The Chinatown Fair, 1944. It’s official.
Posts tagged arcade
Last Friday I was a part of a panel discussion about arcades at NY Comic Con. It was an amazing time. Somehow, at 11 am on a Friday, we filled the room with people eager to hear a talk about arcades. Leaves me feeling hopeful that the movie will receive a lot of attention when it is finished! The panel was moderated by Tal Blevins who has been at IGN since the early days, 13 years and counting! He was the perfect host. Seth Killian was there providing an incredibly unique perspective (As far as I can tell he has one of the coolest jobs in the world). Jamin Warren was beyond articulate, as always. And let me state this here: In 20 years, Kill Screen will be the Rolling Stone of video games. The Harlem Hero, Norman Burgess, was there waxing poetic about Chinatown Fair. And the star of the panel, Henry Cen, “Golden Cen” aka 50 Cen, was wonderfully cynical and cracking up the audience with his musings.
Thank you all for coming and saying hi. I met some new friends and look forward to continuing this discussion!
-Kurt
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
A letter I received about a night at Chinatown Fair arcade
I got this in my inbox last night and thought I would share it with you guys.
I’m not a super avid arcade gamer by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, one of my favorite nights ever was spent at Chinatown Fair.
My roommates and I were Sophomores at NYU, living on the border of Chinatown and the Financial District at the time. After a particularly rough run, we were all depressed, bored, and my one roommate had just been broken up with. We decided that we needed to do something. Wandering to one of Chinatown’s closet-like liquor stores where you pay through a hole in the glass, we got a few little bottles of booze using my fake ID, and mixed it with the Gatorade each of us had just picked up. It was classy.
Then, we wandered over to Chinatown Fair. It’s hard to describe why - the alcohol, the camaraderie or the video games - but this place was an escape for us that night. I still remember it fondly and talk about playing a seemingly unnamed Japanese vertically scrolling shooter that we pumped at least 20 dollars into, just for the mere fact that you get a giant movable laser cannon. Something changed in our collective friendship that night.. we all became a little closer.
A week or so ago, I was enthusiastically telling another friend about Chinatown Fair and demanded we go - which is when I found out it was closed. I wanted to play that shooter with the laser cannon and now, all I’ve got is the memory of the experience. Which may be better than the actual game, admittedly, but still.
-Steve
I think a lot of people have had similar experiences at Chinatown Fair. Irene, Reed, and I spent a lot of time at Next Level arcade this weekend. Friday night felt a whole lot like the way CF used to feel. I am so happy that Nick and Henry, the owners of Next Level, have put their heart into creating such a welcoming place.
-Kurt
I’m sad to report that another arcade has been lost to modern times. Denjin arcade, known for being the Mecca of West Coast 3rd Strike as well as the host of countless tournaments (including the 2009 SBO qualifiers and Cali Regionals) closed its doors for good yesterday. Denjin truly exemplified what a real arcade was: a place of community and competition, where players went to learn and level up. This is sadly another nail in the coffin of the American arcade.
-Reed
My first visit to Next Level was originally for work rather than play. I went to help document a 3rd Strike tournament, but ended up being completely entranced by its siren-song of gaming. The venue itself lies just off the D train, tucked away amongst residential houses and small shops. The neighborhood is pleasantly quiet, although compared to Chinatown, pretty much everything seems quiet. I enjoyed a shoulder-check-free walk through the neighborhood and upon entering Next Level I was immediately greeted with sweet, glorious, air-conditioning. For those unfamiliar, Chinatown Fair did not have air-conditioning, and believe you me, that place got hot in the summer.
I was greeted by a helpful staff member (he said his name was Kuma, sick) who explained how the arcade worked, which was great, because I’ve never been to an arcade that worked like Next Level (which is not at all a bad thing). I worked my way through the Arcade Edition machines and sat down next to a guy playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I pulled out my trusty Hori stick, and instantly remembered why I love arcades so much: I felt that nervousness that you don’t get playing online, or with your friends. That pit in your stomach, your heart-rate eclipsing that of a mid-jump skydiver who also happened to be on fire and taped to a bear, feeling the need to beseech the Marvel gods so they might be kind in your upcoming match. The match starts, and I immediately went into autopilot. I started strong, hit my combos, got my DHC’s, and ended up winning pretty decisively. And then, I was totally fine. No more nerves, just Marvel. I ended up putting a 30-winstreak on that station, and had other people challenging me left and right. I played some other games, played some money matches, and before I knew it, just like CF, it was 5 hours later and dark outside. As I left, I was greeted by a familiar sight: people hanging out outside, smoking cigarettes, laughing, and talking about games, just like CF. And walking away, I felt that sting of community, and couldn’t wait to go back, just like CF.
-Reed
Irene and I are excited to announce that we will be showing a short segment consisting of footage we have captured so far at Rooftop Films on July 30th! Kill Screen magazine has curated a night of video game related short films for the night! The showing is going to be on a big roof in Park Slope/Gowanus area of Brooklyn, which is actually our neighborhood. It is going to be a great time. If you come let us know and we will meet up before at Irene’s place!
I met Norman Burgess at Chinatown Fair the night it closed. I was impressed by his knowledge of games and his eloquence of speech. I saw on Facebook a couple weeks ago that he had built his own arcade cabinet at home. Norman did me the honor of inviting me to his weekly get together.
We filmed until 1 AM (their sessions regularly last until 7AM). The guys in attendance were all friends from NYC arcades from back in the day, who discovered that they all lived in the same neighborhood, Harlem. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. Norman’s friends took advantage of the home brew arcade machine, which is decked out with hundreds of games, as well as his chest full of every game imaginable- new old, obscure - for all the various game systems that Norman has collected. We were so lucky to have met an amazing crew of guys, plus Norman’s wife, who he met at CF ten years ago and who is a Tetris wizard.
A lively debate sparked up around 12 AM about the difference between online gaming and gaming of the past, which took place in arcades. Norman brought up a very interesting point, which I had never thought of before. He pointed out that online players have nothing to lose. They are mostly anonymous, have no reputation to uphold, and will show behavior which they would not show if they were playing head to head. Online players also are not paying to play each match, so they do not have anything to lose in that respect as well. Arcade play has much more dignity. There is a face, a person, a reputation, and there is hard earned money on the line.
-Irene
Happy Memorial Day. I hope everyone has a moment to celebrate and remember those who fought for our country.
We are on the front page of Kickstarter today. It is great way to start the last 48 hours of our project. We are really pushing for 30k, 150%. I am confident we can do this. But it will take a lot of people sharing the project. I implore everyone, please tweet the link, facebook message it, and email your friends and colleagues. We can do it!
Irene and I will be seeing Henry Cen today, the owner of the Net Level arcade in Brooklyn so we may have the Kickstarter party date set by the end of today. Very excited! I also got an email from J Smith The Suit, a member of the 3rd Strike crew. I am really excited because I have been wanting to film the 3rd Strike guys. They invited me to their annual 3rd Strike battle in Queens. It will be epic.
I feel so lucky right now. To have the opportunity to make this movie and now that I have funding, I can make it the way it should be made.
Thanks everyone!
-K
p.s. photo is of the Chinatown Fair/NYC 3rd Strike Crew. Courtesy of Anthony Cali aka Helgen. Check his new site here.
SCREEN GRAB #3
Anthony Cali aka Helgen X shooting photograph of me shooting film of him.
I am about to meet up with Anthony at a Japanese spot in the East Village to discuss the direction of the movie. Good things are happening. I have realized the movie will not end with the closing of Chinatown Fair. It goes way beyond that. I have a feeling the movie is going to follow the community to wherever it may go - the next CF, Babycastles, Next Level, basements, apartments, etc.
The story of ARCADE is about Chinatown Fair, but that means it is about the community itself and the community lives on beyond the walls of 8 Mott Street.
