Midwest Gaming Classic
Encyclopedia
The Midwest Gaming Classic (MGC) is an annual convention for all forms of electronic entertainment, including video games, arcade games (video, pinball, traditional electro-mechanical), computers, and more. The expo is open to the general public and bills itself as a "fan based" show rather than an industry trade show like E3.
While the MGC attracts a large contingent of Retrogaming
enthusiasts every year and supports this grouping of video game fans, the philosophy and use of the word Classic in the show title is meant to convey the fact that "everything is a classic to someone." As such, the show covers all forms of electronic entertainment from the glory days of pinball and other electro-mechanical machines to the latest computer and console offerings, and features gaming competitions and prizes.
Usually the event is usually held in March of each year in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
although for 2010 it will be held in Brookfield, Wisconsin
.
scene of the Atari Jaguar
. At that time, the 2K1 show organizers Dan Loosen and Gary Heil decided to open the show to all classic platforms in an effort to expand attendance. They were soon contacted by Martin Goldberg who offered to set up a museum area for the show, and started a tradition of having consoles and computers on display playable by show attendees, as well as gaming competitions held on multiple platforms and prizes at the show.
who suggested Midwest Classic.
During the organization process J.D. Norman of Die Hard Gamer, who had been in attendance at Jagfest 2K1, decided to come on board as an organizer as well as join the museum with Marty. It was also during this first Midwest Classic that the show was expanded to include Pinballs.
The 2002 show also saw the launching of several new games for classic consoles, including Warring Worms
for the Atari 2600
and the Turbo Duo title "Implode". The 2002 show also saw the start of a long standing tradition of Dreamcast community support, with the appearance of developer Paul Boese and his 3D Invaders homebrew. Lastly, the 2002 show also saw the appearance of the show's longest running sponsor (next to The GOAT Store), Stern Pinball (the only last producer of pinball machines).
cafeteria and meeting hall and was held on June 7, 2003. J.D. Norman left as an organizer, but continued to display his collection with Marty in the museum area. Noted pinball collector Tom Lucht was brought on board as a co-organizer, and immediately set about beefing up the pinball/arcade section of the show.
The show's arcade vendor policy was also created for this show, with all the show not charging for sales as long as all arcade games on the floor are set to free play for attendees. This show also saw the appearance of arcade and pinball vendors, including K&K Amusements and Illinois Pinball.
2003 also saw the return of MIDI Maze
for the Atari ST
, the first 16 player networked first person shooter. The Dreamcast game Feet of Fury made its commercial debut at the show with a full floor display.Jagfest (which had suffered in attendance the previous year for its St. Louis 2002 show) returned in a new format, as a smaller display area called Jagfest On Tour.
Various homebrew titles for the Jaguar and Atari 2600 also made their debut at the show, as did the Dreamcast titles Inhabitants and Maqiupai, the winners of the first annual Dream On Contest (held jointly between Cyberdog Castle and The GOAT Store).
Twin Galaxies
also attended the show for the first time, with founder Walter Day
, Dwane Richard, and legendary competitor/record holder Billy Mitchell
making appearances. Billy also set the world public record for Donkey Kong
while in attendance.
Speakers were also added to the show for the first time, with Gene Cunningham, Don Caldwell, Mark Bakula, J.D. Norman, Dan Loosen, Marty Godlberg, the staff of S+F Software, and others speaking about relative gaming topics. Noted homebrew publishers AtariAge
and Packrate Video Games attended the for the first time. Game LANs also made a return to the MGC with the Macintosh classic Marathon 2 and PC based Battlefield: Vietnam there in large 12 player LANs. The 2004 MGC also added musical entertainment with Bud Melvin, who plays a banjo with a hacked Game Boy Color as background music, on hand in the main hall.
The 2004 show exploded in attendance to an official 1,200 over the 2 days. However the attendance was actually closer to 2,000 as only paying attendees are traditionally counted for the final count (children 12 and under have always been free, and make up a large part of the attendance as well). The show was clearly growing beyond the scope of the 4 organizers, and it was decided to take 2005 to plan further growth and to obtain volunteers to help run and organize it.
All areas of the show doubled in size, with 100 arcade machines (pinball, video, and electro-mechanical), 30+ console/computer/arcade vendors, a large separate display area (which also included the second annual DreamCon game convention, the return of Jagfest On Tour, and a new area called The Underdog Chamber which featured a Marathon 2 Mac LAN and various runner up game systems), a further enhanced museum, and large speaker area. 11 new Dreamcast games were revealed at the show, as were new games for Atari consoles.
Speakers included Ellen Lurie of Raven Software, the game author/publisher Scott Adams
, Benjamin Heckendorn
, authors Don Caldwell and Mark Bakula, and more. Ralph Baer was to have attended but became to weak for travel and instead sent material for Marty Goldberg to present for him. In a "live" display, Russell Stetzer hacked an NES into a form factor (Mini-ITX
) PC over the two days.
An episode of the podcast Team Fremont Live was recorded at the event. Microsoft provided an Xbox 360 to be given away for the raffle along with 2 games for it provided by Sega. A professional pinball tournament was also run, with cash prizes. Final attendance was reportedly slightly larger than the 2004 show, which was a targeted goal.
While the MGC attracts a large contingent of Retrogaming
Retrogaming
Retrogaming, also known as old-school gaming, is the hobby of playing and collecting older computer, video, and arcade games. These games are played either on the original hardware, on modern hardware via emulation, or on modern hardware via ports or compilations...
enthusiasts every year and supports this grouping of video game fans, the philosophy and use of the word Classic in the show title is meant to convey the fact that "everything is a classic to someone." As such, the show covers all forms of electronic entertainment from the glory days of pinball and other electro-mechanical machines to the latest computer and console offerings, and features gaming competitions and prizes.
Usually the event is usually held in March of each year in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
Oconomowoc is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The name was derived from Coo-no-mo-wauk, the Potawatomi term for "waterfall." The population was 12,382 at the 2000 census. The city is partially adjacent to the Town of Oconomowoc and near the Village of Oconomowoc...
although for 2010 it will be held in Brookfield, Wisconsin
Brookfield, Wisconsin
Brookfield is a city located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It had a population of 37,920 in the 2010 census. Brookfield is the second largest city in Waukesha County, and the leading commercial suburb of Milwaukee. The City of Brookfield was formed in 1954 from the Town of...
.
History
The Midwest Gaming Classic was first held on June 30, 2001 as Jagfest 2K1 and was dedicated to ongoing fan base and homebrewHomebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
scene of the Atari Jaguar
Atari Jaguar
The Atari Jaguar is a video game console that was released by Atari Corporation in 1993. It was the last to be marketed under the Atari brand until the release of the Atari Flashback in 2004. It was designed to surpass the Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Panasonic...
. At that time, the 2K1 show organizers Dan Loosen and Gary Heil decided to open the show to all classic platforms in an effort to expand attendance. They were soon contacted by Martin Goldberg who offered to set up a museum area for the show, and started a tradition of having consoles and computers on display playable by show attendees, as well as gaming competitions held on multiple platforms and prizes at the show.
2002
Jagfest changed locations and organizers again for its 2002 show. However after the success of the 2K1 show, which was one of the largest attended Jagfest shows, it was decided to not let the momentum created go to waste. So Dan, Gary and Marty decided to band together and start their own show. Dan and Gary held a contest to decide the name of the show, which was won by noted console hacker Benjamin HeckendornBenjamin Heckendorn
Benjamin J. Heckendorn is a console modder and Internet Celebrity. He is better known as "Ben Heck" on the Internet. Heckendorn is also an independent film maker....
who suggested Midwest Classic.
During the organization process J.D. Norman of Die Hard Gamer, who had been in attendance at Jagfest 2K1, decided to come on board as an organizer as well as join the museum with Marty. It was also during this first Midwest Classic that the show was expanded to include Pinballs.
The 2002 show also saw the launching of several new games for classic consoles, including Warring Worms
Warring Worms
- Background :Warring Worms was created by software developer Billy Eno and released in 2002 under the Baroque Gaming label. The game was Eno's first released Atari 2600 homebrew game.- Gameplay :...
for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
and the Turbo Duo title "Implode". The 2002 show also saw the start of a long standing tradition of Dreamcast community support, with the appearance of developer Paul Boese and his 3D Invaders homebrew. Lastly, the 2002 show also saw the appearance of the show's longest running sponsor (next to The GOAT Store), Stern Pinball (the only last producer of pinball machines).
2003
With the success of the 2002 show, it was decided another location was needed for further growth. So in 2003, the show moved to the spacious Nicolet High SchoolNicolet High School
Nicolet High School is a public secondary school located in Glendale, Wisconsin. It is the only school in the Nicolet Unified School District, which serves Glendale, Fox Point, Bayside, and River Hills. Primary schooling is administered by three feeder districts. The Nicolet Unified School district...
cafeteria and meeting hall and was held on June 7, 2003. J.D. Norman left as an organizer, but continued to display his collection with Marty in the museum area. Noted pinball collector Tom Lucht was brought on board as a co-organizer, and immediately set about beefing up the pinball/arcade section of the show.
The show's arcade vendor policy was also created for this show, with all the show not charging for sales as long as all arcade games on the floor are set to free play for attendees. This show also saw the appearance of arcade and pinball vendors, including K&K Amusements and Illinois Pinball.
2003 also saw the return of MIDI Maze
MIDI Maze
MIDI Maze is an early first person shooter maze video game for the Atari ST developed by Xanth Software F/X, published by Hybrid Arts, and released around 1987. It owes a significant debt to what may be the first of its genre, Maze War...
for the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, the first 16 player networked first person shooter. The Dreamcast game Feet of Fury made its commercial debut at the show with a full floor display.Jagfest (which had suffered in attendance the previous year for its St. Louis 2002 show) returned in a new format, as a smaller display area called Jagfest On Tour.
Various homebrew titles for the Jaguar and Atari 2600 also made their debut at the show, as did the Dreamcast titles Inhabitants and Maqiupai, the winners of the first annual Dream On Contest (held jointly between Cyberdog Castle and The GOAT Store).
2004
It was decided the show had once again outgrown its space, and moved locations for its 2004 show to the Sheraton in Brookfield. A name change was also in order, as it was discovered a Midwestern golf tournament also used the Midwest Classic title, and the word "Gaming" was added. The retitled Midwest Gaming Classic also expanded to a 2 day show. Thanks to the efforts of Tom and Dan the arcade section of the show grew even larger, with 40+ video, pinball and electro-mechanical arcade games there.Twin Galaxies
Twin Galaxies
Twin Galaxies is an American organization that tracks video game world records and conducts a program of electronic-gaming promotions. It operates the Twin Galaxies website and publishes the Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, with the Arcade Volume released on June...
also attended the show for the first time, with founder Walter Day
Walter Day
Walter Aldro Day, Jr. is the founder of Twin Galaxies, an international organization based in Fairfield, Iowa, that tracks high score statistics for the worldwide electronic video gaming hobby...
, Dwane Richard, and legendary competitor/record holder Billy Mitchell
Billy Mitchell (gamer)
Billy L. Mitchell, born July 16, 1965, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is best known for recording high scores in classic video games from the Golden Age of Arcade Games. He has been claimed by some as the "greatest arcade-video-game player of all time". His achievements include the first perfect score...
making appearances. Billy also set the world public record for Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (video game)
is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. It is an early example of the platform game genre, as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Jumpman must rescue a damsel in distress, Lady, from a...
while in attendance.
Speakers were also added to the show for the first time, with Gene Cunningham, Don Caldwell, Mark Bakula, J.D. Norman, Dan Loosen, Marty Godlberg, the staff of S+F Software, and others speaking about relative gaming topics. Noted homebrew publishers AtariAge
AtariAge
Atari Age was a magazine distributed to Atari Club members from 1982 until 1984. It was published by The Atari Club Inc., a subsidiary of Atari, Inc.-History:...
and Packrate Video Games attended the for the first time. Game LANs also made a return to the MGC with the Macintosh classic Marathon 2 and PC based Battlefield: Vietnam there in large 12 player LANs. The 2004 MGC also added musical entertainment with Bud Melvin, who plays a banjo with a hacked Game Boy Color as background music, on hand in the main hall.
The 2004 show exploded in attendance to an official 1,200 over the 2 days. However the attendance was actually closer to 2,000 as only paying attendees are traditionally counted for the final count (children 12 and under have always been free, and make up a large part of the attendance as well). The show was clearly growing beyond the scope of the 4 organizers, and it was decided to take 2005 to plan further growth and to obtain volunteers to help run and organize it.
2006
For the June 3 and 4, 2006 Midwest Gaming Classic a full staff of volunteers joined. J.D. Norman also returned to co-organizer status. The show moved to the Olympia Resort just outside of the Milwaukee area and floor space increase to 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²). After the suggestion of some attendees of the 2004 show, the 2006 show was located in two main halls (2004's had been in several halls and floors of the Sheraton).All areas of the show doubled in size, with 100 arcade machines (pinball, video, and electro-mechanical), 30+ console/computer/arcade vendors, a large separate display area (which also included the second annual DreamCon game convention, the return of Jagfest On Tour, and a new area called The Underdog Chamber which featured a Marathon 2 Mac LAN and various runner up game systems), a further enhanced museum, and large speaker area. 11 new Dreamcast games were revealed at the show, as were new games for Atari consoles.
Speakers included Ellen Lurie of Raven Software, the game author/publisher Scott Adams
Scott Adams (game designer)
Scott Adams is the co-founder, with ex-wife Alexis, of Adventure International, an early publisher of games for home computers....
, Benjamin Heckendorn
Benjamin Heckendorn
Benjamin J. Heckendorn is a console modder and Internet Celebrity. He is better known as "Ben Heck" on the Internet. Heckendorn is also an independent film maker....
, authors Don Caldwell and Mark Bakula, and more. Ralph Baer was to have attended but became to weak for travel and instead sent material for Marty Goldberg to present for him. In a "live" display, Russell Stetzer hacked an NES into a form factor (Mini-ITX
Mini-ITX
Mini-ITX is a 17 x 17 cm low-power motherboard form factor developed by VIA Technologies in 2001. Mini-ITX is slightly smaller than microATX. Mini-ITX boards can often be passively cooled due to their low power consumption architecture, which makes them useful for home theater PC systems,...
) PC over the two days.
An episode of the podcast Team Fremont Live was recorded at the event. Microsoft provided an Xbox 360 to be given away for the raffle along with 2 games for it provided by Sega. A professional pinball tournament was also run, with cash prizes. Final attendance was reportedly slightly larger than the 2004 show, which was a targeted goal.
External links
- Midwest Gaming Classic - official site.
- GOAT Store (Event Sponsor)
- Midwest Gaminc Classic at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. - Electronic Entertainment Museum
- Die Hard Gamer