OP

Quoted from goatdan:

If you don't care about the standard vendor hall, panels, or the main stage acts, Friday is the best day to go. The majority of the games are available and on, including all of the Stern, Chicago Gaming, American Pinball, Jersey Jack, Raw Thrills, Spooky Pinball, Skee Ball, and LAI Games games. The Gaming museum is open, there are Magic tournaments included, and so on. We generally limit Friday night to 20% of our anticipated weekend attendance, so it's by far the lightest day and the easiest day to play the games, unless you bring a game and then get into that after party.
Speaking of which, whomever decided a few years ago to start the rumor we give out after party tickets for the machine hall, that's not true and remains not true. You can buy tickets to the Official After Party, which is full of games and fun too as well as musical performances and a bunch of our special guests, but it is NOT the Game Center after party. If you want to get into that, you either need to...
1) Bring a game and set it up for free play.
2) Buy a game on the show floor, ask for and receive the pass from the seller.
3) Run the Gaming Museum, where you generally bring a ton of consoles and set up and stay at that area whenever the show is open.
4) Volunteer for the vast majority of the show.
5) Be an industry professional that is doing something specific at the show, or who works directly for one of the companies demoing at the show.
Due to this, during the After Party, the number of games vastly outnumber the number of people.
Full disclosure, I have granted ONE additional After Party pass this year for a 10 year old kid who is coming with a family that can only fit two games this year, but have brought more than they got tickets for in the past.
Oh, and if you are bringing a game but want to also go to the Official After Party, which is held in the hallway just outside the show floor, if you bring a game we're also going to grant you access to that, where you can play in the Pinball Funhouse we're creating with Marco Specialties where you can win tickets to Six Flags, listen to Scott Danesi's techno skillz, or participate in anything else we do out there too.
So, if you're a Game Bringer you get:
- Access to the Game Center on Friday night. You do not get to play in the tournaments without a ticket due to their costs.
- A Saturday and Sunday ticket.
- Access to the truly capacity limited After Party
- A drink coupon for the After Party
- Access to the Official After Party
Should be one hell of a time! Lots of stuff coming together still!