Presented by The GOAT Store, the Midwest Gaming Classic, is an annual retrogaming convention for the classic video game fans. The expo is open to the general public. The Midwest Gaming Classic is held each year in Wisconsin.
Many video game developers for classic systems show off their upcoming games and game-related hardware at the event. They also often sell their games for the first time at the convention or sell their recently released games there.
The convention is home to a large pinball area, as it is located close to Illinois, the heart of pinball. Stern Pinball, the only current producer of arcade pinball machines, sponsors the event.
History[]
In 2001, the convention that would become the Midwest Gaming Classic started as the Atari Jaguar Festival 2K1: Beyond Tempest, or Jagfest.
In 2002, the convention was expanded to include other consoles, including the Sega Dreamcast, and became known as the Midwest Classic. At that year's convention, a Dreamcast demo disc was distributed, including a demo of Feet of Fury.
In 2003, GOAT Store Publishing presented the commercial version of Feet of Fury at the Midwest Classic.
In 2004, Gaming was added to the title, becoming the Midwest Gaming Classic. Inhabitants and Maqiupai, the winners of the first annual Dream On Contest, held jointly between Cyberdog Castle and The GOAT Store were first demoed at the convention.
In 2005, the Midwest Gaming Classic was not held. GOAT Store Publishing's newest announced game, GOAT Games, would be revealed at the first annual DreamCon game convention at the East Coast Gaming Expo instead.
In 2006, the Midwest Gaming classic returned and hosted the second stop of the second annual DreamCon game convention. Eleven new games were revealed, including Irides: Master of Blocks (then known as Blocks²). New information was also revealed about GOAT Games.
In 2007, GOAT Store Publishing announced that they would be publishing Dal Force (the Dreamcast version of the Windows and DOS game XOP).
In 2008, the Midwest Gaming Classic was moved up to March due to how many activities were going on in hopes to increase turnout and participation.
In 2009, GOAT Store Publishing announced that Irides: Master of Blocks would release on December 12th of that year. They also offered goodie bags to the first 1,500 guests which included Feet of Fury.
In 2010, the Midwest Gaming Classic held an Irides: Master of Blocks tournament, alongside the tournaments of other video games from the past and present.
In 2011, Midwest Gaming Classic celebrated their tenth anniversary and recorded more than 5,000 visitors for the first time ever over the two-day event.
In 2014, the Midwest Gaming Classic celebrated the 15th anniversary of the release of the Dreamcast in the United States by revealing SLaVE as well as displaying demos of Alice Dreams Tournament (then known under the working title Dynamite Dreams) and Hypertension: Harmony of Darkness.
In 2015, the Midwest Gaming Classic once again displayed Hypertension: Harmony of Darkness and SLaVE.
The 2020 show was canceled due to the global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
Layout[]
The convention has grown over the years. It was originally held in a cafeteria. It later became a full-fledged game convention with multiple halls. The main hall houses the arcade games and pinballs, as well as the resellers. The exhibition hall houses conventions within the convention such as the DreamCon Dreamcast game convention and the Atari Jaguar convention Jagfest, as well as a classic computer and video game exhibition. The third hall houses the computer and video game museum, showcasing video games from the 1970s to the present. There is also a conference room, where conferences are held by video game industry legends such as Ralph Baer (who was to have attended but became to weak for travel and instead sent material for Marty Goldberg to present for him) and Scott Adams.
In addition to the new independent releases being revealed, demonstrated, and sold, each year the Midwest Gaming Classic also features several game rooms which include playable classic gaming consoles, including the Dreamcast.