Walter Banasiak is a Chicago area filmmaker and content creator for Channel Awesome, Inc. Some of his recent film work includes script supervising the feature Kaishaku and writing/directing the short Ad/Break. His contributions to Channel Awesome consist of shows like FanScription, Juniversal, Twilight-Tober Zone and guest appearances on The Nostalgia Critic.  

A man of many faces, Chris Bartlett has been a professional actor for 20 years. He’s known for his main characters on the Star Wars shows: The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka as well others such as LegoMasters, Shining Vale and The Orville. He’s also had a long career in the video game industry as a Director and lead artist. His credits include Call of Duty®, Warzone, Fortnite, Star Wars, Tomb Raider, Gears of War and more. Chris is uniquely engaging with fans. Hear his stories from behind the scenes where he brings fans into the Star Wars galaxy (and other universes) with entertaining stories and inspiration.

Clint Basinger is the guy behind LGR, a YouTube series that began in 2009 and remains dedicated to revisiting retro technology and the history of computing. If it has a microprocessor, a keyboard, and comes in beige or woodgrain, chances are it’ll be “an LGR Thing” at some point.

The voice of the most chill and most reasonable of Aphmau’s friends, Rhys. Just like his version in “My Inner Demons,” he’s very calculating, observant, and loves ice cream more than anything! He can be heard in such Anime as Roa Kassidy in “Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens,” and London Kassidy in “Yu-Gi-Oh! GO RUSH!” He also voices in many animated shows, such as Riven in “Winx Club: The Magic is Back” and Nick in “Hero Inside.” You can also catch his streams on Twitch & YouTube under the name, “JamBudsVO.” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv7WxwiuJXxOInHmT8AP8vQ

Creator of such game classics as RAMPAGE, XENOPHOBE, ARCH RIVALS, PIGSKIN and GENERAL CHAOS, Brian F Colin is a vastly experienced Game Designer, Artist, Animator and Development Group Leader with over 90 video game titles to his credit…. including the creation of some of the most-popular, highest-earning & best-selling titles in video game history! With over 44 Years in the industry, (and 34 years as CEO of Game Refuge Inc.), it’s not surprising that Brian has been inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame. 

His newest game, MAJOR SNAFU, is the long-awaited Sequel to his Hit Sega Genesis game General Chaos. You can learn more about it, and see Screenshots on STEAM: click here.

…or get Notified when it becomes available on KICKSTARTER.

Stern Pinball’s newest game designer, Jack Danger, is heralded for his many innovations in the Pinball industry regarding media and exposure over the years. Starting his design career with Stern’s Jurassic Park Home Edition, Stern Pinball just released Jack’s second machine: Foo Fighters!
Jack started his career as an animator and worked on commercials, music videos and feature films for nearly 20 years prior to launching his own design studio. When he got into pinball, he launched the Dead Flip Pinball Streaming channel, where he live streamed pinball, became a Stern Brand Ambassador and was the driving force for the “Pinball” category being added on Twitch.

Warren Davis is best known as the designer and programmer of the arcade classic, Q*bert. He also co-designed and programmed the laserdisc game, Us Vs. Them. For Williams, he contributed to Joust 2 and helped develop the system that became NARC. He was part of the team that created Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Revolution X featuring Aerosmith.

He also created the digitizing system that Williams/Bally/Midway used for many of their hit games of the 1990s including Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam, as well as the aforementioned T2 and Rev X. During a hiatus from Williams, he created the surreal and unusual Exterminator.

In the mid-1990s, Warren left the arcade industry and worked on a variety of home games for Disney and other companies. He was, for a short time, a Disney Imagineer and has also worked for Industrial Light and Magic.

In 2018, he was inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame. In 2022, his memoir about his time in the coin-op industry – Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Arcade Games – was published by Santa Monica Press and is now available worldwide. He appears in the film, Insert Coin, about the glory days of Willams/Bally/Midway, and is included in the documentary portion or the recently released Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection.

Richard Divizio is best known for portraying Kano in Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy. He also portrayed Quan Chi and Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Baraka in Mortal Kombat II, Kabal and Noob Saibot in Mortal Kombat 3 and provided some of the motion capture for Mortal Kombat 4. 

Ed Fries created his first video games for the Atari 800 in the early 1980s. He joined Microsoft in 1986 and spent the next ten years as one of the developers of Excel and Word. In 1996 he left the Office team to pursue his passion for interactive entertainment and created Microsoft Game Studios. Over the next eight years he grew the team from 50 people to over 1200, published more than 100 games including more than a dozen million+ sellers, co-founded the Xbox project, and made Microsoft one of the leaders in the video game business. In 2004, Ed retired as a Microsoft Vice President and began working as a board member and advisor with entrepreneurs in the video game business as well as serving on the board of several non-profit organizations including the International Game Developers Association Foundation, the Pacific Science Center and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2019 Ed joined with some friends to launch 1Up Ventures, a venture fund to support independent game developers. Since then, 1Up Ventures has made more than 85 investments in game development companies around the world.

George is Chief Creative Officer at Stern Pinball. He has spent his entire career creating entertainment products. His diverse portfolio includes early 80’s video arcade games, consumer toys, redemption novelty games, PlayStation and XBOX video games, as well as Williams and Bally pinball machines, including hits such as Monster Bash and Pinball 2000 Revenge From Mars. He first worked with Stern pinball as a consultant designer; during which time he created hits such as Lord of the Rings, The Sopranos, and Batman the Dark Knight. In 2010 Gary Stern and Dave Peterson invited him to join the company full time to lead the design studio. He has designed dozens of pinball machines over the course of his career; more than half of those titles for the Stern brand. Occasionally, the company still lets him design a game. His latest designs include James Bond 007.

Ahman Green is a famous former NFL running back that needs no introduction in all of Wisconsin or most anywhere else.  He holds the Green Bay Packers franchise record for rushing yards and a 4-time Pro Bowler. Currently, he hosts the popular Ahman Green’s Gamer Lounge podcast covering the world of competitive gaming and eSports, as well as breaking news and the inside scoop on the biggest events in the gaming world from the real game changers in the industry. Ahman will be appearing at the After Party Saturday Night and Sunday only.

John is a longtime collector of video games and is also an independent game publisher of over a dozen video games on classic consoles from Atari 2600 to Super Nintendo. As one of the original organizers of the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, John went on to establish a YouTube channel where he uploads weekly content that covers everything from Atari to Xbox. He loves to share his passion about video games with others.

The voice of Zane, Aphmau’s hotheaded & brooding best friend! Beyond Aphmau, he’s provided his voice with Marvel, LEGO, Konami, Death Battle & more. You can hear his voice in Anime such as “Kageki Shojo!!,” “Tribe Nine,” “Dragon Goes House-Hunting,” & “Lovely Complex!” He has also provided his voice for games such as “Smite,” “Contra Returns,” and “Dragonheir: Silent Gods.” He also streams as the bold VTuber, TeraBull! You can also check out his singing work on his YouTube channel, KestinTheVoice. https://www.youtube.com/@KestinTheVoice

James (Jim) Jarosz, studied film and animation at Columbia College in Chicago back in the mid-90s. He has worked on several indie films from acting to camera and sound to props and practical effects. Jim has been a featured extra in a few major motion pictures including Road to Perdition and Public Enemies. He has worked for Channel Awesome for the past five years in several capacities. More notably, as Doug Walker’s photoshop guy and cameraman for Nostalgia Critic, and as Quinn the cameraman on Demo Reel. The past year Jim has made props and costumes for the Nostalgia Critic and even a bit of animation. He is also a prop master and set designer for many of Channel Awesome’s upcoming new shows.

Eugene designed many landmark arcade video games including Defender, Robotron 2084, Narc, Smash TV, and the Cruis’n series. He also worked in pinball, helping to bring designs like Firepower, Pinbot, Space Shuttle, High Speed, and F-14 Tomcat to life. If that isn’t enough, he owns Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix, the premier modern arcade developer with hits such as the Walking Dead, Jurassic Park, Injustice Arcade, the Big Buck Hunter series, and more!

For the past 13 years, Brad Jones has been the creator and star of the popular YouTube and Channel Awesome series The Cinema Snob, a satirical look at exploitation cinema throughout the decades. As well as portraying The Cinema Snob on a weekly basis, Brad also keeps very busy, having created the animated series Lloyd, the movie review show Midnight Screenings, and is also the writer of the feature films The Cinema Snob Movie and the religious parody film Jesus Bro.

Dan Kitchen – As passionate game player and veteran Activision Game Designer, Dan Kitchen is credited with producing over 240 commercially released games across 15 game platforms.  During his career Dan is renowned for designing such Atari 2600 classics as CRACKPOTS™, GHOSTBUSTERS™, TOMCAT: THE F-14 FIGHTER SIMULATOR™, CROSSBOW™ and KUNG-FU MASTER™.  Dan has recently released CASEY’S GOLD!™ for the Atari 2600 which has been received with rave reviews.

Garry developed or co-developed tons of great games for early video game systems including Keystone Kapers, Pressure Cooker, Donkey Kong and Space Jockey for the 2600 and Stealth ATF, Simpsons: Bart Vs. The Space Mutants, Simpsons: Bart Vs. The World and Battletank for the NES, as well as a bunch more!

Tanio Klyce  spent 15 years developing video games prior to joining Stern Pinball. Having been a denizen of the arcades in the late 70’s and early 80’s, he developed a great fondness for the social and physical aspects of coin-op arcade pinball and video games. He is a very talented and versatile software engineer and game developer, having worked on both system level and game software. His portfolio includes system software engineer for SPIKE 1, SPIKE 2, and Insider Connected, software support for Star Trek, Mustang, The Walking Dead, KISS, Ghostbusters, Star Wars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and lead game developer for Deadpool and Foo Fighters . His creative drive often finds him contributing content to the games as a script writer, sound designer, recording engineer and general troubleshooter.

The voice of the energetic and sheep-loving Pierce! Though he’s not always goofy compared to his serious version in “My Inner Demons,” both have big, lovable hearts. He’s also known for his work in indie horror games, including “Sniper Killer,” and narration for geek-themed books, such as “The Psychology of My Hero Academia” by Anthony Bean. He also streams fun Minecraft builds on YouTube & Twitch, going by the name “Shado_Temple.” https://www.youtube.com/@shadotemple

Patty Mattson, best known as Sylvanas from World of Warcraft, is a versatile and dynamic voice artist that brought an array characters to life as well as lent her talent to commercials, jingles, records, promos, and video games. Other than Sylvanas, Patty is most well known as Miss Anthrope in the Captain Underpants series and Cheer Bear in the 2012 Care Bears series, and has voiced dozens of other characters!

Lia Montelongo is a legendary figure in the Mortal Kombat franchise, bringing to life some of the series’ most iconic female characters. She originated the role of Sindel in Mortal Kombat 3, portrayed the assassin Sareena in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, and served as the character model for Tanya in Mortal Kombat 4. Her performances left a lasting impact on the franchise, solidifying her place in gaming history. Lia will only be appearing Saturday.

Meet Arda Öcal Saturday at the Midwest Gaming Classic! Arda is a television personality and announcer who has worked for the WWE (under the stage name Kyle Edwards) and currently works for MSG Networks and ESPN! Arda is a lead voice for ESPN on their eSports coverage, as well as covering many other sports! He has hosted SportsCenter and can often be seen as one of the main hosts for the NHL on ESPN+.

Jeremy Parish is one of the foremost video game historians, sharing his knowledge through the podcast Retronauts as well as through various books. Make sure to catch his great presentations throughout the show, or get him to autograph one of his many books!

John is the Northern Kung Fu expert who portrayed Jax in Mortal Kombat II, 3, 4, Trilogy, Advance, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat! John now runs two companies in the Chicago area including an IT consulting company and a fitness company. John is only appearing on Saturday.

Carlos Pesina is an American martial artist and works for NetherRealm Studios. He played Raiden in Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy. When you see him, ask him about his nickname, One Take, and how many Mortal Kombat games he’s really been in.

Daniel played Sub Zero, Scorpion, Reptile, Noob Saibot, Smoke and Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat I and II. He also was one of the Foot Soldiers in Teenage Mutant Ninjas II!

Jon Reddick is a well-credentialed nerd of the 80s, classic game history enthusiast, and technology geek. In 2017, he merged those interests into the creation of GenXGrownUp: a YouTube channel & weekly podcast that explores and celebrates the media, games, tech, toys, comics, and pop culture of yesterday and today through the eyes of Generation X’ers.

Heather is the resident Channel Awesome Twitch Queen and can be seen on camera throughout the week in addition to running tech behind the scenes for the live-streams. She first joined the cast of Channel Awesome in 2016 for the show Awesome Comics. Since then, she has also appeared in and written for Orbit Report, Top 5, and Nostalgia Critic. In addition to Channel Awesome, she has her own Twitch variety channel (twitch.tv/heatherreusz) focusing mainly on story-driven games. When not gaming, Heather enjoys watching movies, TV shows, and anime and drinking craft beer with her friends. Find her on Twitter (@heatherreusz) or Instagram (@hreusz).

John Riggs started his YouTube channel in November 2014 as means to showcase his love for video games and breakfast cereal. It features a variety of topics including how to edit your own Nintendo games, how to clean and ‘fix’ your old carts with ‘Open Cart Surgery’ and showcases new technology that most may not have known about. He also gets a lot of help from his daughters who are featured in his videos regularly. John’s a regular guest on the Metal Jesus Rocks channel, is “taller than I expected” and is looking forward to returning to MGC!

Christopher Sean is the Emmy-winning voice of ULTRAMAN in Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising, which just won THREE Emmy Awards including Outstanding Animated Special and hit #2 globally!

He made history as the first Asian American lead in the Star Wars franchise, voicing Kazuda Xiono in Star Wars Resistance (Emmy-nominated, Saturn Award winner) and appeared in Star Wars: Visions.

Fans know him as NIGHTWING in Gotham Knights, TOYMAN in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, SHIRO in the upcoming Ghost of Yōtei, and THE MUSICIAN in Death Stranding 2.

On TV, Christopher starred in 350+ episodes of Days of Our Lives (Gold Derby Award), served as lead antagonist on Hawaii Five-0, and appeared in Netflix’s You (7th highest-watched show ever).

A published DC Comics author and passionate advocate for representation, Christopher is the hero kids deserve to see on screen.

Meet him for autographs, photo ops, and Q&A!

The voice of the sassy, magical potion master, Kim in “Aphmau.” She’s also a well-seasoned anime voice actor with roles such as Momonosuke in “One Piece,” Nataku Son in “Fire Force,” Arche/Entoma in “Overlord S3,” Selma Clodel in “Jack-Of-All-Trades, Party of None!” & more! Plus, she has her own YouTube/Twitch channels under her persona, “Megami33,” where she sings Anime English covers. She is also the singer of the ED theme song for “Bananya!” from Discotek Media.  https://www.youtube.com/@Megami36

George Sumpter is a lifetime lover of all things geek and a co-host of GenXGrownUp. Born in 1971 (best year ever) most of George’s childhood was spent playing baseball or Atari 2600 with a smattering of school and social life in between. A huge pop culture trivia nerd, George is always ready with an insightful quip or story to entertain. 

Carrie Tahquechi is the unforgettable voice talent behind some of the Atari Jaguar era’s most iconic sound moments. She is best known for her work on Tempest 2000 but contributed voice and foley work for countless other classic titles of the day. Her subtle, sultry Super Zapper Recharge and full-tilt intensity YES! YES! YES! in Tempest 2000 made her one of the most versatile and sought-after voices of the era.
But Carrie’s creative life stretches far beyond the sound booth. She is an accomplished fine art photographer with an eye for bold composition and emotional storytelling. As a bead embroidery artist, her work is influenced by Japanese textiles and architecture, and she has taught at national retreats and on creative cruises for more than a decade. Her artistic voice is vibrant, textured, and instantly recognizable no matter the medium.

Ted Tahquechi is a well-known figure in the video game industry, known for his work in the videogame industry during the 1980s and 1990s. His contributions have left an indelible mark on the development of classic video games, releasing 35 titles for major platforms such as PC, Jaguar, Lynx, PlayStation, 5200, and 7800 while working for Atari, Accolade, and Mattel Toys. With a career spanning over several decades, Ted has become a well-known name among retro gaming enthusiasts.

Ted’s dedication to the craft didn’t stop with game design and project management. Throughout his career, he lent his creativity in sound design, voice acting, and music creation to many of the titles he and others managed. He loves to speak at retro gaming conferences, where he has shared his insights on the industry’s evolution, the challenges and rewards of early game development, and the importance of creativity in the field. His presentations often delve into the technical innovations and limitations of the time, as well as the collaborative efforts required to bring a game from concept to reality.

Today, Ted continues to engage with the gaming community, sharing his experiences and knowledge with a new generation of developers. His contributions to the industry, particularly during its formative years, have earned him a place among the pioneers of video game development.

Moby Games Credits

https://www.mobygames.com/person/12808/ted-tahquechi/credits

Meet BizSnes a boy trapped inside of a video game console! How did he get there you’ll just have to ask him! You’ll really have to talk to Joe to find out what’s actually going on here. But we don’t have a picture of Joe, so… good luck! (Hint: Find BizSnes, and you’ll find Joe!)

Doug is best known for his character The Nostalgia Critic from ChannelAwesome.com, who reviews movies and TV shows connected to childhood. He’s also noted for having a long-standing “rivalry” with The Angry Video Game Nerd.  He’s appeared on PBS, Entrepreneur Magazine, New York Times, 20/20, Rifftrax, Honest Trailers, Cinema Sins, and was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year at the Mashable Awards as well as one of the Best Youtube Critics by WatchMojo.com.

From Santa Christ to the Executor, Rob Walker always plays a big role in the creation of the show Nostalgia Critic. He co-writes each episode, plays several hilarious characters, and also co-hosts the blog series Sibling Rivalry with his brother Doug.  Always having a quick comeback (except when he doesn’t), he’s there to entertain.

Critical Kate researches and writes about forgotten video game history on ACriticalHit.com. Her work has appeared on TIME.com, Kotaku, Polygon, and The Discovery Channel, and she makes frequent appearances on the Retronauts podcast and the Video Game History Hour.

Emmett Abels is a social media specialist who creates content for Stern Pinball. Emmett enjoys creating and watching animations, collecting video games, and playing guitar.

Scott Adams is widely recognized as the “father of adventure games”, and the “OG of indie developers” for effectively launching the personal computer gaming industry in 1978 with the publication of Adventureland, the first adventure-style game for personal computers. His company, Adventure International (1978–1985), released games for most major platforms of the era and achieved significant industry milestones. He also secured the first exclusive licensing deal to bring Marvel Comics characters to home computers with the Questprobe series. He continues to innovate by developing “Conversational Adventure™” games, such as “The Lost Legends of Redwall: Escape the Gloomer” and “Adventureland XL”.

“Uncle” Derek Alexander has been highlighting the weird, ambitious, and unnecessary side of gaming since 2007. His channel “Stop Skeletons From Fighting” doesn’t really care about whether games are “Good” or “Bad”, nope, it’s way more fun to think of games as either “Interesting” or “Uninteresting”. Meeting Uncle Derek means meeting a man who loves Doom’s many console ports, Brazil’s Zeebo console, the Nokia N-Gage, and Resident Evil 4 Chainsaw controllers all equally. He has returned to MGC with his friends to show their latest achievement, the world’s first 16-player game of Faceball 2000 for the GameBoy!

Brian is a professional artist who runs an illustration studio out of Pennsylvania. Brian has been re-imagining classic pinball artwork for the last several years by creating officially licensed Williams Translites, Side Art Blades, and art prints. Brian grew up in the Arcade and loves to revisit classic retro pinball and arcade games and pump new life into the characters. Brian has worked with companies such as Metallica, Activision, Marvel, Adult Swim, Hulk Hogan, Chick-fil-A, and many more. He is most recently known for his work designing Gritty, the new Philadelphia Flyers mascot that became an internet phenomenon.

Joe Astone is the FP&A Manager for Stern Pinball, although he also enjoys giving tours at the Stern pinball factory!

Scott Beaderstadt is a distinguished American comic book artist whose career spans several decades, marked by collaborations with industry giants such as Marvel, DC, and Archie Comics. He is perhaps best known for co-creating and self-publishing the acclaimed series “Trollords,” which gained significant attention during the late 1980s black-and-white comics boom. This series showcased Beaderstadt’s unique storytelling and artistic style, solidifying his reputation in the comic book community.

Throughout his career, Beaderstadt has demonstrated remarkable versatility, contributing to a diverse array of titles including “Amazing Heroes,” “The Mummy,” and “Empty Love Stories.” His collaborations with Laugh-A-Gram Studios—a company historically linked to early Disney productions—and Mayfair Games further highlight his adaptability across various media platforms.

To learn more about Scott Beaderstadt’s recent projects, including “Death: My Life and Love—An Adult Trollords Yarn,” visit his Kickstarter page.

Madeleine is the Logistics Supervisor for Stern Pinball and has been working with pinball for three years! She also regularly plays pinball outside of work!

Hannah is the administrative manager at Raw Thrills.  Recent games she has worked on include Godzilla Deluxe and Jackpot Racer arcade.

Mike’s career in the game industry began in 1984, as an editor/developer with TSR, Inc.Over 5 years there he worked on 90 AD&D and D&D modules, boxed sets, and hardback books, as well as board and card games. While still at TSR, he co-designed Pool of Radiance, the first AD&D computer game (a game Christophor takes to Dragon Days in Lake Geneva every year in playable form). Over the next 10 years he worked freelance for a wide variety of companies, including Sega of America, Microprose, EA, and many others. Starting in 1999, Mike worked in-house on digital games for Volition, Raven Software, Ubisoft Montreal, 38 Studios, and Zenimax Online.

Mike turned to teaching game design and narrative design in 2016, working at George Mason U., Butler, Bradley, Miami of Ohio, UT-Dallas, and now Webster University in St. Louis (where he’s been since 2018). When he’s not teaching the next generation of game developers, Mike has returned to his roots in analog games and has been developing five board games on his own, a scary enterprise after having been with companies his entire career. First up is Rubber Ducky Rampage (playable here at MGC in Tabletop Village, table R72 in the RPG play area!)

For more info on Mike’s extensive game industry career checkout his listing on BoardGameGeek.

Waison is a Programming Lead for Stern Pinball, having worked on games like Uncanny X-Men, Aerosmith, Star Trek, KISS, Game of Thrones, and Avengers to name a few. Before that, he worked on the Golden Tee series for Incredible Technologies.  Even before that, he programmed games for the Nintendo DS!

Brian Clark is a writer with multiple books published, translator, historian, and content creator who specializes in Japanese video games and music. He runs the One Million Power YouTube channel and Onemillionpower.com, which feature everything from developer interview translations to retrospectives.

Archie Cunningham is a comic book artist and creator, painter, and art teacher who brings dynamic story telling to the page or canvas. Archie will be creating a number of original pieces for the show! stop by, say hi and grab some art and a copy of his comic book, Armored Forces.

Senior Pinball Design at Stern Pinball. Brian is the designer of several classic pinball machines like The Shadow, Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness as well as more recent games like Stranger Things, The Mandalorian, Venom, And Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrants Eye. He has also designed many arcade, console, Facebook, and mobile games.

David has been involved in the pinball and gaming industry for over 20 years, working for companies such as ICE and most recently for American Pinball. David is also the vendor hall chairman for the Chicago Pinball Expo.

@FoggyKnight14 is an actor and content creator from North Carolina most known for bringing Superman to life through cinematic storytelling and high impact transformations. He’s partnered with top brands like DC, Marvel, Disney, Homage, and more, building a strong fanbase around iconic characters.

Elizabeth Gieske works as a Software Developer and Rule Designer for Stern Pinball. Her recent work includes Jaws and Dungeons and Dragons: The Tyrants Eye.

A former writer and programmer in the video game industry, Goldberg has had a lifelong fascination with all things electronic entertainment since first playing PONG and Tank as a child at his local arcades in the 70’s. As the former site director of IGN/GameSpy’s ‘ClassicGaming.Com’ and a current freelancer for Retro Gamer magazine, Goldberg has been writing about video games for 20 years. Along with Dan Loosen and Gabby Heil, Goldberg is also a co-founder of the Midwest Gaming Classic, one of the largest electronic entertainment expos in the United States open to the general public. In 2004, Goldberg also founded the Electronic Entertainment Museum (E2M), a non-profit archive whose mission is to help preserve the history and artifacts of the video game and home computer industries. In line with this goal, he’s also a member of the International Game Development Association’s (IGDA) Game Preservation SIG, a hub and community for those interested in digital game preservation and history.  Whew!

Michael Grant is on a mission to ensure no one asks the question, “They still make those things?” ever again. As the Director of Global Location Entertainment at Stern Pinball, Michael leads Stern Army—the global network of nearly 1,000 passionate tournament directors and brand ambassadors dedicated to growing and supporting their local pinball communities. Michael’s contagious passion for the silverball inspires enthusiasts across the globe to run recurring events, supporting their favorite locations and operators, spreading the joy of pinball, and welcoming newcomers to our favorite pastime. A frequent face at pinball shows, Michael is ready to celebrate his 6th appearance at MGC!

Stephen’s been cranking out titles for Raw Thrills since 2002. His credits include The Fast and the Furious, Super Bikes, Guitar Hero Arcade, Frogger, Super Alpine Racer, Injustice, Marvel: Contest of Champions, Monopoly Roll-n-Go, and many others.

Come and meet Slackanater – Farmer, hiker, brewer, and master of retro gaming strategies. A dedicated member of the speed-running community, he has discovered and refined techniques that have shaped the records of top runners. He is famously known as the first player to conquer the original NES Ninja Gaiden without taking a single hit. He will be at the MGC again this year showcasing FlawlessNES, where he pushes the limits of skill and precision as he beats games without ever taking damage.  To date, he has flawlessly defeated over 40 games, including some of the most notoriously difficult titles in the NES library. Come see Slackanater in the Game Center and find out more about FlawlessNES live on Twitch and YouTube!

Nolan is one of the top chess players and chess coaches in Wisconsin. He became a National Master at the age of 17 and obtained a scholarship for chess at Lindenwood University – formerly one of the strongest chess colleges in the nation. He also played on the St. Louis Arch Bishops professional chess team from 2012-2013. Nolan earned his first International Master Norm in 2012, and hopes to attain the International Master title in the years to come.

Nolan has taught numerous chess camps and has many successful private students. He works exceptionally well with children who are eager to improve their game and makes use of his understanding of psychology to help them accomplish this goal.

Outside of chess, Nolan is active in the field of Psychology. Currently, Nolan is writing a book on his ideas in emotion theory. Additionally, he is pursuing a graduate degree in Psychology and intends to become a Psychotherapist.

Jamie Fenton dropped out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to join Dave Nutting Associates to work on the first microprocessor controlled pinball machine, which eventually became the Bally Fireball Home Pinball machine. When DNA was bought by Bally, Jamie moved to Chicago with the team and developed the Checkmate puzzle game and 280Zzap driving game. Jamie was the software lead on the Bally Astrocade and developed GORF and Robby Roto. When the game industry crashed in the early 1980s, Jamie and two friends founded MacroMind and wrote the ground breaking MusicWorks composition program and VideoWorks animation suite.

Legendary game designer Harold Johnson will be at MGC. Harold started with TSR in 1978 as a copy editor on the original Dungeon Masters Guide! Since then, he has designed modules for popular role-playing games like Dragonlance and Indiana Jones, as well as working on countless D&D projects!

Virginia,

Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds.

All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Dankey Kang. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to our life its highest beauty and joy.

Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Dankey Kang! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no championship belts, no barrels to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Dankey Kang? You might as well not believe in Sanic! You might get your Papa to hire men to watch all the chimneys on MGC Eve to catch Dankey Kang, but even if they did not see Dankey Kang barreling down, what would that prove?

Nobody sees Dankey Kang, but that is no sign that there is no Dankey Kang The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.

Did you ever see Sanic running on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that he is not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart Lonk’s bottle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, or even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond.

Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else as real and abiding.

No Dankey Kang? Thank God he lives and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, maybe 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the hearts of children.

Derek makes prototype components for the Stern Pinball Product Development Team and he’s a contributor to the Kineticist.

Kevin joined Stern’s Product Development team as a Mechanical Engineer in December of 2021. He has been playing pinball as long as he can remember and has always been fascinated by how the insides of a machine work. While working with pinball machines was not something he realized could become a career until recently, his 20+ years of designing and building competitive robots both as a hobby and professionally has certainly prepared him well for anything a game designer can throw at him. 

@!#?@! Perhaps best known as the creator of Q*Bert, Jeff Lee is an artist who created great work for many of Gottlieb’s video arcade games, as well as games on the Macintosh and Genesis.

Matt Lemoyne has been playing with Chicago Air Hockey since 2015. In 2019, he placed 10th at the United States Air Hockey Association (USAA) World Championship, earning designation as a master-level player for a top-ten finish. Outside of the game, he enjoys teaching, reading, biking, and wasting time on Reddit.

Doug Mac divides his time between slinging bass for heavy rockers American Acid, and slinging ink that brings to life characters that are drawn mondo bizarro and over the top. He has illustrated covers for The Village Voice, as well as work for Alice in Chains, Luke Combs, Lita Ford, Shinedown and others. He is a regular contributor to Ol Skool Rods and Girls and Corpses magazine and done around 50 CD covers.

Mark Manzo started as an associate editor and designer for Ziff Davis publications such as Expert Gamer and GameNOW before freelancing for PSM and GMR magazines. He wrote and designed Prima’s Official Strategy Guide for Crash Nitro Kart — and was editor for RZone Magazine, Toys ‘R Us’ monthly videogame publication. As a tester for High Voltage Software, Mark worked on Hunter: The Reckoning and Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. Now a creative director, Mark has worked on campaigns for Halo/Circuit City, Xbox/Burger King and Far Cry/Redbox. By night, Mark is a music producer and motorcycle head. If he smells like fuel and old leather when you meet him, just pretend you’re in Sons of Anarchy. It’ll be rad!

Cassie (she/they) is an award-winning tattoo artist out of Greenfield, WI, and has been tattooing since 2019. She uses all vegan-friendly tattoo equipment and prides herself on creating a safe, inclusive, and comfortable environment for all clients and ones alike. Recently opened her private studio, Alderaan Ink, and is the official tattoo artist of the Midwest Gaming Classic! They look forward to meeting and working with you, or just chatting about tattoo questions you may have!

John Matson is an American fantasy illustrator best known for his work as an artist for Magic: The Gathering. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he developed an early passion for science fiction and fantasy art, which led him to study illustration at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD). Over the course of his career, he has created hundreds of illustrations for games, books, and publications, including numerous Magic: The Gathering cards. In addition to his professional artwork, Matson is an Associate Professor of Illustration at MIAD, where he teaches and mentors the next generation of artists while continuing his work as a freelance illustrator.

You can find him in the main Tabletop Village play area on the center walkway near the TCG play area.

A DevOps Architect by day, Travis “TiKevin83” McGeehan is an official Ambassador for tasvideos.org, a site that archives Tool Assisted Speedrun records. He also is an Administrator for TASBot, demonstrating those Tool Assisted Speedrun records on original console hardware at conventions internationally. He got his start speedrunning on Pokémon Yellow in 2016 and over the years found new glitches and set new multiple new TAS records for the game, while improving Game Boy emulators by making the new TASes verify on console as part of the TASBot team.

Dan Meyer is currently ranked 24th in the world in competitive air hockey. He loves sharing his excitement for this amazing sport. He can be found every Wednesday night hosting an air hockey tournament at Emporium in Chicago. When not playing air hockey, he spends his time throwing at the disc golf course, practicing kinbaku, and upping his Beat Saber skills.

Aaron Miller is an award-winning American fantasy illustrator best known for his work as an artist for Magic: The Gathering. He has created artwork for many cards, bringing imaginative and detailed scenes to life that help shape the look and feel of the game. Beyond Magic, his work has also been featured in major franchises like Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons, as well as in respected art publications. Known for his dynamic style and strong storytelling through images, Miller continues to be a well-recognized figure in fantasy illustration. You can find him in the main Tabletop Village area on the center walkway near the TCG play area.

“Trickman” Terry Minnich started his 10-year position as an Editor for Sendai Publishing Group’s Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) magazine in 1991. Along with creating Fact Files, he managed the Tricks of the Trade which was the secret codes section (also where the famous Sheng Long April Fools’ joke appeared) in many publications such as EGM, EGM2, Super Nintendo Buyer’s Guide, Mega Play, Expert Gamer and many more. In 2007, he founded the company, Retroids LLC, alongside former EGM colleagues, Ken Williams and Paul Ojeda. Its main property was the website VGEvo, which stood for Video Game Evolution, and housed a podcast network which consisted of PlayStation Nation and Interactive Distractions among others. In 2016, he opened Pixel Blast Arcade—a brick-and-mortar venue with arcade games, air hockey, pinball and more, co-owned with Paul Ojeda. The arcade was one of the unfortunate victims of the pandemic and closed in December of 2020. Terry has contributed to several visual compendiums from Bitmap Books, as well as Jeff Lee’s “Q*bert and We” autobiography. He’s also made appearances in the documentaries, Man Vs. Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler, and the upcoming Ghostlord and the Quest for Dark Presence.

Charles D. Moisant creates bold, unforgettable experiences that push the boundaries of imagination. From comics to tabletop games and RPGs, he specializes in building immersive worlds filled with action, humor, and chaos. He is currently working on projects like Auto Klash™: Flesh VS AI a tabletop game, KREMIN, an RPG where players step into the role of a hero traveling through the multiverse, and joining with Les L. Garner on the H.P. Lovecraft Tarot (Dr. Van Meter’s Forbidden Cthulic Tarot). Charles has also published comics, including the Pandemic Collection, a federally funded project created to help Native American children overcome their fear of COVID-19 nasal swab tests. This impactful comic has earned a place in the Field Museum’s permanent archives, underscoring its significant outreach. Rounding out his creative endeavors, Charles is developing a nonprofit dedicated to teaching financial literacy and empowering underserved communities with the tools to build a better future. From Realm Phases to dystopian highways, every project he undertakes is designed to spark adventure, creativity, and real change.

If you’ve sent an email, made a phone call, or submitted a contact form to Stern Pinball’s sales team in the last year and a half, I’ve seen it and helped you! Most of my work is behind the scenes analytics and system maintenance, but I treasure every opportunity I get to meet a new face and introduce folks to pinball!

Brian Niebuhr has been playing with Chicago Air Hockey since 2017.  In 2023, he defeated former world champion Mark Robbins to claim #31 in the world.  He’s taught high school physics in Chicago Public Schools for 17 years, and enjoys music, video games, amateur lawn care, and being with his family.

Industry veteran Pablo Padilla is a technical support engineer at Stern Pinball. Padilla has 26 years of experience in coin-op and the consumer product industry, having worked on the operations side of Namco USA and Motorola.

Greg Peters is an internationally renowned animation artist who has won 4 daytime Emmys! Peters has worked at many of the greatest animation studios including Hanna Barbara, Amblin, Warner Bros, Sony, Disney, and Nickelodeon! Specializing in character design, some of Peter’s work includes Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, Rugrats, Dilbert, Family Dog, Timon & Pumbaa, and Mickey’s House of Mouse! He also worked as an animator for Sega video games in the 1990s. Today, Peters is part of Wacool Animation School.

A nerd-girl with a fashion modeling background, Erika “Verika” Phillipp found a way to combine two of the things she loves by becoming a published model in the board gaming industry. She enjoys promoting the value of gaming through the products she has appeared in. In a predominantly male hobby, she aims to break down the perceptions of typical female gaming stereotypes by showing females can be smart, strong, funny, and anything else they want to be for themselves. She hopes her example leads to females becoming increasingly interested in gaming!

Ash works as a QA lead at Raw Thrills.  Most recent works include Stranger Things, Fast & Furious Arcade, Bust-A-Move Frenzy, and T-Rex Safari.

Jordan “Savage Giggles” can best be described as an optimistic video game enthusiast, with a knack for shooter and role playing games. She has worked gaming events the last nine years for companies such as Microsoft/343, Turtle Beach, Corsair, OriginPC, and Wargaming. She was also a NOS sponsored competitive Halo player in Major League Gaming and broadcasts her game play on Twitch in her free time.

Doug worked with FIRST COMICS on an original comics title, DYNAMO JOE, a giant-robot series which he created and penciled. Then freelanced on STARBLAZERS (for Comico), PLASTIC MAN and MANHUNTER (for DC Comics), TOXIC AVENGER and WHAT THE–?! (for Marvel), ROGER RABBIT (for Disney Comics), TALES OF THE TMNT (for Mirage Comics), and STUPID (for Image Comics), among others.  Doug did storyboarding and background layouts for “Steven Spielberg presents The Animaniacs” which, in turn, led to him being handed an Emmy certificate and ‘letter-of-congratulations’ from the head of WB animation a little over two years after he started.

Mark Robbins was the president of Gold Standard Air Hockey, and he will be on hand to play and chat about the industry! On top of that, Mark is one of the best air hockey players in the world! Are you ready to be schooled in the way of the puck at the Wisconsin Center?

When Dave started, he worked for Williams with Steve Kordek, Roger Sharpe and many other legends of the pinball world! Now he is the Senior Procurement Specialist for Stern Pinball!

Serendipity is a Tiktok based Cosplay and LARP Content creator! They have a vast assortment of horror and fantasy themed costumes.

@serendipity.the.entity

Zach of all trades, master of all things pinball! Director of Marketing for Stern Pinball. Vice President of the International Flipper Pinball Association. Former #1 ranked competitive pinball player in the world. To say he was born into the world of pinball would be an understatement. To say he loves his job working in the pinball industry would be a disservice. When you love your job you never work a day in your life and he hopes to live a very long one with pinball at his side!

With over a decade of technical expertise in pinball systems and a history of roles at notable organizations like the Pacific Pinball Museum and Marco Specialties, Kyle Spiteri brings a deep understanding of pinball game maintenance and repair to his position at Stern Pinball’s technical services department. Outside of work, he indulges in his passions for record collecting, attending concerts, managing a lively household with four cats, and exploring new destinations with his wife, Eska.

Dwight is currently a Senior Game Developer with Stern Pinball. He has worked on lots of different games for Stern, including being the team leader for games like Pirates of the Caribbean and more! Dwight Sullivan has been slinging Pinball game rules for decades, previously having worked for Williams Electronics.

MXV has been an associate game developer at Stern Pinball for over 9 years and has contributed rule design to a variety of games, as well as doing Expression Lights for the music themed games. He has been in the game industry for 32 years now, getting his start at Williams Bally/Midway on the video game side, working on games such as Mortal Kombat and others.

Growing up playing games, Andrew learned programming in middle school to make their own. While game development took a back seat until starting their work at Stern, they played various games, eventually spending time in arcades thanks to Killer Queen Arcade. Idle hands at Logan Arcade led to an interest in pinball, which they fully dove into in 2023. Captivated by rulesheets and empowered with a software background, Andrew has now contributed to Star Wars: Fall of the Empire and Pokémon by Stern Pinball. “Wilk” loves food, movies and public transit.

Jeffrey Wittenhagen is a retro gaming historian, publisher, and artist who has been a returning guest at Midwest Gaming Classic for many years. He is the founder of Hagen’s Alley Books, where he publishes highly detailed books focused on video game history, physical collecting, and genre preservation, including The Complete NES, The Complete SNES, and the acclaimed Metroidvania Chronicles series.

Deeply involved in the NES homebrew and indie gaming scenes, Jeffrey regularly collaborates with developers and artists on books, physical releases, and custom wooden pixel-art pieces inspired by classic games. Whether documenting lost history, celebrating modern homebrew, or hand-painting game art one pixel at a time, his work is driven by a passion for preservation, craftsmanship, and the communities that keep retro gaming alive.

Ben Wolf is an award-winning author of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and children’s books. When not writing, he plays video games and chokes his friends in Brazilian jiu jitsu.

You can follow him on Facebook in the Ben Wolfpack or check out his author website, www.benwolf.com.

Hey there! My name is Eddie Yates, and I am a technical support engineer for Stern Pinball. I joined the Stern Family in October 2020. Prior to joining Stern Pinball, I worked at Abt Electronics as an appliance repair technician for 7 years. Overall, I’ve been in customer service and in the technology industry for over ten years. At Stern, I’m responsible for customer service, which includes diagnosing and advising on the repair of our pinball games. In my department, we reach out to all branches of the company. We work with programming, engineering, marketing, sales, as well as manufacturing