Fast Times at the Cybercade
During his longest run as a terrorist, a 17-hour stretch, Eddie Kimh killed hundreds of men. He also smoked a pack of cigarettes, drank half a dozen sodas and developed some seriously dry eyes during that stint a few months ago.
“You don’t blink a lot when you play video games,†the 24-year-old explained recently while playing at Cyberzone, a newly opened PC bang in Fullerton.
As Internet connections speed up and video games become even more popular, Kimh and other video game aficionados are flocking to PC bangs --Korean for “rooms.†The businesses are often open 24 hours a day and are darker, faster versions of traditional arcades. Players can find fast Internet connections, violent video games--even beds if they need a quick nap--during one of their marathon sessions.
PC bangs , which originated in South Korea over the last decade, have been opening in major metropolitan areas throughout the country. While most communities do not keep count of these new video game rooms, there are more than 20 in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, community groups estimate. Pasadena has at least three. At least seven have opened in Fullerton, Anaheim and Irvine combined. In the last 18 months, 10 have opened in Garden Grove, one of the few communities that does track PC bangs .
This mirrors a nationwide trend seen in other areas with large Korean enclaves--New York City, Chicago and the Bay Area.
The vast majority of PC bang fans are still first-or second-generation Korean American young men. But as the businesses have become more widespread, more players of other ethnicities are beginning to discover them, leading some to believe that PC bang s are becoming a melting pot for video-game fans.
“It’s a multiethnic community that really speaks to the alienation of a lot of the big cities,†said Tim Tangherlini, a folklore professor at UCLA who has studied PC bangs. “It’s a place where kids can come together and make connections instead of playing by themselves in their parents’ home.â€
But others fear that PC bangs are a bad influence: They open early and close late; they are loud; and their product, the Internet, can be addicting.
“I worry about it all the time, but what can you do?†said Kate McEntee of Fullerton, sighing as she picked up her 14-year-old son, A.J. Balistrieri, at Cyberzone. “They’re everywhere.â€
Cyberzone, a single room in a Fullerton strip mall, is a video game junkie’s dream. There’s a fast-food restaurant nearby for when you get hungry. A soda machine in the corner for when you get thirsty. A couch near the door for when you get tired.
And, most important, there are people who love this as much as you do seated at 40 computers lined up in rows. Almost everyone at Cyberzone plays Counter-Strike, a game that pits heavily armed terrorists against even more heavily armed counter-terrorists.
Counter-Strike, a game developed in 1999 by software companies Gearbox and Valve, can be played over the Internet, and gamers often form teams and take on other groups to engage in large-scale combat.
From the late afternoon on, Cyberzone is packed. Video game gunfire and explosions reverberate, and the sound of madly clicking keys is incessant. Computer screens flash like strobe lights. You might think for a moment that you’re in a disco--but there are very few women in this domain.
“Not like Mario Brothers,†owner Yong Lee fairly shouted over the noise, referring to the popular game that features cartoonish, friendly characters that would undoubtedly be annihilated by a terrorist.
Although they could play at home, most Cyberzone gamers prefer to pay $2 an hour so they can hang with friends while using the PC bang’s high-speed connections.
Take the “night crew,†a band of seven or so friends that plays at Cyberzone several times a week, usually forming a team to battle other groups over the Internet. When not in front of computers, the group moves in near unison from soda machine to couch to the outdoor smoking patio, talking in a mixture of Korean and English.
“Over there, over there,†Dennis Limb yelled to the rest of the clan as his Internet alter-ego raced through a maze. The character jumped impossibly high to avoid a burst of enemy gunfire and hurled a grenade into a tunnel. Rambo-like, he unleashed a long burst of submachine-gun fire before running pell-mell forward.
Using a keyboard and mouse, the group navigated mazes, planting or defusing bombs while killing--or being killed by--other characters along the way. They instant-message each other the whole while but also just yell to each other to celebrate a particularly well-placed shot.
As they accumulate more points, they purchase new weapons--ranging from pistols to flash grenades that temporarily blind their opponents--to supplement their standard-issue rifle and knife.
His eyes glued to the screen and talking through the side of his mouth, Limb estimated that he plays 20 hours a week. The 25-year-old medical records clerk admitted that his priorities sometimes get skewed, especially when he forgos doing his laundry to play Counter-Strike.
“I know some people who have lost girlfriends,†Limb said, just as his character was shot in the head by a dreaded “camper,†a player who hides behind boxes and picks off opposing players with a high-powered rifle.
“A ha ha ha,†the camper taunted via a message that flashed across Limb’s screen.
Limb slumped in his chair, his hands suddenly still on the keyboard. One of his friends gave him a sympathetic look.
“Don’t worry. I’ll kill him for you,†he said
*
Some PC bang owners fear the market is becoming saturated. Three opened within a one-mile radius in Fullerton, and there are at least four on Garden Grove Boulevard, and in L.A.’s Koreatown, there are many clustered on and near Wilshire Boulevard. Some owners already have plans to adapt. Max Park, the manager of Fullerton’s Internetworks, plans to try to draw in non-game-players who want high-speed Internet connections for other uses.
And some PC bang owners are trying to promote their product beyond Korean culture. “Everyone likes video games,†said William Lim, who owns Cyber Cafe in Oakland and plans on opening more in San Jose and San Francisco. Korean community groups say there are at least five Bay Area PC bangs .
When Janice Yoon began looking for a site for her business, CyberianZone, she passed up Koreatown for a strip mall on South Arroyo Parkway near Old Town Pasadena.
“We have a different strategy. We wanted to look beyond Koreans for our clientele base,†she said. “We wanted to attract all types of people.â€
It seems to be working. “I’ve never thought about it just being an Asian place,†said Andres Rivero of Pasadena, who estimates that he plays about 20 hours a week at CyberianZone. “It’s just a good time.â€
The success of CyberianZone and others like it hasn’t gone unnoticed in Koreatown, where PC bangs depend mainly on Koreans for business and the market has tightened. Businesses that once charged $4 an hour have halved their prices and still haven’t seen an increase in customers.
“It’s terrible,†said Minho Chung, owner of Click X on Vermont Avenue. His 9-month-old business was half-empty on a recent weekday, and the sounds of gunfire were almost wiped out by passing traffic. “There are too many PC bangs around here,†he said with a sigh. “I hear it’s better in Orange County ... or Pasadena.â€
As the reach of PC bangs expands, they are coming under increasing scrutiny from parents and others, including neighbors and school officials.
McEntee monitors son A.J.’s Internet usage and makes him keep his grades up. But she admits to worrying about addiction. “Everything in those games is ratcheted up, from the violence to the noise,†she said. “I worry that it can’t be good for him.â€
Fullerton’s Cyberzone also has drawn the ire of its neighbors, who have complained about the incessant noise, lack of parking and the clientele. “They come out of there so fired up; the looks they have make you think they’re going to beat you up,†said John Chesshire, owner of the Shire Real Estate Group Inc., next door to Cyberzone.
Even though Cyberzone added soundproofing, Chesshire said that he still hears gunfire and profanity most of the day, and that some of his clients are afraid to come to his offices because of Cyberzone’s customers.
City and school leaders fear that PC bangs could lead to truancy because the businesses generally open in the midmorning and don’t close until 2 a.m. or later.
Garden Grove Councilman Mark Rosen has asked city staff to look into putting time restrictions on PC bangs . Arcades cannot open before the early afternoon in Garden Grove, but PC bangs can open much earlier because they are not officially licensed as arcades.
Of concern to others is an increasing obsession with the Internet among teenagers and young adults. Some studies estimate that between 5% and 10% of Internet surfers cannot control their usage.
Kimberly Young, a Pennsylvania psychologist who specializes in online addiction, said that nearly one-third of her patients are young adults. “The violent games are among the biggest problems. [Teenagers] don’t want to go to the mall; they don’t want to hang out with their friends. “The Internet seems to have become a socially accepted addiction, but it’s a real problem.†Ask the players, however, and few will admit that they think they spend too much time at the screens.
“No, no, it’s not like I stay up at night thinking about strategy,†said Aaron Imamura, 26, who drives to Fullerton several times a week because there are no PC bangs near his Chino Hills home.
“Nah, I’m not addicted,†said Kimh, even though he says he plays up to 45 hours a week.
Kelly Yi, though, acknowledges: “Yeah, I guess I’m addicted.†He said he’s played in PC bangs up to 60 hours a week for the past year and once played for nearly 54 hours straight. “I just kinda lost track of time,†he explained. “Sleep doesn’t seem as important when you’re playing.â€
While Garden Grove police and school authorities say they have not had any problems with PC bangs , educators in other parts of the country say the businesses have led to missed classes. “A lot of my students, if they don’t go to a PC bang once a day, they feel like something is missing,†said Kyung Park, a guidance counselor at 189-JHS, a junior high school in New York City.
Park, who works with the school’s nearly 250 Korean American students, estimates that about 30 will skip classes and even meals to play at the nearly dozen PC bangs that have cropped up near her school in the last two years.
Many of her students are the children of immigrants who put in long hours at nail parlors or hair salons and don’t have time to monitor their children’s behavior, Park said. “I’ll ask some students why they aren’t eating lunch, and they’ll tell me it’s because they want to save money to go to the PC bang ,†she said. “It’s very sad.â€
Jason Lee, a counselor at Korean American Community Services in Chicago, said many parents are wary of the PC bangs in their neighborhoods. “It seems like the Koreans are very sensitive to what the connotations are in Korea, where kids can play way too much,†he said. “But it’s basically a new thing here in Chicago, so it’s kind of a wait-and-see situation right now.â€
But in Fullerton at 4 a.m. on a recent Saturday, it seems Cyberzone will never close. Nearly half the computer terminals are in use, and the players show no signs of stopping.
“Let’s go, guys. C’mon, guys. Let’s go,†said a bleary-eyed employee, making futile shooing motions. “C’mon, guys. Time to go home.â€
Dennis Limb finally gets out of his chair, where he has been parked for the last four hours, and pays at the desk. He sighs slightly as he heads for the door, replaying his last game in his mind.
“You always want to come back,†he said, the sound of gunfire drifting through the open door. Limb, who is single, added: “I’ll probably only quit when my [future] wife says, ‘No more.â€â€™
