5 people I met at Pinball Jones: arcades VS. video games
Playing game is a good choice to relax during spare time for both students and families. With the popularity of the Internet and the development of personal computers and game counselors such as Xbox and Switch, more and more people have the chance to play indoor video games instead of going to arcades. I found some articles discussing how video games effect relationships. Here are some examples: “Video Games Linked To Poor Relationships With Friends, Family”, “How Does Online Gaming Affect Social Interactions?”
However when I went to Pinball Jones in old town this weekend, which is one of the most popular arcades around the community, my jaw dropped since there were all kinds of people enjoy playing there. Not only kids and teenagers, but also adults and elders. With games and beer, this place was welcomed by families, friends, couples and even men in suits.
Besides pinballs, they also have different kinds of arcade games, air hockey, bowlers and more. I was shocked when I saw some of the machines were 1960s and 1970s. It’s really a rare find that makes me feel like I was in the old movies back to that time.
Unlike arcades in China, Pinball Jones doesn’t have many fancy and modern machines such as Dance Dance Revolution(DDR) or Race Game which has a “real” motor for you to ride. But instead of indulging oneself only into the game, Pinball Jones offers a more family-friendly environment that allows multi-player to play together and chat with beer and food. For these kind of games, game itself is not the most important part, communication is.
Here are the five people I met that day at Pinball Jones about why they came here.
1.“Fire Ball Lady”
She came here with her boyfriend to play games and she likes the beer here for the good selection they have. There are many game machines that they don’t have at home especially Fire Ball (a game that you need to throw out the ball like bowling and get points). Instead of staying at home, the social interaction with the bar is a good way to relax and spend the Friday night. Video game is not really her thing since she finds those games difficult for her to play.
2. “Mr. Lonely”
He came here for entertainment and getting more in-person experiences. He’s not a video gamer at home and he doesn’t like them at all. The interaction and sound and lights here in Pinball Jones is much better than staying at home alone and play some virtual games. Video games can make him feel lonely.
3. “Supportive Friend”
He came here with his son for one of his friends was having a birthday party here. He was watching his son playing pinball at that time and he said he doesn’t play video games at home but his son does. His son told me that he prefers video games better for they are more complicated and have more things to do than pinball. They came here just because their friends picked this place to have birthday party since this place is not far from home, but usually they don’t come here.
4. “Underwear Guy”
He gave me an interesting but honest answer by saying that probably he prefer video games at home better for he can play games with his underwear and he don’t have to get dressed. The games here in Pinball Jones are different from video games since these games are mechanical and more lively than digital ones. To him, pinballs and video games are totally two different kinds of games for they have different scenes and he doesn’t really prefer one over the other. He plays both of them and this time he came out to get some food with his friends and they talked about a game called Ski Ball and Pinball Jones have it, so they were here. It can be a fun thing to play Ski Ball with his friends at this place.
5. “Henpeck”
He is also a CSU student and he came here with his girlfriend to play air hockey. He told me they went to downtown for food and went cross this arcade and his girlfriend got excited about air hockey so they played for a while. He personally prefers video games better since it can be more comfortable at home and there are more options of different kinds of games online. But he likes Pinball Jones a lot for he can play games with his girlfriend and it’s important to make her happy.
It’s hard to say whether arcades is a better choice for relaxation than video games or not. Both of them have advantages and disadvantages and through those five people I met in Pinball Jones, we can get a general idea about how people think of these two kinds of entertainments.
