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For gamers who like a fighting chance

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But recently, he had returned to the East Coast to see a doctor for his injured thumb, caused by his joystick grip.

But recently, he had returned to the East Coast to see a doctor for his injured thumb, caused by his joystick grip.

What was supposed to take a few days, however, turned into a few months. Jodoin, who goes by “NerdJosh” online and is a member of Team Spooky, the fighting game livestreaming group, had gotten lured back into his old scene at Next Level, a competitive arcade in the Greenwood Heights neighborhood ofBrooklyn, in New York.

A fan of games like “Capcom vs. SNK 2,” Jodoin said that Next Level is exciting because it attracts top talent and cultivates a community where up-and-comers can train to become future champions.

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“This environment has allowed so many people you wouldn’t expect to come up from No. 2,” Jodoin, 31, said, explaining how dark horse challengers have outcompeted top-ranked fighters in the humble Brooklyn space.

In the evenings, competitive and amateur gamers alike, ranging in age from teens to 30-somethings, come to play, many armed with their own controllers and card decks. They sit at retro-style gaming cabinets or television screens, mashing buttons and flicking their wrists in bursts of 99 seconds or less. Every once in a while you’ll hear a glitch-laden wail or adrenaline-fueled scream.

For those who prefer trading card games like Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh!, whole evenings can be dedicated to sitting at white foldable tables, covered in kaleidoscopic card playmats.

Henry Cen, 38, is a former manager of Chinatown Fair on Mott Street, which had been a bastion for New York’s declining arcade scene until it closed in 2011.

Although Chinatown Fair Family Fun Center reopened in 2012, it adapted a model more similar to Dave & Buster’s, skewing toward ticket-redemption and novelty games like air hockey and Super Shot Basketball. So in 2011, Cen started his own arcade — first in Sunset Park and later, a few blocks north, in Greenwood Heights.

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“It’s not retro, it’s competitive,” Cen said of Next Level, comparing its energy to that of a dojo. “We’re trying to be the best.”

On a recent Saturday night, sweat beads glistened on dozens of gamers’ foreheads as they competed. Accompanied by dramatic orchestral music and fighting sound effects, former Chinatown Fair regulars like Jeron Grayson (“EMP Hiro”), 37, and John Gordon (“Flash Gordon”), 39, attempted to pull off powerful strings of attacks in titles like “Street Fighter EX 2 Plus” and “Street Fighter Alpha 2.”

Danielle “Furogu” Cox, 24, said the shop has been accepting of her and other players of all backgrounds, despite a culture known for being male-dominated. Cox started visiting Next Level about a year ago to play “Tekken 7,” and has noticed an improvement in her skills.

“Last time I beat one person, and I was like, ‘Oh my God,'” said Cox, dressed in a long black coat with a frog pin, of a recent competition. “Previously, I got beat completely.”

While the fighting games are a major attraction for Next Level, Cen said they aren’t profitable. For revenue, he promotes trading card game culture, like Pokémon, selling various booster packs and decks. He does not charge a fee, however, for those who want to hang out and simply play cards, unlike other card shops.

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“We could come in, sit down, and play for hours until it closes,” Wilmer Palma, 22, said during a game of Cardfight!! Vanguard.

Jackson Chen, 16, said that when he moved to Sunset Park to attend middle school, he didn’t have many friends. But his social life changed for the better after he discovered Next Level. The card games give people an instant connection, he said.

“People don’t care who you are,” Jackson said. They are there, it seems, simply to play.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

MATTHEW SEDACCA © 2018 The New York Times

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