So two weeks ago, I was honored to be able to go top the Midwest Gaming Classic in Wisconsin. This was my very first and definitely not my last video game convention. This was unlike any other type of convention that I have been to. This was actually one convention that I can relate to. So many retro/classic systems, games, pinballs and a whole lot more were there and it became a ultimate playground for my memories.
Like the one room that I went to that have four Vectrex machines lined up, reminded me of how hard I tried to save up money to get one. When I finally did, I went to Children’s Palace to purchase it and my parents conned me into not getting it. About two weeks later, the system pretty much became obsolete.
Or going over to one of the blog stations and on their tv, they had the animated series of Dungeons and Dragons playing off of dvd. I lost track of how many Saturdays I woke up at 5AM just to start to watch cartoons and that was one of them. Or the pinball vendor that had the classic pinball of Q-Bert. Reminding me of the time I went to a ghost town in Arizona, and in the small arcade with the ten cent games, they had a couple pinball machines, and one of them was the Q-Bert pinball.
And let’s not forget the Gorf machine that reminded me of the hotel that I stayed with my parents at. In the pool area, they had a pool table and four games, and that was one of them. The memories were just piling in and I actually was a bit choked up when I saw these games. Lame, but true. The memories were in critical condition.
And the most incredible moment, talking to the original motion capture actors for Johnny Cage, Jax, Scorpion and Shang Tsung. Many years ago, I think it was in 1993, when I was in college, a friend an I took a road trip to Chicago for the CES. At that time, the video games were highly incorporated with the show. That was the year that Mortal Combat was announced for the Genesis and Super Nintendo. I even had the whole cast sign the photo. But low and behold, that photo was destroyed during a move out of the house.
The memories kept building up. And in upcoming posts, I will definitely talk about some of them. I am kicking myself for not going to these shows sooner. The only bad part about it was the drive. When we left Wisconsin, it was about 7PM, and we didn’t get back to Des Moines until about 6:30AM and I didn’t get to sleep until 8AM. But on the way to Wisconsin, I had the pleasure to pick up Walter Day, one of the few people I have always wanted to meet. I didn’t expect him to be my roommate for the trip. It was great to learn about him and talk to him about certain things.
If you ever have time to go somewhere for a video game convention, I highly suggest it. I am actually going to Las Vegas in two weeks for the Replay FX convention and will post pictures and stories on that. But until then, I will keep these great memories and….
Keep Calm and Insert Coin
Brad has been a die hard arcade fan ever since he can remember. From the first time he played Space Invaders, to the first time he played Pacman, Brad has always had a love for video games. Hanging out at either the Great American Fun Factory in the mall, or spending the night in front of the glowing games at the local roller rink, he was always thinking about when he can spend the next quarter. He also worked at Babbages, which is now GameStop, for over six years. Mostly because they had a really sweet checkout policy on new products and great discounts. But since he had the Atari 2600, he has never looked back and owned some of the greatest home machines, NES, SNES, GENESIS, Turbo Graphix 16, GameBoy, Game Gear, Lynx, Playsation 1,2,3,4 and Vita, XBOX, Gamecube, and N64...just to name a few. Brad is also a reviewer for Mobile Beat Magazine as well as a freelance videographer, part time disc jockey, performing artist and photographer. But has a true love is for video games and Star Wars, as he is a member of the 501st Central Garrison. His ultimate dream is to own a fully working pinball machine and arcade machine. Difficult to say which one, but a Star Wars one would be nice start.
