The Midwest Gaming Classic is coming to Milwaukee this weekend and expects the largest crowds they've had yet. It's the first time they'll host the event at the Wisconsin Center.
"Tonight should be a lot of fun," Adam Malkowski with the Midwest Gaming Classic said. "A lot of games and not your standard console or arcade games. We have a lot of board games and tabletops, kiddie rides. Something for everyone and age group in the family. When you hear 80 to 300 pinball machines and consoles, people talking and cheering and laughing, it's like stepping into an arena."
The Midwest Gaming Classic runs from Friday to Sunday.
There will be some 400 arcade games including 80 brand new pinball machines debuting at the convention. But it's more than just those games. From Atari to Nintendo Switch, they will have every gaming system ever created for people to try out.
"A lot of conventions you go to, it's a lot of new games," Matt Isbill with the Midwest Gaming Classic said. "This is all games. You have everything from when we were kids playing video games to the new stuff. It's great to see everything here."
There will be more than just retro games as well. One area will have classic consoles on classic tube televisions. Isbill says fans of classic games actually prefer playing them on the older TVs.
"It's better colors," Isbill said. "If you plug into an HD TV, you get those sidebars. If you plug into an HD TV, it stretches the image out."
While the lights and sounds will go wild this weekend, the peace will come to people in the form of nostalgia.
"It's something you grew up with as a kid and as you get older, you can fall into that same mindset of a carefree time in your life," Malkowski said. "I feel the gaming community is pretty accepting to anyone, a brand new gamer or really old gamer. Arcade, console, everyone gets along and is a fan of the same stuff."
There will be special guests, music, vendors and more. A two-day ticket runs $55. Sunday is family day, so tickets will cost $25 and any child under 10 will be admitted free.
