The Midwest Gaming Classic is pleased to welcome the following industry professionals to our event this year! We expect to host more than 100 special guests, so make sure to stop back as we update the list.
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List subject to change.
Rob Anthony
Rob Anthony
Rob started working at a local arcade at age 13 and immediately took to the service aspect of the games. After running an amusement route, and taking technical trainings from Williams, Bally, NSM, Atari, and Rowe he developed extensive board repair experience and can troubleshoot and repair most any issue. He travels all over the US repairing games and will be offering on site board and game repair at the show!
Philo Barnhart
Philo Barnhart
Don Bluth Studios, Disney, Silver Phoenix Entertainment*
Animator, Artist*
Philo was an animator for games Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, but is perhaps best known for other projects he helped animate – The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Rescuers Down Under, The Secret of NIMH, Happily Ever After, An American Tail, and special effects for Star Trek: The Motion Picture!
Chuck Bleich
Chuck Bleich
Williams Pinball, Midway Games, Stern Pinball*
Electrical Engineer
Chuck presently oversees all electronic development at Stern Pinball. This encompasses system design, vendor interface, proto-type coordination and regulatory compliance. In short, all aspects related to electronics from concept, into production are within Chuck’s domain!
Waison Cheng
Waison Cheng
Neopong Software, inXile Entertainment, Incredible Technologies, Stern Pinball*
Software Engineer
Waison is a game designer for Stern Pinball, having worked on games like 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, and before that on programming games for the Nintendo DS!
Brian Colin
Brian Colin
Game Designer
Creator of such video game classics as Rampage, Xenophobe and General Chaos, Brian F Colin is a vastly experienced Game Designer, Artist, Animator and CEO with over 80 video game titles to his credit…. including the creation of some of the most-popular, highest-earning & best-selling titles in video game history!
Recently inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame, Brian is well-known for sharing enthusiastic, first-hand, anecdotal insights into over three decades of game design and development; from creating Arcade classics in the early 80’s right up to stories straight from the sets and locations of the recent Rampage Movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Chuck Ernst
Chuck Ernst
Atari Video Games, Midway Games, Warner Brother's Interactive NetherRealm Studios, Stern Pinball*
CG art director
Chuck has had more than 28 years programming and has more than 40 titles that he did! He is currently the CG art director at Stern Pinball, but his lengthy resume includes stints with Warner Brothers Interactive, Midway Games and Atari Video Games!
Greg Freres
Greg Freres
Bally Pinball, Williams Pinball, Whizbang Pinball*, Jersey Jack Pinball, Stern Pinball*
Artist and Art Director
Greg has created iconic work for games like Fathom, Strange Science, Elvira and the Party Monsters, Scared Stiff, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Smash TV, Cruis’n USA, Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons and many more! Today, he serves as Stern Pinball’s art director.
Erik Gilly
Erik Gilly
Bally Namco Amusement America, Stern Pinball*
Director of Consumer Sales
Erik is the main person at Stern pinball who helps to manage and grow the Stern distribution chain, helping to get the machines that Stern is building into people’s hands to play! Before working at Stern, Erik played a similar role for Bandai Namco.
Bob Mackey
Bob Mackey
IGN, USGamer, Retronauts*
Writer, Podcaster
Retronauts is perhaps the most well known retro gaming podcast, and Bob Mackey is one of the people behind it! Having worked in gaming journalism for sites like IGN and USGamer, Mackey brings his vast knowledge of gaming history to every project he participates in.
Paul E. Niemeyer
Paul E. Niemeyer
Paul’s artwork appears on dozens of games including TRON, Tapper, Satan’s Hollow, Spy Hunter, Wacko, Super PacMan, PacMan Plus, Professor PacMan, Demolition Man Pinball, and perhaps most notably, the Mortal Kombat logo!
Paul then worked on movie licenses like Jurassic Park 2, Men in Black, Star Trek 5, Star Wars Phantom Menace, Pirates of the Caribbean, and was an owner of Eagle Game Board Game company!
Jeremy Parish
Jeremy Parish
IGN, 1UP, USGamer, Retronauts*
Writer, Podcaster
Bob Mackey and Jeremy Parish of Retronauts will be at the Midwest Gaming Classic April 14 and 15 in Milwaukee, WI! Retronauts was started over ten years ago as a podcast featuring games of the past, and continues today weekly covering a diverse range of retro gaming topics!
Steve Ritchie
Steve Ritchie
Atari Pinball, Williams Pinball, Stern Pinball*
Pinball Game Designer
Steve started by designing pinball machines for Atari before moving to Williams, creating hugely successful machines like Firepower, High Speed, Terminator 2, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also worked on arcade video games, and is the voice of Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat. Recently, he has been working for Stern Pinball, designing hits like Spider-Man, AC/DC, Star Trek and Star Wars!
Dwight Sullivan
Dwight Sullivan
Williams Electronics, Stern Pinball*
Senior game developer
Dwight is currently a senior game designer with Stern Pinball, and has worked on lots of different games for Stern, including being the team leader for games like Pirates of the Caribbean and more! Before that, he worked for Williams Electronics.
Alumni
Below are some of our guests from past shows
Eugene Jarvis
Eugene Jarvis
Atari Pinball, Williams Electronics, Vid Kidz, Midway, Raw Thrills*, Play Mechanix*
Video Game Programmer, Pinball Programmer, Co-Founder of Vid-Kidz, Owner of Raw Thrillz
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!
Jeff Lee
Jeff Lee
Gottlieb
Arcade Video Concept and Design
@!#?@! 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. Jeff will be hanging out in the Galloping Ghost Arcade room (3 on the map) throughout the weekend!