The weekend-long gamer’s paradise, Midwest Gaming Classic, will return to the Baird Center April 5-7.
Attendees will have the opportunity to play more than 10,000 games, ranging from vintage to new releases, including classic pinball and arcade games and every generation of console, tabletop games. There will also be live entertainment and meet-and-greets with pop-culture personalities.
“Our goal is to create a fun and welcoming environment where people of all skill levels can gather to enjoy their favorite games and discover new ones,” event co-founder Dan Loosen said. “In addition to hardcore gamers, a common sight on the weekend will be parents sharing their childhood favorites with their kids, such as Oregon Trail, pinball games, Pokémon cards or NBA Jam.”
The annual event has drawn attendees from throughout the Midwest and even some from around the world, including those from Japan, South Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain. Last year’s event drew 23,000 people and even more are expected this year.
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“We have traditionally grown between 20% and 30% per year in recent years,” Loosen said. “A big part of that is that there are so many events out there that are based on having a bunch of vendors and a bunch of people that you can get autographs from, and they aren’t about getting to see something new. We have that real thing. It’s not only the attendance that grows, it’s also the number of people who are participating in our show. We constantly have new things and new ideas.”
Loosen noted that this year’s event will feature an appearance by the Skelton Crew, who will be appearing at their first-ever, in-person event.
“They do a podcast about dinosaurs and pop media, and we want them to come and share this passion,” Loosen said. “We’ll look at a video games and talk about if the dinosaurs were presented realistically.”
The event will also feature people who create their own pinball machines.
“We’ll have that presented alongside Stern Pinball, the largest pinball manufacturer in the world,” Loosen said.
The Midwest Gaming Classic has become the largest retro and modern gaming event in the country, with more than 250,000 square feet of spaced dedicated to gaming and nostalgia. The event is estimated to generate more than $2 million in tourism revenue for the Milwaukee area, according to Visit Milwaukee, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.
“We have the word ‘classic’ in the title of the convention, but it doesn’t mean that it’s the only thing at the show. But it’s definitely a huge part,” Loosen said.
The event will include thousands of free-play pinball, arcade and console games, a playable gaming museum, game tournaments and esports competitions, tabletop gaming, tabletop role-playing games, trading card games, entertainment wrestling, cosplay, live-action role-play opportunities and panels with celebrity and industry professional panels, as well as meet-and-greet opportunities.
“We also have our gaming museum, where there will be more than 150 consoles that will be set up and people can walk up and grab a controller and play,” Loosen said.
Loosen not only puts together the show, he’s also a rabid gaming fan and has upwards of 25 arcade games and pinball machines in the basement of his Wauwatosa home.
“I’m a fan of all of this stuff,” he said. “I also have magic cards and board games and video games. I don’t have time to play most of it, I just take care of it. We also put games out around town. I used to work for Chuck E. Cheese and other arcades so I can repair the machines, too.”
Loosen said his games can also be found at Downtown’s 3rd St. Market Hall, Happy Dough Lucky in Bay View and The Hangout KM in Wales.
“Most of our stuff is split between our own houses and friends,” Loosen said. “There’s also a business in downtown Wauwatosa where there’s about 90 games in the basement there.”
Loosen excitedly spoke about several of his favorite games.
“I love Magic: The Gathering, in general,” he said. “For Pinball, today I’ll say it’s Iron Man. There are four or five pinball machines I kind of rotate between, because pinball is great. For video games, it’s Super Mario Bros. 3, EarthBound and a game for the Atari Jaguar.”
Among the unique programming attractions this year will be Wisconsin native Steve Henneberry (“Tower” from American Gladiator), who will combat attendees in Johann Sebastian Joust, a no-graphics, digitally enabled playground game designed for motion controllers.
The event will also feature a wider variety of esports, gamer podcasts, the MGC Cosplay Championship and The World of Nintendo exhibit.
Loosen started the event 24 years ago as more of a collector-type show, which attracted about 100 attendees the first year. After a few years of losing money and criticism from participants, the focus of the show shifted.
“We changed the format of the show to one that was trying to go for the hardcore collector and instead focus on it being more social and enjoying showing each other what our passion is with gaming. We focus more on the people and on the experience than what a traditional collector-centric show does.”
Loosen is hopeful that the event will be unifying for attendees.
“We have so much stuff that tries to split us apart,” Loosen said. “I feel like games give us a common language so that we can have conversations with people with different opinions or ideas and we come from a spot of mutual respect immediately.”
For ticket information, go to midwestgamingclassic.com. Kids under the age 9 can attend for free.
