Tabletop games, cards & live action role-playing: Midwinter Gaming Convention packs a big crowd
MILWAUKEE -- If gaming is your thing, the Hilton Milwaukee City Center is where you ought to be this weekend. The annual Midwinter Gaming Convention has been growing and expanding thanks to technology and changing pop culture.
Midwinter Gaming Convention
"There's no cars, no cell phones, none of that," said Matt Edwardson, live action role-play.
Live in action role-play, just a group of friends dressed in period specific clothes live out their favorite games.
"If we can't recreate it, if we can't do it realistically or well enough, we're not going to do it," said Edwardson.
Matt Edwardson describes himself as an imaginative kid.
"I really enjoy building a character, building a persona and making it come to life," said Edwardson.
Midwinter Gaming Convention
Just down the hall at the 16th annual Midwinter Gaming Convention is tabletop games.
Midwinter Gaming Convention
"It's partly strategy, partly luck and a lot of laughs mostly more than anything else," said Adam Goss, card game player.
Adam Goss says this is where he likes to play.
"I find it's a great social game, you get to converse and joke with people and you get to make new friends, it`s less time spent with our faces buried in our technology," said Goss.
But if it's technology you're after, they've got that too with a Samsung Gear VR -- a virtual reality headset that puts you inside the game.
Midwinter Gaming Convention
"It's really amazing. You get full immersion and so you really think you're there, it kind of fools your body and stuff," said James Sampers, virtual reality gamer.
This convention has grown from a 50-person event to a 1,300-person -- a gamer's paradise fit for anyone's style.
Midwinter Gaming Convention
"We want nerds, geeks, people that enjoy geek culture to feel like they have a place to be and that they are welcome here," said Michael Tomasek, Midwinter Gaming director of sales.
The Midwinter Gaming Convention runs through Sunday, January 17th. For more information, CLICK HERE.