By Dean Wylie

A group of twenty-somethings aggressively play retro games in an arcade type of setting. Their fingers twitch back and forth on the controls as it is clear they are experts at the game. Chimes of defeat are heard across all the platforms, and they dig through their pockets for another quarter before taking another attempt at the game.

The arcade has reached a halt and become a forgotten business with the uprising of mass multiplayer and online gameplay. But with the inclusion of alcoholic beverages, some arcades have now become barcades, and have attracted an older audience to become relevant again. Josh Overstreet runs one of these barcades, Joystick, and he was able to share what it’s like and how he is able to keep an establishment up and running that isn’t so popular anymore.

 

Overstreet has been maintaining and working the barcade the last few years. He started out doing management work and did some bartending before eventually working his way to where he is now. He’s very proud of the reputation that Joystick has built for itself.

“Joystick is the place where everyone comes and hangs out and nerds out on the video games.”

Joystick holds some of the classic arcade games that include: Mortal Kombat, Pacman, and many others. There’s enough of a variety for anyone who comes in.

The barcade holds other events as well, involving Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering card games and even functions involving the Atlanta-based Dragon Con event.

While the barcade is known for catering to its nerds and gamers, Overstreet revealed that the video games aren’t the primary thing that keeps the place afloat. The games are actually a secondary factor.

“We price [the games] pretty much at a point where the maintenance costs balance out with whatever profit we would have,” he says.

“So the alcohol is really what gives us the ability to stay open.”

The addition of the alcohol is a different concept from what is normally seen in arcades because in the past, they never had to rely on anything more than the video games to keep up with profits. This was mostly due to the fact that arcades catered to young children.

But young children do not game the same way they used to.

In January 2013, Laura June of The Verge published an article that discussed the evolution of gaming and how there was starting to become a time where video games would start taking over arcades.

“In 2005, there were about 25 arcades left in New York City, down from hundreds just a decade before,” June says.

When one of the well known arcades in New York City, Chinatown Fair, eventually shut down in February 2011, many of the dedicated gamers that migrated there frequently considered this the “end of an era.”

“It’s a simple truth of the business that all games become unprofitable after a while, so new machines are always a must.”

There are still places like Chuck E. Cheese’s and Dave & Buster’s that are highly popular, but they innovate new methods that don’t qualify them as classic arcades.

The new machines that June speaks of in her article are the consoles and online games that gamers are playing with now. They are more advanced and offer more variety for players to enjoy, so the collapsing of arcades only made sense.

So it’s easy to see why Joystick being around and having the reputation that it has is such a surprise.

Overstreet didn’t shy away when asked if arcades could survive without the bar-type setting.

“I think it definitely helps just in our past experience with the amount of maintenance the older games require,” he said.

“The amount of money you make—if you charge appropriately—of course any arcade could thrive, but its just gonna cost more for the consumer to enjoy the games just because of the maintenance fees.”

And unlike previous arcades, where mostly younger kids came in to play the games, Joystick caters to older audiences due to its alcohol sales. This can be somewhat of a disadvantage because of the limited consumers the barcade is allowed to bring in.

When asked about the most popular game that the players like to come in and play, Overstreet couldn’t help but laugh.

“I would say probably the Jurassic Park shooting game because it’s two player and also because you get to hunt dinosaurs, which nobody ever gets to really do anymore, so I think people will kind of enjoy that.”

Along with that fan favorite, Joystick also holds other cabinets in stock that will be rotated out with the games currently in play, once they are repaired and ready to go. It helps give the gamers a variety and something new to try once they’ve achieved their high score.

When asked about the future of arcades, Overstreet actually showed no signs of worry at all.

“Instead of keeping everything original, they are kind of moving on to computers that can hold millions of games on them, so I think a lot of people are going with that more reliable route, which is more modern.”

Overstreet concluded on an optimistic note, with hopes that arcades are on the verge of a comeback.

“There’s a lot more arcades coming out now I think, than there were ten years ago, especially with the bar aspect. And I think they will do really well.”