Thanks to Dan for giving his time for the Interview.  Hope you enjoy and be sure to go to the Midwest Gaming Classic this weekend.    http://www.midwestgamingclassic.com

Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Dan Loosen who is displayed on card number 160, from the Superstars of 2011 Collection.  Dan is one of the co-founders and organizers of the Midwest Gaming Classic, a gaming trade show in Milwaukee, WI.  The MGC showcases retro and modern home video game consoles, pinball machines, arcade video games, computers, table top gaming, crane games, collectible card games and much more.

When did you first meet Walter Day and where was it at?

I first met Walter at the 2004 Midwest Gaming Classic. He had emailed me and told me that he would be coming to our show with a few players and was it okay if a team that was shooting a documentary was there too.  We said sure, and a few weeks later at the show I met him.  I didn’t have too long to talk to him, but he was definitely a great person to have around, and his love of the culture around gaming and preserving that culture was outstanding.

If you could describe Walter Day in one word, what would that word be and why?

Energy – Walter just exudes energy about the things that he enjoys, and it shows with what he does.

Did you ever think when you were younger you would be on a Video game Trading card?

Nope!  I remember getting the fun scratch-off video game trading cards as a kid, but never expected anyone would be on them.  It’s an interesting product, and one that I’m not surprised that Walter decided to put his energy behind doing.

Do you remember your first video game / arcade you played and what do you remember about it?

I have no memory of the first game that I played, but I definitely do have memories of the games that I fell in love with playing.  Of the early games for me, Pitfall II sticks out as my earliest memories of really falling head over heels with a game.

What are your opinions about today’s generation of video games?  How do you compare them to older, classic games?

I love all types of games.  I both love the old school games that were often about the high score chase, and the new games that are more about the story.  Video games have evolved in so many ways, and I think that evolution is both healthy for the industry, and has created some great things.

What is your favorite portable gaming device and why?

It’s hard for me to pick.  I particularly enjoy portable gaming due to the busy nature of my life – it’s far easier to get to play a game for 5 minutes and then move on than it is to sit down and play a couple hours of the latest blockbuster.  Having said that, lately I have been playing my PS Vita and 3DS the most, although I own basically one of everything, including a Gizmondo.

If you could own one arcade game or pinball game, what would it be and why? 

Well, I own a bunch and it would be very hard to narrow it down to just one!  If I had to get rid of them all, the last two to go would be Jurassic Park pinball and Iron Man pinball.  Jurassic Park because it is the game that got me into pinball, and I just helped to do a code tweak to it to make it play even better, and Iron Man because I think it may be the perfect pinball machine for what I like to play.  I would also have a really hard time giving up my Area 51 / Maximum Force shooter arcade video machine.

Growing up were you team Sega or Nintendo and why?

I went in between.  I started with Atari because my dad purchased one to play Space Invaders on when they crashed.  When the NES became big, my parents refused to buy one because they said that we already had the Atari and it was the same thing.  I would go with my dad to rummage sales, and he would give me money to purchase Atari games with, so I developed a love of them.  When I saved enough of my own money, I purchased a NES at a card show, and then later got a SNES for Donkey Kong Country.  I really enjoyed the Sega games however.

I had heard about the Atari Jaguar and wanted one of those, but never saw one for sale, until that console was dead, and then that became the console of choice for me.  The final console I was crazy into was the Dreamcast, which I just adored everything about.

I still have pretty much every console that comes out, and while I have a number of games for them each, I haven’t played anything nearly to that extent.  I find all companies and all consoles to be worthy of some level of joy.

Do you believe some video games are too violent and lead to violence in America today?

I don’t believe that some games are too violent, but I do believe that parents need to be involved in choosing what is acceptable for their children to be exposed to.  I do believe that if parents allow children to play games that have themes that they are not yet ready for, be that violence or otherwise, that children could get the wrong idea from them.

What games today do you play and what are your favorite genres of games?

The only games that I play on a regular basis are my pinball machines.  On the rare occasions that I have time for something more, I either love story-driven games like the Metal Gear Solid series or things from Telltale Games, or old-school arcade style games.  I also greatly enjoy good 2D platformers.

Are you still involved with gaming today, and what role do you play?

I am.  I both coordinate the yearly Midwest Gaming Classic trade show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and I co-own the GOAT Store, LLC, an online retro video game retailer.  You can find them online at http://www.midwestgamingclassic.com and http://www.goatstore.com.  Additionally, the GOAT Store has published a number of products, mostly Dreamcast games so far, under the GOAT Store Publishing banner, and we are excited to keep bringing new things to fans of old consoles.  You can find that at http://www.goatstorepublishing.com

Where do you see video gaming in the next 20 years?

I think it will just keep evolving.  I had no idea 20 years ago that we would see some of the amazing things that we see today, so I’m excited to see what happens in the future.

Please visit and meet Dan Loosen at his yearly Midwest Gaming Classic at http://www.midwestgamingclassic.com

http://www.goatstore.com

http://www.goatstorepublishing.com

For more information and videos from Todd Friedman click here. 

This is one of an ongoing series of articles based on the Walter Day Collection of e-sports/video gaming trading cards – check out more information at thewalterdaycollection.com.   For more information and videos from Todd Friedman click here. 

The post Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Dan Loosen appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Earlier this year, I had a realization. The SIU Student Center, like so many buildings that have been around a long time, has a bunch of old CRTs in storage. What if, instead of just letting them sit there collecting dust, they could be brought out to serve their original purpose? By which I mean, of course, letting people play Duck Hunt on the NES with nice, satisfying Zapper Gun clicks at Saluki Con this past weekend, from the 18th to the 19th.

When I first contacted Saluki Con about the possibility of setting up free-to-play retro games at Saluki Con, Nathan Bonner of Student Affairs was enthusiastic about the idea. So was Ryan Burger, the publisher of Old School Gamer Magazine. He offered four Ataris from his personal stash for the event. Unfortunately, there were only two gamepads in that stash, one of which can’t go down. Fortunately, Nathan Bonner had an old copy of E.T., so on that first day I just set E.T. up with a broken controller, figuring no one would understand the game well enough to realize that they’re supposed to be able to go down.

Unsurprisingly, even when I changed up the display on the second day, consolidating the Atari games to a single 2600, no one could figure out what they were supposed to do. One family did manage to figure out how to beat Adventure though (the little Stormtrooper was one of them), and a teenager who initially hated H.E.R.O. got to appreciate the obscure, late age Atari title. Pac-Man is, well, Pac-Man. I did get the idea to set up an old Pac-Man plug-and-play just to show off how crude the Atari 2600 port is compared to something that more clearly resembles the Pac-Man we all know and love. I also set up the Epilogue Playback with some Game Boy games, mostly because a lot of people asked for Tetris that first day.

Overall, the event was quite successful! I thought three TVs would be plenty, but demand was high enough that I requested a fourth one for the second day. Now that these CRTVs have been awakened to their true purpose, they can slumber for the next year awaiting the moment when they will be called into service again, dazzling children with their beautiful scanlines. Maybe next year we can have a second NES too, with Hogan’s Alley. Until then, a merry welcome to any new subscribers who scanned our QR code for that free digital subscription!

The post Old School Gamer Magazine at Saluki Con appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Armando Twitch ID : Apokz24                                                                   Jordan Twitch ID: Jdgalaga

They thought the competition had ended. I dare say it may have just begun! Armando and Jordan have been streaming and playing quite a bit lately in an effort to cross this mythical plateau. Jordan is the current Marathon (and former Tournament) World Record Holder. Armando is the current Tournament (and former Marathon) World Record Holder. They have gone back and forth with some monster scores! Will this excitement bring others out? Will Mike Thompson throw his hat into the ring? Will we be hearing from Andrew Barrow? Could someone else break into this elite group and put up a score, the likes of which, we’ve never seen? Taylor Morgan, Jason Strawn and Phillip Perea are definitely worthy of a mention, as are a few others. For now, it seems pretty safe to assume there will be a 10,000,000-point score very soon. We could even see 12,000,000, from the looks of it. Armando Gonzalez and Jordan Dorrington are setting the Galaga world afire and this is something you don’t want to miss!

The post Galaga: The Race to 10,000,000 (REWIND) appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/attend/

I’m really excited about this one – it’s a continuation of our art series where we take inspiration from old school sprites and put them into awesome artistic designs! My brother-in-law and artist Christopher Willey designed this one, as he has every dated shirt for the past 10+ years, and I love it! Earthbound remains one of my favorite video games ever (and I bought my boxed copy for $5.95, so I’ve liked it for a long time!) and even though this is inspired by Jeff’s Sky Runner, it just felt right for the 25th Anniversary to feature a “friend ship” on the shirt.

Anyway, if you want to get it, it’ll be up on the site for approximately the next 75 days! More great news to come!

The post Midwest Gaming Classic – 2026 Exclusive Dated Shirt Revealed! appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Upon walking through this section, I found the Arcade1Up booth featuring their cabinets of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, NBA Jam, Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, and Big Buck Hunter. Although it was nice to see that they had a special convention discount of $50 for the cabinets, I was already familiar with these.  What caught my attention was the Arcade1Up Claw Machine. Given the rising popularity of claw machines in the US, I found this to be a curious addition to any private arcade collection due to its free-play nature, which is almost unheard of (free-play arcade cabinets are much more commonplace).  

As I walked around further in Akiba Station, I noticed the MIX (Media Indie Exchange) section, where independent game developers showcased their latest titles. Among the several independent titles featured, two stood out to me due to their connection with old-school gaming. Known best for Shovel Knight, Yacht Club Games featured the upcoming Mina the Hollower for play. Yacht’s own Marketing and Licensing Director, Celia Schilling, went over the gameplay with me and described how the game was designed to be reminiscent of GameBoy Advance games. Afterwards, I went to the Wayforward Technologies booth, where they had Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution for play. At the booth, I spoke with Voldi Way, the Tyrannical Overlord (CEO and founder) of the company, who shared how Shantae was just released physically for the GameBoy Advance (GBA). Although the game started development on the GBA and resumed development within the last couple of years, the game is reminiscent of games from that platform. Although these are recently developed games, these titles keep the spirit of old-school gaming and should be checked out.

Upon hearing that Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser would speak on the convention’s main stage, I made it a point to see. Interviewed by IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey, Dan briefly shared about what led up to the release of Grand Theft Auto III (GTA III) and the aftermath. Houser pointed out how it was at this same venue where they went to E3 2001 and noted how people “seemed completely underwhelmed by something we thought had the potential to be amazing”. After its successful release in October 2001, Houser noted how “they didn’t even have enough money to make copies of the game. We couldn’t make it quick enough, and the game just kept selling”. Even as they entered 2002, he noted that they “kept thinking it would stop and it just never stopped”. Beyond GTA and Rockstar, Houser closed the conversation by sharing how he also writes American Caper, a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics.

Whether you are into arcades, console gaming, or PC Gaming, L.A. Comic Con offers something for every gamer. We want to thank L.A. Comic Con for allowing us to cover this event, along with special thanks to Celia Schilling of Yacht Club Games and Voldi Way of Wayforward Technologies for speaking with us. If you attended LA Comic Con before, let us know what you think. Our next stop will be the Portland Retro Gaming Expo from October 18-19, 2025, and we hope to see you at our booth!

The post Old School Gaming at L.A. Comic Con 2025 appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Chansy: How did you start collecting arcade cabinets and building your current private arcade? 

Connor: I started as a kid growing up in the ’80s when these games came out. These provided an escape for me, so I would go to arcades with whatever money I had. From there, I liked console and computer games, which we gave up when we had kids.


I later found out that people collected arcade PCBs, so I started with a SuperGun. My friends had the generic Japanese candy cabinets, so I then started collecting those. 
Once I reached the limit of what I could play with those, I found out people collect dedicated arcade cabinets, and I started to collect those that had either special controls or monitors.

I met a gentleman named Francis, and he was the purveyor of the premier home arcade at the time called the Ataricade. 
Somehow, I got on his very exclusive invite list, and I was probably the most frequent guest invited. 
He was a pre-eminent Atari curator; he had prototype games, original artwork, and everything else. He encouraged me to build a home arcade. When we purchased this house in 2011, I envisioned that we could have a home arcade here. We tore down the garage and rebuilt it for that purpose. Whereas Francis’ arcade house had around 26 games, I have 43 games, including After Burner Deluxe and Tournament Cyberball 2072. 


I started collecting arcade games probably around 2002-2003, but I just recently completed this arcade because I had a 10-year hiatus due to my kids. 
I was always working overtime, so I had no time to actually pursue this. I recently got a promotion six months ago, and that’s allowed me to have weekends off. With my wife’s encouragement, I worked to finish the arcade. I almost gave it up; if you saw what this room looked like four years ago, it was just a mess. 
She told me either to do something with it or get rid of it, so I chose to do something with it. I host arcade parties for free most of the time, and I have some good friends who come over to fix the arcades when something is broken. Francis also insisted that I purchase his change machine from him, and said, “Trust me, you’re gonna want it.” 
After all this time, I’m so happy to have a change machine. All my games are on quarter operation, just like the old days.

Walter Day with the Change Machine

The Ataricade sign that you saw was from his arcade. After he got rid of it, it was up at the Vintage Arcade Superstore where Gene Lewin said, “I can’t sell it to you,” but I said, “Francis is my buddy. If he ever comes back wanting that thing, I’ll bring it right back to you”. He sold it to me for 500 bucks. 

That’s my homage to my buddy. When Walter Day came, he told me many times that this is the best arcade he’s been to. It says a lot because there’s a lot of private home arcades, and that guy’s a legend. There are home arcades out there with 150-200 arcade cabinets, but it’s just nice to know that you know I’m in that category, and I think people have a good time when they come out and visit.

Ataricade

Chansy: You held a private arcade party and screening of Arcades and Love Songs with Walter Day. How did that idea come to be? 


Connor: Throughout the years, he’s been a fixture of the arcade world for a long time. Google “Father of E-sports,” and his name pops up. Around March, my friend Paul Dean, who’s the world record holder of Frenzy and Spy Hunter, let me know about the premiere of Arcades and Love Songs at the Art Theater in Long Beach, CA, where Walter Day and maybe Billy Mitchell were going to be. When I went there, I saw Billy Mitchell in the lobby. Billy’s got a gruff persona, but he is the nicest guy in person. I got a chance to meet Walter Day after the movie and Q&A,  and he seemed genuine. 
I wondered if he’d be willing to come out to an arcade party in his honor, and to my surprise, he agreed. 
We were talking about the party and how it would be cool to just screen his movie here. That’s how we got the director Ed Cunningham involved. We exchanged numbers, and we’ve been in touch ever since. 
When he came by, he gave me an autobiography as a gift. He said he enjoyed his time so much that he’s already talking about wanting to come back next year. I want to celebrate people while they’re alive. 
Some couldn’t make it, so they’re gonna get another opportunity next year.

Owner Tom Connor with Walter Day

Chansy: What was the most memorable thing about this event? 

Connor: Prior to this event, most of my parties were on the smaller side, from 15-30 people. We ended up with about 100 people. The most memorable thing was seeing all these people and their reaction when meeting Walter, who was gracious to take photos and sign things.

Walter Day at the Private Party Screening

Chansy: Which arcade cabinet is the most storied in your collection? 

Connor: It is the crown jewel of my collection: After Burner Deluxe. It’s got two electric motors with little rubber wheels, one’s for the pitch and one’s for the roll, and that’s how it kind of controls the motion. 
I bought that game in working condition on eBay. 
I was a mechanic, so I got some channel iron, bought some heavy-duty industrial wheels, and bolted those on there. Then my buddy from work came after working overtime, and welded those things at the bottom. Now the game rolls so easily. 
Over the years, I have tracked down replacement parts, new/old stock parts, new/old stock flight controllers, and plastics. One of my crown jewel parts that I can never find ever again is the monitor plexi. 
My game is almost perfect; it’s just a showstopper.  When Top Gun: Maverick came out, Gene asked, “You want to sell your After Burner?”. I said, “No”. I thought to myself and said, “Gene, if you want me to sell it, let me take a couple things off that machine”. He goes, “What?” He’s paying me because he knows what I’ve got on it. I can’t because I can’t find those pieces again. Somebody out there that wants to pay a lot of money for that. 
I said, “No” and I still have After Burner (laughs)!

The Most Storied Cabinet: After Burner Deluxe

We thank Tom for hosting this private party to celebrate Walter Day and for allowing us the opportunity to interview him. Please check out @_fatherpain_ on Instagram or email Tom at fatherpain@hotmail.com for more information on his “Garcade” and upcoming events. If you’re in the area and get a chance to visit, let us know!

The post Arcades & Love Songs – Private Party Interview with “Garcade” Owner Tom Connor appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes on the 2026 Midwest Gaming Classic, and I figure it’s time to share some of them with you! First up, tickets are on sale and we’ve had a great response already, with our VIG tickets having already sold more than double than what they did at this time last year! That’s incredible, and a huge thank you to everyone who has purchased them already, they’re helping us to look into purchasing some new exciting stuff for the show!

If you want to get your tickets now, head to https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/attend/

We have also recently added some new hotels to the page, and are working to add more options!

Another thing that has been really helpful, we’ve teamed up with some awesome places around town to put out games for people to play all year long! If you own a business or know of any that would like quality games that are well cared for and fun to play, tell them to reach out to us! You can literally hit reply to this email to talk with me directly!

Speaking of that, tomorrow night Blackbird Bar is having their regularly monthly pinball tournament! Show up by 6pm to enter this casual super fun tournament, and play on some of our games! Right now, our Blackbird Bar line up includes Dungeons and Dragons Pro, Deadpool Pro, Stranger Things Pro, the Shadow and Cactus Canyon! Blackbird Bar is located at 3007 S. Kinnickinnic Ave!

If you’re looking for more pinball to play, we’ve recently added a Galactic Tank Force and King Kong Premium to our friends at Third Street Market Hall!

Know that any time you find one of our games on location, if you play it, that is directly helping to benefit the show. We use the money those games make so that we can maintain and repair all of our games, get new things to share (and I’ve got my eyes on two big things that we are hoping to be able to get this year!), and keep things going for next year!

Oh, and finally… if you know a vendor who might want to sell at our show, or if you are a vendor who might want to sell at our show, you should apply right now! Our vendor hall is filling up faster than it ever has before!

Okay, that’s it for now! More to come sooner than later I hope!!

~Dan Loosen, Co-Founder, Midwest Gaming Classic

The post Midwest Gaming Classic Update and Pinball If You Can’t Wait! appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Meet and greet with Walter Day, famous gamers from the 80s and beyond, industry leaders and more! Showing of Walters New Movie, Love Songs and Arcades the Ballad of Walter Day. A NEW broze plaque unveiled on main street. Fundraiser for the Heartland Human Society. Food and drinks from Old School Pizza and Pub. Video Game and Pinball tournaments.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

Prize Raffle and more! Most of the action will take place downtown Ottumwa at our NEW Old School Pizza and Pub located at 305 E Main St. Arcade at the mall will be open on Saturday Noon. Keep an eye on the discussion part of this page for announcements, hotel rates and more! We hope all of you can make it to the Video Games Capitol of the World and celebrate the Legacy of Walter Day!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

The post Preserving Legacy Event – Ottumwa, Iowa Nov 7-8, 2025 appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

On June 24th, Tassei Denki made an initial offering for the G’AIM’E Plug & Play Time Crisis Gun, a device which can play Time Crisis and other lightgun games of its era on a modern television display. Tassei Denki launched its initial offering on Kickstarter here with a fairly modest initial funding request of $48,284 by August 23rd in order to see the project through to completion. As of this writing, 3:00 PM CST On June 25th, the project is already well past this goal. The device now has $370,806 backing it up, that number increasing multiple times even as this article is being written.

There is no news of stretch goals at this time. It is unclear whether Tassei Denki was expecting this strong level of interest, particularly in international territories. Tassei Denki is headquartered in Japan, and the Kickstarter page for the Time Crisis Gun is noteworthy for only really offering preorders for the light gun itself. The various versions of it range in price from $87 to $205. In some cases the difference is explained by extras such as a key chain, although more expensive units also feature Steel Gunner, Steel Gunner 2, and Point Black in addition to Time Crisis, in addition to a pedal controller.

Some units also use the English language version of the games for international customers. The huge success of the device is already begging questions about whether the Plug & Play device may be viable in normal retail environments. In any case, the guns are expected to start shipping in November 2025. So, it probably won’t be too long before Kickstarter backers find out if this conversion of games intended for cathode ray televisions is as authentic to the original experience as Tassei Denki has claimed.

The post Tassei Denki Time Crisis Kickstarter Project Septuples Initial Funding Request appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Starting today on June 20th, Stern Pinball has started accepting entries for a sweepstakes, with the winner eligible to win a DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: The Tyrant’s Eye Pro model pinball machine. The Tyrant’s Eye was released in January of this year to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing game. The sweepstakes is limited to users of Stern’s Inside Connected app, which is intended to be used in conjunction with Stern Pinball machines.

The sweepstakes is only available to residents of the fifty states in the United States of America, as well as the District of Columbia. Employees of Wizards of the Coast, which owns Dungeons and Dragons, are prohibited from participating, as are employees of Stern Pinball itself. Entries into the sweepstakes are confirmed automatically just as long as the entrant logs in to the app. An additional entry into the sweepstakes can also be earned by going to this web address, and filling out the form that appears to logged in users.

The retail value of the grand prize machine is $7,499. No other prizes aside from the grand prize will be awarded. The sweepstakes will end on September 28th, with the winner notified on October 3rd.

The post Stern Pinball Announces Sweepstakes for DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: The Tyrant’s Eye Pro Model Pinball Machine appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.