The Midwest Gaming Classic just held its 25th annual convention.
The gaming expo brought more than 40,000 people to Milwaukee’s Baird Center over three days, offering everything from pinball and old school Nintendo, to tabletop puzzles and “Dungeons & Dragons.”
Lake Effect’s Joy Powers dropped by to hear from some of the vintage gaming enthusiasts, pinball designers, dungeon masters and “Star Wars” replica builders who make up the Midwest Gaming Classic community.
Matt Wild from the Milwaukee Record has been coming to the Classic for over a decade, and he says it’s come a long way since then.
“I've been going for at least 15 years, back when it was outside in the parking lot of the Brookfield Sheraton Hotel,” he says. “There was just, like, some tents out in the parking lot, some stuff in a couple of conference rooms, and now, obviously it's just this huge, huge thing.”
Wild says it’s the pinball and the people that keep him coming back after all these years.
“I just love the atmosphere. I love the people. I love that everyone is here like under a common geeky, nerdy interest, and it's a good time to hang out with my people,” he says.
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