J.J. White’s trigger finger tensed with anticipation. The Allied rifleman crouched over the body of a fallen Nazi storm trooper in a snow covered German village.
“I’m here almost daily,” the veteran of countless battles said.
The shadow of a nearby U.S. Army supply truck concealed the soldier’s position from an approaching gray-clad Axis officer. The University sophomore raised the scope of his rifle, putting the clueless enemy in his sights.
Before White could take his carefully chosen shot, another bang rang through the war-torn cobblestone streets.
A sniper’s bullet tore through the student’s chest, spraying the virgin snow with his blood.
His body slumped to the ground, pressed against the treads of the truck wheel he thought would keep him safe.
His military career came to a grinding halt – at least for the ten seconds before his soldier respawns.
“Whelp, I just got wasted,” said White – or clerks[JaY] as his cohorts on the battlefield
know him.
Those ten seconds of purgatory returned White from Day of Defeat’s World War II battle lines to the surroundings of The Gamers Lounge.
The dim-lit comfortably-cool orange, yellow and black room is a second home to those who – like White – find themselves labeled with the sometimes socially maligned
title “gamer.”
Those new to Bowling Green who bear the gamer’s mark of pale skin from too many nights spent raiding Molten Core, calloused thumbs from intense sessions of Katamari Damacy or are able to describe exactly what either of those things are will find they are not alone.
The Gamers Lounge’s co-owners Alex Merced and Spencer Marugg founded the 902 E. Wooster St. business last Spring with those people in mind. The lounge offers one of the few places in town where someone can hang out after midnight without worrying about a hangover.
“I love making sure everybody can have a good time,” Merced said, reclining in a padded chair with a row of gaming rigs like the one White wages war on filling the wall behind him.
The entrepreneurial University senior said he never planned to get into the gaming business.
“Originally this was never in the cards,” Merced said.
After marketing research pointed to a strong interest in a gaming club, cards are precisely part of what Merced got into.
Beyond computer games, the lounge offers an outlet for those into role-playing, card collecting and comic books.
“We wanted to make a place that appeals to all the aspects of gamer culture,” Merced said.
After buying a soda from the store, gamers can snag one of the lounge’s tables to roll their saving-throws or tap their cards on for as long as they want. The gamers haven also offers special nights for different games and discounts to organizers who bring more players out of their parents’ basements and into
the business.
When it comes to those interested in button-mashing through console games, standing for hours in front of arcade cabinets, or sweating through rounds of Dance Dance Revolution until dehydration sets in, 2-Play Games is a major place of interest in Bowling Green.
Aaron Auzins and his partner Mark Cullison have had a near-monopoly on student quarters since March when they purchased the store from the previous owner.
While laundromats may not like the competition, those interested in both cutting-edge consoles and classic gaming appreciate the 116 S. Main St.
store’s selection.
“The chain stores don’t stock older generation systems,” Auzins said, standing in front a Street Fighter 2 arcade game while Dhalsim yoga-fires Ryu. “Some people come in and buy four Nintendo 64 controllers with Goldeneye and no one ever hears from them again.”
While some gamers lives can be consumed by the classic James Bond-based first-person shooter, soldiers with the tenacity of White don’t let off-line games or a sniper putting a hole in his chest keep them from the fight.
“I’ve got an hour to burn,” White said, even as machine gun fire peppered his rifleman. “I’ll get them back.”
