Midwest Gaming Classic 2018

[+frankodragon]

Just out of curiosity, because I usually avoid downtown Milwaukee like the plague, what are average charges in those parking garages around the area? I know some of them charge $150 for a lost ticket and such but it must not be cheap even to park for around eight hours.

[Gamemoose]

I paid $10 for "event parking" and we were across the street from the back of the Center. So overall to get to the main entrance was about a three block walk.

[Gamemoose]

I attempted going this morning but turned back once I got to Grafton. I could have made it but I wasn't sure about the rest of the drivers I was sharing the road with. So today was a disappointment as I didn't get a chance to play or see as much as I wanted.

 

Here's hoping next year Wisconsin decides to have nice weather that weekend. I think I might just do the VIG and make a weekend out of it.

[S1500]

I bought the VIG ticket last minute from a Pinsider(same he paid for it) and enjoyed it. Friday night otherwise, there was really nothing to do.

[MaliciousCarp]

I made it out - I got to meet Inky and Dauber, and i got to play a round of Atari 5200 Kaboom!. I really liked the twist of having one player play the bomber and the other play the bucket.

 

I liked the new venue, but it was really hard to find the panels on time. Having it split over two floors made it tough to navigate. I also felt that there wasn't good food options on site. We found a mall food court a block or two away, but it didn't have a very good selection either.

 

The new vendor hall was great. Everyone had a lot of space, but I did hear a couple of vendors complain about how their loading and unloading was disorganized and difficult.

 

The pinball room and museum were combined and I liked the new layout a lot.

 

The arcades were hard to navigate on Saturday - it would be nice if galloping ghost could find a better way to layout their room. Brian Colin's table was in an awkward place and it was hard to get through to play the games.

 

I loved the indie developer room - I really liked being able to talk to the developers and get the inside story on their games.

 

Overall it was a lot of fun and I like the new venue. I'm glad that I took the mega bus instead of driving myself.

[Dan Iacovelli]

I made it out - I got to meet Inky and Dauber, and i got to play a round of Atari 5200 Kaboom!. I really liked the twist of having one player play the bomber and the other play the bucket.

 

I liked the new venue, but it was really hard to find the panels on time. Having it split over two floors made it tough to navigate. I also felt that there wasn't good food options on site. We found a mall food court a block or two away, but it didn't have a very good selection either.

 

The new vendor hall was great. Everyone had a lot of space, but I did hear a couple of vendors complain about how their loading and unloading was disorganized and difficult.

 

The pinball room and museum were combined and I liked the new layout a lot.

 

The arcades were hard to navigate on Saturday - it would be nice if galloping ghost could find a better way to layout their room. Brian Colin's table was in an awkward place and it was hard to get through to play the games.

 

I loved the indie developer room - I really liked being able to talk to the developers and get the inside story on their games.

 

Overall it was a lot of fun and I like the new venue. I'm glad that I took the mega bus instead of driving myself.

you took mega bus, that was my way of getting there in the past, I noticed center is less then a mile from the amtrak station where they drop you off

the only problem I have with mega bus is the odd schedule they have. the other thing about megabus you have to book at least 45 days ahead of time to get the 1.00 rate.

if my buddy don't drive me next year I am considering taking mega bus next year if its at the center.

[ubersaurus]

Got back earlier today. Weather wasn't great as my friend and I were driving up from Chicago Saturday and Sunday, and Wisconsin did an incredibly poor job of getting the roads drivable again in a timely fashion (seriously, Illinois was on top of that instantly - Wisconsin sucked until Sunday afternoon). But the show itself was fantastic - I really dig the new venue, though I wasn't the biggest fan of mashing the museum/console gaming space and the arcade/pinball/tournament space into one area. Kinda felt like everything lost some uniqueness in the process. I did enjoy the new setup for the presentation rooms, and the one I was a part of went smoothly, but the 45 minute timer was incredibly strict - beyond mine, all the other ones I attended as an audience member were really pressed to wrap up within the 45 minute mark. I'd really prefer they expand the time per panel next year, even in that involves adding another presentation room or something.

 

Managed to knock a fair number of things off my wanted list and got to hang out with my pals from the National Videogame Museum, which was delightful - I hadn't seen all three of them together since 2007! Also had a nice time chatting with Nateo at the retronauts/watch out for fireballs gathering Saturday night, and dug having a short conversation with David Crane and Garry Kitchen before my friend and I left Sunday! Looking forward to coming back around next year - I may not be a midwesterner any more, but MGC is still one of my favorite events of the year.

[+frankodragon]

I'm thinking of maybe getting a hotel room for next year (if it's going to be held at the Wisconsin Center again) and maybe renting a space/table or sharing the cost with someone and showcase my homebrews. Maybe then I won't have to drive 50 miles round trip each for all three days, especially if bad weather happens like this year which was very unpleasant and unwelcome.

[S1500]

MGC moved to a new local was taking some getting used to. It used to be all under one roof, so compact, you would see arcade games + pinball + posters spilled out into the hallways. I liked that. Not the crowded hallways, no, but the community feeling was much more there with the close proximity of everything.

 

Wish the community area was closer to the arcade & vendor halls. Minor nitpick, I know.

 

I saw 3 games that were out of commission for the whole weekend. 2 were arcade games that were "not for sale". So why bring them? Probably just to get into the after party for free.

[Nateo]

Man, what a whirlwind trip! I had a great time at the Classic this year, got to meet and chat with a lot of great folks, including Ubersaurus, Inky and Dauber! I also managed to get some good interviews for the podcast.

I didnt end up buying very many actual video games - just a couple of cheap Famicom carts and a handful of TI-99 carts. But I did get some great books (I FINALLY picked up a copy of Phoenix) and a sweet Zork-inspired Retronauts shirt!

I liked the new venue, but the two floors seemed especially distant from one another. Ideally, I'd like to see even MORE stuff to go in between the gaps!

I'm still a bit exhausted from the trip (and from drinking too much while not having enough to eat beforehand) but I already can't wait for next year.

[Gamemoose]

My views on the show:

 

I like the location of the place. It's easier to get to and a bit closer. The fact that I can avoid the continual construction of I94 is a big plus. I don't care that I need to pay for parking as I have a family membership to the Milwaukee Public Museum so it's just part of going downtown.

 

The venue for the museum was spacious. From the areas I went to (as I had a very anxious 8 year old that wanted to either bounce from game to game or covet a particular machine, so I couldn't explore like I wanted) get to the games was easy and you didn't have to scrunch past people.

 

The only thing that seemed to get a bit obscured, at least from my limited point of view, was the museum side of things. Back at the Sheraton, the rooms for consoles and computers, to a degree, were seperate. There you could see the machines and read about them easier. From what I could see, the museum info got buried with people. Again, this was more a casual observation as I didn't press moving through these areas more as I planned to come on Sunday as well. So my observations could be all wet.

 

The main arcade and pinball area was nicely done with how everything was spaced. I wasn't fighting to get past folks and I could keep an eye on my daughter if she decided to play in the row behind me. The selection of machines was great and I got to play a few games that I haven't touched in decades like Battlezone. The display for the new pinballs gave a CES style vibe which made the unveiling of these new machines feel very exclusive. I didn't get to play any of the Iron Maiden or Star Wars pins but I liked what I saw. It was a great pairing of the digital world (a nice big high res screen that allowed you to choose what kind of objective you wanted, like "Escape the Death Star: shoot the ramp three times " in Star Wars) and analog (the boards were laid out well with plenty to shoot at without being sparse or too cluttered).

 

The vendor hall: it was indoors. Confetti was thrown and there was rejoicing. A good amount of vendors were there with lots of different wares. I don't really collect anymore but I found a couple things off my four item list. My daughter wanted another Poke'Mon plush and she got that within five minutes. I will say I got tempted with the decent pricing on some items (almost bought a Famicom) but my resolve held out.

 

The lower levels we just quickly wandered through. Star Cade felt cramped but that's par for the course. Garcade had some good titles and I liked how they had sanded gutted arcade cabs available. After seeing new arcade titles like Galactic Battlegrounds (which was a really fun multiplayer Space Invaders style competitive shooter), it got me thinking about building my own cab.

 

Like Ubersaurus I got to meet up with the folks from the National Videogame Museum, which I too haven't seen since Classic Gaming Expo 2007. I just happened to wear my Digital Press baseball jersey and a name tag with my DP handle, so that brought surprised reactions. That made the day for me on top of everything else.

 

The only real niggling thing, and this is beyond MGC's power, was the food prices of the convention center. Jersey Mike's subs were about the same price as last year but a water or soda was $4.50! I told my daughter we'd search around for a bottled drink but that was the going price. The pizza was outrageous at $7 for a big slice. If the weather would have been better Sunday, I would have packed a lunch for myself and my wife and step kids who were coming.

 

Oh and I give a big middle finger to Wisconsin weather. The forecast when I last saw it didn't seem so bad but then Sunday happened. Needless to say I was disappointed to not be able and peruse more. I'll have to put some more cash aside for next year as my twin step daughters will be ten years old, falling out of the free entry.

 

So all in all, I like where this is going. First year in new digs is going to have a tough transition.

[S1500]

I noticed that there was a coffee shop in the convention center that was closed through the entire weekend. There were other conventions at the center as well. Guess they didn't want the business. I noticed that with coffee shops at convention centers.

[Keatah]

I'm thinking of maybe getting a hotel room for next year (if it's going to be held at the Wisconsin Center again) and maybe renting a space/table or sharing the cost with someone and showcase my homebrews. Maybe then I won't have to drive 50 miles round trip each for all three days, especially if bad weather happens like this year which was very unpleasant and unwelcome.

 

Sucks, the weather is what turned us off going. Would have been the first show of this style we'd gone to in many many years.

Edited April 17, 2018 by Keatah

[+thanatos]

Had a great time at the show. I agree the distances between the museum/vendor halls and the other halls was really far. I didn't do nearly as much back-and-forth as I would do at the Sheraton.

I saw Dauber and Inky again, and met Nateo the first time.

 

A major highlight for me was having Billy Mitchell play the Donkey Kong port on my CoCo 3. Regardless of the controversy, I think this is awesome/hilarious. I just flagged him down, told him about the port, and asked him to play it.

 

 

 

[gauauu]

I agree the distances between the museum/vendor halls and the other halls was really far. I didn't do nearly as much back-and-forth as I would do at the Sheraton.

 

 

I'm glad you made it down to say hi in the NintendoAge room though -- a lot of people didn't because it was so far from everything else (I don't think I met a bunch of you, as I spent most of the time showing off my NES game)

[+thanatos]

 

I'm glad you made it down to say hi in the NintendoAge room though -- a lot of people didn't because it was so far from everything else (I don't think I met a bunch of you, as I spent most of the time showing off my NES game)

 

Oh yeah... Did anyone ever beat my Punch-Out score? I never made it back to try to beat Mr. Sandman.

[BassGuitari]

Had a great time at the show. I agree the distances between the museum/vendor halls and the other halls was really far. I didn't do nearly as much back-and-forth as I would do at the Sheraton.

I saw Dauber and Inky again, and met Nateo the first time.

 

A major highlight for me was having Billy Mitchell play the Donkey Kong port on my CoCo 3. Regardless of the controversy, I think this is awesome/hilarious. I just flagged him down, told him about the port, and asked him to play it.

 

20180414_171430.jpg

 

 

 

Please tell me he's not wearing sweat socks with a suit and dress shoes.

[gauauu]

 

Oh yeah... Did anyone ever beat my Punch-Out score? I never made it back to try to beat Mr. Sandman.

 

Nope. Nobody else got past Bald Bull.

[+thanatos]

 

Nope. Nobody else got past Bald Bull.

 

Sweet. I'm still annoyed I didn't get past the champion with 2 attempts.