Week of 3/30/2008

MGC Journal #8: The End

Alright, I know I wrote "I'll type more later", but Sunday was an insanely busy day. We had a pile of interviews, a lot of shopping, the tearing down of the booth, and the five hour drive home. I'm only today recovering from MGC.

But what a great time it was. I want to both thank and congratulate Dan Loosen and Gary Heil for putting together the best MGC ever. This year was truly over and above the already great quality of the shows of years past, by leaps and bounds. There was more everything: more vendors, more pinball/arcade machines, more speakers, more/better tournaments, and more people. There was a point early Saturday afternoon when I looked around the hall and was astounded at the number of people making their way up and down the aisles. That makes the vendors happy, and if the vendors are happy they'll be more likely to return next year. And we can't wait. We'll be there once again in our usual spot, forking all our money over to Carlson at Mad Gear.

Speaking of whom, we recorded the latest episode of TFL last night and were joined at the bar by Carlson for the entire show. He added a great deal of charm and insight to the show, and he's got a bar stool reserved for him any time he'd like to be on.

He also brought me a copy of Espgaluda and - at last - my Japanese PlayStation 2. We plugged it in last night, played a few rounds of Espgaluda, and cracked open the copy of Twinkle Star Sprites I've had waiting on the shelf for over a year. It was a thing of glory and I'm itching to get back to play it today.

Thanks to everyone who attended MGC, hung out with us, and made it such a great experience. We can't wait to see you guys next year.

John



MGC Journal #7: Headache

As usual, the Team Fremont after party was the stuff of legend. And today...my head hurts.

So we woke up, did or best to clean up the disaster left in our suite, and stumbled down to the convention hall and immediately gave Carlson another pile of money.

*sigh*

I'm tired. I'll type more later...

John



MGC Journal #6: Game Show

We just wrapped up the Midwest Game Show Classic, our annual trivia contest and game tournament. We apologize to those watching the stream for the camera angle. It was really the only place we could place the camera without it getting trampled. Hopefully you still got to see the show and hear the madness.

Our TFL community contestants were Boric and Gruel, with Boric's team coming out on top. All the contestants and spectators received tons of prizes, thanks to GoatStore, and the show ran a lot more quickly and smoothly than last year, thankfully. It got a bit long last year, but we kept it tight today.

Just a heads up before I get to posting pictures, we're doing a pile of interviews tomorrow for the next episode of TFL. We'll be having Marty Goldberg, Bohus Blahut, Walter Day, and possibly Ben Heckendorn if we can track him down. It should be a great show.

And without further ado, here are some pictures of the game show...

















I'll post some more later.

John


MGC Journal #5: Round Table

Just a quick heads up: we'll be putting up streaming video from Midwest Gaming Classic beginning at around 3pm today. Either hit this link or hit the "On Air" button on the main page when it shows up (refresh your browser).

I've got a few quick shots of this year's podcast round table, featuring Ken "Sushi-X" Williams, "Trickman" Terry Minnich, Glen "Torgo" Percival, Boric Phallico, Savory Cade, and Dale "Gruel" Kulas.







John



MGC Journal #4: Saturday Morning

We're here, the booth is set up, and the show has begun. It's fucking packed this year with more vendors than I've ever seen at the MGC. The entire main hall consists of vendors and exhibitors, while the second hall is where you'll find all the arcade machines and pinball tables.

Here are a few quick shots I snapped as the show was beginning.



Here's a sloppy shot of our booth. I'll try to get a better one later. As usual, we're front and center at the show, the first booth you see as you enter the main hall. We've got a GameCube, PS2, and Saturn hooked up for people to play, as well as tunes playing over the speakers. In the center is the round table for the...uh...round table.



Ah yes, this is Hilden enjoying his brand new copy of Radiant Silvergun, purchased from Carlson at Mad-Gear.com at 2 o'clock this morning.



GoatStore.com are our neighbors this year, with a half dozen massive tables of goods.



And here we see Carlson from the aforementioned Mad-Gear.com and his table of pristine imports. I love this guy.

More later...

John



MGC Journal #3: After Hours

Hilden and I recorded this episode of After Hours a couple months ago. It's us reflecting on what we call "Geek Shops"; stores that attract a certain sort of customer and employ a certain sort of clerk. It's titled "We're Not Cooler Than You" and it can be downloaded here.

We thought it was appropriate for this weekend.

John



MGC Journal #2

Hilden and I arrived at the Olympia Resort and Spa a little after midnight, checked into our massive suite, and headed down to the bar. After listening to some really horrible karaoke, we grabbed our tall Captain and Cokes (they didn't serve Sailor Jerry), headed out to the hall, and found some cushy chairs to sit in while we chatted.

Down the hall came a familiar face. It was Carlson from Mad-Gear.com.

We've already spent a ton of cash and the show hasn't even started yet.

Hilden's reserved a copy of Radiant Silvergun and I've reserved a copy of Batsugen. And Moe, even though he doesn't know it yet, has reserved an Action Replay for his Saturn. We've made sure that Carlson doesn't sell him anything until he buys the Action Replay.

The best news to come out of our little rendezvous with Carlson is that he's going to be in Minneapolis next week and will be stopping by the Team Fremont Bar for next week's recording.

John



MGC Journal #1

The van's packed and we're just about ready to head off this year's Midwest Gaming Classic.

It's going to be great seeing all the great friends we've made over the past few years. The first MGC we attended wound up being a pretty big turning point for Team Fremont as it was when many of our community mainstays were first introduced to the site and the podcast. Guys like Dan Loosen, Trickman Terry, Cap'n Rawkenschpiel (where are you?), Savory Cade, The Danger Boy, Torgo, and others were all folks that we either met for the first time or became very close to as a result of that MGC in '06.

And while I'm mostly looking forward to this year's event to get together with those folks, I'm also looking forward to getting the hell out of my house for a weekend for some old fashioned "me time". I adore my family and the life that I have, but I haven't had any real time away in over seven months and it's really been turning me into an extremely irritable bastard. So a weekend away should help even me out a bit.

I've already posted this on the forums, but it bears repeating. Here's a list of what to expect from Team Fremont this weekend at Midwest Gaming Classic:

The Midwest Game Show Classic - For the third year in a row we will be hosting a Jeopardy-style trivia/gameplay contest with John Norman from DieHardGamer.com. We will be selecting two Team Fremont community members to participate in the contest, so if you're interested stop by the booth and let us know.

Our Booth - As always, the Team Fremont booth will be front and center; the first booth you see as you enter the main hall. We encourage you to stop by, have a drink at the bar, and hang out for a while. Also, Team Fremont regulars are invited to keep their bags and loot under the round table at our booth. Just let us know first and we'll take care of it for you. Keep in mind that we're not responsible for lost or stolen items, so keep your bags there at your own risk. And if you've got a Japanese PS2, Moe claims no responsibility for it going missing. We'll also have a few game consoles set up to play at our booth. Expect a good variety of shmups, some classic compilations, and the Hudson remakes for GameCube. We'll also have Melee set up if you'd like to relax with some friends and have a few rounds.

The After Party - Every year we do an after party on Saturday night. This year we'll be hosting it at our suite, which was generously provided by Dan Loosen from GoatStore.com. Stop by our booth to get the room number. We ask that if you're not 21 years of age or older you please do not drink at the after party. You're welcome to all the gaming, food, and non-alcoholic beverages you like. We just don't want to go to jail.

The Podcast - We'll be recording our annual MGC Roundtable episode on Sunday, so if you'd like to participate please let us know. Also, throughout the weekend we'll be interviewing folks from the show.

Shmuppreciation Contest - We will announce the winner of the Shmuppreciation Month contest on Sunday at Midwest Gaming Classic. The winner will also be announced at www.ShmupMonth.com, so if you're not able to make it to MGC, be sure to check that site.

If you can't make it to the show...

We'll be doing our best throughout the weekend to post pictures, Cooking with John posts, maybe some video, and more. We'll be hanging out in the Chat Room all weekend, so be sure to check that out for some good MGC discussion. Again, I'll post as many pictures as I can throughout the weekend.

Please Support Our MGC Friends:

www.goatstore.com: Not only do Dan Loosen and Gary Heil run the Midwest Gaming Classic, they also operate Goat Store. If you've enjoyed our Random Retro Reviews on TFL, it's all thanks to them. Dan and Gary have been extremely kind and generous to TFL and without their generosity we wouldn't be at MGC this year. Check out Goat Store and buy some games!

www.mad-gear.com: Carlson over at Mad-hyphen-dash-Gear has the highest quality import titles around. Seriously. His games are in immaculate condition and his customer service is second to none. If you can't find what you're looking for on his website, send him an email or hit him up at one of the many conventions he attends every year. 99 times out of 100 he's got what you're looking for, and he's got it for a better price than you can get anywhere else.

www.diehardgamer.com: Do you enjoy the Midwest Game Show Classic every year? If so, thank John Norman from DHG. For the third year in a row he's helped us put together a fun and challenging contest. Check out his site for great gaming info.

www.vgevo.com: Run by industry legends Ken "Sushi-X" Williams and "Trickman" Terry Minnich, VGEvo.com is a one-stop shop for all your gaming information. RSS feeds galore, tons of community content, and an active forum. The VGEvo folks will be participating in our Round Table, and their vast knowledge and insight always makes for an interesting listen.

We hope to see you all around this weekend! Stop by the booth or the Chat Room and say hello.

John