Gametime in Centro Ybor seems like it was designed by someone who had heard about what arcades were supposed to be like, but had never been to one. I mean that in the most flattering way. I imagine a middle schooler who had to babysit his sister after school instead of taking turns at the pinball machine and pizza box with his friends. Or maybe he tutored in his free time and names like Donkey Kong and Pac Man became myths he missed out on. I can see him graduating high school, seeing Mario Brothers quotes in his year book he didn’t get, and thinking to himself, one day.
Ladies and gentlemen, one day is here. Most of my memories of Gametime were made from its predecessor, Gameworks. It was a spot where the occasional birthday would take place, kids would manically run from machine to machine, and parents could relax for as long as their money could hold out. Wouldn’t you pay $20 for an arcade babysitter? So when I came to cover the USA’s opening match vs. Colombia, I expected something like I had remembered. But let me tell you, those evenings tutoring and watching the sis paid off; arcades have stepped up their game.
The most immediate thing I noticed walking in to Gametime was the hospitality. I had called ahead and was told, “we’ll make sure you have a good time, Mr. Kennedy.” So I sort of was prepared for the arcade VIP treatment. But, I must say, the hospitality was evident long before I had told anyone I was there to write nice things about them in the paper. And I don’t know about you, but I like my hospitality honest.
One of the people responsible for my “arcade treatment” was the Food and Beverage Director, Adam Evans. He was a great guide and a great talker, someone whom you could no doubt describe like, he could sell “blank” to a “blank.” Over the course of our conversation, I almost had the feeling I was being interviewed, and I thought, bro, you could be doing this in Vegas.
On our tour, he told me about his responsibilities with the food and beverage side. From what Adam said and my quick survey of the menu, the options here seemed far-removed from the cheese pizza of your dad’s arcade. With pastas, steaks, salads, desserts and more, this isn’t your dad’s arcade. In fact, it doesn’t need to be an arcade at all. I think Adam would approve of me saying, it could pass as a restaurant.
The next stop on our tour was the game floor. Any self-respecting venue that calls themselves Gametime must ultimately have the goods – the games, what your dad was familiar with. On this, Gametime delivers. The games are broken up into two types – time and credit. I.e., some games count the time you play them and others are your more traditional, two-quarter types. There’s even a cool combo deal where you get gameplay and dinner as a package. The games themselves go from multiplayer racing games where you physically strap into a car or onto a motorcycle, to table hockey and basketball, to the more old-school games normally associated with arcades. There really is something for everyone. For mom’s Chicken Marsala there’s dad’s NY Strip. While your sister is clawing at a stuffed animal, your brother is shooting down a dinosaur. Gametime offers you freedom, however you want to play it.
The last leg of the tour brought me to the “adult” area. By that I don’t mean that I felt out of place anywhere – but a full service bar, multiple high definition televisions, and pool/darts felt the most “grown-up” of all the places I’d been. And isn’t that part of the attraction being an adult at Gametime? You can video game until your heart’s content and then go and relax with a beer afterwards?
I was here to scope out the USA vs. Colombia soccer game, which Gametime wanted to promote, as well as other sporting events like the UFC. At kickoff, I sat across from a couple wearing the bright yellow of the Colombia strip. I had hoped to get an interview from them, as they’d planned to watch the game there, but there proved to be a language barrier between us. Instead, I sat awkwardly close to them, feeling like I was encroaching their privacy every time they kissed, touched and otherwise celebrated Colombia’s play. Who said soccer isn’t an aphrodisiac?
On the field, the national team was looking to make a statement as the host to the Copa America Centenario. The “Copa” is usually a tournament featuring only South American and Latin countries, but, this year the tournament was opened up to the U.S. as a special edition. That meant the U.S. was in line to test themselves against some of the best teams in the world: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia.
Buoyed by that famous American spirit, the team went into the game as hopeful underdogs. But a Christian Zapata volley in the eighth minute to put Colombia up dulled the early optimism. From there on, Colombia established themselves as the dominant team, playing “keep-ball” and setting up shop in the U.S. half of the field. The U.S. didn’t at all help their cause when a Deandre Yedlin handball gifted James Rodriguez and Colombia a penalty kick. The Colombian “golden boy” and 2014 World Cup hero converted the penalty to put his team two goals to the good. The remainder of the game followed a similar narrative, with Colombia imposing their talent and offering up few chances defensively. The game finished 2-0 in Colombia’s favor, which was probably a fair result. The U.S. will look to turn things around against Costa Rica.
Even though the on-field performance left much to be desired, my experience at GameTime was overwhelmingly positive. If there's a soccer silver lining, it's sometimes the humility of loss clears your head, which is a lesson I hope the team picks up. What I learned is that sometimes it’s okay to miss out. It’s OK not to be around for first Pac Man perfect game, or the first time Mario Brothers was set up in your home arcade. In fact, sometimes it’s best to. Because when you grow up (if you want to), you can go totally over-the-top, like Gametime has, to redefine the arcade. Cheese pizza and bad graphics might make for good nostalgia, but, they ain’t nothing like this.
This article appears in Jun 16-23, 2016.