Alright, time for my annual Midwest Gaming Classic recap.
This is either the 8th or 9th one I've done, I guess it's a good time to stop counting.
As usual I'm going to try to post photos of things I haven't posted before.
However there might be a couple images that are eerily similar to previous years.
Also as usual this was another great show.
There were a lot of little small themed areas that focused on a particular system or game series.
The vendor area now expanded down into the basement and there were tons of cool items and great deals available.
Each year they find a new way to expand the show and this was no exception.
Here's where I usually put a disclaimer about my cheap camera.
I bought a much better camera recently but I still suck at taking photos.
Plus many of the exhibit rooms are really dark to create an authenticate 80s arcade atmosphere.
So these photos are far from professional but still provide a glimpse at what the Midwest Gaming Classic has to offer.
Vendors
I'll start this little recap in the vendor hall since it's always the first place I visit.
It seemed like this year there were more 3DO and 32X games than previous years.
Strangely it was roughly the same 5-6 titles at each location.
I assume they're the ones that every collector of those systems already has.
Here are more of the 32X games I mentioned.
Hey, look at that - Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 - I need that game, why didn't I buy it?
Oh well, hopefully someone will have it next year.
Also in the back of my mind I just know I'll stumble across some huge collection of 32X games at a garage sale eventually.
I also noticed more Jaguar games than usual but they were also the same 3-5 games everywhere.
I swear every vendor was selling a boxed copy of Checkered Flag.
I probably should have bought one because even though it's awful it was cheap.
That kind of thinking will get me on Hoarders one day.
Here's a picture of random games because I've come to learn that people like pictures of random games.
Here are some Saturn games to give you an idea of what they go for there.
These were some of the cheaper ones there.
Although I own an assortment of Saturn games it's not a system I'm trying to collect.
The incredibly flimsy boxes make games in good condition rare and many of its best games are available on PlayStation.
The few exclusive titles that are worth getting are usually pricey.
Hey it's a bunch of games for different Sega systems.
I think I used a picture like this before so there's not much to say I guess.
As usual boxed Atari 2600 were plentiful and cheap.
Here are some even cheaper ones, these specific games are also regular items.
Here's something I haven't noticed for sale before - a boxed MSX.
Unfortunately I know very little about this computer other than many Japanese NES and Genesis games began their life on it.
A boxed Sega Mark III was another item I never noticed a vendor selling before.
And one more cool boxed system - the Sega Genesis+CD combo Wondermega.
This would be a nice system to own, either it or the CDX.
This one also does karaoke though so maybe the CDX is a better choice...
I'm not sure what "rebuilt" meant but if it's complete and working that's not a terrible deal at all.
All you need is a vintage black & white TV from the 1970s to complete the experience.
I could swear the Virtual Boy came with an AC adapter, I guess that wouldn't stop Nintendo from selling a replacement one though.
Unclear whether this was going for $40 or $19.95.
You don't see a boxed Zapper often.
Once the orange model became a pack-in I think standalone sales must have evaporated.
Some boxed NES games - there were a lot this year this is just what one vendor had.
There were a couple vendors dumping Game Boy Advance games really cheap.
With the newer DS variants dropping support for the GBA this is a good time to stock-up on games.
I think the market for N64 games has pretty much bottomed-out.
There were a handful of bins like this to be found.
I did zero research but if I understand correctly this is an arcade board that is very similar to the Dreamcast.
Here's a sit-down Neo Geo machine like you'd find in a Japanese arcade.
I just now noticed that it includes some kind of pirate cartridge.
I understand it's the policy of the MGC to not allow pirate game sales so somebody slipped one by.
I don't know, doesn't look very portable to me.
If it works that's not a bad deal, I think I saw someone walking around with this a few minutes later.
The fine folks at Songbird Games had their Jaguar, Lynx, and DS games available for sale.
If you want to get in on the lucrative world of Atari Jaguar development then you'll need one of these bad boys.
Looks like somebody bought out a rental store that was going out of business.
One new trend I spotted this year was Star Wars merchandise.
I wanna say 2-3 tables were selling vintage Star Wars items.
Yes, that's GTA: San Andreas wrapping paper next to it.
Here's some more old Star Wars stuff, most of it in great condition.
I just realized I should have bought a complete set of Street Fighter GI Joe figures when then were like $5 a piece.
For some reason the developers of Cheetahmen 2 had a table going to promote their game.
They seemed especially proud of their creation, or perhaps like the star of Troll 2 they were taking pride in its infamy.
Exhibits
Alright, on to the exhibits... first stop was the Ben Heck room which had some N64 project going.
I forgot what it was until I looked at this picture again, it was an N64 with VGA out.
A little display to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Atari 5200.
Try to not feel old.
I still need to buy a ColecoVision, don't know why I've been putting it off for so long.
For some reason I thought this green screen version of Ms Pac Man looked awesome.
I wish Windows 7 or Ubuntu included a green screen mode.
I'm not sure what to make of this setup.
RadioShack apparently made a 1st generation system.
I guess that's not too surprising.
What's really surprising is how they manage to stay in business.
Every year I look forward to trying an obscure system I never played before.
This year it was the short-lived Nuon running Tempest 3000.
Pardon the fuzziness in this photo, for whatever reason I couldn't get a clear shot of this.
The Super A'Can is a Taiwanese system that's roughly equivalent to a Sega Genesis.
This was the first time I played one, it was not bad at all.
They had a section dedicated to multi-player gaming with a number of four player games.
First up, Guardian Heroes on the Saturn.
Gauntlet 4 is really just the original Gauntlet.
I don't know this for a fact but suspect the "4" was added to trick people.
Whatever the case, it's a good version of the game.
Sunset Riders was a fun arcade game with accurate ports on the Genesis and Super Nintendo.
In case you're curious what it takes to hook-up an old computer to a VGA monitor, here's a picture to give you an idea.
I assume there was some kind of exhibit on this table later.
The tablecloth itself was pretty sweet though.
I had something like this on my Amiga 500.
Back in the day it was amazing and is still impressive now.
As far as I know, Eye of the Beholder for the Lynx was only a prototype.
I'd be curious to learn the whole story behind it sometime.
Every year they do a really nice Lynx exhibit with several playable units and just about any game you can think of.
This was one of the few non-playable things.
This wasn't playable either but that's cool because they had a ton of other games to try.
It's always amazing to me how much dedication people put into developing Lynx games.
I'd like to develop for an old system myself but don't have the patience.
Food Fight is one of my favorite arcade games, maybe because it's really easy.
I played through about a dozen rounds on this machine here.
There were a few old pinball games that were cool to try.
This one runs on a timer instead of a fixed number of balls.
It's an idea that would have worked in newer games too, I don't know pinball well enough to say whether anyone tried this idea later.
The older pinball games are extremely unforgiving compared to ones in the 70s and beyond.
The flippers are short and there's a huge gap between them.
This was one of the more difficult machines there.
For whatever reason my daughter got completely hooked on this game and played it for over an hour (across several visits to the arcade room).
It looks like it was built in somebody's garage and from what I can find on the internets that appears to be the case.
This is a semi-educational system that uses 8-track tapes - the 70s version of Teddy Ruxbin maybe.
Stuff I Bought
Alright so let's wrap up with a gallery of the stuff I bought.
This year I went in looking for about 20 specific titles and came away with a few of them.
One vendor was selling two sealed copies of Space Harrier for the 32X for only $20 each.
I've seen people ask $200 on eBay, don't know what they actually got.
In hindsight maybe I should have bought both and tried to sell the other.
I was a little skeptical that they might have been re-wraps but the one I bought was totally new.
Yes, I opened it and played it the second I got home.
I've been waiting 16 years to try this game because it was scarce when it was new.
I had a copy of King's Quest V for the NES in the 90s but traded it in like an idiot.
I was very happy to find a copy for $8.
I wonder if I can still beat it without having to read a FAQ...
Even though I can't read Japanese I'm still determined to buy all the Falcom games.
Maybe someone did a translation patch for this one, if not I'll still enjoy the soundtrack.
My 3DO wishlist is very short, it's Escape from Monster Manor and maybe Night Trap.
$18 wasn't a bad deal especially because this copy was in near perfect condition.
My Atari Jaguar wishlist is even shorter - this is it.
This is a really fun and under-appreciated game.
Easily the best fighting game on the Jaguar but I guess that's a pretty low bar.
This game represents the absolute worst era in the history of the WWF.
It is no surprise that WCW managed to steal their best talent and (briefly) squash them just a few months later.
Yet it's a 32X wrestling game so I had to have it.
This was an impulse buy.
I played Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? on the Apple II a million years ago.
Although the series is meant for kids it's still one I enjoy.
So I guess that's the 2012 Midwest Gaming Classic.
I hope to meet some of you there next year or whatever year you're reading this in.