Been meaning to put up a recap for the MGC 2011 show for a while, so here it is (finally). Note: I did not see a lot of the show, due to just maintaining my own area, so I will only comment on what I actually saw (which wasn’t a lot – there was much more than I’m recapping here).
Staring in my neck of the woods:
Atari Jaguar Festival – I’ll have to admit that this area was setup pretty good this year, but I did not take much time to check out what was being offered. Looked good though.
Die-Hard Gamer Console Arcade – New name for the Modern Museum. John Norman is the main guy behind this area, and as always, it was setup incredibly well for the 2011 show. Signs for practically every system, with lots of cool information on them. Plus so many consoles hooked up and ready to play. I did not play much myself in this area, but saw lots of people at the show having fun, and that is what it is all about.
E2M Museum – New name for the Classic Museum. This year Marty (and friends) went with a ‘dark’ arcade-like theme for the E2M room. Lots of good stuff was up and running, from Erik and his TI stuff, to a Commodore group, CoCo setup, Coleco Adam, and a rather nice 6502 area. In all, very (and I mean very) well done! My only gripe, a little too dark, but that is just my opinion. I know a lot of people liked the room with the lights down. I just would have liked a bit more light to see stuff with (maybe more rope lights would have helped). Gripe aside though and no joke, if it wasn’t for Marty’s museum area, there would be no Underdog Chamber (and that is a fact)!
Family Game Room – Nice setup this year, done by J.D, as Tom was out for 2011. While the area did rather well, I missed Tom and his kids. Hopefully they will return for 2012.
Turbo Fest – This was in the hall this year, and looked like fun. I didn’t stop by too long, but people were showing an interest during the whole show.
Underdog Chamber – Need I say more. My area did great. I still find it amazing on how people always tell me that I have one of the best setups in the show (at least that is what they tell me). Guess I’m just a little to critical in how I see my area. I always know it could be better, even if it is great the way it is. I’ve got plans for next year already – expect some major changes!
As far as show Events go, I missed them all. Suck to be me. I should have checked out Ben Heck, but just didn’t get around to it.
Panels and Presentations – I only got a chance to see Ralph Baer and Ted Dabney. I can honestly say that Ralph is just a great guy. He’s getting up there in years, but his mind is still sharp, and he’s still working on gaming devices. Very, very interesting guy too. I loved his skype presentation. Ted was pretty cool too, especially talking about the early days of Atari. Fun guy with a great sense of humor.
Other than that, I did get some chance to play some stuff in the Pinball/Arcade room. There were a LOT of machine for 2011, which was just fantastic!
The vendor hall had a lot of variety for 2011. From pinball parts to magic wands (seriously). I did pick up some things, but not a lot. My collection is getting tighter, and it was hard to find specific things this past show, not that there wasn’t a lot to buy (just not much for myself). I wish I would have caught GWH’s big sale on Sunday!
That is about it. As stated, I spent a lot of time in my own area. Still, it was a great show, and it just gets better each year. Here’s to 2012, and whatever it brings!
P.S. Someday, I’ll finally post pictures of 2010 and 2011 here…