tells me that if I can manage to go, I'll be geeking out at the BenHeck Experience all day long. That, or getting some high scores on the pinballs. I can't wait to go. I really hope I can next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWI Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Actually, we still have plenty of room to grow there at 30,000 square feet this year. The Olympia was getting way to cramped for us, and the only next step up is the Midwest Airlines Center - which is way to expensive at this point. The same amount of space there would have cost three times as much - and that's without tables, electricity, etc. The Sheraton was a wonderful, wonderful location for us to work with and they went completely out of their way to help make sure the show was the success it was. Even letting us take over the lobby, hallways, and entire hotel - which is something a lot of these places usually don't do. Well that's good to hear! I liked the convention but the layout wasn't my favorite. I'm used to conventions that occupy one floor and the layout makes it easy to go around. Of course those are usually bigger in size and scope so perhaps my expectations were a little high. I'm glad the Sheraton was easy to work with, that goes a long way towards making up for any dislikes of the place. Thanks for a great show and I look forward to next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Before I hit the sack, had to add this photo of some of the partying in the VGEVO after party. Left to right: Ben Heckendorn, can't remember (sorry), CrazyClimber, and Longhorn Engineer. Oh yeah, that's why I had such a headache the next day - lol What an after party man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Leach Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Looks like everyone had a good time....I'm there next year for sure....! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wccw mark Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 looks like a lot of fun.i really need to go sometime.maybe next year if i can talk the wife into letting me go.also,thanks to all who shared their pictures & videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Thanks for sharing the videos, all. It sure does look crowded, which would have annoyed me, but I still wish I'd gone. I really liked the Oconomowoc location only due to the layout, but I totally understand the reasons that this location worked out better. It's really difficult with big events like this to find a suitable venue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted March 30, 2010 Author Share Posted March 30, 2010 (edited) Well that's good to hear! I liked the convention but the layout wasn't my favorite. I'm used to conventions that occupy one floor and the layout makes it easy to go around. Of course those are usually bigger in size and scope so perhaps my expectations were a little high. I'm glad the Sheraton was easy to work with, that goes a long way towards making up for any dislikes of the place. You probably never went to GenCon at the old Mecca when it was here then. Besides the main hall it was spread out on multiple floors, rooms, hallways, etc. Was actually a lot of fun. Thanks for a great show and I look forward to next year! Thanks, I look forward to it as well and to all of you returning. BTW, some of you missed the early fun that Dan had to deal with - Brookfield police showed up because of an "anonymous tip" that we were doing unlicensed (and therefore illegal) gambling. Apparently somebody in the area thought MGC was a gambling convention. That was quashed pretty easily, and looking back can be laughed at, but when it was happening I'm sure it was no joke. Edited March 30, 2010 by wgungfu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Well that's good to hear! I liked the convention but the layout wasn't my favorite. I'm used to conventions that occupy one floor and the layout makes it easy to go around. Of course those are usually bigger in size and scope so perhaps my expectations were a little high. I'm glad the Sheraton was easy to work with, that goes a long way towards making up for any dislikes of the place. You probably never went to GenCon at the old Mecca when it was here then. Besides the main hall it was spread out on multiple floors, rooms, hallways, etc. Was actually a lot of fun. Thanks for a great show and I look forward to next year! Thanks, I look forward to it as well and to all of you returning. BTW, some of you missed the early fun that Dan had to deal with - Brookfield police showed up because of an "anonymous tip" that we were doing unlicensed (and therefore illegal) gambling. Apparently somebody in the area thought MGC was a gambling convention. That was quashed pretty easily, and looking back can be laughed at, but when it was happening I'm sure it was no joke. AH Ha, This makes more sense now. The night before the show I left the the set-up (11:56pm), and was followed by a police cruiser out of the parking lot, down Mooreland, on to Bluemound Rd where I was locating the fee free ATM that someone had referred me to. The Cop followed me in to the parking lot of the bank. When I got out they proceeded to circle the building several times while I used the ATM (I was very worried that they would abuse their power and try to rob me.) When I got back in the car, I drove to my hotel and they followed me there (Quality Inn on Bluemound). I did not make any violations, erratic movements, they had NO CAUSE to follow me or harass me. I went in my hotel and that was the end of it (12:08am). This is the kind of crap that gives police a bad name. They had no reason to suspect me for doing anything wrong at all. There were no other cars on the street, I was being harassed. Ah, Brookfeild Police. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWI Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 There were no other cars on the street, I was being harassed. Ah, Brookfeild Police. AX Bah. You were being protected and served. They must have not found enough reason to raise revenue from you that night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveD Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Cool show, thanks to all who had a hand in arranging it. I showed up for a couple hours saturday morning/afternoon and had a blast looking around. The museum area was cool as always. What struck me as interesting was how big and how small all those machines were. The tiny Timex Sinclair and the behemoth all-in-one keyboards and computers were bigger than I remembered. The arcade and pinball areas were a blast. Just playing Satan's Hollow with a proper trigger stick again was worth the price of admission. Seeing a real, working Battlezone in great condition was very cool too. I remember the red ball on the Berzerk stick being so much bigger. At least it seemed that way 30 years ago. I didn't mind the layout. The areas were easy to find thanks to all the maps and signs. And being able to take a quick walk between areas was nice too. That large vendor area got a bit crowded and stuffy at times. Separating all the events with a quick walk was a welcome diversion for me. Personally I liked the location too. It was real close to home for me, very close to the expressway, lots of parking in their lot and the adjacent mall, and the proximity to several outstanding pizza places was a plus! I'll be there next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thanatos Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 AH Ha, This makes more sense now. The night before the show I left the the set-up (11:56pm), and was followed by a police cruiser out of the parking lot, down Mooreland, on to Bluemound Rd where I was locating the fee free ATM that someone had referred me to. The Cop followed me in to the parking lot of the bank. When I got out they proceeded to circle the building several times while I used the ATM (I was very worried that they would abuse their power and try to rob me.) When I got back in the car, I drove to my hotel and they followed me there (Quality Inn on Bluemound). I did not make any violations, erratic movements, they had NO CAUSE to follow me or harass me. I went in my hotel and that was the end of it (12:08am). This is the kind of crap that gives police a bad name. They had no reason to suspect me for doing anything wrong at all. There were no other cars on the street, I was being harassed. Ah, Brookfeild Police. AX It was the beard. Clearly someone up to no-good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carey85 Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 A friend of mine was victim of a Terry Stop on the way home from MGC courtesy of Milwaukee's finest. I guess the boys in blue must think that gamers are inherently dangerous... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 AH Ha, This makes more sense now. The night before the show I left the the set-up (11:56pm), and was followed by a police cruiser out of the parking lot, down Mooreland, on to Bluemound Rd where I was locating the fee free ATM that someone had referred me to. The Cop followed me in to the parking lot of the bank. When I got out they proceeded to circle the building several times while I used the ATM (I was very worried that they would abuse their power and try to rob me.) When I got back in the car, I drove to my hotel and they followed me there (Quality Inn on Bluemound). I did not make any violations, erratic movements, they had NO CAUSE to follow me or harass me. I went in my hotel and that was the end of it (12:08am). This is the kind of crap that gives police a bad name. They had no reason to suspect me for doing anything wrong at all. There were no other cars on the street, I was being harassed. Ah, Brookfeild Police. AX Out of state plates on a van driving around after midnight, looks like a drug mule to the fuzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodwill Hunter Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 As a vendor, I thought it was a fantastic show. Going to need to find an assistant one of these years, so I can see the rest of what was there. I can understand the concerns about the show being too spread out, but there seemed to be plenty of maps throughout the place. I was able to quickly find the Ben Heck room right before the show opened. Although I didn’t have any luck getting my 360 looked at, I did get to play Bill Paxton pinball, which was simply awesome. Congrats to Dan, Marty, Gary and their team on putting on another great show. I know it’s a ton of work, and it’s tough to please everyone, but I’m just happy that an event like this is right in my backyard. Till next year… Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWI Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I can understand the concerns about the show being too spread out, but there seemed to be plenty of maps throughout the place. It wasn't about the maps. It was about the goofy layout the Sheraton had. I suppose spread out was a bad choice of words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I can understand the concerns about the show being too spread out, but there seemed to be plenty of maps throughout the place. It wasn't about the maps. It was about the goofy layout the Sheraton had. I suppose spread out was a bad choice of words. The locked doors were more of a pain than the layout... it would have been forgivable if they weren't trying to keep everyone out that said the hotel staff was STELLAR compared the the rude people in Occonomowauk (sorry if I spelled that wrong) they were very friendly and accommodating at the hotel this year. Again with the cops being a big issue... I was in the middle of a deal with someone one day at the vendor hall, and a cop just walked up and told me to leave (closing time), I'm standing there talking to a vendor. It wasn't a "hey it's closing time" it was more like "you need to leave now." Must be the beard... it's common it Tennessee. Didn't know a Santa looking guy with a couple kids was scary. Maybe they had a slow weekend... end of the month... Quotas... that kind of thing Sniff Sniff, I smell a pork product of some kind. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Again with the cops being a big issue... I was in the middle of a deal with someone one day at the vendor hall, and a cop just walked up and told me to leave (closing time), I'm standing there talking to a vendor. It wasn't a "hey it's closing time" it was more like "you need to leave now." Must be the beard... it's common it Tennessee. Didn't know a Santa looking guy with a couple kids was scary. Maybe they had a slow weekend... end of the month... Quotas... that kind of thing Sniff Sniff, I smell a pork product of some kind. AX Maybe it was that methlab smell that tipped them off. You have to find another way to make the insane amount of money you laid down on stuff this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Again with the cops being a big issue... I was in the middle of a deal with someone one day at the vendor hall, and a cop just walked up and told me to leave (closing time), I'm standing there talking to a vendor. It wasn't a "hey it's closing time" it was more like "you need to leave now." Must be the beard... it's common it Tennessee. Didn't know a Santa looking guy with a couple kids was scary. Maybe they had a slow weekend... end of the month... Quotas... that kind of thing Sniff Sniff, I smell a pork product of some kind. AX Maybe it was that methlab smell that tipped them off. You have to find another way to make the insane amount of money you laid down on stuff this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqbw748_qjE I own a carrot mine. AX (Jimmy crack corn and I don't care) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickO2 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I wish the cops were tracking down my Atariage badge that someone nabbed before I could pick it up. Thanks to everyone that helped put on the show!!! It was fun, I just wish I could have spent more time at it. I picked up a couple of games and was able to meet some of you. Thanks to Opcode for bringing the Super Game Module! That was awesome to see in person. You'll never make everyone happy with the location or layout but I thought it was done as well as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I wish the cops were tracking down my Atariage badge that someone nabbed before I could pick it up. Thanks to everyone that helped put on the show!!! It was fun, I just wish I could have spent more time at it. I picked up a couple of games and was able to meet some of you. Thanks to Opcode for bringing the Super Game Module! That was awesome to see in person. You'll never make everyone happy with the location or layout but I thought it was done as well as possible. Oh, yeah. I don't mean to sound to negative. Each venue has its up and down side. It was WAY closer to town, and that alone scores it over 50% better than last years location. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatdan Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Hey everyone, Still working on getting our feet back under us, but I think it was a pretty darn successful show this year! Glad most of the people agree! For the police presence, at the show it was actually security guards, sorry if they cleared out the hall quickly, they were under instruction from us to do that, so you can blame me for that one. We just have had issues in the past where our halls end up with people in them at the wrong times for altogether too long, and it becomes hard to manage. As for Friday night, my guess is that they were just being overly careful. They had come to talk with us on Friday as mentioned, which was all cleared up, but then they decided to ask the patrols to cover the parking lot at night to make sure nothing fishy was happening. A midnight run from someone no matter who it was might have drawn their attention, as they were watching for anyone trying to leave with stuff that they shouldn't have been. Ultimately, perhaps a little intrusive, but I'm sure the vendors who had stuff there would rather them be overly protective than not at all. As for the location, we learned a lot this year. We are deciding whether or not to return soon, we also have a chance at one other venue that is courting us. The issues that we had in certain locations with traffic flow and whatnot I think can be resolved with a second year of being at the same location. We didn't nail the Olympia the first time either, but we had the challenge of filling an additional approximately 18,000 square feet of space at the Sheraton this year, while also having what you might consider almost "too much" stuff to fit it all in! We added all of the following things this year or grew them significantly: Gamers Network Room (New) BenHeck Room (about 3 times bigger than last year) Versus Room (New) 60+ additional arcade and pinball machines RGP.Rec.Room (new) VGEvo.com Room (About 10 times bigger than last year) Portable Pieces (New, although wasn't open that long) Second speaking venue (new) CelebrateTheArcades.com Tournaments (new) Hiccups? Definitely. Overcome-able? Definitely See you in a year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatdan Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Sheraton really did go out of their way in letting the event just reign hell all over their hotel floor. =) I was sort of surprised at the amount of rooms and all the stickers and so forth on the floor but I'm guessing Sheraton doesn't mind any of the extra attention they are, with no doubt, able to obtain in supporting this event. Just because I still find this amazing -- those floor dots? That idea actually came from the Sheraton and not us! I loved the idea, I just wish the dots had held up better. By the end of the day Saturday, there were about 50 of them left total it seemed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Sheraton really did go out of their way in letting the event just reign hell all over their hotel floor. =) I was sort of surprised at the amount of rooms and all the stickers and so forth on the floor but I'm guessing Sheraton doesn't mind any of the extra attention they are, with no doubt, able to obtain in supporting this event. Just because I still find this amazing -- those floor dots? That idea actually came from the Sheraton and not us! I loved the idea, I just wish the dots had held up better. By the end of the day Saturday, there were about 50 of them left total it seemed! Yea, haha.. that was a pretty good idea and did help lead people in the right direction! (Seriously!) I'm sure the reason they didn't hold well is because people kept picking them up off the floor and slapping them on their shirts or something. I seen a few that were wearing them. Next time just give free MGC stickers to anyone who wants them lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWI Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I wish the cops were tracking down my Atariage badge that someone nabbed before I could pick it up. Thanks to everyone that helped put on the show!!! It was fun, I just wish I could have spent more time at it. I picked up a couple of games and was able to meet some of you. Thanks to Opcode for bringing the Super Game Module! That was awesome to see in person. You'll never make everyone happy with the location or layout but I thought it was done as well as possible. Oh, yeah. I don't mean to sound to negative. Each venue has its up and down side. It was WAY closer to town, and that alone scores it over 50% better than last years location. AX Same here. The show is great, I will be back. I like the central location of the Sheraton and being right in Brookfield gave us a ton of options for food. I know when you move into a new location it's trial and error the first time. I have nothing bad to say about the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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