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(upbeat introductory music)

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(arcade games chiming)

- The bar arcade has always
kind of been a thing.

(upbeat music)
(arcade game chiming)

- At the very beginning
when video games began

to first hit the beaches
they would go into bars.

(upbeat music)

- And now, 30 to 40 years later,

these machines are right
back where they started

in an arcade bar.

- Oh, they got all your
old favorite games.

(arcade game chiming)
Come on in,

play the games and have a beer, a whiskey,

my preference whiskey.
(chuckling)

(arcade game chiming)

- We've grown up with multiple generations

of console video game players who are used

to playing either online or
they're playing by themselves,

but people are sort of
thirsty for this interaction

in person where you can see the cabinet,

you can feel it,

you can hear all these sounds.

(arcade game chiming)

- There are a huge number

of arcade bars popping
up all over the country.

- They're doing gangbuster business.

(coins jingling)

- We're building memories
and we're building nostalgia.

- But what happens now,

because of the arcade bar,

because of the experience
we had back in the '80s,

it is now revived with this.

It's brought a resurgence.

(arcade game chiming)

- It's the big kids' man cave and you go,

hey, you wanna play some "NFL Blitz",

some "NBA Jam"?

Dude, this place is off the hook.

(arcade game chiming)

Craft beer and games, come on,

it just goes together.

(upbeat music)
(arcade game blitzing)

- [Narrator] "Token
Taverns", boom shakalaka.

(arcade games chiming)
(coin jingling)

(relaxing instrumental music)
(coin clicking)

(arcade games chiming)

- My name's Michael Burke.

I own Vector Bar & Arcade
in Clearwater, Florida.

(relaxing instrumental music)

Going into this,

my wife and I,

we wanted a nice,

cool place that people could hang out with

and feel like you're in my
basement or my garage arcade.

Making this whole endeavor possible

was really my wife more
or less forced me into it.

We just had games on the side.

I was fixing them and reselling
them and just as a hobby.

So when we moved to
Clearwater, we thought,

what an opportunity for
us to do it on our own.

- So the game selection's pretty amazing.

It's not always the games

that are sought after
by high-end collectors,

but games that people that like to play.

- There are some must-have classics

that everyone says you should have.

Like, you gotta have the "Pac-Man",

the "Donkey Kong".

And I want to represent games

that you don't see in every place.

We got games like "Double
Dragon" and "Street Fighter III",

not "Street Fighter II".

They want people to see
there was a huge amount

of other great games.

This is another one of those like weird,

obscure Japanese games.

It's called "Muchi Muchi Pork!".

It's super weird, man.

For us, the most popular
games are "Last Action Hero".

"'Jurassic Park' Pinball",

people love just based on the theme.

And then, "Area 51",

people just love blasting the aliens.

It's like the favorite around here.

- Just get that power-up.
(man exclaiming)

- So, the vibe here at
Vector is really cool.

There is definitely like "Pinball" nerds,

there's also a lot of beer nerds,

and then you have a lot
of people in between.

- Our core audience,

we have two.

We have the younger 20,

30-year-olds who like the retro games.

And then we have the people
who grew up like the older guys

who like coming in here
and playing "Pinball".

- Vector is both very unusual

and very comfortable at the same time.

It's unusual 'cause it's dark.

There's not a whole lot of
decoration or atmosphere.

You kind of have the machines

and you have the people that are there.

If you're the kind of
person that's looking

for "Pinball" machines or arcade games,

you're gonna be right at home.

If you're the kind of person
looking for a football game

and the regular kind of bar atmosphere,

you're gonna be way put off.

- We're not a sports bar.

You don't have TVs on the walls.

It's lined with games.

The games lend to their own aesthetic.

They're the energy of the space.

And the lights are dim.

You got the glow of the screens.

Now you have a beer in your hand

and just the fact that
you're standing there

in the glow of the game,

it really has a nostalgia
factor, for sure.

- It felt, genuinely like an arcade.

What's really odd that
it's so uncommon now.

Just every place I go to,

it's a bar.

It really just feels like
they threw money at it.

There's no soul to it
and this place has soul.

- You can't have a business like this

and not be passionate about it.

You can have a bar and
expect people to come

'cause you're slinging beers.

But there's a difference when you care

about all the different beers you order

and you care about the customer experience

and giving them something new
and something that they enjoy.

- I really like this one though.

- What?
- It's a really good beer.

- It's a small operation here.

It's like one person's manning the place.

They're handling the arcade.

They're handling the bar.

- You've been (indistinct).

(tin hissing open)

- Yeah.
- Good, I'm glad to see you.

- Jesse's our bartender here.

He's been with us for
over a year and a half.

He's amazing, he's one of our best hires,

so wanted to make sure
we hired the right people

who had our same vision.

- Mike and Lauren,

they threw like a base or
a birthday party for me.

They wanna throw a
going-away party for me.

They're super cool.

(upbeat rock music)

(arcade games chiming)

(Jenga blocks crashing)
(patrons exclaiming)

- So other than just having the bar

and the arcade experience,

we also wanted to bring some
of our personal life into it.

So we did Monday Night Fight Nights

that was where me and all
my friends would meet up

and we'd play fighting games.

- When I play the game with
the owner of this place

and he fucking destroyed me.

(arcade game rumbling)

That's very disrespectful.

I might leave that in a Yelp review.

- There's always the person who comes in

and they wanna challenge the owner.

So it's like they own the place

if they could beat the owner in a game,

but I don't get beaten too often.

(Michael exclaiming)
(patron laughing)

I'll take that.

Finest (indistinct)
(patron exclaiming)

Cheers.

(glasses clinking)

And then we would do
semi-quarterly wrestling events.

It's was called Bar Wars.
- I was like,

oh my god,

this guy's got wrestling
too in this place.

(wrestlers thudding in ring)
(patrons cheering)

And he had "Bar Wars I",

"Bar Wars II",

"Bar Wars III" all right here.

I've seen 250,

300 people total.

All this epicness is just happening right

on the other side of this building.

(wrestlers thudding in ring)
The main event,

someone jumped off the roof of the back

of the building into the ring
for their finishing move,

which was epic.
(patrons cheering)

We're sitting on the picnic
table and next thing you know,

the wrestling guys are like,

"Get off the table,"

and they're like DDTing and
power bombing each other

on the picnic table we
were just sitting on.

And ridiculous, epic each time,

and it just grew and grew
and got bigger and bigger.

- Put a wrestling ring
out behind your business

and throwing a huge wrestling event

with a hundred-plus people
is a pretty big endeavor.

Luckily for us,

the back of our building butts
up to government buildings

that are closed on the weekends.

We were able to keep
the ring in our space,

but we could have the spillover
people all in the back

and be as loud and
obnoxious as we wanna be.

- Fuck off, (indistinct).

(patrons cheering)

(wrestlers thudding in ring)

(patrons cheering)

- Thanks everyone for coming out.

This is excellent.

I couldn't ask for a better turnout.

We gotta get a trilogy in
before the landlord shut us down

from having too many people out back.

(upbeat guitar music)

- Thank you guys for coming
out to Vector's open mic.

My name is P Funk.

We're over here every Wednesday.

I'm gonna do all these funky jams for you.

(upbeat guitar music)

If you'd like to hear
anything in particular,

let me know.

I'll try to do my best
to accommodate you guys.

Just no Jimmy fucking Buffet.

(upbeat guitar music)
(patrons chuckling)

- Wednesday night was open mics,

so everyone from the local area would come

and do music and poetry and a spoken word.

- Crack a beer,

sip that drink,

pour another glass of wine.

There is a war going on for your mind.

The revolution will now be televised.

(patrons cheering)
(patrons applauding)

(indistinct)

- The fact that I could
find like-minded people

and be at like a Cheers-like environment

where everybody knows your name,

everybody is easy to talk to.

They're weird sometimes, right.

I'm weird sometimes.

We're all a little bit crazy,

but it's like we're all the right kind

of weird for each other.

I never had to work to get
along with people here.

- I come here and I'm not judged

and I could just walk
around and play the games,

and I've met just some
of the coolest people.

It's just really welcoming.

There's not a lot of places
where you feel welcome

as soon as you walk in the door.

- Really, they offered me something

that I could not find anywhere else.

It's like everyone that I've met here

has been an amazing person.

They've helped me learn games,

things I didn't know about,

which is mainly "Pinball".

Every person that came

in just was immediately
almost like a new friend,

but then it became something
more like family almost.

We all have these very
different backgrounds,

but we all connect on
this one, singular thing.

You know, we're all
into some kind of game,

whether it be "Pinball",

whether it be arcade,

whether it be console,

there's a connection that
goes beyond the physical game.

I personally like to
think that it has to be

with the culture that Mike and Lauren

have actually developed.

Here we are experiencing this
environment they have created,

you know, craftily created.

(patrons groaning)
- Is this whiskey?

- Cheers 2020, fuck you.
- 2020.

- [Patron] Yeah, happy 2020.

- There you go.
(patrons cheering)

- Fuck yeah, Mike.
- Mike.

- Fuck yeah, Mike.
(patrons cheering)

- So before you can really understand

what is arcades and arcade bars,

you really have to start at the beginning.

(upbeat music)
(video rewinding)

♪ What we gonna do right here is go back ♪

(coin jingling)

- Video games are the latest
craze to sweep the country.

- [Reporter] They seem to

have captured America's imagination

and its pocket change as well.

- You put a quarter in,

you play the game that was designed

to take your money within
a minute and you're done.

- They're taking their lunch money

and some of them are skipping
school because of arcades.

- When I was 12 years old,

I used to walk two and a half miles to go

to my closest arcade.

And I used to walk in
there and it was like,

wow, look at this.

I would still walk around
and just admire the machines

and just walk through
these gleaming towers

of light and sound.

- I remember going into
classic '80s arcades

and they were all carpeted

and it was very kind of dark and dingy

and the carpet always smelled
kind of wet and musty.

Always some classic Journey,

some '80s playing.

- [Reporter] What makes
video games so popular?

- Well, they come as if from outer space

in a variety of weird geysers,

"Defender", "Pac-Man", Asteroids".

- Some of these games

were just revolutionary at the time.

There was nothing like them
and everybody was playing them.

- Suddenly, arcades began
to grow all over the place

and they were making a
huge amount of money.

(upbeat music)
- When I was a kid,

we'd go, your parents would drop you off,

they'd give you a couple dollars

and that would last you for a few hours.

- I think it was literally a place

where parents felt like they
could drop their kids off

and it was really a way for parents

to kind of get away from their kids.

You know, it also gave
kids a place to meet

and interact and hang out over the games.

- It was a place to go.

It was a destination.

So it wasn't just like,

oh, we're gonna walk
by an arcade and go in.

No, you plan to go to the arcade.

It was like a nightclub

for geeks or younger people.

- Growing up in the
golden age of video games,

it was awesome.

Video games really began to explode.

Everybody loved video games.

Some of us might've loved
it too much, that's true.

- I played 47 hours

and I guess that's why
you picked me to be here.

- It did introduce a lot
of people into a new world.

- As the popularity of
arcade and video games grew,

it was hard for it not to
hit pop culture in general.

(upbeat music)

- "Pac-Man" is all over
and it's on the lips

of kids and arcade players.

- "Pac-Man" is without a
doubt the most recognized icon

in the world,

more than the ears of Mickey Mouse,

more than a bottle of
Coca-Cola, "Pac-Man".

- When I got involved with
"NBA Jam" and "NFL Blitz",

that was the huge moment
because those games,

they took over.

So things were really
heating up in the early '90s.

(patrons cheering)

- During that time of that resurgence,

when "Mortal Kombat" came out,

it seemed like the arcade game
were fighting the home game,

but in reality it was transforming.

- The arcades began to collapse.

The home market was eroding on them.

- And unfortunately, you
could experience them at home

and people drove in that direction,

and that's when you saw arcades
just sort of fizzle out.

- The industry really went
towards ticket redemption games,

and that was really the be-all,

end-all of arcades.

- Here we are creating these games

that were so super popular,

and then overnight we went
from being heroes to zeros.

(upbeat music)
(coin jingling)

- The games you see behind us here,

like a car, now they were 20 years old,

now they were nostalgic,

now they were collectibles.

Suddenly there was a new interest.

- So what a perfect time
to capture the nostalgia

that everybody was
feeling for these things,

and then add an adult
element to it with beer.

- So as these arcade
bars started popping up,

it was a great way to
get those people back

in front of arcade machines.

- That community-based
experience of the arcade

of the early '80s is now
reborn in the arcade bar.

(upbeat music)
(coin jingling)

(upbeat music continues)

- My name is Dwight Slamp.

This is Glitch Bar in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

We're a very much a nightlife spot.

We're strictly 21 and up.

- Fridays and Saturdays,

it's like a club in here.

It gets crazy.

(flames hissing)

- Our concept here is our games are free.

All our games are on free
play except for our "Pinballs"

and we make our money on alcohol.

- What they have set up here,

it's such a good environment,

such a dope place inside.

I love it.

- So one of the cool things
we do here that you don't see

in a lot of the other arcade
bars is the Indie Arcade Games.

(patron groaning)
- What a block.

- Indie arcade games are
games that are developed

by individuals or small companies,

but they're writing software
and coming up with these games

and that's where the
Indie stuff comes out of.

So the number one Indie
Arcade Game is "Killer Queen".

"killer Queen's" a 10-player game.

It's five versus five.

It's a real-time strategy-style
game and it's really,

really, really addictive and
it's created a subculture.

- This is really like grassroots,

almost like social phenomenon.

Like, every major city
has a "Killer Queen".

- "Killer Queen" people are so passionate

in playing that game

but the game has brought
so many people together.

- You can talk shit online
all you want to someone,

but when you talk shit
in person to someone,

it's a completely different experience.

(patrons cheering)
- Yeah.

- Sweet.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- Billy Mitchell's a very
well-known video game player.

He locally plays here.

- Yeah, but the first thing is,

I gotta do a perfect score here.

- Again?
- Look at this.

(upbeat instrumental music)

What are you doing?

What kind of place are you running here?

- He just did a perfect "Pac-Man"

to celebrate the 40th
anniversary of "Pac-Man".

- We're having some fun
this year with "Pac-Man"

because it's the 40th anniversary.

The other times that I
did a perfect "Pac-Man",

they put a new joystick on,

and both times I hit it on the first shot.

To be playing the "Pac-Man"
and to play a perfect score

and to have that energy
and those people around you

and that excitement,

it was absolutely like
being at a sporting event.

- You just did it.
- Yeah.

- You just did it.
- Congratulations.

You just beat the last one.

That's awesome.
- I've seen kill screen

a million times and not
a perfect score, awesome.

(upbeat music)

- The arcade bars,

you're here and it's just
like the old arcades.

It brings back the fever
and passion from the 1980s.

It's a great place.

It really brings back history

and it introduces that golden age

to a whole nother generation of people.

- [Photographer] And
going, going. There you go.

(upbeat instrumental music)

(coin jingling)

(motorbike engine humming)

- Hi, my name is George Courtney.

My wife and I are the owners
of Reboot Arcade & Bar.

(upbeat instrumental music)

I always wanted to own a bar,

but I knew if we were gonna open a bar,

we wanted to incorporate something

that I was really passionate about.

(upbeat instrumental music)

Because I know when I've walked
into my first arcade bar,

I was just like almost in tears.

I'm like, oh my God,

someone gets me.

I could drink a beer
and play arcade games.

- He's just like,

"We need something and
like this in Dunedin,"

so he just kind of ran with it.

- If we were to do something,

I gotta do this and share
with people where I'm from too

and Reboot was kind of created with that.

For the first time in my life,

I actually found something that I really,

really enjoy as a business.

(upbeat instrumental music)

For us, we would deem ourselves more

of a nostalgic old school
meets news school arcade

with console games that
typically you wouldn't see

in like a Dave & Buster's
or Chuck E. Cheese.

- "GoldenEye" is always

a good go-to.
- Yeah, I remember

playing that.
- "Super Smash", pretty fun.

- [George] Reboot was sort
of created as like a place

for people to just kind of
get away from everything,

sort of like a museum with
a bunch of nerdom in it.

(relaxing instrumental music)

- George and his amazing
video game knowledge

helped create this dream.

We've talked about the "Donkey
Kong" tree house theme.

- We're thinking like what,

just like a bunch of barrels kind

of set up around the building?

- [Helen] Well, I think
barrels would be good.

- Would they have to
be filled with monkeys,

like barrels and monkeys?
(Helen chuckling)

So Helen, she has an
incredible eye for design.

She's like a big part of
the brains of this place.

Part of that is artwork, lighting,

the ability to have scene changes.

So at seven o'clock or sunset,

all of our lights turn blue.

One of my favorite
movies is "Blade Runner"

and everything in that
was retro futuristic.

So it was sort of like old
school with new school,

almost like if you were in the 1980s

and you imagine what the
future would look like.

And I think this place is
sort of an over exaggeration

if someone had the time in
the '80s to create something

with the stuff from today.

- I love this place.

It's very retro.

It's kind of nostalgic
and will bring you back

in time to like the '80s.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- I wanted people to feel transported

in this different place, you know,

make them feel like
they're in a different spot

and feel like we did our best
to make sure that happened.

Hey, what's up man?

- George, what's brother?
- How you been?

Good to see, Buddy.
- Nice to see you.

How you doing?
- How's (indistinct) been?

- Things are good.
- Yeah, you guys busy?

- Getting back into it, man.
- Nice, man.

Have you seen all the
additions and stuff we made?

- Honestly, I haven't
been able to get back in.

- But yeah, dude,

look at all the

"Pinball" machines, man.
- Yeah, I love it.

I love it.
- Put them all in a row.

Have you seen in there?
- No, not yet.

- Oh, man.
- Let's check it.

- So, Bill did like this honeycomb thing.

So, he had an idea like you
would just put all this stuff

up here and I was helping
him paint and stuff,

and we used this UV paint.
- Neat, I like it.

- So we used this paint
that literally, like,

look at all the UV lights and everything.

- Yeah, I love it.
(upbeat instrumental music)

- So we have Xbox's, PlayStations,

Nintendo Switches, and they're all up here

on these screens around the bar.

- So we kind of designed
Reboot to almost be sort

of like a sports bar feel
when you're at the bar itself.

We have nine TVs.

We have the ability for
people to watch games,

watch other people compete,

sort of almost get like that
sports bar-type mentality.

Instead of, you know,

Sports Center or Fox Sports
or something like that,

it's people playing games.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- On the weekends this
place gets pretty packed.

A big party.

Everyone loves to come here.

It's definitely more adult-oriented.

- It's just more of a big kid atmosphere.

Definitely, that's what it's about.

And there you are.

- It's gotten really busy.

Sometimes it's hard to say that out loud,

but when we see it really
crazy and busy on the weekends,

we just kinda laugh.

I mean, it's surprising
but it's awesome too.

- The quarter machine holds like $750.

What ends up happening is
if we have a busy weekend,

it drains all of the quarters
from our change machine.

So Bill has to go in and literally
take all the quarters out

and then count them to make
sure all the counts are right

and then dump them back
into the quarter machine.

(coins jingling)

- It turned down a little
bit this past week but,

I mean, still doing really good.

- I've noticed that the
better our drinking sales are,

the less we make in games.

- I think it has to do with just, room.

When we opened up space,

arcade sales jumped pretty high.

- Yeah.
So as far as arcade,

two player always trumps one player.

Gun games, so far the
better two-player game.

The gun games keep up with the "Pinballs".

- "Pinball" is probably
the most played genre

of games here because "Pinball" is huge.

(upbeat instrumental music)

(arcade games chiming)

- "Pinball" never really died.

They kept making "Pinball" machines.

- [Patron] Oh my God.

You look fabulous.
(patron chuckling)

- Thank you.
- You look great too.

- "Pinball" sort of carried the torch

for this whole hobby for quite some time.

- Stern "Pinball", for instance,

was almost out of business.

They were at this old kind
of junky warehouse out

in the west side.

They have a big,

beautiful new complex out here

and they said they are
selling like never before.

- We're growing about 25,

30% a year for the last
half dozen, dozen years.

- "Pinball's" on steroids right now.

It seems like there's a new
machine coming out all the time

and everybody wants one.

- "Pinball" machines are
definitely part of culture.

They span from bands, to movies.

You just couldn't see some

of this amazing art anywhere else.

And you can actually stand
there and interact with it.

You can hear the music.

You can see the lights flashing.

It's a whole different experience

where you're actually a part of it instead

of just looking at it.

Currently at Vector,

we have 10 "Pinball" machines.

I think I can't fit anymore in here.

I was trying to find
room and I just, I can't.

I can't get another one in here.

Well, we've got a lot of people

that had never played a
"Pinball" machine before.

I've turned so many people
into "Pinball" people now.

They ask them where they can buy a game,

how they can get one in their house?

That never had seen it and
now just from drinking beer,

they got introduced
into a whole new hobby.

It is an expensive business.

These are physical old objects
and they break continuously.

So the "Pinball" machine
is daily maintenance.

Yeah, so you can see the
drop target snapped off.

And that's one thing that we really take

to heart here is we don't want to have

that poor experience when you come in

and something's not working right.

So we are very vigilant

in making sure that
everything is working 100%

as much as possible.

- Mike was the first
person I went to with one

of my machines to work on it,

to get it up and running.

Mechanically inclined, he
knows a lot when it comes

to "Pinball" machines and fixing them up.

- I have a long history
of fixing these games

when they're broken.

So here, anything that breaks,

I'm the repair guy and
it gets done that day

or as soon as the park gets in.

The competitive nature of it really leads

to the bar environment.

So, everyone's always
trying to beat your score

or play against you.

- Mike is extremely good at "Pinball".

He's tall, he's handsome,

and he has enough weight
to move the machine around.

So Mike can make the ball
do what he wants it to do,

and that's not something everyone can do.

He plays way more than he lets on.

- When it's a serious game,

he's one of the best
players I've played against.

He's gonna play the game to the fullest.

- I've seen him in
competition after competition

and every time he's like, top,

every single time.
(Chris chuckling)

(upbeat instrumental music)

Usually what ends up happening is,

I will lose to him,

but the really cool thing about him

and the community in general
is that they teach me.

Even during the game,

they want me to beat them.

They always are teaching and instructing,

helping in any way they can.

It's easier to get it
from the right flipper,

like back into it.
- Okay.

He gives a great
expertise from all fronts.

Like, "This machine is
not hitting quite as hard,

so compensate this way.

Or hey, this is where the big points are,

try and hit up there."

He wants the best for
everyone else around him.

It's not about Mike.

It's not about his bar or his image,

it's always about you having the best time

that you could have.
(arcade games chiming)

(relaxing instrumental music)

(relaxing instrumental music continues)

- My name is Robert Leonard
and this is Lowry Parcade.

It's a craft beer and arcade
bar in Tampa, Florida.

We specialize in both our
incredible beer selection,

as well as a variety of classic '80s,

'90s arcade machines,
and "Pinball" machines.

Wanting to do some kind
of business on my own

and I had both fallen
into craft beer as part

of a love and passion.

Really enjoyed it and
then with game collecting,

that started way early on,

and realized that there's
this concept of an arcade bar.

I started spending most of my time trying

to make that concept work.

- He said, "I need to
learn more about beer.

I need to learn more
about the arcade scene."

So he did the time while
still working his normal job,

started filling up his house,

had people come over to his house,

test the games,

test the beer.

So he had a vision.
(relaxing instrumental music)

- So I own about 60 to 70 machines.

It's a very slippery slope

once you start getting the machines.

(arcade machines chiming)
It develops into a passion.

It can be a little bit of an obsession.

I've spent countless hours
trying to evolve this into

what it became today.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- The vibe at Parcade's
really cool, super chill,

very reminiscent of like the '80s and '90s

and you are reminded of
all the games you used

to play back when you were a kid.

- During the day,

just like the weekends,

we have families and the
kids and it's really cool.

Like when I was growing up,

my dad on Saturdays would
take me to the arcade

and that's where my
nostalgia was born for it.

And we see the same experience
here with kids coming in,

sons, daughters with their mom and dads.

So they get that same experience
which is awesome to see,

but at nine o'clock we're adults only

and we have more of the adult atmosphere.

♪ I wake up in the
morning and I ask myself ♪

♪ Is life worth living,
should I blast myself ♪

- So one of the things
that he's done is made sure

that music was part of it,

from the beginning.

So I DJ here regularly.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- I probably have more

of a passion for beer
than I do for the games.

It's as integral as the arcade machines.

It's as important as the games themselves,

if not more important.

I'd say more important.

My first craft beers
were back in the '90s.

I'll quit a job to bartend full-time

and start product managing
so I could then learn

how to do this business.

In Tampa, we're very fortunate

to have the beer scene we
have because we are spoiled.

There's so many good local breweries.

We have so much good beer here

that we can get almost any style

and have an excellent example of it here.

(upbeat instrumental music)

All my staff are really
good at knowing beer.

That's something that we
really pride ourselves on

and they all know how to recommend

and they have all developed
pallets to be able

to know what a customer would like.

They want to be able
to get you a good beer.

They take pride in that.

They want to get you what you wanna drink

and it takes a lot of skill
to develop your palate

and develop what your experience is

to recommend to other people.

It has been a dream come
true to see craft beer

and classic arcades,

"Pinball" come under one roof,

and I'm very fortunate
to have seen that happen.

(indistinct)
(Stan laughing)

(Stan applauding)

- The craft beer industry started booming

probably 10 years ago and
it's just been on a roll.

It seems like every day there's
a new local craft brewery.

There's a beerfest you can go
to and taste all these beers

from places you never knew existed.

(upbeat rock music)
(coin jingling)

- [Presenter] Oh, it is a
celebration of beer and breweries.

That's right, Tampa Bay Beer Week is back.

This is a big, popular week.

- [Presenter] All kinds
of stuff all week long.

- Tampa Bay Beer Week is
a big deal at Parcade.

It's something that we'd
plan months in advance

to bring in some of the best beer locally

and put that out for people
for Tampa Bay Beer Week.

Our biggest event,

our main event was the
third annual Battle Royale.

Thanks for coming out for
an incredible Battle Royale

for its third year.

The Breweries themselves are
gonna fight the Battle Royale

to decide at the very end of it,

who will go home with the
Lowry Parcade champion belt.

We have a champion belt
that the brewery takes back

and displays it for a year.

It's heads.
(competitor cheering)

(upbeat rock music)
(arcade machines chiming)

- You're going down.

- The Battle Royale was a really fun,

quirky, weird event.

We'd get five local breweries

and they competed against each
other in a round-robin series

of arcade and "Pinball"
play to try and win.

(participant groaning)
- I lost.

"Ice Cold Beer".
(participant cheering)

(upbeat rock music)

(participant laughing)
- Bam.

- So close.

(hands clapping)
- Good game. Good game.

(puck clanging into goal)
- Holy.

- I can't say enough
about all of the happiness

that comes from air hockey

because I can't play another
fucking game in this place.

- There you have it,

air hockey bringing him happiness and joy,

as it does for all of us here at Parcade.

(upbeat rock music)

- That was intense, man.
- That was a good battle

between each of us.

- [Robert] There was a lot
of rivalry involved in it.

- Fuck, well he got me man.

- What do you mean?
- Fuck him, he got me

but it's good.

- Yeah, they all smack talk each other

but it's all love.

People loved it.

It became a real popular event.

- Sweep his legs, Johnny.

- Yes.

- [Robert] Escape was super hungry for it.

- Good job, buddy. Good job, man.

- But Coppertail kind of
snatched it away from him.

- The winner of the 2020
Battle Royale three is going

to Coppertail Brewing.

(participants cheering)
It was super close.

- Hold on, dude.
(participant blowing prize)

- Yeah, I couldn't be happier with

how the Battle Royale went.

It was about the best one we've ever done

and we have a lot more events lined up

for the next rest of the week,

so I'm very excited to
see how it all turns out.

(somber instrumental music)

(arcade game chiming)

- [President Trump] I'm
officially declaring

a national emergency.

Our overriding goal is to
stop the spread of the virus

and to help all Americans who
have been impacted by this.

- [Reporter] I'm told,
non-essential businesses will

have to close up shop.

- [Reporter] Announcing last call

for bars and nightclubs,

requiring their shutdown.

- [Reporter] Bars and nightclubs
are officially closed.

- It's hard to put into
words the whole experience

for myself and the people around me,

for all of us.

It is something that it's unprecedented

for at least our lifetime.

I was on the phone with my
staff basically in tears.

It was overwhelming. It was scary.

- When COVID hit,

it was a shock for all of us.

We didn't know what we're gonna do

and how we're going to react to this.

- Obviously, being a bar,

we rely on the close
inner contact with people,

and the COVID-19 is
definitely a curve ball.

There's gonna be a lot of
places that don't reopen.

We won't be one of them because, you know,

we have a lot invested into
this and we're gonna continue,

no matter what happens.

- You know, when we first closed,

we didn't close with the ideology

that we were gonna be
closed for a long time.

We were only supposed to
be closed for two weeks.

It was tough. It was scary.

- Hey guys, welcome back to the channel.

I wanted to talk to you
about a concerning trend

that's going on right now.

I'm seeing lots of arcades and
arcade bar locations having

to close their doors due to COVID-19.

I just really hope they
can ride out this storm.

- We had to come up some
ways to get some profit

'cause we still have rent due,

we still have bills,

everything's still gotta
be paid, insurance.

So we decided to do to-go beers.

So we have a unique variety of beer,

so we'd let people come here
and build their own six packs

or fill their growlers,

take them home and then enjoy your beer

from the safety of your home.

- We all reduced the
prices dramatically just

to encourage things.

The first few weeks,

the community was incredibly
supportive through all of it,

but of course eventually
those sales started dwindling.

We did have one huge boost
from Tampa Bay Beer Week

where they matched $1,000
for bar sales in one day

to donate to the staff.

So that was incredibly generous,

so I'm very thankful for that.

I'm facing weeks where
we're making maybe $200

and I had to adapt.

- "We're open and game on,"

that's what a local
arcade owner is saying.

He's discovered a new way

to keep his "Pinball" machines lit up.

- [Reporter] The Lowry
Parcade is now bringing

the fun right to you.

- We did 14 deliveries in the last week.

- [Reporter] Because they
can't have customers inside,

Lowry Parcade is renting out its games,

safely delivering these old
school beauties to your home.

- I went from having a business

where I don't ever
wanna move these things,

to now I'm having to move them every day.

It worked, we had a huge response

from both the community and the press,

and suddenly overwhelmed.

Thankfully, the staff stepped
up and was incredibly helpful.

Like James, he's one of my guys
who's normally a bartender,

but he had to figure out how
do I deliver arcade machines?

- [James] Does that look good?

- [Customer] Yeah, thank you.

- [James] There's good
space on either side?

- [Customer] That looks great.

- All of us had to adapt

to completely new roles just to survive.

- [Robert] I mean, our bar
sales have dropped off so much,

so this is helping out a ton.

- With all the struggles and
bad things that we've seen come

from the Coronavirus,

one huge positive I've
seen is so many businesses,

so many people have been able to adapt

and become incredibly inventive

and completely change their whole models

in order to survive.

And it's an amazing thing
to be able to do that

and it's inspiring.

- [Customer] Are you guys
planning to open for phase two?

- [Robert] Yeah, we're
still putting together

all the logistics for everything

'cause we need to also
have all the supplies

for sanitizing and prep to
make it as safe as possible

for people, for staff.

(relaxing instrumental music)
(coin jingling)

- [Reporter] Well, it's the day

that non-essential business
owners have been waiting

for after being closed for two months now.

Their doors have reopened.

- [Reporter] Bars and
restaurants will now be able

to open at 50% capacity.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- We decided on Memorial
Day that we'd open back up

and just have a safe
environment where people can

have a beer and still
play some games and relax

and kind of forget about
it and have a good time.

It's definitely a lot slower.

The people are still nervous.

People don't know.

It's gonna take time
for people to get used

to being able to go back out and go think

that I can go play a game and have a beer.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- When we were given the
go ahead for phase two,

and that it was three
months that we were closed,

we looked at CDC guidelines.

We spaced all the machines
out about six feet apart.

We have masks and gloves provided.

We have sanitizing stations.

We go around every 30 minutes

and wipe down the machines with sanitizer.

(sanitizer lid clicking)
- And I ain't even mad

about how much of this I'm using.

I'm not even mad.
(bartender chuckling)

(upbeat instrumental music)

I'm so glad to be back open.

I'm so ready to make real human money.

- First, kind of reopen weekend,

and it was really great
to just see people again,

to see faces in here again,

to have people play the games again

'cause you take it for granted.

Now it's nice to really
appreciate just having faces

in your place that are having a good time

and drinking good beer.

- 300 years ago,

I would've already been
burned to the stake

for being a witch.

Not only do I have the mark
of the witch on my neck,

but who I am as a person.

- 'Cause you're witch.
- Yeah.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- How'd last weekend go?

I didn't come.
- It was good.

It rained a ton.

Fortunately, the space allowed
us to spread out a lot more.

But the community was awesome.

You could tell that people
kind of missed going out

and kind of hanging out with their buddies

and friends and stuff.

It's cool to see people sort of

in their natural habitat, you know,

'cause being closed for three
months was kind of rough.

(indistinct)

- We're here.

Sam, hello.
(Helen laughing)

- Today's our second day opening.

We have a really strong community,

so we were anticipating the
locals showing some love,

which they absolutely did.

- This was like one of the
coolest days we've had together.

(Helen cooing)

- I was really happy with the turnout,

it was great.

- So right now it is happy hour all day.

You get $1 off all our
draft beers up there,

and then a $1 off game controller rentals

if you're interested in
playing around the bar.

- How's the brewery coming along, buddy?

- It's still on the standstill.

Nice shirt, you hippie.

(patron laughing)

- Thank you.
- I like it.

- We have a pretty strong
community here and I feel like,

'cause we're so fortunate to have a lot

of people that really love this place,

I see us bouncing back pretty quickly.

I'm just happy that people
like to come in here

and enjoy what we have to offer

and it's really giving us an
opportunity to give people,

hopefully, an experience
they've never had before.

(relaxing guitar music)
(arcade machines chiming)

- Like original "Turtles in Time",

what do we got?

- I'm gonna do the original one, yeah.

Yeah.
- Okay. Awesome.

- Now that the bars were reopened,

we were really excited
and we wanted to celebrate

and bring some more excitement in.

So Pierce ordered the new
"Ninja Turtles Pinball" machine

and we were super excited to get that.

So while we were waiting
for that to get delivered,

I was working

on a four-player "Ninja
Turtles" arcade machine.

So we're gonna have a
double unveiling party

where we have a pizza
party and both games open.

We're in Wesley Chapel
at Little Shop of Games.

They get all the new Stern
games right off the bat

and you can always get
whatever you need here.

(Marker clicking on board)

- I was quite surprised this title,

how well its sold 'cause
"Turtles" isn't my thing.

- I'd got the arcade machine
done the night before,

like, the paint was literally drying.

So we're gonna go pick
up the "Pinball" machine.

(trolley rumbling on road)

- We started getting text
messages off the hook,

both me and Mike.

We both get texts left and right,

left and right.

They've shut it down again.

- We just sent this to your
phone, effective immediately.

You cannot drink alcohol at bars.

- Closing bars, wineries
and breweries once again.

It hasn't even been three weeks
since those bars reopened.

- So if they don't serve food,

they will have to close once again.

- It sucks to be you but I
understand why they're doing it.

- Yeah, well I was surprised
that they'd shut us down again.

I was planning on having a pizza party,

but there goes that.
- Yeah.

- We were excited.

We just were reopened and we
thought there was no chance

that they're gonna close
us down a second time.

And when that news dropped and it happens

to be the same day we're
playing the surprise party,

it was a lot to take in.

I was telling Pierce,

I think it's like this is the year

"The Predator" comes out.
- Yes.

- It's only on the hottest years.

- We had a brand new game for everyone

to come and experience,

but they couldn't legally get
in the door to experience it.

So we'd spent a lot of money,

a lot of time and a lot of
effort for nothing, essentially.

- [Pierce] You gonna have a
private pizza party tonight?

- Yeah. Big one.
(Michael chuckling)

(upbeat instrumental music)
While we were shut down,

we still wanted to keep
up with our friends.

We're used to seeing
these people every day,

so we made a Super Secret
Club group on Facebook.

- Mike would send out
an invite on Facebook

that the bars in Florida weren't open,

but if you got this invite from Mike,

you could get in.

- A lot of people, you know,

they're stuck at home.

Everything's closed down and
it's a really strange place

to be in and a little bit
of normalcy goes a long way.

So if you can just come for one night

and play some "Pinball"
and still maintain safety

and social distancing,

it's still good to be able
to feel that you can go out

and still blow all that steam off.

And so I've been neglecting
my arms and shoulders

and chest so I need to
focus on that, yeah.

- It was a privilege to get
into the cool kids club.

It can only be done in 2020,

for something to be shut down
and be open just for you.

- Unfortunately, bars,

and there's hundreds across the state,

now have no income whatsoever,

and we don't know if
there's an end in sight.

- [Reporter] Courtney owns Reboot,

an arcade and bar in downtown Dunedin.

He's now contemplating
rebooting the business model

and serving coffee.

- We're just trying to pivot.

I don't even know if it's gonna work.

Yeah, so right now because
we can't open as a bar,

we're currently serving coffee

because we can't sell beer right now.

But we can open as an arcade.

- Do you wanna do the punch?
- Oh, the punch.

You gotta drink when your
bar is forced to be closed.

Do you think we'll have
the same hours next week?

- Oh man, I mean,

so this week was like a good test run.

- Well, we did three days and
it's still been super slow.

I mean, I'd like to keep it open

for the bartenders if
they're gonna make money,

but you know, I mean,

I don't know how much business

to switch the coffee is really gonna do.

- Yeah.
- You know.

I dunno, maybe we just
do it for another week,

just to see what happens,

gauge everyone's interest,

and then get an extra mop

to clean up all my tears off the floor.

(Helen chuckling)
- Now there's a whole pandemic

and what do we do?

(George sighing)
- We drink. Cheers.

(glasses clinking)
- It's pretty, thank you.

(ice clicking)
- You're welcome.

(herbs crunching)

- Have you followed
anything from Lowry Parcade?

Are they staying open as an amusement?

- No, they're back to doing to-go.

- Oh, they're just doing to-go.

I thought that they

were just letting people

in to go play.
- They did but they said,

just like us,

they said that it was so slow

that it just wasn't even worth it.

So they're renting arcades again.

You know, you try the best that you can.

This is something new that
people weren't really used to.

You hope there's enough
public information out there

for people to make the right
decisions and to be safe.

- [Leif] What's up buddy?

How you doing man?

- How you doing?
- Good seeing you.

- Business owners are not health
officials and we were kind

of the ones on the forefront

of making people do the
right thing, you know.

And you had a large contingency of people

that didn't wanna do it
and it made it difficult

for a lot of people.

You take away like 85%
of your income, you know,

for the bar at least.

'Cause, I mean,

people like to go to arcade bars,

but they go there because
they like to drink beer too.

- Yeah.
- You know.

- 'Cause you could still get a beer

and sit at a bar in a restaurant,

the same exact thing,

but you can't do it at a bar.

You know, the only
difference is they have food.

If there's a problem,

let's think of a solution.

So just racking my brain trying
to figure out things to do

to keep our doors open,

because if we don't do
something we're in trouble.

- [Reporter] So Reboot bar
owner, George Courtney,

did a bit of rebooting
of his business model,

applying for a Department of Business

and Professional Regulation food license.

- I mean, we probably aren't gonna be able

to be open for another month
or two unless we do this.

So, we're excited.

(relaxing piano music)

(door clicking)

- Hello.
- I'm Helen.

- Hi, Helen.
- I don't know

if you wanna?

No one knows.

- You guys are open late.

I was like, I gotta go now.

- Yeah, we're cooking food.

We got a restaurant there.

(George chuckling)

- Well, it's so ridiculous?
- Type of food?

Yeah, so we have Hot Pockets,

whatever the little pizzas are,

White Castle burgers.

- We have the opportunity
now to serve our customers,

which is great.

It's just awesome being able
to see our customers come back

in and be able to get a beer.

- Where'd you get those?
- At the bar.

It's like a restaurant now.

- So it's a restaurant?
- Yes.

- Because this has been so successful,

a lot of other people
have been doing this.

They've been opening up as restaurants

and being able to still
serve beer to their customers

and be able to play games and survive.

- What up, friends. Welcome back.

Now we're open and we added something new

to our menu today.

We added pretzels so if you're hungry,

let your server know or come
up to the bar or something.

I don't know.

We'll probably be walking around.

Just tell us you want
food before it's too late.

- It's a loophole, it's crazy.

That's awesome. I'm glad.

But it's like,

having food doesn't make this any safer.

- I'm very grateful we're
able to do something

to get the doors open because
it's been really difficult.

I'll take the loophole, you know,

that everyone else is doing
and we've added a small kitchen

in the back and we're
ready to get back there

and sling hotdogs and nachos
just to keep things going.

- It's strange that they just
single out the one community.

Restaurants, you can go and
go get a Long Island iced tea,

get wasted, and then you're
shoving food in your face.

But a bar that's serving beer and wine

and has arcade games, that's dangerous.

So I just said screw it and let's,

we're gonna open up
without our food license

and they can just come shut us down.

(relaxing guitar music)

I have kombucha for you.

Chris will be happy.
- Yeah.

(arcade machines chiming)

- Is this your first time in?

- I've been here before
but it was a while ago.

- Right on, dude.

- It's my first time, though.

- Hey, well welcome dude.
- Yeah.

- People were yearning to
get out and do something.

It was really great and
we were really excited

because we continued the
momentum that we had built.

- Considering that this
is our first night back,

open, the game plan's essentially just to,

you know, kind of sprinkle
into everyone's minds,

like hey, we're still a thing.

Don't forget about us.

And just to see our
regulars and all our friends

and family at Vector.

What's up, man?
- How are you?

- Good, bro. How are you?

- Good. Good.

- Good to see you, dude.

- See half of me.
- Yeah, I know.

That's the perk of the job is
making sure drinks are filled

and making sure people are
happy and having a good time.

Though, it's great to be back at Vector.

(relaxing guitar music)

- Could you guard my beer for me?

- Yes.
- Thank you.

- What's up, dude?
- How are you, man?

- Doing well.
- Good to see you.

- [Michael] You can whatever

bump you want.
(patron chuckling)

We can hip shake it.
- I know.

- Hip check it.
- Let's full on hug.

(patrons chuckling)

Well, it seems to be a
little bit busy tonight.

How long have you been open?

- We just opened back up today.

- Really?
- Yeah.

- I felt it.

I sensed it in the force.

- I thought you had to see
it online or something.

- It was like,

are you open.

No, I needed it

I had to be here.
- That's good.

- I'm glad you're open.

Did you wait to open when
you were told you could

or did you just decide?
- No, I mean,

we've always served
snacks and food and stuff.

We're just trying to be responsible.

Like, some of the other bars,

they started serving Hot
Pockets and stuff like that.

They're like, we're a restaurant now.

Like, come on.

You're putting them in more danger

by giving them Hot Pockets, geez.

- Right, that'll go right

through you.
- That's gonna weaken

your immune system right there.

(patron chuckling)
Man.

So we're still here, I guess.

- Yeah, man.
(upbeat instrumental music)

(upbeat instrumental music continues)

(upbeat instrumental music continues)

- Hey, I'm George.
- Hi, Stormy.

- Hi, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.

- How was your ride in?
- Good, actually.

- Nice.
- No problem.

- Yeah, well thanks for coming to Reboot.

I mean, this is our little
arcade paradise of nerdiness

and I think we'll have
a lot of fun inside.

- I'm gonna make you
my bitch at "Pinball".

- Hell, yeah.
- I'm gonna try all 20 beers.

- Hell, yeah.
- Then you'll definitely

be my bitch.
(Stormy chuckling)

- Here's the deal,

Stormy Daniel's assistant is actually one

of our patrons that comes in the Reboot

and he was talking about, you know,

I'm gonna bring her in
here and she would love

to see the place.

And I was like,

there's absolutely no way.

(upbeat instrumental music)
But here we are.

Only in 2020,

Stormy Daniels is coming in to Reboot.

Well, welcome to our nerd cave.

- I don't know if this
counts as a nerd cave

'cause every other nerd cave I've been

in had at least one naked
picture of me on the wall.

(George chuckling)
- Okay. Yeah.

Well, I mean,

that's a good point.

I'm just gonna take a drink.
(George chuckling)

Yeah, so we want like
classic games like "Pinball".

I think Donald Trump's favorite character

in "Mario Kart" was Toad, I believe.

- I'm triggered. I'm leaving.

(people laughing)
- Don't do it.

- You know, considering who she was with,

I feel like I probably should've known

that Stormy Daniels would
have a great sense of humor,

but I was really surprised
that she really enjoys a lot

of nerd culture.

A little nerdy den for people to play.

- It's like a "Dungeons & Dragons".

- Are they playing "Magic"?

This is so cool.

Is that actually the one of the dragons

from "Magic", though?

- It is.
(patron smirking)

Yeah, it's got the Red Dragon.

- Cut that, no one can
know that I knew that.

(people laughing)
- It is.

- No one can know that I know that.

- People will love you for it.
(Stormy chuckling)

- I happen to be a very,

very good "Magic: The Gathering" player.

- That's awesome.
- Awesome.

- "Magic" is super popular now.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- We've been here like
two and a half years and,

you know, it was really,

we had momentum going and then just,

COVID, yeah.
- Shit happened.

Yeah, I know.
- Yeah.

- Damn, man.

Yeah, we just discovered this place.

When he said that you
were closing we were like,

wait, we just discovered it.

- I just had somebody in here earlier.

They were like, "No.

This place is awesome.
I'm gonna come back."

I'd be like well, 11 days,

yeah.
- Yeah.

(Michael laughing)
- So, it's middle June.

They just reopened bars but we decided now

that it's just time to
close down and move on

and let this whole COVID
situation play out.

Yeah, it was a tough decision

but after looking at
everything and the uncertainty,

we just decided for us it's a lot easier

for us just to shut down,

pack it all up and hunker down and wait

and see what happens and wait it out.

We're gonna have a party
not this Saturday, but next.

It's gonna be like our final hurrah.

- Okay. Okay.
- Go out with a bang.

We got 11 days left and we're gonna

have some beer flash sales

and one last "Pinball" tournament
and send this place off.

- It's not the right time

right now, you know.
- Yeah.

- Pull out all you can, honestly.

We didn't know they were closing.

- We just got that news today.

- We just found out
they were closing today

and that's rough.

I was actually,

we were getting sentimental,

just kind of bummed out.

I don't wanna say I was gonna cry

but I definitely was tearing up, you know.

It sucks, it's sad to see them go.

Hopefully somebody will be
able to take their replacement

and not be like some
corporate bullshit, you know.

There's not a lot of places
like this around here

that are comparable so
it's definitely a loss

for the community.

(patron cheering)
Yeah.

- You got me.
- Got your ass.

(upbeat instrumental music)
(coin jingling)

(upbeat music continues)

- For us, we want to go out
and have a party and celebrate.

We're celebrating the two and a half years

that we were open so it wasn't a funeral

that we're dying.

All the drafts and the wine, $5.

Everything's $5 except top row.

- Okay.
- $7

and $3.50 for the shit row.
- Cool.

- We're just gonna do a raffle
at the end of the night.

You can win this painting,

the two "Bar Wars" posters
and the framed one,

or the 64 with "Mario Kart".

(relaxing guitar music)

- Boost is on when I put the lead on.

- Yeah, when you put

(guitar drowning out voice)

(upbeat guitar music)

- You can kill the overheads.

I think we're ready to go here.

(upbeat instrumental music)

(upbeat instrumental music continues)

- And then, did you wanna start a tab?

(indistinct)

- Oh, that's a nice beard.

- Oh, hey dude.
- What's up, man?

- What's happening? Welcome, welcome.

- Are there villagers here?

- Yeah, we got Pierce.

Patrick's here and there's
a couple of other villagers.

All of our "Pinball" people showed up

and we had one final
night where everyone got

to enjoy Vector like how it used to be.

- You guys put up a good fight though.

(Michael exclaiming)
- Yeah.

- It's like, it's a tough market.

(Michael chuckling)

- Do you want in, man?

- Oh no, no.

I'm gonna go into the tournament cold.

- Okay. Okay.
- Just straight.

(people laughing)

I don't even wanna touch a game right now.

All right, we're gonna start this up.

So, we've got 14 people.

We're gonna do a three-strikes tournament.

So the system's gonna pair us up in groups

of four randomly on a game.

Once you get three strikes,

you're out of the game.

We'll go until there's
one person left standing.

(patron cheering)
And the winner gets

the super cool "Pinball" Mashup Translite,

(patrons cheering)
donated by Bill over here.

Signed by the artist.

- Not me, the artist.
- The artist.

It would be worthless if Bill signed it.

So everybody have fun, good luck.

(upbeat rock music)

- [Michael] Nice shot.

(upbeat rock music continues)

- So it's great to be able

to play competitive tournaments again.

It's gonna be the last
one here, unfortunately,

but it was nice to have one last hurrah.

I got to see a lot of
familiar faces again.

- Knowing this was the last one,

I just felt tremendously sad.

I knew coming here,

this was it and that
was extremely sad to me.

("Pinball" machine chiming)
(upbeat rock music)

- Don't tell that,

you didn't see nothing.
(patron chuckling)

- [Michael] I'm not even doing very good.

- I mean, it sucked seeing Vector close.

Mike had put a lot of work into it.

And it was good to see him, of course,

I just wish it had been
under better circumstances.

- Yeah, they let us open one
month and it was really good.

Everyone was so fed up of being cooped up

and everyone went out for that month

and we had a birthday party,

we had a bunch of stuff and
they closed us down again.

And it was like a week before
they opened bars back up,

the governor was like,

"Bars should prepare until next year."

And then a week later he is like,

"Oh psych, we're gonna open up Monday."

- I can greatly empathize with

what he must have felt at the time,

because we were very
close to closing as well.

And to see that happen,

it's a sharp reminder that

we should never take this for granted.

(somber instrumental music)

- Marshall hasn't rolled in yet?

- Oh, he's gonna be late, as usual.

He was supposed to be here an hour ago.

For our last party we're gonna

have the brand new "'Avengers'
Pinball" machine here.

And I was reluctant to post

that we're gonna have "Avengers",

but we know Marshall's gonna be late.

That's his MO.

I see a Marshall van.

- I just saw him pulling up.
- Yeah.

- But he didn't disappoint.

Marshall still came through
and we got "Avengers".

(upbeat instrumental music)

- [George ] "Avengers" is almost ready.

There's a lot of good machines here.

I love that "Jurassic Park" one.

That one's awesome

Yeah, what's up man.

How you doing, buddy?
- Hey, welcome back.

- Good to see you, man.
- Good to see you too.

Thanks for coming.
- Hell, yeah. No problem.

- Showing support was
incredibly important for me

because we need more
of these places around.

Hey, what's up buddy?

Good to see you, man.

Seeing everyone here and
having fun is really awesome

but also a little bit disappointed

because we know this is the
last day Vector's gonna be open.

I'm gonna do,

could I put $10 in the raffle?

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Having all three arcade owners

under the same roof is pretty powerful

because we all collectively wanna keep all

of this culture alive.
("Pinball" machines chiming)

- [Michael] I'm still in
the "Pinball" tournament.

- Still in the "Pinball" tournament.
- Yeah.

I got one more strike left in me.

(Jason chuckling)
- Yeah.

I guess that's how you
rank a night like this.

(Jason chuckling)
- I'm still in it.

Still in it.

(door clicking)

♪ I will make you hurt ♪

(relaxing guitar music)
(patron cheering)

- The Game Over party was definitely one

of the best open mic
nights we've ever had here.

The show-up was great and
my good friend, Andrew,

he kicked ass on the mic.

- Our set went phenomenally

and I think Saturday was the
culmination of our career here.

This place really means family to us.

- You can come for happy hour

and maybe catch the owner,

Mike's pretty face,

or even just to kick your
friend's at "Mario Kart Race".

Whatever the case,

just make sure these mics are in place.

Oh man, this is silly but
I'm gonna really try not

to cry right now because this
place has meant so much to me.

If it wasn't for this place,

I wouldn't be who I am today.

And I know it sounds silly
'cause it's a bar arcade,

but it's so much more than that.

Or so I've come to believe

at this little barcade
called Vector beside the sea.

(patrons cheering)
(patrons applauding)

- That's good.
- I will always,

always cherish Vector.
(Lauren sucking lips)

It's for you.
(Lauren chuckling)

(relaxing guitar music)

♪ Too many days in the darkness ♪

♪ Without a glimpse of the light ♪

- Wow, everybody is here.

I mean, the place was slammed.

How's it going, dude?

Good to see you.

It made it real.

It's not just me,

everybody loves this place.

(patrons chuckling)
- Vector.

(patrons cheering)
- Yeah.

- "The king of the North."

♪ Every part of you wants to surrender ♪

♪ Darling, you were meant to survive ♪

(patrons cheering)
(patrons applauding)

- It was just one of the most welcoming

but heart-wrenching experiences.

I see a bunch of friends,

some I've seen, you know,

many times over the last couple of years.

There's fighting games
going on. They are having

like, their own little side tournaments.

- You sure about that?

What's the mix, baby?

- You know, I have my girlfriend,

Jackie, working and she's
having a great time.

You know, you could
just see she's enjoying

these interactions with everybody.

- Friends don't shake hands.

- Friends hug.
- Friends hug.

- Yep, it's how happy they are to be here

but also how sad they that something

that has been a major piece

of their lives is now coming to an end.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- Guys, we're gonna cut this cake

in honor of Mike and Lauren
and this amazing experience,

an absolutely magical place
that they have created

for all of us here today.
(somber instrumental music)

It has really been a special spot.

(somber instrumental music)

- When I found out Vector was closing,

I was kind of like, honestly,

somebody was passing away or something.

It was like a mourning feeling.

(Sierra exclaiming)
(Sierra giggling sadly)

I'm just sad with the memories,

you know, not being able to come back.

I just know the same people

and the same place isn't gonna be here.

You know, I just met a lot of people

and this is how we met and now,

I don't know,

it's just a good crowd and it's
gonna be hard to replace it.

- [Patron] I can't tell you, buddy,

how much this place meant to me.

- It was a great two and a half years.

The whole thing was an amazing experience.

There was a lot of blood,

sweat and tears,

but in the end all the work was worth it,

all the new friends and
all the new experiences.

And we have friends that we're
gonna take long past this.

- You know, together we have
become this integral group.

We have all made this our
own home in our own way.

It's been very sad.

Like just in general the mood is,

it's upbeat as much as it can be.

We're trying to remain positive,

but it ultimately is just a sad day,

trying to find the next
thing for all of us.

- I'm sad to see this place go.

- Me too.
- 'Cause it's like,

this is for all of us together.

Do you know what I mean?
- Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it's a special place.

- There is a magnitude
of loss you may not see

beneath charming smiles around this eve.

The welcome home that we
nerds need must soon close

the end of an era, indeed.

(patrons cheering)
(patrons applauding)

(somber instrumental music)

(relaxing instrumental music)

(arcade machines chiming)

- I'd like to see us here
for another, you know,

five years, 10 years,

five years, 10 years,

however long we can make
it happen and keep growing,

keep rotating the games,

keep bringing in amazing beer,

keep having really cool events.

- Say burger.
- How's it feel

to be kind of like a normal
"Pinball" tournament again?

- It feels great just to come out here,

play a tournament,

have some friendly competition.

- It's awesome, man.

I'm so glad to be able to come out to bars

and stuff like that again.

You know, we're able to come
out and meet other people

and play a brand new game, "Avengers".

I played and got my kicked
in it unfortunately, but,

you know, hey,

what are you gonna do?

- Because I know people right now,

they probably need this
almost more than ever

to be in an environment like this

where they can have a good time again.

We're all working every day to get there

and I'm faithful we will.

I'm faithful that we'll be
able to get back to that.

It may take some time and
serious effort to get there,

but I believe we will.

(relaxing instrumental music)

- I'm just happy to be open, man.

It's great, it's been a
rough fucking five months.

(George chuckling)

Because we're able to be open now,

it's been crazy.

We've been busy.

We've been trying to keep
beer stocked, it's nuts.

- Dude, our stacks are getting ridiculous.

- What better time to collect
"Pinball" machines than COVID?

(George chuckling)

We've been able to buy some
newer additions to our library

and it's been pretty great.

- George has been kind
of going a little nuts

with the "Pinball" machines.

He just decided to take off the other day.

He saw that there was a "'Rick
and Morty' Pinball" machine.

Someone was selling one in Boston.

- We flew there and drove
back 23 hours straight today

to get this thing.

- He's convinced me with,

if we need to sell a machine,

we can sell a machine and
they hold their value,

and in the meantime they're making money.

- [George] Morty, you're not
even using the pins Morty.

What a waste.

- Just shut up while I play.

Just fucking shut up.

I kind of see us getting more machines,

spreading "Pinball" joy to everyone else,

maybe one day another location.

We're kind of in this phase right now

where we're just excited.

- Quarantine Pachanga shots.

- Cheers, buddy.
- Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.

(tins crackling)

You know, after the past six
months or so knee deep in this,

we're feeling pretty good.

I'm just happy to be open and

I love my wife more than
anything in the entire.

- I love my wife.
- I love my wife

more than anything in the whole world.

- I love my wife.
- She's the greatest.

- We all love George's wife.
- And I would never

ever wanna be anywhere else aside

from next to her bosom

every night
(Helen laughing)

I'm sorry.
(George chuckling)

- Let's do more shots.

- At the end of the day, you know,

you only have a short
amount of time on this Earth

and what better way than
to celebrate with people

that love all things geeky.

- [Patron] Perfect.

- [Patron] Next time.

- [Patron] Yeah. Oh, yeah.

(shoes scraping on floor)

(door clicking)

- Hey Billy, how you doing man?

I'm George, nice to meet you.

- This is a decent place,

your alright.
- Thank you so much, man.

- Having a legend like
Billy Mitchell coming

to Reboot is pretty exciting.

He is one of the most prolific
arcade players in the world.

We're pretty proud of some
of the games that we have.

We have Nintendo Row,

"Punch Out!!", "Mario Brothers",

your favorite, "Donkey Kong".

(indistinct)
- Do it.

(George chuckling)

- We wouldn't want you to
have a bad name around town.

- Absolutely

Getting the seal of approval signed

by Billy Mitchell made me realize

that I'm never gonna sell this machine

ever again.
(George chuckling)

And I got it in my personal collection.

- Certified, not MAME.

- [George] And it is
definitely certified, not MAME.

- All right.
- If you wanna play,

I'll play you.
- Yeah.

- But maybe we'll wager
tonight's tab on it .

- Okay.
- I mean,

learn from the master, man.

- All right, how about,

let's get a little better.
- Okay.

- How about if you play.
- Okay.

- You clear three boards, you win.

- Oh, Jesus.

- Three, come on.
- Okay.

- When I play,

I gotta clear 117.
- All right.

(upbeat dance music)

Standing in front of "Donkey Kong"

with Billy Mitchell is both
incredibly invigorating

and extremely terrifying.

(upbeat dance music)
(George sighing)

("Donkey Kong" chiming)

("Donkey Kong" chiming)

- One down.

- I'm sweating.
(George chuckling)

(upbeat dance music)

Oh,

focus.

("Donkey Kong" fail chime)
(George exclaiming)

You can't jump over them, that's right.

- I win.
- You win.

(George laughing)
Thanks, man.

I did better than I thought,

I gotta be honest with you.
- You did good.

- Thank you.

Having the experience
of playing "Donkey Kong"

in front of Billy Mitchell,

even though I cracked
under pressure and I lost,

I felt like it didn't really
matter how good I did,

I was a winner at that point.

You can't jump over the flames, right?

- Oh, I can.

I don't know how you can't.

(people laughing)

- That's true, I definitely can't.

It's like, if you're
gonna lose to somebody,

you're gonna lose to the king
and I was happy with that.

- You see, until there was
barcades or arcade bars,

I had no way to introduce
my son or daughter

to what it was I did.
- Sure.

- Now you're sitting there eating,

drinking and what's behind
you is what dad used to do.

And before, to them arcade
games were antiquated.

- Right.

- But now it's a way
that it's been introduced

to a whole new generation.

- And they can't get
that experience at home.

- Right, but when you're here now,

you're right with somebody.

You laugh with them.

You see their reactions.

- [Billy] It's a representation
of the history of gaming.

- Yep.

- It's hard to argue with the
convenience of playing online,

but it's not the same experience.

- It's not, I think so many people

who are in one part would
never experience the other.

But now that there's a
community, they will.

- Yeah, thanks for noticing that

and I totally agree with you.

Oh man, that is fucking awesome.

"Pardon my French."

Billy, thank you so much man.

- You deserve it.
- Thanks, man.

- Keep up the good fight.
- Thank you so much, man.

- Keep up the good fight.
- It's an honor.

(upbeat instrumental music)
(coin jingling)

- Hey guys, welcome back to the channel.

I've been touring the
country just recently

and I have some awesome news to report.

A lot of these arcade bars
have weathered the storm

and they're bigger and
better than they were before

and there's bar locations
opening up every single day.

- Everybody's going nuts
going into the arcades

and arcade machines are
very much in high demand.

- Business has returned very quickly.

It was an almost instantaneous
return to the arcade.

- Seeing the rebirth of the arcade spirit

that's embellished in
not only the arcade bars,

but tens of thousands of
people have home game rooms,

both of them moving together,

bringing our ancient arcade
heritage into the modern age

and bringing it back for life
and giving it a bright future.

- This is the "Monster Bash".

- Yeah, and I checked "Pinside".

We're 500 above.

(Robert humming)

(paper rustling)

- And Rob, you wanted the one
with the fucked up box right?

(man laughing)

- I actually specifically requested that.

That stinks.
(Rob chuckling)

I'm at Little Shop of Games.

I'm here to pick up "'Godzilla'
Pro Pinball" machine

from Stern and I'm stoked about it.

It's awesome to be able
to bring in a new machine.

It does kind of suck

that they're a little bit more expensive.

This is the price of a
pro and not a premium?

- Yeah, dude.
- Premium is nine.

Please, premium is insane.
- I'm just messing with you.

It's good to see the hobby increase,

that interest come and flourish

and be probably bigger
than it's been in decades,

though, it's not without its own issue.

I'm excited for all the new
stuff coming with "Pinball"

and like the fresh energy.

The little bit of the cost
though is that it's harder

to enjoy it as a hobby, I think,

'cause it's expensive.

You can get a house down
payment for that, you know.

We're seeing a whole resurgence

because these "Pinball" machines tend

to sell out now as soon as they're made.

I mean, they go real quick.

It's nice to be back to a place

where we can start bringing
in new games again.

- Everyone's like, I thought
there was a new game.

I'm like, yeah,

there's a new game.
- Sorry.

It's like you've done this before, James.

Is it a little throwback
to COVID rental days?

(belt zipping)
- Yeah, that was fun.

- It was a really good
feeling to actually be back

to bringing in a new game and not having

to do the rental thing.

I'll get a picture in front
of the mural real quick too.

(Robert exclaiming)
It's inception.

(James chuckling)

Man, it sure does feel
different than a year ago.

It feels great.

It feels like we're finally
getting back to where we used

to be and we're able to
provide new games to people.

And I am very grateful for having survived

and to come through this.

Oh, that new game smell.

It's like Christmas.

- That's the face of a
proud papa right there.

- Yeah, it feels good.

Having everyone together to do that,

I love it, man.

It's really cool to see everybody
gather around a new game

and I had missed that feeling very much.

Oh, it's so close.

Very glad to be back to that point

to where I can see people do that again.

- It's better in here
than it was last year.

- Oh, it's so much better.

Like, today it was like one of those days

where I really felt it,

like oh, it feels so much better.

(upbeat instrumental music)
It feels like

a giant weight getting off your shoulders

and you're able to take a breath

and enjoy again kind of just a moment.

'Cause after all that
shit of the past year,

being able to get back to
where it's just something kind

of fun and simple,

you appreciated that much more

because of what you've been through.

(patrons cheering)

That was so, so tight.

Yeah, it's a great feeling to be back.

(upbeat instrumental music)

People are coming back in the doors.

We're getting busy again.

We've just recently got a food truck.

It's called 8Bit Bytes,

and we had Mike as one of the bartenders,

he worked on the art for
it and it looks fantastic.

We went to serving food just to survive

and now we have a food truck in order

to provide on our day-to-day
as part of our business.

It's very nice to be able to
fill the calendar once again

with events to bring back live music,

to bring back DJs.

- I'm happy to be here, man.

This is gonna be fun.

This gonna be a lot of fun.

- It's gonna be a blast.
- Yeah, man.

- I mean, we've been working,

what, a long time to have both
of you guys here at the same.

- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

- I am incredibly excited
to have DJ Eminent

with Von Garden both together
at the same time on our stage.

It seems

we're back, we're back to being able

to do what we love to do again.

I love it.
- My man.

- It's awesome, man.
- Let's do this.

Let's do this, brother.

Let's do this.
- All right.

♪ You feel alive, let's
hit the dance floor ♪

♪ Don't work too hard,
might break a backbone ♪

♪ Returning of the mack,
the king is back though ♪

♪ Corvette and cash, I never lack those ♪

♪ She saw the stone,
you know how that go ♪

♪ Fatality, my diamonds that cold ♪

♪ Versace trunks, I hit my backstroke ♪

♪ Knock on the door, she at the back bro ♪

- Just heard from somebody

that he's doing a better job than me.

And it's funny 'cause we're in an arcade,

so I might have to go versus him.

♪ Good times ♪

♪ Live in the moment, it
feel like summer time ♪

- You know what?

Let's play more songs about weed.

(DJ Eminent laughing)

- Herd.
- Herd.

(people laughing)
(upbeat music)

(upbeat instrumental music)

♪ I'm done playing ♪

♪ Pour, pour in the rain ♪

♪ There's blood on my face ♪

♪ I love when I face you ♪

♪ I'm done playing ♪

♪ Pour, pour in the rain, yeah ♪

♪ There's blood in my face, yeah ♪

♪ Babe, I love when I face yeah ♪

- Things have been going really well.

The business is booming.

We've had an opportunity to
bring in a lot more machines.

There've been some new
games that have come out,

some pretty high-end "Pinball" machines

and some really fun stuff.

Almost every person's playing a game.

It's pretty awesome.

I'm happy to say that actually things now

are better than ever.

Seeing everybody around
and playing "Pinball"

and video games and having camaraderie

with each other is just sort of like one

of the best things that
honestly any human can see.

(relaxing instrumental music)

- [Reporter] The Tampa Bay
Comic Convention is back

after taking a year off.

(upbeat dance music)

- [Reporter] Organizers say it should

be their biggest show ever.

(upbeat dance music)

- Comic-Con was always one of those things

where I just felt like
it was bigger than us,

'cause all that fun
geekiness that's there,

I never would've imagined that
we'd actually be part of it.

(upbeat dance music)

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

This place is awesome.

We're doing a event
for Gamers on the Edge.

We have all of these game consoles.

There's like 20 or 30 of them,

all kids playing,

and we are the arcade
division side of Comic-Con.

The reception's been so good
because it's got everything

in here that kids want, you know.

You got video games.

You got "Pinball".

Being able to see all these
people interact with it,

it kind of solidifies why
we did Reboot to begin with.

It's a good turnout today, man.

- It is.
- Wow.

He was totally right about
how busy it was gonna be.

- Yeah, well earlier
this place was packed.

- Wall-to-wall?
- It was a big crowd.

- [George] That's awesome.

- Quite a few people know the brand, man.

- Yeah.
- They do.

(Bill cheering)
- Reboot.

(George laughing)
- That's awesome. Yeah.

Well, it's such a good crossover

between the people that
like to come to our bar

and who usually come to
places like this, you know.

I feel like gaming and comic books

and superheroes are sort of
all synonymous with each other.

Those crowds intersect.

If you like comic books,

you probably like video games.

If you like video games,

you probably like comic books.

So coming up with an idea
that kind of brings all

that together was something
that we were talking about

and we have a really good idea
for a new business venture.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- What are you thinking
about the table setup?

- I think it looks awesome.
- Yeah.

- Look how many people
are fitting in that booth.

(George laughing)
- Bring it in.

Bring it in.

- Yeah, we kind of did a thing.

We opened up a
superhero-themed pizza place

by the name of Infinity Pizza.

Infinity Pizza, I honestly
feel is a throwback

to the excitement that when
you went into a pizza place

when you were a kid,

there would be arcade games.

We wanted to give like an homage to that

but also tie it into the
geek culture that we enjoy.

And "Pinball" machines and arcades,

it gives that fresh take on an old idea

and I really feel like we nailed it.

(upbeat music)

So far, everything's been going awesome.

We invited a lot of friends and family

and we had about 60 people show up.

I don't know if we ordered enough food,

so it seems like it's so busy

that we're probably gonna run out.

- It's fresh.

- It's very nice seeing everybody come out

and support you, you know.

It's been such a long two years

and when you can see everyone's
happy to be together,

it's an uplifting experience.

It's very humbling but
also very enlightening

when you realize the
power of people's spirits.

So far, it seems like
everyone's having a good time.

And you know what,

we all have some weight we need to gain.

You know, we got pizza,

we've got drinks, you know.
(Helen laughing)

Everyone's too thin.

It reminds me of my
grandmother from Naples.

"You're too skinny, eat."

- Beautifully said. I love it.

(George laughing)
- I don't have anything else

to add other than we need
to take some more walks.

- Take some more walks.

Yes. Yes.
- Yes. Yes.

The soft opening was way cool.

Just to see people support us

and get excited about the
concept was really awesome.

- I just wanna welcome everyone here

to our inaugural Infinity Pizza opening.

If you're here,

then we care a lot about you.

If you're not here, fuck you.

(patrons laughing)

Nah, I'm just joking.

But when we envisioned this place,

we wanted it to be a fun
environment for everybody,

welcoming everyone and to
kind of celebrate the idea

of just being a dork and eating pizza.

My wonderful wife has been my rock.

(Helen cooing)
and, you know,

she's my Dwayne Johnson
as I always tell her.

(patrons laughing)

Getting through the last two years,

seeing how everything has bounced back

and how people are more excited than ever

to come into an arcade bar,

it's really given me a lot
of optimism for the future.

I mean, whether it's expansion,

whether it's adding more games,

I mean, the culture is
alive and as strong as ever.

It seems like the sky is the limit.

To celebrate this
wonderful time of opening

and seeing everybody,

we're gonna shotgun a beer

and regret every decision
we're making here.

- And please toast with us.
(patrons cheering)

- Yeah.
- Thank you, guys.

- Cheers.
- Cheers. Cheers.

(indistinct)
(patrons applauding)

- Oh, it's so good.

(George groaning)

No, I'm just joking.

I'm good. I'm just joking.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- Why, thank you.

- So they're supposed to have
a lot of new beers tonight

for the anniversary.
- Ah yes, yes, yes.

(upbeat instrumental music)

- It's wild that we are here
where we survived to six years.

- We're gonna have a bunch of
events going on all weekend.

We have live music tonight.

We're gonna have beer and barbecue.

It's gonna be great.

The turnout so far has been fantastic.

We're gonna be like a really busy night,

but it's gonna be a great night.

We want everyone that's
here to have a good time.

- Throughout the weekend,

we're gonna be tapping all

these incredible breweries out here.

- Well, thank you. I thank you.

- And Ross being a huge craft beer lover,

he's got some incredible,

insane rare beers.

Taplist is insane.

It's gonna be the best we've ever had,

the shit's fire.

- What do you have that's new or cool,

like something different?

- Oh, we just did a brewery
collab with Magnanimous

if you wanna do one of that.

Yeah, it's one of our newest things we did

for our six-year anniversary.

I've been wanting to do a
collab with Magnanimous Brewing

for a long time,

and Ghostface Keller is that kind

of special opportunity to do it.

And it's a Keller beer

and it's super crushable,
incredibly delicious.

I fucking love it.

And the art is super fitting as well.

We get to brew a collab
today with Magnanimous

for our anniversary coming up.

We actually were able to
kind of go hang with them

for some of the brewing process.

Super grateful for that experience

to be in collab with them.

I mean, we couldn't have a
better gift for our anniversary.

I am really excited to share
this beer with everybody

and I think they're gonna
be stoked to have it.

Do you like it?
- Yeah, I do.

- Awesome.
- Thank you.

- Yeah.
- Cheers.

- Cheers.
(relaxing instrumental music)

♪ Movie movie ♪

♪ With you baby, yeah, yeah ♪

- It's a great way to start
off the anniversary weekend.

There was a time there where, you know,

it was a little scary
I think for everyone.

But now to see everyone back
and almost back to normal,

sort of give back to everybody
that comes in all year round.

There's some good beers and good games.

It feels good.

(upbeat music)

- I'm very thankful for our community

to be in this position.

We wouldn't have come
this far if it weren't

for all of that,

so I love them all and I'm
very grateful for that.

Good to see you, man.

Thank you for coming out.
- Bro, I'm glad to be here.

I mean, I love this place.

It's cool. It's chill.

'90s hip hop,

beers and video games.

You're doing good work.

This is good work.
(Von laughing)

You're doing God's work.

(Von laughing)
- You're doing God's work

by supporting us so thank you.

- You're doing God's work.

This is dope, man.

It's a lot of fun.

- When I hear from people

the love that they have for Parcade,

the love they have for this spot,

I mean, it's one of the reasons,

if not the main reason why we do this.

You get to do something that you love

and share it with a community
that's incredibly supportive,

and I love it.

- You can't own an arcade bar
and lose at "Street Fighter".

How do you do that?

- Because I'm drunk, son.

It's something that makes me very grateful

and thankful that I do it every day.

- [Stan] I think I won.

Oh, I won.
- I'm really proud of you.

You're six.
(Stan hands clapping)

I've seen how much this place has grown.

It's really great to see
everybody fill back in here,

to celebrate Lowry Parcade
and what they bring.

It's really awesome.

What you've done, like,

you can just look around
and there's genuine smiles

on people's faces.

When was the last time you
seen people playing air hockey

outside of this place?

People are playing arcade games.

You've created this and you've
always had this consistency

and levelheadedness that I admire.

- Thanks, man.
- I mean outside

of the fighting games, you know.

Outside of the fighting games.

That's a different story.

- We will talk shit all over.

- Well, yeah,

we'll talk shit here.

- This guy talks all the
shit but I still love him.

- Do you need me to
sponsor you another coin?

- Oh no, you got it.
- No, no, no,

I own this machine.

You don't need to sponsor shit.

(upbeat instrumental music)

I never thought when I
first started this place

that it would become a spot where people

love it as much as they do,

or that it is become this
kind of community place

and people are making new friends,

they're sharing times with old friends

and it happening here is something

that I'll carry with me forever.

- Really proud of you, man.
(upbeat instrumental music)

- There's not a day really that
goes by where I don't think,

damn, it all happened and
I'm very grateful for it.

(upbeat instrumental music)

(upbeat instrumental music)
(coin jingling)

- We are here at Free Play Florida 2021.

The Caribe Royale.

(upbeat dance music)

- Oh, what's up dude?
- You know,

- Just ironing thing out.

How are you doing?

(upbeat dance music)

- It's was amazing to
be back with everybody

and see everybody again.

It's been two years
since we've had any kind

of events like this.

- The comradery, the communities,

see old faces, old friends,

and plus, play a lot of cool machines.

(upbeat dance music)

- It's nice to see a good turnout here

at Free Play this year.

It's a really good show

and everyone's out having a great time.

Everyone's still in the hobby,

just probably even more
than they were before.

It's been a huge kickoff for
the hobby and the industry.

It really looks good for the future.

(upbeat dance music)

- Get your buzz on for Florida Free Play.

Take a look at the video games.

Stop by my booth, I'm in the back,

next to the "Moral Kombat" crew.

- Mario is the size of
a damn forklift today.

- Yeah, he stole the Big
Head Mode from "NBA Jam".

What were we doing last night, Mario?

You closed down that bar, didn't you?

(video game chiming)
Yep.

- Great to see the resurgence

of arcades really across the country.

And you can see it in the
attendance to these shows

that are springing up everywhere.

It's a place where the gaming
community comes together

and with so many divided
factions in the country today,

you can count on coming to an arcade bar

or to do a game show and
you will have your tribe.

It's really great.
(upbeat dance music)

- It feels great to be back at Free Play.

I get to see all my
friends in the community

and hang out with them,

drink beers with them.

I brought some games out

and we'll be challenging
people to win swags.

I have no problem decimating anybody

in "Street Fighter: 3rd Strike",

so feel free to challenge me.

I'd be happy to mop the floor with you.

This year we closed down Parcade so

that the staff could
experience it as well,

and we all came out just
to have a great time

and enjoy the whole experience.

("Pac-Man" machine chiming)

- It would appear that there's
more enthusiasm than ever,

a greater appreciation.

Now, remembering that
the world of arcades,

it was certainly on the rise before.

So now it appears that it's
on the rise once again,

maybe with a renewed
enthusiasm or appreciation.

I certainly hope so.

So we're here to honor people
who have made a footprint

in the world of gaming.

- And one of those
places is Lowry Parcade,

which is Tampa's first
arcade and craft beer bar.

- It was a kind of surreal experience.

Having no idea like why
my name was being called,

I think they had to
run me down to find me.

It's like, oh shit,

am I in trouble?

How drunk did I get last night?

- But is anybody seen Lowry Parcade there?

- Oh yes, I'm staring right at him.

Come on up here, Rob.

(patrons cheering)
(patrons applauding)

- I know that guy.

- I never expected that for sure.

I mean, we're just a friendly
neighborhood arcade bar.

- Good man, great energy,

and he is a fantastic
"Street Fighter" player.

(patrons cheering)
(patrons applauding)

- Hey, thank you very much

for giving me this award.

Totally unexpected, but
I really appreciate it

and very honored and grateful.

Thank you all very much.

It's been one of the coolest things

to see this place grow
to become its own thing.

It's its own community.

Like, Parcade is its own world in a way.

A little, tiny world,

but it's its own community
and it's been great

for me to step back and
see it become its own place

and survive and be its own thing.

We're a legit arcade
and you gotta love that

when you're kind of recognized
a bit in the community,

and it's nothing but good feelings.

- And so, the future with arcade gaming,

I don't think it'll ever stop evolving.

- I think right now the hobby
seems to be on a rocket ship,

so I'm hoping that continues.

Maybe we'll start to see a
blend of modern and retro.

Because if you look at

what Doc Mack is doing
over at Galloping Ghost,

he's had a game in development
for several years now.

- He's doing a game for cabinets.

He's not doing a game to go to the home,

but he wants to grow it from the arcade,

then go to home,

and I think that that's what
started the whole industry.

- And the ultimate goal is to
hopefully see arcade designers

and developers come back

and designing specifically for the arcade.

And if there's enough places that open

and there's enough demand,

all the video game
companies could start doing

arcade games again and we
could see the resurgence go

in a completely new,

different direction with arcade
games everywhere once again.

- The future for arcade bars

and arcade games is only getting stronger

because it's this new
meeting ground for people.

It's something that
brings people together.

And let's face it, you know,

the last 10, 20 years,

a lot of stuff has happened

and people have gone into their bedrooms,

into the phone,

into the tablets further, further,

and now they can come
out into arcades and go,

oh, you're my people,

you're my tribe.

And I think the good
Pandora's out of our box

and people are realizing
games bring people together

and games make people happy.

It's a drug without
being a drug, you know.

People get addicted to it,

but you don't hurt your body
by playing too much "NBA Jam".

(upbeat instrumental music)
- I think initially,

arcade bars were sort of
focused on nostalgia and saying,

hey, these are the games
that I grew up with.

But I walk into an arcade
bar and I see people

who were not alive when those first rounds

of arcade games came out,

and I think they're looking
for a communal experience.

Now it's very much like I'm
there for the community,

I'm there for the camaraderie,

I'm there to have a
drink or two and have fun

with my friends and it's
something we go out and do.

(patrons cheering)

So I see a big future in it

because it's a very different thing.

It's not really competing with
PC gaming or console gaming.

It very much is something
that sits alongside it

and it's a different animal.

- So as big as this arcade
renaissance has become,

it would be meaningless unless
a new generation picks it up

and runs with it too.

There are kids even today

that are now growing up
around this arcade scene.

- And once they grab a "Pinball" machine

or a large video cabinet,

they fall in love with it
because you can't compare it

to putting your thumbs on a phone.

- I came here with my son.

He's 16 and it was nice
to be able to show him

what it's all about and
why we come to these things

and it's more than just the games,

it's the community too.

("Pinball" machine chiming)
You got this.

You got an extra ball too, I think.

- We have the ability to bring these games

to like a new generation of kids

that really would've
never had the opportunity,

where they heard about
it from the parents or,

I mean, maybe grandparents,
(George chuckling)

depending on how old they are.

It's probably one of
the most important parts

of having an arcade bar.

- And I hope that the kids
that are being brought up

into this arcade generation continue it

with the next generation
so that we don't lose

that magic that comes
with coming into an arcade

and escaping into a
pixel world for a while.

- And I'm hoping that this remains with us

for several generations because
what a sad world it would be

if you can't play games anymore.

At least while I'm alive,

I wanna make sure that
this keeps going forward

and keep giving a little bit of that magic

and that nostalgia to everybody.

- Arcades, arcade bars are
gonna continue to open.

If they have a new spin on it,

probably an inevitability,

but where they'll go
it remains to be seen.

- I think it's a pretty
exciting time to be a gamer

because pretty soon around
your corner there's gonna

be an arcade bar,

and I think this is something
that's here to stay.

- To me, the most unique phenomenon

of the arcade era is
that the games were born

in a public setting,

and now in the arcade bar,

they're being reborn in a public setting.

So it's the rebirth of the opportunity

to play video games as a
community-spirited event,

and that's the spirit coming alive again.

- I believe as long as
the arcade bars evolve

to entertain people,

people are gonna enjoy coming together,

sharing a pastime that they did.

If you think about it,

you go to a football game,

there's a hundred thousand people there

and they don't know each other,

they just share the same passion.

And since the beginning of civilization,

we've always had the passion for gaming.

(Colosseum crowd cheering)
From the coliseum

to the stadium,

from the arcade to the console,

(internet startup screeching)
from the internet

to the phone,

we've always been playing games

(Jenga blocks crashing)
and we've always

been passionate about playing.

It's a passion that's within you.

It's a passion that doesn't die.

It's just a passion that's screaming

for a place to enjoy itself,

that's what arcade bars are.

(upbeat dance music)

- To Vector.

- Keep up the good fight.

(upbeat dance music)

- So it's a very interesting
phenomenon to watch

and it should probably grow
for quite a while before

that too becomes a cycle
that extinguishes itself.

(arcade gun shot buzzing)
- Game over.

And that'll do it for
"Token Taverns" tonight.

So long everybody.

See you next time.

Thanks for playing.

♪ We grew up with posters on the walls. ♪

♪ The Pepsi generation,
thought we'd seen it all ♪

♪ Brightly lit future with flying cars ♪

♪ And we'd all be superstars ♪

♪ Energy is endlessly ♪

♪ Entertaining us violently ♪

♪ Commercials play on TV ♪

♪ And nothing was ever free ♪

♪ Ever free, ever free,
ever free, ever free ♪

(upbeat instrumental music)

♪ Ever free, ever free,
ever free, ever free ♪

♪ Time flies so fast in an instant flash ♪

♪ I could drive all
night, going anywhere ♪

♪ Life moves so fast in an instant flash ♪

♪ I could fly all night,
going everywhere ♪

(upbeat instrumental music)

(upbeat instrumental music continues)

♪ We were young, we were full of it ♪

♪ We had it down and stayed silent ♪

♪ We worked hard, we were self-aware ♪

♪ Made mistakes that land us anywhere ♪

♪ With corded phones and tape machines ♪

♪ You could do anything,
if you just believe ♪

♪ Commercials play on TV ♪

♪ And nothing was ever free ♪

♪ Time flies so fast in an instant flash ♪

♪ I could drive all
night, going anywhere ♪

♪ Life moves so fast in an instant flash ♪

♪ I could fly all night,
going everywhere ♪

(upbeat instrumental music)

- Well, I think he's thinking,

is there any new "Donkey
Kong" games coming out

in the pipeline.

He's actually on the phone
with the president of Nintendo.

And the president of Nintendo said,

"Stop calling me.

Yeah, you've called too many times.

We're not making a new "Donkey Kong".

So pretty sure that's
what's happening right now.