Alcohol and Video Games: A Cocktail of Potential

 The popular social settings have changed for every era in time, and all have tried to cater to universal audiences. Over the years, places such as diners, discotheques, jazz clubs, and raves have been the hot places to go to and socialize, especially at night when the younger demographic is raring to explore and have a good time. When it comes to popular spaces for geek culture, however, choices have remained overall limited. Back in the era of arcade cabinets, when Galaga and Miss Pac-Man dominated the market, the most exciting places for gamers and geeks to hang out with other like-minded individuals were in arcades, which luckily were all the rage at the time, so gamers had many choices of where they could go and play and meet new people. However, since then, even with the decline of arcade games, arcades still remained one of the only large public spaces where anyone could go in and play video games with friends or strangers. The introduction of home consoles also contributed to this in a big way, to the point where the best way to play games with friends was to get a multiplayer console and simply invite people over. After that, online compatibility was introduced, and gamers no longer had to be in the same room to play games with each other. Although an admittedly incredible feat which revolutionized multiplayer gaming and interaction, this did make for even more stagnation when it came to developing large public spaces for gamers. Going from arcades to split-screen co-op to online co-op made it so the only remaining spaces were either specifically organized gaming events, such as conventions or tournaments, or arcade sections of bowling alleys usually containing only Dance Dance Revolution or Pac-Man.

This does not even bring into consideration the tabletop RPG community, who have unfortunately been confined to private sessions in their own homes or the basements of their local game shop.

    In recent years, however, a new space has been created that attempts to combine the social pastimes of the general public and the gaming community: gaming bars. One of the most popular social lubricants for decades has been alcohol, and regardless of your stance on that, it is impossible to deny that much of the success of raves, clubs, and obviously bars is the combination of a fun social atmosphere and drinking. With the ever rising popularity of bars, especially with the current generation, some sought out to create bars with heavy gaming focus and elements, to give a newfound sense of community for this generation of gamers and geeks while keeping the mass appeal of a late-night bar.

This is not to say that video games have not existed in bars before. In 1971, an arcade game was installed in a bar near Stanford University, and Goldie’s Bar in 1981 had a test cabinet of Donkey Kong that ended up working majorly to its advantage after the massive success of the game. However, those were just bars with one or two arcade cabinets installed in the corner, where a patron could walk on over and play a game in relative solitude from the rest of the crowd. These new gaming bars fully embrace the theme of gaming, with it being not just the focus, but the main appeal. One gaming bar, 42 Lounge in Milwaukee, went even further by not just including several popular games like Street Fighter and Smash Bros, but also holding events for other facets of geek culture, like tabletop gaming, e-sports, and nights centered around shows and movies like Doctor Who, Harry Potter, or Star Wars.

Most of the owners of these arcade bars were inspired by all the things I mentioned above: creating a social space for a gaming audience but making it accessible to a wider demographic. One owner in particular mentioned the stereotypes surrounding gaming culture and nerdy spaces, and how adding the appeal of a bar to them would help to normalize them in today’s society and make them mainstays in social culture.

Regarding the stereotypes, they do absolutely have a point. Before, since arcades were obviously meant to serve a single purpose—house arcade games—only gamers (mostly boys) were expected to be populating them. Gaming culture as a whole being considered a breeding ground for lonely male misogynists by the general public has understandably damaged the general outlook on gaming spaces, and it is obviously not a completely misguided point of view considering the toxicity pervasive in the culture. However, these new gaming bars work to create a more accepting space for gamers and non-gamers alike, focusing more on the more socially comfortable environment that a bar provides for many and letting people explore their interests with like-minded people they are likely to get along with. One owner described it as a “showcase of how far the gaming community has come, where stereotypical and non-stereotypical gamers could coexist with each other and have a good time bonding over shared interests.”

Unsurprisingly, reception for most of these gaming bars has been overwhelmingly positive. Adult gamers seem to be very satisfied with having a new, hot social location where they can hang out on a Friday night, drink, and meet new people, while also being able to partake in an activity that is more comfortable for them. Most gaming bar owners were surprised by the popularity of their bars, especially with most of their advertising being done through word of mouth in the beginning. All patrons, regardless of if they chose to game or not, were welcomed as long as they were somehow contributing to the revenue of the bar through drinks or beverages.

It seems as though the gaming bar has in many ways accomplished what it set out to do, create a common safe space for gamers and non-gamers to interact and explore new interests. More and more of these bars are opening up in cities, with more entrepreneurs wanting to explore their own vision of an adult gaming space for the masses.

Works Cited

Bloch, Matt, “PAX East 2014 Panel - The Rise of the Geek Bar,” YouTube Video, 1:04:10, April 18, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDTjWGaaUfg.

Bass, Penelope. “The Evolution of Arcade Bars.” Imbibe Magazine, August 26, 2020. https://imbibemagazine.com/arcade-bars/.