Meet

The Midwest Gaming Classic hosts dozens of industry professionals each year! Here are the guests that were confirmed for 2023!

Scott Adams

Adams is known as the “father of adventure games” for being the first person known to create an adventure-style game for personal computers with his first game, Adventureland. His company, Adventure International, released games for many major computer platforms throughout the 80s. Recently, Scott founded Clopas, the “Puzzle Us Adventure!” company in 2017.

Philip Ahn

Dr. Phillip Ahn, MD. holds a 5th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Phillip is not an actor by profession, but by starring as Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat 2 video game, he gained fame with gamers!

Brian Allen

Brian is a professional artist who runs an illustration studio out of Pennsylvania. For the last several years, Brian has been re-imagining classic pinball artwork 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.

Caleb Ashton

We asked Caleb to write us a bio for himself and we got this.

Caleb has been a fake gamer since 1999, and has been a YouTube poser since 2019. On weekends you may find him scalping, faking video game finds for views, and manipulating the market for retro video games. His greatest strengths include creating trashy clickbait, and lowballing children at yard sales.

We think he’s pretty cool though.

Francisco J. Bahena Goeller

Francisco J. Bahena Goeller has ran several weekly Adventurer’s League games at stores such as Lake Geneva Games and Game Universe, worked as a game master for Epic Productions, and is the DM for a weekly live play D&D show “Embers by Daybreak” as part of the NaturalOneMedia twitch channel. He currently lives in Milwaukee, WI with the love of his life, Dream.

Mark Bakula

Mark bought his first pin in 1972 (Flipper Clown). He has given over 15 seminars at numerous pinball events. He restore games using the knowledge he displayed at the many how to do seminars he and Don Caldwell gave.

Clint Basinger

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.

John Borg

Pinball designer John Borg has created more than 25 iconic titles including Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Tales From the Crypt, Guns N’ Roses, Iron Man, Metallica, Tron, Aerosmith, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Steve Bowden

Steve is the Sales and Marketing Manager at American Pinball working social media, helping distributors, and assisting with implementation of game rulesets. He is also among the top competitive pinball players in the world and has received a following for his tournament commentary as well as for his pinball news website, Fun with Bonus.

Matthew Boyles

Matthew Boyles, aka TrueTriz on the Internet. His channels, which feature content about games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Call of Duty, have over 2 million subscribers. He also established Pickaxe Studios, which is responsible for developing Minecraft-related video games. And a person who takes part in the web3 gaming community.

Jonathan Brostoff

Jonathan Brostoff AKA TeamJbro is a Cube Twitch streamer and the most consistent and winningest MTGO Cube trophy leader of all time. He is also the 2019 SCG Cube Champion and the President of CubeCon. For the past 8 years he served the Wisconsin State Legislature as the Representative for Assembly District 19 and is now serving as Alderperson for Milwaukee’s 3rd District. He has a wonderful wife and three lovely boys who, when they come of age, will hopefully also become cube champions!

Duncan Brown

Duncan Brown has been in the industry since working at Williams in the late 90s (and apparently causing them to shut down the pinball division.) In addition to his duties as sometimes pinball historian, Duncan spends his days writing software for Jersey Jack Pinball.

Don and Liz Caldwell

Don and Liz have been ambassadors for MGC since the early days. Don has authored various pinball articles and is always ready to share his knowledge and Liz is a keen competitor. Together they are very active in the Milwaukee pinball scene and often host league nights.

Coury Carlson

Coury Carlson truly fell in love with video games the moment he laid eyes on the vivid world of Sega’s Space Harrier in a Fun-N-Games arcade. Although a “Sega kid” at heart, he’s found an endless number of games to love across all console generations. Coury launched the YouTube show “My Life in Gaming” with his friend Marc “Try4ce” Duddleson in 2013 as a way to share their interest in video games and the technology behind them. Their most popular series is the “RGB Master Class,” which breaks down the complex topic of getting the best picture out of retro consoles into easy-to-understand episodes.

Kris Carlson

GameDad, Kris Carlson, is a Content Creator who loves collecting and playing games. On his YouTube channel you will find Console Repairs & Mods, Game Reviews, Pickups Videos, Unboxings and more. With a focus on all things retro & modern, this channel features a little bit of everything gaming and tech related.

Johnny Cass

Johnny comes from a radical background, growing up on pop culture from the 80s and 90s eras. TV shows like Family Matters, Full House, Step by Step, Grounded for Life and the era’s movies are what taught me what life is about. Video games were just as impactful on my life. They are literally what saved me during the roughest times of my life as a kid, teen, and adult. I have quite the collection that I will most likely never get rid of. In 2019 when I won that tournament at the MGC Official After Party, and became the champion of the night, that grew my confidence level so high that I felt I could do anything and funny enough, that following year I decided to start professional Wrestling school. It was a 4 month process and I won’t lie, there was a time or two I wanted to leave, but I stuck it out and stayed. And I’m glad I did. I’ve had success ever since then. And here I am now! Buckle up because when you see me in the ring, you’re going to be in for a heck of a ride! It’s always game on for me, and game over for my opponent! My signature move is called the nokami code breaker and my finisher move is called the blast processor. Both obviously named after gaming. After all, I am the P.W.G (Pro Wrestling Gamer).

Archie Cunningham

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!

Scott Danesi

Pinball designer, mechanical engineer, sound and music programmer and software engineer… Scott did it all on Total Nuclear Annihilation and is the designer behind Rick & Morty pinball! Scott built Total Nuclear Annihilation just to create a semi-simple custom machine. The result was so good, Spooky Pinball worked with Scott to start production of the machine in 2017!

Jack Danger

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.

Frankie Defalco

The Owner and Promoter of Brew City Wrestling will be on site as BCW lights up the ring and throws down the action.

Tou Deih

Tou was born in Myanmar (Burma), and emigrated to the United States in 2007 at the age of twenty-two. At the age of thirty-four, Tou taught himself how to play chess by watching videos. From early on, Tou showed remarkable aptitude for the game. Shortly thereafter, he began to take his chess set with him to play in public at various locations throughout Milwaukee, such as Milwaukee Area Technical College, The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and Bradford Beach. Over time, thousands of people came to know and recognize Tou, as he became a street chess icon in Milwaukee. He won at the Annual MLK Center Tournament, was a finalist in the Garfield 502 Tournament, and placed second in the MKE Chess Winter Rapids. Tou enjoys the social aspect and community building that chess inspires. According to Tou, “if you want to improve and get better in chess, keep practicing over and over again. Then you’ll get better and stronger.”

Christian A. Deitering

You may know Christian as the “Ferris Bueller” of the Internets, owner of the unorthodox Dragon Warrior collection, producer of the Earthbound documentary Mother to Earth, and/or the cofounder of the Let’s Play Gaming Expo. A lifetime collector of Nintendo, his most recent achievement was acquiring the NES SimCity prototype and creating its first GameFAQ.

Richard Divizio

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.

Greg Dobbs

Greg Dobbs is an award winning magician and sleight of hand artist here to perform inches away from your very eyes! With over 14 years of experience, he’s sure to find a way to impress! Find him in the Garcade room on Sunday from 2-5pm.

Marc “Try4ce” Duddleson

Together with Coury Carlson, Marc launched the YouTube show “My Life in Gaming” in 2013 as an outlet for sharing their interest in video games and the tech behind them. My Life in Gaming has gone on to showcase unique retro games, interview industry figures, and more. Their most popular series is the “RGB Master Class,” which breaks down the complex topic of getting the best picture out of retro consoles into easy-to-understand episodes.

Andrew Eloff

COO of Raw Thrills studios. We are told that he is the man, you want to make sure you talk to him.

Chuck Ernst

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!

Mark Flitman

Flitman worked at top video game publishers including Konami, Acclaim, Mindscape, Midway and Atari producing dozens of titles: WWF Royal Rumble, RAW, Maximum Carnage, X-Men, Wolverine, Spiderman, MLB Slugfest, NFL Blitz, Boxing, Dragon Ball, Simpsons, Batman, TMNT, Mission Impossible, Zoids, Yu Yu Hakusho, Steel Harbinger, Kings Quest, Pirates, Carmen Sandiego, Dirty Harry, Tiny Tunes and more. He then moved to Hasbro Entertainment to create toys over a wide variety of brands. Throughout his career he continued to write stories and screenplays as an additional outlet for his creativity, and is gearing up to release his autobiography, It’s Not All Fun and Games: My Life in Film Production, Video Games and Toys which will be out in Spring of 2023.

Gary Flower

Gary is an author and historian for the hobby of pinball, perhaps most well known for his outstanding book “The Lure of the Silver Ball.” Gary has also done countless presentations and seminars to help share his knowledge and keep the history of pinball alive, including helping to invite many of our pinball VIPs to the show this year!

Dan Forden

Dan Forden has been designing audio for video games for almost thirty-five years. He is most well-known for his work on the Mortal Kombat series of games dating back to the early 1990’s when he was the audio designer for the original arcade version of the game. Early in his career, he also created audio for a number of pinball machines including Black Knight 2000, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Medieval Madness. Dan’s crowning achievement, however, is his role as the “Toasty” guy that pops out of the side of the screen on many of the Mortal Kombat games and says “Toasty!” in an operatic falsetto.

Jason Gares

Jason C. Gares of 249 Studios & JasonGares.com produces original documentary films and series that can be viewed on many video streaming platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, Plex and Filmocracy! His most popular work includes Beyond the Comic Panels, a great documentary discussing how to break into the comic field with comic book artists, Video Workbench, a classic how-to model kit hobby series, and Building Large Scale Sci-Fi & Fantasy Models, a 473-page eBook brimming with information about how to create award-winning plastic model kits and dioramas.

Les L. Garner

Les L. Garner is the author and artist of the creator owned title Apocalypse Girl, as well as artist/co-creator of old west horror comic “Homestead” available for order in spring 2023, and cover artist/painter for a growing list of comics including the upcoming “Reign of Dracula” series. A proud Kentuckian, Les has worked in and around the comic book, gaming and film industries for 30 years as an artist, writer, producer and 3D animator/director.

Martin Goldberg

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 Gary 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!

George Gomez

George leads the game design studio. 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 and 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 18 pinball machines over the course of his career; 13 of those titles for the Stern brand. Occasionally, the company still lets him design a game. His latest design was Deadpool.

Michael Grant

As Senior Manager of Location Entertainment, Michael oversees Stern Army, Stern Pinball’s global street team. In addition to running Stern Army, Michael wears many hats as a member of the Sales and Marketing team, including assisting with video and photoshoots, social media content, and representing Stern Pinball at enthusiast and commercial trade shows. Michael is a passionate pinball player, competitor, and has worked in the industry for 3 years and counting.

Sam Griffin

The Super Guitar Bros are not actually brothers – they’re bros! Steve and Sam met back in 2007 at a local coffee shop where Sam was performing with a mutual friend of theirs. After seeing Sam’s classical skills, Steve knew they had to start making music together. During their first jam session, everything clicked. They’ve been playing together ever since.

Bill Grupp

Bill Grupp is a software engineer with 30 years experience in coin-op. He has had time at Williams/Bally, WMS gaming, Leading Edge Design and currently, Jersey Jack Pinball. Games he has been involved in include: Demolition Man, Dirty Harry, Corvette, Congo, Fiske Tur, Willy Wonka, Guns & Roses, Toy Story 4 and The Godfather.

Carson Gunby

Carson is usually busy making sure all the computer systems and network infrastructure are up to the task of allowing the Stern Pinball team to create all of their exciting pinball titles. Much like pinball, it’s a constantly advancing field that gives him plenty of new things to work on. He also assists with technical writing and other behind the scenes projects that go into supporting each new release.

Jack Haeger

Jack E. Haeger Artist / Illustrator / Creative Director: Playboy Magazine (illustrator), The Original Amiga computer / Williams Electronics: SiniStar, Star Rider, NARC, MIDWAY: Trog, T2, Elvira and the Party Monsters (Sculptor), Aerosmith RevX, NHL Open Ice, CarnEvil, RIP Squad, Team Play: PlayPorTT , Family Guy Bowling, The Big Kahuna Surfing, Spins Ahoy, STERN Pinball: Ultimate Spiderman (cabinet), Stern Led Zeppelin (concepts), WWE (concept), American Pinball: Art Director, Galactic Tank Force and more.

John Hancock

John is a longtime collector of video games. 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.

Imoto (Arcade) Harney

Imoto does it all! As the face of MarcoTV, Imoto helps introduce the world of pinball to new players and educate pinballers of all ages! A positive force in the community, Imoto Arcade is there to cover it and share her love of all things arcade!

Ben Heck

Ben is a master hacker, engineer and tech hobbyist who has done things that touch nearly every aspect of the show… including naming it in 2002! Ben has hacked consoles to create portable versions of them, created pinball machines that were then manufactured by Spooky Pinball, talked with Dan and Terry Diebold to help fix the Nintendo Playstation Prototype and runs a popular online show, the Ben Heck Show, while he’s at it all!

Rebecca Hinsdale

Rebecca brings over 15 years of customer service and sales support experience to the Parts team as she works to streamline the ordering process to provide more transparency and efficiency in order fulfillment. As an avid pinball competitor, player, and content creator, Rebecca also brings her enthusiasm for the game to help further innovate Stern’s approach to customer service.

Dan Houser

Dan is currently the line artist for the ENNIE Nominated Superhero RPG ICONS and has worked for several companies in the RPG industry, such as Green Ronin, Gaming Paper, and Vigilance Press. Dan also has written a number of ICONS modules and also co-created the Stark City line of superhero products. Come hang out with Dan and see what ICONS is all about as well as learn to play D&D, ORK, and other games! You can see Dan on his channel Retrostation1989 on Twitch or at YouTube – youtube.com/@jellycakelap

Jess Hutfless

Jess is a social media influencer on TikTok (@pirateprincessjess) and Instagram (@pirateprincessjessica) and streamer who makes content about Video Games, Pinball and TTRPGS. Jess frequently appears on DnD podcasts such as Unprepared Casters and DnDorks.

Johnathan Ireland

Johnathan was a relative latecomer to the chess scene, having started playing at the age of 15, He has since become a class-A player, having many 1st place tournament victories over a 20-year span, meanwhile scoring numerous victories versus Experts and Masters. Nowadays, he balances his family life with his lovely wife and 2-year old son, his graphic design and apparel business, and his on-going chess study in pursuit of his Master title. He is also the co-founder of King’s March Chess Educators, a coaching company composed of himself and a fellow Expert chessplayer, Derek Paitrick, who specialize in private, custom-tailored lessons for players of all ages.

Matteau Isbill

One of the lead announcers of the Monster Jam Triple Threat series Matteau Isbill has been hosting for 7 years. He is also the owner of Overdrive Reality Productions producing the Midwest Gaming Classic After Party, videos, voice overs, and so much more!

Harold Johnson

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!

Ka$h Money Karl

Ka$h Money Karl is one of the most memorable comics in the Wisconsin Comedy Scene. Every where he goes, he makes it rain his cold, hard, Ka$h. You may also know him as Wisconsin’s resident Mini Golf expert or saw him win the hearts of America as the fan favorite of season two of ABC’s prime time hit show Holey Moley. He’s done a bit of everything and anything so you are always in for a good time. He’s performed from host to headliner and worked with many comics over his two year comedy career.

Mike Katzenberger

Katz has had a storied history with TTRPGs. He was TSR pinnacle events Coordinator for GenCon Milwaukee 1991 to 1994, has writing credits on GURPs Horror 2nd edition, co-created Fantasy Legend Miniatures Rules, and was staff at Pegasus Games for over three decades.

Camille and Kennerly Kitt

Identical twin harpists Camille and Kennerly Kitt have achieved extraordinary success by smashing boundaries between genres of music! The twins ability to reinvent the harp has given them the opportunity to represent the United States at four different World Harp Festivals, amass over 2.5 million fans across their social media sites and over 140 million Youtube music video views! Mixing their virtuoso harp skills with stunningly complex arrangements of rock, metal, Celtic, Renaissance, and soundtrack classics – as well as Celtic Nordic inspired original songs – the Harp Twins deliver exciting, comedic, and interactive family-friendly performances that you won’t forget!

Tim Kitzrow

TIM KITZROW is the iconic voice of your favorite sports franchises — NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz and MLB Slugfest — and over a dozen classic pinball games. With NBA JAM, which grossed over $2 BILLION to date, Kitzrow introduced BOOMSHAKALAKA to the NBA lexicon and earned pop culture immortality. For 25 years, Kitzrow has enjoyed a legendary run as the signature voice of classic games like NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz and Wayne Gretzky Hockey, MLB Slugfest and Big Hurt Baseball, and NCAA College Slam.

Tanio Klyce

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.

Kevin Kolodziej

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.

Adam Koralik

Adam Koralik is a content creator who has been producing videos for thirteen years on YouTube. Whether he’s unboxing a PS5, cleaning and restoring a Sega Saturn, or just giving an engaging history lesson on previous console generations; Adam’s videos are a must-watch for any gamer. He is a video game console expert known Keep Dreaming, Console Retrospectives, and PlayLoad. He features consoles from different generations of gaming and provides many videos detailing how to repair them. He even has whole videos with incredible access to one of a kind prototypes like the Sega Pluto and Nintendo PlayStation!

Krystal Kowalczyk

Krystal, as Anime Oils, sells customized fan art oil paintings and prints including anime, games, comics, and more.

Josh Kugler

A pinball fan since a young age, Josh used his homebrew games as his resume to switch careers and jump into the pinball industry. He was instrumental in the launch of American Pinball as he did rules, programming, and a whole lot more on their games. Josh uses the ‘method’ approach to pinball, totally immersing himself into the themes he works on. Learning all he could about magic and the man himself while working on Houdini, drinking a ton of beer and eating unhealthy carnival food while doing Oktoberfest and driving fast and wild for Hot Wheels (fighting an evil scientist and his dinosaurs was not an option). Fortunately Oktoberfest and Hot Wheels were not done at the same time. Josh also worked on the story, script and code for APs latest game… you’ll have to ask him about his process when it’s announced.

Mike Kyzivat

It is I, it is he, it is we!!! The Dastardly Kyzivat brothers!!!! (Trademark pending). We have resided here at Stern Pinball for many years, lurking in the shadows, making art, writing code, and getting our hands into many a Pinball Pie. Games that include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Foo Fighters, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, Rush and Godzilla. In fact, our villainous deeds extend to far more games than can be listed in one quick write up. We also specialize in providing villainous voices for games such as: Star Trek and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
So now you know our nefarious goings on here at Stern Pinball. The next time you play a pinball machine and see some art, get that jackpot, or hear a funny voice, you will know that those dastardly Kyzivat Brothers could have been behind it! It appears that we have run out of room for our tales of misdeeds and boasting… very well, MGC! You win this round, but we’ll be back!! Nyah, ha-haaaaa!!…

Tom Kyzivat

Scott Langteau

Scott was the Producer involved in the creation of 2 of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful franchises in videogame history: Medal of Honor and Call of Duty. He has over 20 years of production experience, having worked with companies like DreamWorks, Electronic Arts, Activision, Disney/Pixar, and the Jim Henson Company. Scott is the award-winning author of four children’s books: Sofa Boy, a grim yet fanciful cautionary tale for children about the perils of videogame addiction, The Question, a home-alone snowstorm adventure taken from the imaginative experiences of his youth in wintry Wisconsin, the anti-bullying tale: BULLIED, and the instant classic Christmas tale: “The Frog at the Window”. Scott has returned to the world of gaming spending the entirety of the pandemic up to today developing an original darkly sinister and fun strategy card game for adults titled: “Til Death Do Us Part”…a game of “Marrying and burying until you’re filthy rich!” He’s attending the Midwest Gaming Classic under the new company moniker “Shadow Capers” with a first look at this new game – being seen here first!

Jeff Lee

@!#?@! 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

Matt Lemoyne has been tearing up the table 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 loves teaching, reading, biking, and wasting time on Reddit.

Kelsey Lewin

Kelsey Lewin is the co-director of The Video Game History Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and teaching video game history. She also co-owns the Seattle-based retro game store chain, Pink Gorilla Games.

Bobby Llereza

Bobby Llereza is an artist and animator with a 20 year career expanding to coin-op, arcade, pinball, casino, mobile, PC and redemption games. Some of his popular project titles include; Fishbowl Frenzy, Launch Code, Carnival Wheel, Surfin’ Safari and Fun Stop Photos at Team Play, Inc. and Hot Wheels and Galactic Tank Force at American Pinball, Inc.

Doug Macdonald

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.

Bob Mackey

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.

Anthony Marquez

Anthony Marquez is an American actor and martial artist. He is best known as Kung Lao in the Mortal Kombat video game series

Eric Meunier

Game Designer for Jersey Jack Pinball – Pirates of the Caribbean, Guns and Roses Not In This Lifetime, and The Godfather. Eric is a Wisconsin native. He grew up in the Wisconsin Dells, working for the family business Kingpin Games. Pinball has been a part of him since he was 3yrs old!

Mike Neumeyer

Mike Neumeyer is a musician, educator, and composer based in Milwaukee, WI who has recently been featured by Marimba One, Modern Marimba, Wisconsin Music Ventures, Vibesworkshop.com, Desperate Housegeek Magazine, and Los Angeles Jazz Society! Mike recently recorded vibraphone and percussion as a guest artist with The Grovelers, Lost Tribes of the Moon, Conundrum, Damien Cockenpot, Teus Araujo, Ukulele Jack and more. His new album named “Starting to Dream” is on the horizon. Mike is on faculty at Milwaukee Area Technical College, is the co-caption head with The Oak Creek Marching Knights and works with the Oak Creek-Franklin School District as a percussion specialist. Mike is a Marimba One Educational Artist, a Salyers Percussion Education Team Member and endorses Encore Mallets. https://linktr.ee/neummusic

Terry Minnich

“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 and many more. In 2007, he founded the company, Retroids LLC, alongside former EGM colleagues, Ken Williams and Paul Ojeda. 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.

Charles D Moisant

Charles is a comic book publisher, artist, writer, and creative director of Silver Phoenix Entertainment (a 100% female-owned company). He also teaches parttime. Charles is also developing custom handmade dice. Board games and Educational comic book as well as Fantasy, horror Sci-Fi and super hero comics. Charles’ Latest works “The Cockrel’s Fist” is soon to be a board game and comic web series under development.

Charlie CheatCodeCharlie Moon

Charlie Moon is a R&B and Pop Artist from South suburbs of Chicago and has released his debut album “Last Night Of Summer” with hits Just Be Honest, I.N.L.Y and his latest Single “Nobody Like You” his New Single “Missing My Love” will be dropping in April of this year. When not performing music, Charlie is also a Youtuber who reviews games under the name “CheatCodeCharlie”

Phil Moore

Emmy Award winner Phil Moore has hosted several shows but is most known as the energetic host of Nickelodeon’s “Nick Arcade” and “You’re On”. He’s also made guest appearances on Nickelodeon’s “Figure It Out” and “All That” and has produced games shows for producers for Twitch, E! Entertainment, and NBC.

Seth Newman

Seth “Tiger Chainsaw” Newman is a ex-sports broadcaster turned content creator, and he’s taking over our BONUS STAGE! Seth has interviewed some of the most incredible gaming legends on his channel, including David Jaffi, Manami Matsumae, Soyo Oka, and Maurice Suckling! At BONUS STAGE, Seth will be interviewing collectors, content creators, industry alumni, and people with great stories!

Brian Niebuhr

Brian Niebuhr has been playing with Chicago Air Hockey since 2017, and is ranked #36 in the world. He’s taught high school physics in Chicago Public Schools for 16 years, and enjoys playing trumpet, lawn care, and being with his family.

Paul E. Niemeyer

Paul E. Niemeyer’s game art career began at Bally/Midway in 1982, where he did art on games including Tapper, PacMan Plus, Super PacMan, Professor PacMan, TRON, Satan’s Hollow, Spy Hunter, WACKO, and Midnight Marauders, as well as dozens of prototype games. In 1984, he went freelance and worked on games like Time Killers, Aeroboto, Star Guards, Demolition Man pinball, and Mortal Kombat! Paul has also worked on movie properties like Little Mermaid, Jurassic Park II, Men in Black, Star Trek 5, Star Wars: Phantom Menace, and Pirates of the Caribbean. More recently, Paul sculpted parts for American Pinball’s Legends of Valhalla!

Derek Paitrick

Derek was introduced to chess by his grandfather, Joe, at the age of six. By the age of ten, he went on to play his first rated tournament at UW-Milwaukee and he joined the Southwest Chess Club. At seventeen, his rating was twenty points below reaching Expert, but it took three more years to get there. A woman from the chess club approached him about teaching at an elementary school she worked at and he obliged to help teach a class of kids there for a semester. Now at the age of thirty-five, Derek has played one-hundred and eighty-two tournaments over his career and knocking on the door of Master. He is also the co-founder of King’s March Chess Educators, a coaching company composed of himself and a fellow chess player, Johnathan Ireland, who specialize in private, custom-tailored lessons for players of all ages.

John Parrish

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.

Carlos Pesina

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 Pesina

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!

Greg Peters

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 Peters 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.

George Petro

George is the President of PlayMechanix which he founded in 1995.

Erika Phillips

A nerd-girl with a fashion modeling background, Erika “Verika” Phillips 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 Pittman

QA Lead for Raw Thrills on Bust-A-Move, Monopoly, Fast & Furious Arcade, Cruisn’ Switch, King Kong of Skull Island

Steven Poissant

Keith Polster

Keith wrote fantasy adventures for over 30 years for the R.P.G.A. After meeting Harold Johnson in 1987, he became RPG Coordinator for the Gen Con Game Fair for TSR when it was held in Milwaukee, WI. He also worked in the TSR Hobby Store and traveled to conventions in the Mid-West promoting the Dungeon and Dragons game for TSR. His adventure, The Fright at Tristor, was published as the primer adventure for the 3^rd edition Dungeon and Dragons game in 2000.

Ray Price

Ray Price has been a gamer since 1977. Assistant Editor for Electronic Gaming Monthly, Mega Play, Super NES Buyer’s Guide, and Super Gaming, 1991-1992. He contributed Fact Files, served on the Mega Play Review Crew as G.O.G., and assisted with the infamous Street Fighter II April Fools’ gag. In 1999, he founded Gaming FM, an internet radio station which played video game soundtracks. He is currently in the process of opening Arcade816, a video game museum and arcade specializing in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras of home console gaming.

Jonah Ray

Bio TBD

Allan Reizman

Allan Reizman is a pioneering developer of solid state microelectronics and software used in modern pinball and video games. As the R&D lab supervisor at Bally from 1977-1984, Allan participated in the development of much of the technology still used today. Kiss, Xenon, and Mr. & Mrs. Pacman, are just a few examples of the many games and technology prototypes developed with tech from ‘Big Al’s’ Bally lab. Still an active contributor to the classic pinball restoration community, Allan looks forward to meeting other fans and collectors.

Paul Reno

Paul has 35 years in the coin operated amusement industry. He has been an operator, distributor, consultant, designer. He did design work on Galactic Tank Force, All Star Baseball.

Doug Rice

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.

John Riggs

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!

Mark Ritchie

Mark Ritchie started at Atari in 1976 and helped build the Atarians pinball. In 1979 he moved to Williams, Bally, Midway and has designed some the most loved and collectible pinball machines in the hobby, including Thunderball, Firepower 2, Pennant Fever, Sorcerer, Road Kings, Big Guns, Taxi, Diner, Police Force, Slugfest, Fish Tales and Indiana Jones-The Pinball Adventure, and more. In 1996 Mark made Kingpin for Capcom. He also has done video game design including Big Buck Hunter and is now at Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix.

Mark Robbins

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?

Katalin Rodriguez Ogren

Katalin Rodriguez Ogren is the Owner of The POW! Gym Chicago & the Parisi Speed School of Chicago for over 22 years. She offers adults and kids combat sports, speed, strength and sports performance training classes. Katalin is a 4 time black belt, with over 40 years of martial arts training experience. Her career highlights include playing the role of the original Kitana, Mileena and Jade in Mortal Kombat 2, starring in 17 dvds, author of The Ultimate Guide to Strength Training for Martial Artists , as well as 100s of training manuals and magazine articles. You can follow her at @powgymchicago @katalinKMoriginal

Raymond Rosario

Lead Artist and 3D ModelerKing Kong of Skull Island VR, Jurassic Park, TMNT Arcade, Nicktoons Nitro, Fast & The Furious series, Crusin Blast, Super Bikes series, XGames Snowcross, Target Terror

Sara Rose

The pinball machine, Total Nuclear Annihilation, has amassed a cult following since its release in 2017 (Spooky Pinball). Creator, Scott Danesi, and his wife, Sara Rose Danesi, co-wrote the storyline of an impossible one-way mission to the future. You will recognize the heroine, Scarlett, as drawn in the likeness of Sara Rose.

Christopher Sean

Japanese American Actor. Very proud son to a Navy veteran and Mother born and raised in Japan. Known for Star Wars Resistance, Hawaii Five-0, Days of Our Lives and Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Cultured through living in many countries but Southern California is considered home. Studied martial arts, Tae Kwon Do, Jiu-Jitsu, boxing and wrestling.

Mark Seiden

Mark Seiden created a homebrew pinball game based on the video game Metroid. In 2021 he joined Jersey Jack Pinball as their newest game designer. He apprenticed under Steve Ritchie and is now working on his own title.

Roger Sharpe

Sharpe is a noted pinball historian, player, game designer and the former Director of Marketing and Licensing at Williams Bally/Midway. Currently the President and CEO of Sharpe Communications, a creative services agency. He is also the subject and executive producer of the current feature film- PINBALL: The Man Who Saved The Game.

Zach Sharpe

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 I was born into the world of pinball would be an understatement. To say I love my job working in the pinball industry would be a disservice. When you love your job you never work a day in your life and I hope to live a very long one with pinball by my side!

Kiki Snell

Kiki, as KikiCraft, is a multi-medium artist, designer, and cosplayer from Minnesota with over 15 years of experience. From a young age KikiCraft began costuming as her favorite characters from anime and video games.. With multiple award winning costumes and media features, she has been a recognized member of the cosplay scene for over a decade. With a Bachelor’s degree in video game design, Kiki has several artistic credits in published board/video games. When she isn’t crafting you can find her selling custom art and cosplay commissions or volunteering at various events in cosplay in her spare time”

Zac Stark

Foo Fighters Project Lead Artist

Edgar Talayko

Edgar has been fascinated with the world of chess since he was young, frequently playing games with his family while dabbling in strategies and tactics on his own time. It wasn’t until he was in high school, however, where he began to turn his love for the game from a hobby into a passion, enlisting into the school’s chess club. After placing 5th in state and winning a handful of various separate tournaments, Edgar aimed his passion and drive towards a new audience, becoming a children’s chess tutor in the hopes that he can inspire the upcoming generation the same way he found himself inspired by the game growing up. Now, Edgar resides in Milwaukee, where he founded the area’s largest community of players known as Milwaukee Chess, hosting tournaments and bringing aspiring newcomers into the scene on a weekly basis. He also works as a renowned chess tutor, being officially certified on Chess.com.

Charles Urbach

Charles Urbach is an award-winning writer and colored pencil illustrator with more than 25 years of experience in design, publishing, and illustration. His detailed original concepts and drawings have appeared on book covers and merchandise, and hundreds of his illustrations have appeared in gaming products including: Magic: The Gathering, Heroclix, Legend of the Five Rings, A Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, various Star Wars products, Das Schwarze Auge, Infinite City, Mage Knight, Everquest, Call of Cthulhu, Esper Genesis, DoomTown Reloaded, and many others.

More information about his work is available at his website: www.charlesurbach.com

Mike Vallas

Mike Vallas started as an Assistant Editor for Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) in 1991 and worked with the company until 2002. During that time the magazines went through many generations and changes with all its subsequent spinoffs and additional magazines. He went from being an assistant editor for EGM, onto various roles such as creating insert strategy guides; becoming an International editor for EGM2; a Senior Art Director for EGM2 and its subsequent transition into Expert Gamer magazine; and the lead photo retoucher for all the Ziff Davis (ZD) Publishing gaming magazines based in Oak Brook, IL.

Mark Valleskey

Mark Valleskey is an award winning worldbuilder, author, and videographer. Best known for his book series and YouTube channel, Unlimited Story, Mark focuses on developing stories in a variety of mediums and perspectives. In his free time he loves running tabletop games of his custom Unlimited Story system, first revealed at Garycon 2023.

Mark Valuch

Love pinball? Learn how it works with Mark’s Basement Arcade! Mark has an incredible YouTube channel where he shows how to fix and maintain older, electro-mechanical pinball machines. Want to ask questions while you learn? Mark hosts Mark’s Basement Arcade Chat and Repair every Sunday at 2 pm CST on tvMGC on Twitch!

Brett Weiss

National columnist Brett Weiss has been a gamer since 1975 and a professional gaming writer since 1997. Heâ€™s the author of a dozen books, including The NES Omnibus Vol. 1 and 2, The SNES Omnibus Vol. 1 and 2, and The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987. With his Classic Home Video Games series, he wrote the worldâ€™s first complete guides to numerous video game consoles, including the Atari 5200, Atari 7800, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Vectrex, Odyssey2, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, Neo Geo, TurboGrafx-16, and Sega Genesis.

Wally Welch

Wally joined the Bally Pinball design team where he designed “Medusa” & “Mysterian” pinball machines. As an independent contractor, he produced the “Jolly Roger” pin which was revised and manufactured as “Pistol Poker” for Alvin G & Co. It was here he also designed “Mystery Castle,” “Slam n Jam,” and “Maxx Badazz” pins. At Capcom, he designed “Eureka” and “Austin Powers” Novelty games.

As a Mechanical Engineer for Grand Products he worked on the following products: Time Crisis 4, DDR Dance Revolution, Bowl O Rama, Fast & Furious, Ultracade Video, Wangan II. He was a member of the Chicago Gaming design team developing both Pin games and a variety of Novelty Games. At Jersey Jack Pinball, he was a member of the design team that developed the following pin games: Hobbit, Dialed In, Pirates of the Caribbean, Willy Wonka, and Guns n’ Roses. Wally retired from Jersey Jack Pinball in April. Although he is happily retired, he is currently designing several original concepts for pinball machines that are market-specific.

Ken Williams

Ken Williams, aka Sushi-X, began his career at Sendai Publishing Group working on the FCI Help Line. He was soon offered a position working as an assistant editor in Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) creating Fact Files and previews. . He embodies the most well-known aspects of the red ninja reviewer, namely his love of fighting games, platformers and utter disdain for all things OG GameBoy. A true hermit, Ken is rarely on social media and avoids fame, but peeks his head out every so often to see what’s going on, much like the old days in the EGM offices.

Jeffrey Wittenhagen

Jeffrey is the writer of tons of awesome books like the Complete NES: Ultimate NES Collector’s Book and many others! He is also one of the hosts of the popular VGBS podcast!

Steven Wright Jr.

Mr. Wright Way is Retired United States Navy Veteran who has always had a passion for video games, collectibles and photography. He has photographed for all the major pro wrestling companies like WWE, AEW, NJPW and more. You can catch his bi-weekly videos as he shows you his tips and tricks on how to Game Hunt, Video Game Collection Videos, and how to get Wright deals, The Wright Way.

Josh Wright

Josh is the Director of Gaming QA of Raw Thrills games.

D.M. Zwerg

Despite rumors to the contrary, the nickname of “Dwarf” comes from his first AD&D GM back when a sophomore in high school rather than being born in a cave deep under some mountain in Wisconsin. Best known for for volunteering at gaming conventions practically every year since high school. Spent a few years as Miniatures Manager for Kenzer & Company starting around late 2001 during which time he also placed every town and road on the Kalamar Atlas, co-authored Lord Flataroy’s Guide to Fortifications, and contributed to a number of other books. After that he spent a few years as K&C’s HMA Manager (organized play). Currently the “Lead Dwarf” at Amalgamated Research Gaming Hub mangling HJfor4e magazine and writing Heroes & Henchmen RPG, a licensed derivative of K&C’s out-of-print HM4e (which in turn was a derivative of a game known as both “Advanced” and “1^st Edition”).

Alumni

Below are some guests from past shows

Scott Adams

Arlo

Arlo is a Youtuber who strives to create a friendly, upbeat environment where discussion is greatly encouraged and bad puns run rampant. This includes reviews, opinion pieces, let’s plays, analyses, nostalgia talk, comedy bits, and anything else he feels like cooking up. Whether he’s offering a positive reaction or an honest criticism or a pained lament, lighthearted comedy is at the heart of everything Arlo does. His main focus is Nintendo, but he dabbles in PC gaming and other consoles as well.

Eric Bischoff

As Executive Vice President of WCW, Eric Bischoff took WCW from a distant second to the leading wrestling company in the world for a time, while also serving as a major on screen character. After WCW folded, Eric shocked the world by agreeing to serve as the WWE RAW General Manager. Today, he records the popular 83weeks Podcast with Conrad Thompson about his time in the industry.

Ted DiBiase

Often regarded as the greatest villain in pro wrestling, WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase played the Million Dollar Man to great affect, headling Wrestlemania IV and the first SummerSlam! His character was also featured in numerous wrestling video games, and is fondly remembered to this day.

Ernie Hudson

Perhaps best known for his role as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters series (including voice work for the video game and pinball machine!), Hudson has appeared in countless movies and shows, and is currently producing and starring in The Family Business on BET.

Eugene Jarvis

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

@!#?@! 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.

Gary Stern

Gary Stern has been in the pinball industry his entire life, starting by working with Stern Electronics, then moving to Pinstar, Data East, Sega Pinball, and then eventually in 1999 purchasing the company from Sega and renaming it Stern Pinball. Since 1999, Stern Pinball has been the largest pinball manufacturer in the United States, producing multiple incredible machines each year!