What started as a gathering of friends geeking out over a specific Atari gaming console 25 years ago has evolved into a weekend attended by over 36,000 people who celebrate every aspect of gaming at the Baird Center.
Dan Loosen, one of the founders of Midwest Gaming Classic, let Milwaukee Magazine take a look behind the scenes at the event’s Wauwatosa warehouse space, where they have about 120 arcade and pinball machines and piles of TV monitors to hook up to gaming consoles. This is just part of their stash – there are even more games spread out in other facilities. Loosen apologizes for the mess, but a certain amount of controlled chaos is needed to make sure everything is running properly for the big show.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
A chirpy, energetic tune is blasting from somewhere in the warehouse’s maze of games. Following the sound, Loosen points out Jubeat (pronounced You-beat), a Japanese rhythm game, played by pressing squares on a grid that light up to the beat of a song, kind of like a musical version of whack-a-mole.
The convention is planning to acquire three more Jubeat machines so more so people can play together at the same time. For Loosen, this type of arcade experience is a throwback to when he was a kid and would play 4-player games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Chuck E. Cheese, and at the end of the day, it’s the heart of Midwest Gaming Classic.
“After the game was over, you could have a conversation,” Loosen says, explaining that no matter what that person’s background was, you had just had a shared experience – an adventure – together. In the arcade what matters is not your genetic makeup or beliefs, but how you play the game.
How Did the Midwest Gaming Classic Start?
In the ’90s, Loosen and his friends became big fans of the Atari Jaguar, each of them buying a system and games that they could share with each other. They discovered an annual rotating Jag Fest dedicated to fans and attended one in Rochester, Minnesota in 1999.
Loosen and his friend Gabby Heil (who is Midwest Gaming Classic’s co-founder) were just 20 at the time, but they agreed to host one in Milwaukee in 2001 in the basement of the PieperPower Center in West Allis. The following year, the event returned, now renamed “Midwest Classic” and expanded to other types of gaming, including pinball, a natural fit as the heart of the pinball industry is a short distance away in Chicago.
Encouraged by success, the organizers moved the event to a hotel ballroom in the suburbs. But by 2005, struggling with funding and other growing pains, the event was cancelled, and it looked like they had come to the dreaded GAME OVER screen. That’s when the community surrounding the event stepped in.
“We started to have people reach out to us and say ‘Hey, what happened to the show? I really loved it,’” explains Loosen. After discussing the event’s needs, the show was straightened out and eventually returned in 2006, growing significantly and steadily ever since.
“Once you get the social component, it becomes something bigger than the sum of its parts, more important than the games in this building,” Loosen says.
It Got Bigger – and Better
In 2018, the convention was moved from the suburbs to the Wisconsin (now Baird) Center, expanding the space to over 350,000 square feet and featuring around 10,000 different games. Although classic arcades and pinball are still a huge part of the event, the convention has expanded to include practically every game under the sun – it features one of the largest Magic: The Gathering card tournaments in the state and an expanded tabletop board game hall, as well as everything from air hockey to pogs to speed puzzling (completing a jigsaw puzzle as quickly as possible).
“Our show is unique because we can mix it all together in a way that works,” Loosen says. The event also has an entertainment line-up that includes wrestling, cosplay events, and panels and presentations.
The flashing lights and 8-bit graphics have remained consistent throughout the growth, as has the event’s social component. Loosen says people have met their best friends and spouses at the convention and it’s been an incubator for innovation. In the warehouse’s lobby, he proudly points out a pinball machine titled Ultraman: Kaiju Battle!, produced by a company from Benton, Wisconsin named Spooky Pinball. The company’s collaborators met and bonded at Midwest Gaming Classic.
“They said, ‘You know what would be great? Working together to start a pinball company,’” Loosen says. Spooky Pinball debuted in 2013 and has created games based on popular franchises like Scooby-Doo and Beetlejuice. The Ultraman game, based on a Japanese action hero, was produced in 2021.
Loosen flips a switch and the game bursts to life. Music blares, rows of lights chase each other, the flippers shake to get the wiggles out before Ball 1 drops, ready to launch. It’s game time.
Midwest Gaming Classic will run April 24-26. You can find more info at their website.
