One Last Time: My final visit to Chinatown Fair

“It stinks in here”

Those were the first words said by Henry Cen, long time CF manager and fighting game ass-kicker, as he entered the doors of 8 Mott Street for one final visit. It was just about 6 months ago that CF closed its doors for good, but for one day, they were opened again to a lucky few for some amazing shooting and exquisite garbage rummaging.

I am not going to lie; when the gate was first opened I cringed. These unattended months had not been kind to the arcade, and between the doors and the gate were about a thirty cubic pounds of garbage, consisting of flyers, phone books, and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. It was like going to visit a relative’s grave only to find some drunken frat-boys had passed out on top of it. Inside was just as double-take inducing. Quiet, dark, and empty are adjectives I never would have used to described CF. The place was always alive  with chatter and video game noise, which was almost always drowned out by the booming techno of the dance games, and while it may have been dimly lit at times, you were always engulfed in the light of CRT’s. And even midday at its least crowded, there was never enough room to swing a cat in that place. This was really the most harrowing of the three, the place was just so empty and it looked so wrong.

But that feeling only lasted for a few seconds. It was still CF, so it was still home. All around were cabinet parts and posters and old brackets that needed to be explored. It is really hard to explain what it was like, but imagine being a kid in an abandoned toy factory; I felt an obligation to look through everything that had been left behind, because the place was littered with things that still had meaning to me. I swear on Dan Hibiki I will keep a Chinatown Fair token until the day I die.

We got some truly amazing footage, but the real treat was having Henry Cen come by for a final visit, and give us the full tour of the place. He told us awesome stories of letting the chicken loose, building Sam’s office, and showed us how to properly throw someone out. And while I felt sadly nostalgic for CF, Henry seemed genuinely happy not to be working under the unwinnable odds that forced its closure. I could tell that he really cared about the place, but at the same time was determined to make Next Level even better.

 I always regretted not being able to visit Chinatown Fair on its last day, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain how thankful I am for being able to go back to the place that meant so much to so many, for one last time.

-Reed

As July passes its midway point, we realize that this once young summer is fading away. Only a month-and-a-half left of blistering heat and nothing but baseball on TV. To a fighting game player, this means only one thing: 3^rd Strike: Online Edition is almost here! I, for one, cannot wait to drop 15 bucks to get blown up online by all the 3^rd Strike killers who think SSSF IV is for scrubs. But with this upcoming release, it makes you think how well the game has held up over the years; it’s been in arcades since 1999! What is it about fighting and arcade games that allow them to stand the test of time? Their infinite replayability and in-game mechanics are core values that are still implemented in titles of the same genre to this day. They are games that refuse to change for anyone or anything; they stand true to their roots.

Unlike, oh let’s say, Duke Nukem? A game that’s been in production since 1998 really straddles the fence of old and new school shooters. On one side lie health pickups and the fact that the number of weapons in the game and the amount you can carry simultaneously are synonymous. On the other, regenerating health and the widely implemented two weapon carry limit. Duke has always been a subscriber to the former, and in a move that seems to have pleased literally no one; tries to conform to the modernity of shooters in an attempt to stay relevant in the modern game market. Tries and fails. I have yet to hear a single person argue that Duke Nukem Forever is worth its asking price, which is also probably the kindest criticism you’ll hear about it. Seriously, the reviews are absolutely brutal. What is it about 3^rd Strike (and fighting and arcade games in general) that allows it to stay relevant today? Meanwhile an icon that was once gamer household name makes an effort to conform to modern standards only to be hated by all. The simple truth is: Fighting games can endure, unlike most (if not all) other genres.

To put it in other words: in 2020 when Street Fighter V comes out (because 10 years is about how long it takes for Capcom to come out with a numbered SF game) fighting games are still going to play very similarly (with slight changes of course), while shooting games are probably going to play in a completely radical fashion, which will only serve to alienate games of the past. By then no one will want to play Black Ops or Halo:Reach, except for people looking to experience nostalgia and reminisce at how a billion dollars used to be a big first day sales number. As a competitive game, it will be completely dead: killed by a fickle and complacent genre. And like the badass horseshoe crab it is, Street Fighter will still be chugging along unscathed. Hell, people will probably still be playing Super Turbo, a game that’s only a few years short of its 20^th birthday! So here’s to 3^rd Strike, putting just about every other genre on blast and looking good doing it! May the competition be stiff and your continued dominance unrelenting! And please have mercy on all those poor souls who try to mash like it’s SF:IV, they’re in for a world of hurt.

 -Reed