MGC Rocks! I've been going for several years now. Last years' attendance topped 10,000. This year the attached hotel sold out 7 months before the show, and their backup hotel sold out last week. They're on their 3rd hotel now
I'm pretty good friends with the show's organizer and founder, Dan Loosen. He's pretty active over on Pinside.
The arcade / pinball hall always has around 350-400 games and pins every year, and it's a good mix of vintage, classic, and current stuff. The newest pins are always there too.
The Saturday night VIP party is where it's at. If you bring a game to the show, you get free admission all weekend plus you get a ticket to the VIP afterparty saturday night.
I'm coordinating a fundraising auction for the VIP party again this year. Last year we raised over $3500, this year it'll be more, I'm sure of it. All the proceeds go to the food and drinks served at the party.
MGC is a great experience. The vendor tent is HUGE - over 20,000 square feet of gaming goodness. I always get TONS of great deals in the tent.
They host a pretty intense Tetris tournament each year. Some of the big dogs usually show up. Ben Mullen is there each year for sure. It's not as big as the tournament on the west coast, but scores are always in the 800,000+ range. My wife is competing this year, she's been honing her skills.
The gaming museum is truly a sight to behold. They have pretty much 1 of every thing gaming related in that room. Right down to working Speak n Spells, Apple LISA, up to the current systems. I'm sure there will be a Nintendo Switch there too. Last year they had the (UBER RARE) Nintendo Playstation prototype on display, protected by armed guards. This year I'm told that it will be back at the show again, and it's going to be made available for play! Crazy.
Such a great show. Ben Heck usually makes an appearance. Here's a shot of my wife in Ben Heck's room. She found a monster sized Gameboy, and was playing Tetris on it.
HIGHLY recommend attending.