2013 Panels and Presentations
The Midwest Gaming Classic features a variety of speakers and panel presentations about different classic and modern pinball and video gaming topics spanning both days of the show. Each day's schedule is below, along with a brief preview of their speech. The following is the line up of speakers for each day at this year's Midwest Gaming Classic:
Saturday
The following is the list of Saturday speakers and panels for the Midwest Gaming Classic.
Hyperkin: Retron 4 Revealed - 11:00am-11:30pm
The Retron 4 is officially unveiled at the Midwest Gaming Classic, and you can see it and hear a little bit about it here first! When you're done, head down to the Museum Annex and get to be one of the first people in the world to try it out!
Jim Schelberg: Pinball Today - 11:30am-12:00pm
Pinball pops up surprisingly often in pop culture - whether it is in movies, music videos, cartroons, TV shows, commercials, or anywhere else, it seems like Jim Schelberg, editor of the PinGame Journal knows about it! He'll share some of the places where pinball has popped up in the media in this short presentation
Eric Weiss: My Cool Jobs - Visual Effects, TV, and Games - 12:00pm-12:50pm
Eric Weiss is a guy who went from a middle of the road student in high school to living the life of an Animation Rock Star in Hollywood, working on video games, TV and even movie special effects! Eric will tell stories about living on Sunset Boulevard in LA, mansions in Hawaii and even working on Superman Returns... right here in Wisconsin. Eric also describes what a typical game company is like, what type of positions people have in the industry and how much money they typically earn... and maybe even how to follow in his footsteps!
The History of Raven Software: From Black Crypt to Call of Duty - 1:00pm-2:50pm
Raven Software has been one of the biggest names in gaming for more than 20 years, and they have worked on some of the biggest games and with some of the biggest companies to this day! They can't talk about their current work on the popular Call of Duty series, but they will talk about their time working with id Software on games like Heretic, Hexen, Wolfenstein and Quake 4 as well as their great licensed titles like Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel, X-Men as well as their other fun titles like Singularity and Soldier of Fortune. This is a panel that you won't want to miss!
Bradley Czech: The Upcoming Neville Art Museum Arcade Exhibit - 3pm-3:50pm
Bradley is loaning dozens of games from his own personal collection to the Neville Public Art Museum in Green Bay from May 25th until September 2nd this year. Bradley will discuss his collection, how it got started, and what you can expect when you head to Green Bay to check out this awesome exhibit!
John Trudeau: Forbiddean Planet Pinball - 4pm-4:50pm
John talks about his Forbidden Planet Pinball design that is being created in the UK by a group of hobbyists. Find out about this project from inception to current day, and where it is going in the future. Want more? John will be happy to answer questions at the end about this and his many other pinball projects!
Marty Goldberg: Atari - Business is Fun... and Pinball? - 5pm-5:50pm
When you think of Atari, you probably think of arcade games like Asteroids and Battlezone, or maybe you think of the Atari 2600, or maybe Pong... but how many people really think of Atari Pinball? Marty will talk about the recently published Atari: Business is Fun book that he co-authored and focus specifically on the pinball advancements that Atari made... maybe even with the help of some of the people that worked in that division!
International Game Developers Association Madison Chapter Open Meeting - 6pm-8pm
The IGDA hosts an open meeting for anyone to check out as they discuss issues regarding modern game development.
Sunday
The following is the list of Sunday speakers and panels for the Midwest Gaming Classic.
Tilt: Battle to Save Pinball Screening - 12pm-12:55pm
Get to see this popular documentary film, and if you like it you can get the DVD at the merchandise table to get all of the awesome extras in this great DVD set!
Scott Adams: The Original Adventurer and His New Game - 1pm-1:50pm
Scott Adams recently release a new game called the Inheritance based on the style of his previous games, and it was inspired in no small part by the presentations and the great replies that they have had in the past few years at the Midwest Gaming Classic! Find out more about this new game, as well as stories about his old games at this presentation.
Owen Rubin with Marty Goldberg: Atari Coin Op - 2pm-2:50pm
In the past, Marty Goldberg has interviewed Atari co-founder Ted Dabney, gaming designer legend Howard Scott Warshaw, the father of video games Ralph Baer and others via Skype at the show. This year he'll be interviewing coin-op video game designer extraordinaire Owen Rubin. The creator of such arcade games as Cannonball, Triple Hunt, Skydiver, Space Duel and Major Havoc, Owen is also the man responsible for putting the volcano in Battlezone. His insight in to the golden age of video coin-ops and of Atari's Coin-Op division is sure to entertain all!
Ben Heck: Ghost Squad Pinball - 3pm-3:50pm
Ben Heck returns, and discusses his brand new custom designed Ghost Squad pinball machine that he has been working on. You've seen it at the show, now find out about how Ben has been making it!