That's a rumor we do not need. No machines were, nor will ever be, turned away. We found spots for everything that showed up and excuse me for saying so, I think we did a damn good job of it given what we had to work with.

There are many reasons that we cannot just simply move to a bigger venue. It's not as easy as you all seem to think. I'll let Dan get into more specifics if he wants to, but the bottom line is that if there was a good alternative, we would already be there. Please keep in mind the show has more than doubled in size in a few short years. We are doing the best we can do.

For the person that said half the machines were off...that's another crap rumor that needs to be stomped now. There were no more than a handful of games off in the arcade at any given time the entire weekend, all for various, good reasons. We tried our best to move out broken games to replace with working ones, but it's almost impossible to do that in the middle of the crowds. Many games were shuffled between Saturday and Sunday, and as many as we could during the days. If it was difficult to walk around or stand in line, imagine how difficult it was to move machines through that. We did what we could. Very few of the games in the arcade were non-working at the start of the show. Crap happens in an environment like this and we got them fixed or out whenever we could.

As for wait times, yes, it was crowded, but I never saw more than a 2-3 person wait for anything (other than WOZ). I'm sorry if a 5-10 minute wait is unacceptable. Better not go to an amusement park.

The show is for vids and pins. That's how it has always been, and how it will stay. We did our best to keep a good mix in the arcade room and do the best for flow (to keep that overcrowded feel as manageable as possible). This was way better than last year. Let's not fight about which is better or if one doesn't deserve to be there. I'm a pin guy, but I played a crap load of Mario Bros and Monkey Ball and appreciated that they were there.

As for the person saying we need 100% more games...wow...really? Have you done a count at Chicago Expo lately compared to our turnout? We aren't the biggest, but don't imply we don't have a damn good amount of games show up, most in nice shape and many "favorites". This is 100% reliant on YOU. If you don't like the amount of games or which games are showing up, only you can change it by bringing yours. We will help you get them in and set up and I promise we'll find a place for them.

I am glad so many of you had fun. I am sorry so many of you didn't. We bust our asses trying to accommodate everyone as best we can, but it will never be perfect. I'm sorry if that's not good enough.

Chris Matte

Thanks Bryan (and the others who have given us kudos, both at the show and here...it's good to know we are appreciated). I did see you a couple times while running back and forth. I yelled hi at you once, but in the crowd I'm sure you didn't even hear me...LOL! Thanks for helping keep the party guys hydrated! Hope you had a great trip.

I want to add a huge thank you to all the people that brought games and then were patient with us as we juggled things to make everything fit. Especially the guys that came later when we were struggling for space and had to be extra patient with us.

There were also a few guys that were good enough to let us move already placed games to help cram more and keep the flow as good as possible. One guy in particular brought a bunch of vids to sell and we ended up moving him a couple times and splitting up what he brought (I think he posted here, but I can't seem to find it now). I know that was a big hassle, but he was very cool about it. I hate having to do stuff like that, but I really appreciate the patience. We didn't get too much crap about doing what we had to do, which was nice.

We try to make it "first come, first serve" with the space, but there were a couple times we had to break that, mostly for the overall fit and flow of the room to make the most sense. I know there were a few guys who showed up either late Friday or even Saturday morning and were disappointed about not getting their machine into the arcade room. I understand that frustration, but the only way to avoid that is to get there earlier, even if you preregistered. We will always find a spot, but there is no way we can guarantee it will be in the arcade room unless you get there early. I hope you all understand that. Thankfully we were able to get quite a few of the hallway games (pins at least) into the room as the show went on and other stuff moved out.

So thanks again to everyone who brought games to share, and an extra special thanks to those we had to shuffle around for all of your patience. I think the show was a great success overall, and you all are a huge part of that!

Thanks man. You helped a ton too. Great job on Clock Chaos. Sorry I couldn't help with that, but I already had my hands full (and was already pretty burnt out...LOL!).