Gamers Anonymous
“I’m gonna beat your ass!” I hear just about every night in my two-bedroom two-bathroom apartment in Midtown Atlanta that I share with my 23-year-old brother Matthew — it’s him and his friends (Ethan Jones, Cameron Bryant, Chris Lee, and Joseph Barron) playing video games. We moved in a few months ago and this has been my reality, living with gamers. Now I was never a gamer myself; my eyes burned staring at that harsh LED screen for more than 30 minutes, if I even made it that long. Card games were never my thing either, but you might get one or two rounds of a board game out of me. So, spending most of my time around avid video game players who still manage to be some of the toughest and hard-ass guys I know has been an interesting moment of understanding what this gaming community looks like.
They’re all fairly new to the area, trying not to spend every night relying on the company of one another, but it’s hard when adjusting to such a big city. Joseph, who had previously lived in the Kennesaw area used to attend game nights on Tuesday’s at Win Condition game store in the Shiloh Square Shopping Center, and decided it’d be a good time for them to all attend together. Matthew didn’t hesitate, Ethan did. Ethan admitted he wasn’t sure of the environment he was about to step into, but would join for the sake of being with his friends and trying something new.
The store is huge, with bright sterile LED lighting and pale-yellow walls, I’m not sure if my interior designer self could spend much more time in there than I did. The selection was extensive; Yu-Gi-Yoh and Pokemon cards (ranging from $25-$150 per card), PS1’s and PS2’s, old Atari models, and a variety of Xbox models. They also had a few board games (ones I had never heard of), and just about every Dungeons and Dragons game that exists. As I said, as someone who is not much of a gamer, this was a lot for me.
As the tables are being set up the space fills out and feels more like a game night. Players are walking in slowly from around 6:30p.m. though the games don’t start until 7:30p.m.-my first indication of a sense of community. Joseph, a sales representative said the attendance can range anywhere from 15–60 people, and when I asked if he thought it had created a community within the area he without hesitation replied “definitely”.
Ethan and I as the non-gamers observe and find ourselves learning a lot about a community we didn’t know existed. “This is reminding me not to judge, there are lots of nerds here but nerds are people too” he says with a slightly raised voice trying to beat the sounds of the 30-year-olds shouting at each other while playing Super Mario Smash Bros. (the game we all came for).
Reigning as one of the most popular video games worldwide, the variety of games within the Mario world continue to bring players together not just via the internet, but in real life too. Mario Smash Bros. tournaments are held every Tuesday night from 7:30 p.m. — 10:30 p.m., and if you’re good enough you might be introduced to some international competitions.
Matthew had been playing Smash for years, but he wasn’t one to compete, “I’m not overly competitive, you know this” he says. Though later in the night he was head-to-head with the top Luigi player in the state of Georgia-who knew that was a real thing? Although being significantly better than the rest of the friend group, he was always trying to help everyone else get better, too. Ethan said that the players at the competition had that same energy, that a random player offered to teach him Pokemon and even gave him a few of his own cards to help Ethan start his own deck (at least above $15 for each card). Matthew later explained Pokemon culture to us, stating that “the goal is to get the rare cards, which is why people end up just buying decks because they have a better chance, and they spend $100 on one deck rather than on just one card”. Joseph later whispering to me “I just spent $100 on a deck” and Chris, his brother, replying with “I spent $150 on one card”. Again, so much I didn’t know. Matthew later showed me his card collection in his room-this is a lifestyle.
The set up for Smash looks something like eight TV’s and eight consoles (Nintendo Switches mostly). Win Condition offers a discount for anyone who brings a TV or a console to help with the night’s production. Players are welcomed to hop on when they’d like and hop off (lose) giving different players a chance. Though I’m sure this reads as some friendly small-town game night, make no mistake, girlfriends are giving their boyfriends shoulder rubs and shouting “you got this!” while then turning to the competitor and telling them they’re going to lose-none of us anticipated this. The diversity was refreshing and unexpected; various racial groups, gender identities, and age groups. Though it appeared as if most of the crowd knew each other, fresh bonds were being created through the games.
We left at 10 p.m. and reflected during the 30-minute drive home. “I’m a creative, so it was interesting to see myself in a different creative environment with different careers” Ethan said as we all exchanged thoughts. “I really enjoyed it, I mean, I knew I would, but it was cool to be around people who share a similar interest” Matthew expressed with the sly grin he does when he’s a little too happy about something.
Events are hosted at the shop weekly, every night from Monday to Friday. The schedule goes something like this: Pizza and Yu-Gi-Oh on Monday’s, Weiss Schwarz, Magic Standard, Smash Ultimate, and Pokemon on Tuesdays, CardFight Vanguard and Commander on Wednesdays, Yu-Gi-Oh and Melee on Thursday’s, and Magic night on Friday’s. The variety aims to welcome gamers of all kinds, and of all skill levels, as some competitions patrons can win up to $200, or some are friendly matches.
The entry fee to participate in the competitions can vary from $0-$10 depending on the night. Joseph the sales representative said Friday’s are there most popular night, though Matthew and Ethan were convinced by Tuesday’s (Mario Smash Bros.) attendance that it had to be their most popular night.
Cheers to the gamers of Atlanta!
