August 2004

I forgot to mention last night how yesterday I went to pick up some games at Game Express and was shocked to find out that it was closed. I’ve been going to Game Express ever since I moved to Manhattan eight years ago (it was the very first game store I ever went to in NYC) and despite the fact that it’s glory years are far behind, I actually saddened to see it go. It was still the biggest, and the best, independent game store in the city, which is pretty sad if you think about it.

Even though they stopped selling imports and game soundtracks years ago, and their more annoying salespeople are virtually legendary around these parts (especially that one loud-mouthed 16-bit fanboy who used to bitch and moan nonstop about Sony and Microsoft’s unfair business practices, and was always telling everyone about the gaming site he was starting with buddies of his, one which “had close ties to Famitsu”, like I hadn’t that from about a million different people) it was still the widest selection of older titles, and at really good prices.

And even if they didn’t, I’d still happily go there to shop since almost anything is better than your average EB or Gamestop. The people who work there are the living embodiment of everything I hate about gamers, from their flagrant spreading of misinformation to their elitist attitudes. Plus the prices are often was too high and their policy of selling used items as brand new is beyond questionable.

The problem is that there simply are very few independent game sellers in the city, which is appalling considering how popular video games are and how big Manhattan is. There are some such as Multimedia, which is in St. Marks, which features a ton of older systems and games; it’s practically a museum in there. Too bad the people who work there are the biggest of assholes. Plus they publish that horrible “Maxim for gamers” http://www.foulmag.com/Foul Magazine. I remember meeting one of their writers at an Atari game event and once he heard I wrote for Nick Mag, he copped a major attitude and went on about how kids were dumb and that he wrote for a more “sophisticated” audience. Yeah, one that likes photo spreads of Ron Jeremy dressed as Mario (which Foul claimed credit for, but was actually stolen from a Canadian magazine, which led to a big lawsuit, hence why Foul may not be around anymore) and horribly drawn pin ups of game characters.

Then there’s the game shops in Chinatown, the biggest one being J&L, which I was a loyal customer for years as well, until they destroyed my PS2 thanks to a shitty mod job that they refuse to take responsibility for, hence why I now stay away like the plague. There’s also Penguin Village, which is across the street in the underground Elizabeth Street Mall, which actually has better prices and far friendlier sales folks, but a rather meager selection. And like Game Express, their best days are far behind; I recall in 1999/2000, during the height of the Dreamcast actually, each entity had two separate store fronts, and each was doing killer business. But I guess the internet finally caught up with them; why the hell should I pay their inflated import prices when there’s National Console Support or Play Asia?

Plus there’s Chips & Bits, which is near Times Square, but it’s a really small place and they’re mostly about bootleg Anime and Hong Kong movies anyway. But that’s more or less it (at least in Manhattan; I know there’s a bunch of smaller shops in Brooklyn and Queens). Otherwise, the only real option is the aforementioned chain stores, though Circuit City and Best Buy is proving to be a good source nowadays. But at least it’s something, which unfortunately can’t be said for arcades in the city.

When I first moved to NYC, I used to frequent Playland, which was near 46th and Broadway I think, and the original Broadway arcade, which was on the corner of 51st and Broadway. Both were dingy establishments, overflowing with people and cigarette smoke, and were the very definition of classic arcades. . History was alive and well in the ratted up Pac Man and Robotron machines, and those arcades was the last living examples of a era that was long since dying.

Then Disney came into town to “clean things up”, and those arcades were on the top of the list. They were eventually replaced with top of line “entertainment centers” such as XS, Barcode, and a far more extravagant Broadway Arcade, which sought to both sex up the arcade experience, yet still make it family friendly and respectable, at the same time. Needless to say, all three bombed big time (though the fact that arcades in general are dying simply didn’t help). There’s only one classic New York arcade still in existence, and that’s the Chinatown Fair, but it’s only worth checking out if you’re a hard core SNK freak. The chicken who played tic-tac-toe is sorely missed.

At least there’s always Coney Island…
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I just wanted to add that I did almost nothing today at work. Most of the staff is away on vacation, and it’s just me and a skeleton crew (which for the most part consists of just a small number of student assistants) running the department. But it’s not like there’s much to do, hence why I can sit here and ponder the loss of a video game store in my life.

Anyway, today was a coworker’s birthday, so we surprised him with some cheesecake. The conversation as we began eating was about how delicious the cake was. It ended with talk about sex change operations, and how doctors sculpt penises for women out of cadavers.

God I love my job.

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Earlier today, I stopped by gameLab HQ to have a meeting with Eric Zimmerman. The place is more or less a gamer’s paradise: at one end you have a stack of systems, old and new (from an Intellivision to a GameCube… even a top loading NES!), with tons of games of course, and on the other are shelves entirely dedicated to Ultraman and other heroic robots from Japan. The walls have various board game boards hanging like fine art and there’s even an old Asteroids machine in the waiting room; the only thing to read is game magazines, plus I found a few PSone games, mostly RPGs, buried underneath.

We spoke at the conference table, which had a big bowl of Legos; there were others involved in this meeting, and I’m not sure if it looked good or bad when at certain points I was more interested in getting a tire to attach to the headless ninja Lego body than any technical mumbo jumbo being discussed.

Anyhow, it was nice checking out the inner-workings; it’s always been a goal of mine to one day work at gameLab, hence my curiosity with the place. But to be honest, I really can’t complain about my current gig at SVA. Granted it’s not glamorous, and the pay isn’t all too hot, but it’s a nice, ultra laid back environment with some really awesome people. In fact, it’s the only job I’ve every held where I genuinely like all my workers and they don’t hate me. Plus, where else can get paid to I sit around all day while talking about crappy movies, surfing the web, and work on other freelance jobs? Oh, and they gave me the opportunity to be a teacher. I can’t forget about that.

Actually, almost one year ago today was the last day of my last job. Believe it or not, I used to sell swords, suits or armor, dragon’s eggs, fairy dust, and other pieces of medieval crap, and I hated every minute of it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like it was hard work or anything, but most people think that such a job would be awesome (even myself at first). Well it wasn’t. First off, I had to deal with the general public, which for the most part consisted of annoying tourists. Plus there was the steady stream of sad souls who filled their gaping emotional wounds with overpriced crap. Hey, like I can criticize; I buy just as much useless crap as the next person. But I just bought the 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime the other day on eBay (not that I’m bragging or anything, though I did get a killer deal!) and at least that can transform. What the hell can you do with a big fake sword? Lord knows that a girl thinks when she goes to some guy’s place and he has a huge replica of the sword from Conan the Barbarian: “Wow, this guy’s got class! I’m SOOOO gonna bang him tonight!!!”

But best of all dealing with the angriest person alive, my former boss. I’m not going to air other people’s dirty laundry, but let’s just say if I had a life like his, I guess I’d be perpetually pissed I suppose (and striving for a constant state of drunkenness as well). My other coworkers were for the most part pretty cool, though they got on my nerves as well. The worst was their constant complaints regarding customer’s always touching the swords, which they’re not suppose to. They simply couldn’t understand why. How about this for a reason: they’re fucking swords!!! It’s not exactly something you see everyday, especially if you’re some backwards hayseed like 90% of the people who walked in.

Don’t get me wrong, I tried approaching the job with as much enthusiasm as I could, at least at first. At one point I figured it could be a good chance to talk to girls, but as soon as I discovered that out most ren fair chicks are totally nuts (which wasn’t very long actually) I lost all interest. Hence why I was actually relieved when the store was closed down and I was laid off. If I really wanted, I could have gotten a job at the castle in Jersey, but I wasn’t going to inflict myself to such torture, even if I was friends with the king (at this point, I was still friends with the west coast princess and had enough castle politics in my life).

But back to SVA, today’s also the first day of open registration for all Fall Continuing Education classes, including my own, which starts again in October. You can sign up here.

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