I’m still slowly working on the MGC 2010 recap for the UC area. Hope to have it done soon, but I’m working on other things at this moment. One thing I’m going to work on soon is an addition to the UC exhibit, if it works. Time will tell.
And, three more days till the iPad comes out! I don’t plan on buying the first model, but it is starting to look good, especially in pre-release reviews!
I have started on the recap of this year, under the ‘pages’ section. Should hopefully have it done by Wednesday afternoon – when I get my favorite glider chair repaired 
The MGC 2010 was rather outstanding, in my own opinion. While my only issue was how it was spread out over the hotel, this is hard to avoid with the venue we are now back at (the Sheraton in Brookfield). That being my only issue, I thought Dan and Gary, and all the other folks who helped to put the MGC show together did a great job. The vendor hall was fun, and I found some good deals (and would have gotten more – if I had more money at the moment). I can’t vouch for the speakers, as I always seem to miss this while running my UC exhibit. Ben Heck was cool as usual, along with Robot Panic, VGEvo, and many others.
The amount of working pinball and arcade units was fantastic, with many of my favorites filling rooms (Wizard of Wor for one). Lots of older games, which I like, form Berzerk to Q*bert. And all on free-play!
The Museum/FGR/UC/etc. area was laid out very well. There were just so many systems to look at, with many being playable as well.
In regards to my Underdog Exhibit, it was not mobbed from 1-3 p.m. as it was in the past, but was spread out much more evenly over the weekend (people-wise). I rather liked this, as there was a steady stream of gamers, but it never got too crowded.
I’ll be posting the recap in the Underdog Chamber 2010 ‘page’ soon. When I do that, I’ll also start on the 2011 page (which of course will be just a placemarker for now).
Thanks to all that were at the show. It was great to meet people that I only see at this show each year, and to meet fun and interesting new people as well!
Have to admit that I’m a bit too tired at the moment to post much. Expect a better recap and more comments on Monday.
What a first day for the Midwest Gaming Classic 2010. The show had a pretty good crowd the whole day, with the Underdog Chamber doing rather well itself. As expected, Quake did marvelous, especially after verifying that false bug in the game. Thus I had a nice 9-player Quake LAN going all of today, and it got lots of play. My underdog consoles did exceptionally well too, with the 3DO being at the top of the list. I was taken by surprise by this, as I did not think it was that well know, but it is!
More to follow tomorrow. For now, I’m tired and need to relax and get some sleep. I love putting on the UC exhibit, but 10 hours does take its toll on you. I’m not a spring chicken anymore. Still, lots of fun, and great to see familiar faces again (one of which was Rick – nice to see you once again!).
Zzzzz….
Can’t sleep, so I’m up early, and will head out to work on a few things. Main things will be Quake again. I have a thought on the problem from yesterday, and think the so-called ‘bug’ may actually be part of the game. I will hopefully find out in a few hours before the show opens. I’ll report later today, if I get a moment. It’s going to be a busy day!
Spent a good chunk of Friday setting up the UC display. While most of it went well, the Quake LAN did not! Yup, the 9+ player LAN would not work properly for some unknown reason (or its a feature in the game that I never came across before). Basically, with 5+ computers hooked up, players on machines would just die when another character came back after a kill!? Spent hours trying to figure this one in. Swapped cables, routers, and even found one computer that seemed to make the problem much worse. In the end though, I could not find the exact cause of the ‘instant death’ issue with Quake. The game is working fine on a small network (well two), so for the weekend, there will be a 5-player Quake LAN and a 4-player Quake LAN. I may try to separate the two into newer players, and experienced Quake players. I just wish the whole thing worked. 8-player worked find last year, but won’t this year. A real puzzler, that just doesn’t give me time now to fix.
Besides that, everything else is up and running, from the Odyssey2 to the Vectrex. All I need to do is bring the 7800 power supply and the 3DO audio cable in the morning. Yeah, I forgot these somehow, so two systems won’t be fully up till I get these two parts there later Saturday morning.
Tired from all the setup work… Hopefully will see some familiar faces over the weekend (nice already to see Marty, Marcy, J.D., and many others).
Stopped by the Sheraton around 9 p.m. on Thursday (got out of class early), and said hello to Dan, Gary, and the rest of the folks there setting up the GOAT store vendor area. I managed to get the key to my exhibit room (thanks Dan!), and proceeded to check it out (main reason for stopping by). To my surprise, and just a small surprise, the room was not like the original plan or the updated one. It was a mixture of both, to a point, but nothing I can’t deal with. It does mean that I will be changing a few things around, including a very good possibility of adding that G4 tower unit to the Quake LAN. This will make it a true 9-player Quake LAN, with the G4 running the show. If it gets really nuts, I may allow some to play using the G4, but I’d rather have it controller the LAN and not being used by a show goer. We’ll see how busy it gets. For now, it is 9-player Quake, with the potential to go 10-player (gets bigger each year – but the max would be 16 – if I ever go that far).
I have to admit that it was a bit odd again going back to a place I worked at when I was 16. It was the Marriott (spelling?) back then, but it is pretty much the same, just different carpeting and wall paper (a few more things too – but basically the same building).
That is it for now. I want to get some sleep, as I’m going to be up early to get the UC display up and running. No more up till 1 a.m. on Saturday like I have in the past. I don’t like that at all.
Thursday, the day (well night) when we can start setting up. Not sure how I’ll get there, depending on my class tonight, but I hope to get some stuff there tonight. I’m a bit tired of the Friday mad dash to get it all done, as has been the case in prior years. Even for my small UC exhibit, its a lot of work. I truly wonder at times how the bigger areas get done, but then again they have more help (to some extent).
I’ll be finishing paperwork soon (yeah, not done yet, so what). A few other things to do. Last minute stuff and all.
Later…
I’m still working on signs and such for the UC area. Plus I finally dug out the T/S 1500, to be tested within the hour (expected to work – if not, I’ll post on that again). I’ve started to box up things by system, and have all the computers lined up and ready to ship out. I still need to photo copy some things, and test one last thing (or maybe two). Other than that, the rest of tonight and tomorrow morning will be spent doing last minute details. I hope to get at least a small start on the setup at the hotel on Thursday night, God willing.
That is it for now. The show starts Friday night!
P.S. On the side, I’ve already acquired two more pieces of equipment today for the MGC 2011 show (true too).
P.P.S. You’d be amazed at out you can sometimes overlook the simple things. I spent an hour trying to get the T/S 1500 to work with the loading program (iTunes). It would not work, until I finally realized I had the Sound Check on. Talk about a picky computer, which the Sinclair’s are noted for. Sound has to be just perfect, otherwise you get zip. Weeeeeeeee…..