Another year, another trip to the
Midwest
Gaming Classic. Although not drastically different than the
2006
show it was still a good time. No reason to change the basic formula,
it's a "classic" gaming show after all. However, classic systems
seem to come in and out of favor and this year's show was a shining reflection of that.
Three years ago the Atari 5200 was well
represented with systems and games for sale at every booth. Last year I
noticed an abundance of Jaguar games for sale, nearly every vendor had a
stack. This year they were both scarce while the TurboGrafx-16 appeared to
be the classic flavor of the day. Boxed TG-16 consoles were a hot commodity,
selling faster than in their prime I imagine. Declining systems were the Lynx and Sega
CD whose games, barring a select few titles, were available for rock-bottom
prices.
Usual Disclaimer: I don't have a particularly great digital camera and I
suck at taking pictures. After seeing these pictures I've vowed to finally bother buying a slightly better camera.
Since mine is like 5 or 6 years old the cheapest one around today is at
least 10x
better.
The images on this page are thumbnails, click for the full-size image (you'd probably figure that out on your own though).
The trip to the
Midwest
Gaming Classic 2007 got off to a great start.
On the way up I saw a neighborhood garage sale in Bristol Wisconsin.
It was an older neighborhood so I figured I might get lucky,
sure enough I scored an Intellivision with box-o-games for $5.
I doubt the system works, it looks like hell, but the games were
more than worth the price considering they included..
..the extremely rare
The Jetsons Ways with Words.
The box is pretty flat but the cartridge and overlays are fine.
I knew it was a great find even before checking an
Intellivision rarity
guide.
How? For starters, I'd never heard of it which is usually a sign of obscurity.
The biggest indicator was the box text
"
Use with any INTELLIVISION Master Component, Computer Adaptor, & Computer Keyboard."
There were only a handful of games made for the short-lived Intellivision computer.
Of course, this means at some point that house likely had that system and it was already sold or tossed.
The #1 reason I keep going to the
Midwest
Gaming Classic is for the vendors. I love to just look at what's
available and fill-in my collection with a few lost favorites.
Why does Japan get all the great Nintendo licensed toys and we get
practically nothing? And 'no', some crappy Mario Fruit Roll-Ups every
other year don't count. What I want are those Wind Waker toys and
Nintendo watches.
One vendor had a huge selection of Sega Master System games, most
appeared foreign. I keep saying I want to expand my tiny Master System
collection but always find something else to buy instead.
At the same table was a collection of Philips Videopac games. This is
the first time I'd even heard of this system (or at least the first time
I'd seen any games for it).
You have no idea how tempting it was to buy the whole box of "broken
stuff". I forced myself to decline.
I have this exact Apple ][ sitting on my desk at work, only much
cleaner. I got it as a
free gift from another programmer who was moving but couldn't bear to
throw it away. Literally, within 30 seconds of taking this picture
someone bought it.
My favorite booth to window shop at was one that stocked a ton of import
games ("Mad Gear" might have been the name). If I had a fatter
gaming budget I'd have a nice collection of import PC Engine CDs.
I have never owned any of the Atari computers but I'd be prone to grab
one of these Atari 400s if I had the chance. Don't know where I'd keep
it though.. probably would have to go next to that Apple ][.
Anyway, I like the compact design and wish the small PC trend took
off.
Yeah I remember carrying the "Genistick", what a stupid name.
The cool thing about it is that you could play the Genesis with one
hand. Later in the day I went a speech by the famous (among nerds)
Ben
Heck. He talked about a one-handed Xbox 360 controller he made for a
soldier wounded in Iraq. He tried to pitch the idea to Microsoft for
mass-production but they weren't interested. It's a shame, being able to
enjoy a hobby like gaming would certainly lift the spirits of those who
lost a limb while serving their country (or any other way I
suppose).
The prices on Lynx games bottomed-out. $2 for a sealed game or 6 for
$10. Seeing that stack of sealed Jaguar games makes me think they'll be
a similar price in another year or two.
I went to the show with a single shopping objective: buy a 3DO. It's the
only system from the mid-90s that I don't own and really, really wanted.
The going price for the system was $50, slightly cheaper than eBay. The
folks at
Warp Zone Video
Games threw in a sack-o-games for another $20. I can't turn down a
generic sack-o-games even if most were lame "edutainment"
titles. Madden, Gex, and Need for Speed were included and they're all
games I would have hunted down anyway.
One thing I noticed this year was a sudden abundance of TurboGrafx-16 games
and systems for sale. Years past there were a couple of games here and there
but overall very few. Now it seemed like every vendor had a few games, at ridiculous
prices. Ys III in a generic jewel case, no instructions, $35. Even the
crappy TV Sports Games were tagged at $10-$15. The basic system was a solid
$40-$50, no CD add-ons or TurboDuos in sight though (unless you include the
Japanese equivalents). It appears the inclusion of the
TurboGrafx-16
on the Wii Virtual Console has sparked a revival of interest in the
system.
There were a lot of good exhibits this year, all were busy and had an
energetic vibe about them. There was definitely a healthy dose of enthusiasm
among this years' attendees and exhibitors.
There were a lot of contests running throughout the event. A couple were
focused on high scores for Tempest 2000. OK, there was a whiff of
marketing to it because all the controllers had this dial/paddle
modification made specifically for Tempest 2000 that some guy was
selling. It was an excellent modification though, made the game feel
more like the arcade original.
I spent a good amount of time at the cramped
Star
Worlds Arcade exhibit. They had a few old game like Domino Man that
were new to me.
They also had one of the Nintendo vs. systems. This thing was great. For
starters, you could run into with a tractor and not make a dent. It's
about the size of a table top game only without the neck strain from
constantly looking down. Just playing it for a few minutes bumped it way
up on my "arcade machine wish list".
The also had a Neo Geo for people under 4'8". Either that or
arcades in Japan have everyone sitting at a very short stool.
The highlight of the exhibits was finally playing a real SuperGrafx. I
still can't explain why I want one of these even though it has a grand
total of only six games. I guess it's because I'm a huge TurboGrafx fan
and always wonder "what if" when I think about the
SuperGrafx. Apparently it didn't take off in Japan because consumers
there preferred the PC Engine CD. If only the SuperGrafx had a compatible
CD attachment the gaming landscape could have evolved in a completely
different direction.
Speaking of the PC Engine CD, here's a picture of one. Looks like it
suffers from that strange plastic discoloration that old Nintendo
systems do.
Last year I wrote about how impressed I was with the Bally Astrocade.
Played it again and it was still one of the most fun systems I've tried.
I'll say it again, the controller on this system is one of the best
designed and makes for innovative game play. With one knob it does what
modern controllers try to do with two (think of a directional control + camera
stick).
The Japanese equivalent of the Atari 2600, the Atari 2800. Stylistically
it more resembles the Atari 7800.
This Atari 830 modem obviously brings the movie Wargames to mind. I've
had some old modems in my time but never one in this fashion.
An early system from Nintendo which appears to be a breakout clone. We
need more bright orange systems.
There were a couple displays of old ads and posters in the main
exhibition area. I could always go for more stuff like this. Here are
some good 16-bit era ads, a little Genesis, some TurboGrafx-16, and of
course
Mortal Kombat II
hype.
I know I had one of these flyers and wish I hung on to it. I zoomed in
on it because the prices advertised here were actually less than the
going rate for used TurboGrafx-16 CD games in the vendor area. The chip
games were high but not above these prices, the CD games were another
story altogether.
Although I've enjoyed every trip to the
Midwest Gaming Classic,
this one squeaks in as my favorite to date. It felt like there was more
going on, more energy from the attendees. I think the show is starting to
catch on and will hopefully get a little bigger (and preferably better)
every year.
Everything on this site is free. I'll never use pop-ups or randomly
generated ads to support it. If you've found something here to be
especially helpful or entertaining please consider making a small
donation. This can be done through a secure PayPal transaction or by
purchasing one of the related items below.
Thanks for visiting my little web page!
