The End......... (1/2)

This one will probably be pretty lengthy and I will cut it into 2 parts. I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support throughout the past 10 years. It has honestly been a crazy ride with so many ups and downs that I wonder how it got this far. What started out as taking on the task of helping an old friend turned into something that completely consumed my life. At one point in my life I was obsessed with being the best Street Fighter player and dethroning the champ at the time, Tomo Ohira. I did everything I could and spent countless hours just grinding and grinding until the mountain was finally climbed. My ego would not let me quit and with a ton of work and determination........ (and the fact Tomo went on to pursue women and partying heavily), I was able to take over the top spot and stay there for some time. So like everyone else, I have my flaws and being hardheaded just happens to be the worst one. I don't quit, I never give up, and I honestly feel that with patience, hard work, and determination anything is possible! Call me crazy, call me insane, call me stupid all you want, but one thing you can't call me is a quitter......... And in that, I take a lot of pride and always do what I can to achieve what I set out to.

Now, back to the story and getting off my own jock for a bit...... So taking the task of running Super Arcade in Walnut, CA was a job that I was up for and since I stepped out of the community a bit. I figured why not rekindle the love of the game and get back while the scene was starting to flourish with the resurgence of Street Fighting in its 4th installment. I was actually playing this game a bit there's a lot of behind the scene stories to share at a later date (yes these stories are to pet my own ego and are about destroying the so called best players in this game at the time at an unknown location). Ok, so once again off my own nuts and back to the story. Super Arcade changed ownership and I was asked to take it over and figure out how to make the place popular. Well...... the emergence of a partnership between myself and long time friend Alex Valle (this is the dude that took over my spot as best player in the US while I got baited by females and puberty hitting..... and this is when I knew exactly how Tomo felt lol). So yeah, Wednesday Night Fights was brought to Super Arcade and caught more traction and provided an actual "arcade" environment for the new age of players. Needless to say, we caught magic in a bottle and ran with it for years. But during that time, the arcade itself wasn't doing so well, and the owner decided to pull the plug. This is when I had to make an executive decision to either let it go, or take it over and risk my own financial freedom to save what we built here...... I don't like rehashing on the past too much as dwelling on bad times will not get you anywhere, but basically I was taken for a few bucks and had to run a couple raffles to get the place back on its feet. So thankful the community trusted in us and we continued to run events until ultimately the landlord became greedy and tried to jack up the rent and figured I would gladly agree........ nope......  We had just run a successful kickstarter campaign and I was not gonna just sit there and let the boat sink slowly.  So once again a huge decision had to be made and moving was the best option.

I found a city that wasn't extremely developed yet and the cost of everything was much more affordable.  There was new development being shown and the location itself was 8 miles away from our original spot. What could go wrong? The rent was about 70% of the previous location while being almost double its size, and with a lower overhead i could make sure the new place was a success...... Some of you already know the story and I still can't believe in this day and age a city can be run by a bunch of a corrupt clowns backed up by a bunch of monkeys and lemmings who are only looking to line their pocket. Incase you can't read between the lines...... F*ck Azusa. There are so many stories that come out about small business' being put through the ringer, and even once they are allowed to open they still get constantly harassed and forced to "fix" things until they basically can't afford it and just close. With the internet and how word travels so fast, it's amazing that this type of crap still exists. Had I not come forward and reported things to the Pasadena Star News and Channel 5 who knows what the hell would've been.......... I mean, once they got involved, many items on my checklist required by the building division just became so easy to get checked off while previously it was like pulling teeth even though I was following all their directions to a T..... I joke around and say I wish they asked me for money under the table when I first arrived, but it's not really a joke. I would've gladly handed someone 20k or whatever they wanted to save myself 2 years of torture and nonsense. Now don't get it twisted, there are some legit nice people and hard workers in this city, but...... the people in charge are mostly pieces of sh*t and who are only here to give you a hard time. Regardless, before I go off too hard and somehow wind up dead in the parking lot one night, I will tell you this. Do not attempt to open a business in this city. Do not support this city, do not fall into the same trap I did with these imbeciles, and do not let them dictate your life. What turned out to be a potential 30-40k building improvement cost me over 300k and completely ruined my life. Oh yeah, and somehow this city won an award for "most friendly city for small business" HAHAHAH! I can't make this stuff up and literally threw up a little in my mouth when I saw it first posted........

So things starts bringing me to the reasoning behind closing and just all the frustrations stemming from the inner works of things. The bottom line is I cannot trust this town. I have 2 kids I need to provide for and I am not getting any younger so my options are becoming more and more limited in terms of employment. Even if the shop was raking it in, I can't sit here and worry that the carpet can be yanked from under me at any given moment. Not too long ago we were subject to a "random" inspection at 9:30pm on a Friday night and issued some warnings......... I was asked to update a few things and spend more money to bring some other stuff "up to code." And not receiving a formal ticket or write up was considered them doing me a favor...... thank you? I guess? From what I hear this is very common in all cities that surround Los Angeles. Well, in that case, put me back in the matrix please and give me a check that I can cash without having to worry about being hounded at random hours worrying if my business will get shut down. Not even going back into how hard it was just to get the doors open, but let's just talk about signage issues. So I paid the local spray paint artists (nice way to say taggers) to spray my logo on the parking lot wall just as a nice sign for customers to notice us. I received a ticket for this and was told I needed a permit even though the owner of the building already gave me full authorization to do so.  No problem, I'll gladly pay you city a few hundred bucks to support the cause and comply. Problem now is, they wanted me to completely remove the sign, pay the permit, then put the sign back up......... uh? I agree to pay for the permit, let me leave the sign up, get the permit, and we both go on our way. Nope....... So I am expected to take down the sign I paid these kids to paint, pay the permit, then pay the kids to put it back up?  No Thank You Azusa! Not to mention I received a couple fines for having some graffiti on the back walls. The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in your mouth and I gave up on it. We also have a "box sign" that was grandfathered in from the building being here almost 100 years, but the city refused to let us put any signage into it and rather leave it empty and ugly. The landlord approached them and she was asked if she could remove the box sign. Of course it wasn't mandatory, so she said no lol and that explains why there is an empty box of metal just hanging in front of the shops awning. So all in all, it has been a very unpleasant experience here in this lovely city and in all efforts to just run an honest business have been really annoying and difficult due to what I chalk up as ignorance of an older generation. The younger people in the city love us and have always supported but they don't have enough power as of yet and everyone here will probably suffer until the corrupt group just rolls over and dies.....

Part 2 coming soon.  I promise :)

Quick Post and a Couple Thoughts After The 1st Week

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported and made this place a reality.  I know there was a ton of doubt surrounding the name Super Arcade and many believed this place would never again see the light of day.  Well, I guess I can finally say that they were wrong.  I fought with literally everything I had and this arcade is finally open.  With that being said though, the journey is just beginning. 

Running a regular on a daily basis is already a job in itself.  Maintaining machines, keeping the premises spotless, and generating traffic are all part of the equation.  Now on top of that, let's add being a tournament hotspot in California to the picture.  I have to keep in contact with various communities that support each particular game, contact their regular tournament organizers, and then work out a schedule that works for everyone in the area.  Yes, I said area because this is leading into my next point of conversation.

So there has been a lot of chatter on social media and in the local scene as to why certain days are chosen for certain tournaments.  I will go into some detail as to how this was all planned out and offer some logic and reasoning that were given into the decision to run certain games on certain days.  The one day most talked about currently is our Wednesday night SOB tournament series which features Street Fighter 5, Ultra Street Fighter 4, and Tekken 7.  Some players have voiced their concerns that another venue located halfway between Los Angeles and Tiajuana is currently running these same games and requested that we move our dates.  I will once again repeat the fact that it was brought to my attention that many players from the local area, which include Los Angeles and The San Fernando Valley, do not attend the other tournament outside of a very select few.  It was requested that we host a tourney to cater to these locals so they could compete on this day without having to pay high tournament venue fees, parking fees, and also drive over 90 minutes to reach their destination.  This is about convenience and accessibility, not about fighting over players.  With another option comes more choices for the players, which should be viewed as a good thing.  Our tournament thrived last week and people had fun.  The other tournament thrived as well and everyone can see for themselves that having 2 events on the same night can work and let's see how things go moving forward.  As I try to bring as many players to our events, I am sure other tournament organizers will also step their game up to do the same.  This competition will make for a better experience for the players and without the players, there is no event.  This also brings me to another point.

Tournaments.... are they for the players?  are they for the organizers? or are they for the viewers at home?  This is a tough question in that everyone has their own opinion.  But for me personally, I can only see that the players make the tournament.  If there are no players, there is obviously no tournament.  So satisfying the players should be the number one priority.  After the players side of things are handled, now you need make sure the tournament runs smoothly.  I usually see it to myself that brackets are made properly and players are ranked accordingly while also separating friends so you don't wind up driving an hour to play against your buddy in the 1st round.  Then I hand off the brackets to experienced bracket runners and they in turn choose matches for stream etc.  It's a process that looks very simple from the outside, but it takes some time to get things going right and can have some hiccups if people aren't familiar with how this stuff goes.  Now after this is all set, we have the stream to manage.  Here is where things gets pretty sticky...  You got a lot of people who just complain to hear their own voice and people who are never satisfied.  I am gonna set the record straight once and for all.  Streams at Super Arcade are not the priority of an event.  Streams are here as an addition to the tournaments to keep the players and fans happy obviously, but our direct attention is going to and always will be focused towards those in attendance.  Now don't get me wrong, Mike Watson loves himself a stream or two, but I just feel too many people are trying to do this part of the event for the money.  And if you focus too much attention on the stream, you are losing touch with your players and not giving them the attention they should be receiving when visiting your venue.  I do my best to make sure everyone feels at home, in a safe environment, and just trying to make sure everyone here has fun.  Street Fighter and other fighting games are competitive and I do know a little about that, but overall, games are about fun.  For some people winning is fun, for others watching might be fun, and to many, just being around the game and sharing the good times that games produce is fun.  As for me, seeing people have fun here is my joy, and this is why Super Arcade is here for you.

Thank you everyone and see you all here real soon.

With love,

Mike Watson

What Else? Now What Else?

     Up until now I have been very silent about many situations that have come about over the past 3 years.  But today, oh...... today is very special.  Today is the day that is breaking the camel's back.  This will not be a very nice post, nor will it be censored cause at this point I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK!  I would like to think that I have kept a cool head regarding how things have gone and how things have turned out during these past 3 years.  I took a lot of heat from just about everyone while all I was doing was chasing my dream and passion for the arcade.  People from my immediate family, my closest friends, and of course who can forget all the online clowns.  But now, now I am fucking ridiculously furious.  Here's the scenario.

     I have been going through many inspections for the past 2 years, continuously complying with every little detail I am asked, and forking out all the money that is required to do all these things.  Everything from adding restrooms, changing out the ENTIRE electrical system, complying with all the handicap requirements from the lovely state of California.  You name it, I've done it.  So I was asked 2 weeks ago to repave the outside parking lot so it would be less than a 2 degree slope in order to fulfill the handicap parking requirements.  Done.  Then I was asked to make the backdoor handicap accessible and have a new glass door installed thats 42 inches with a 5 foot square concrete landing inside the shop to once again satisfy more handicap requirements.  No problem chief!  Done.

     So you might be asking now, why am I so angry after already being dicked around for so many years?  What would set me off finally to where I would basically go apeshit and just be completely furious over a situation?  Let me go ahead and explain it to you guys.  So here's how things work.  You call for an inspection appointment prior to the day and you have no idea what time you will be assigned.  You are asked to call in the next day at 8:30am to get a time block which can be anywhere from 8:30am until 12:30pm or from 10am till 3:30pm.  So I called last week on Wednesday and asked for a Tuesday appointment for a "Final Inspection."  I paid my electrician to be here along with my contractor so they could walk the inspector around and answer any questions that I might not have an answer for.  I figure I would try to be responsible and have everything in place so things would go smoothly......  Guess again.  I call at 8:30am today, they mention I have a time block from 8:30am till 12:30pm but I am first in line.  I am literally 2 minutes walking distance from city hall mind you, so I was basically left with no leeway on time and luckily I was headed that way already..  Regardless, I kindly tell the lady that I will be at my shop in about 10 minutes and I hope I don't miss my appointment.

     I arrived at roughly 8:40am and there was no one here in my parking lot.  So I look around to see if they left a note stating they had attempted to inspect but no one was here.  Nope, no note.....  So 11:45 rolls around and I called over to city hall once again and politely asked if I had possibly misheard the lady when she said I was first in line.  She replied "Nope.  You were first in line and the inspector left a note stating no one was there at her time of arrival......"  Oh really?  So I walked around the building one more time to look for a note, and BOOM!  There is it, folded in half, laying on the floor next to the front door.  Cool.  So I was wrong.  Fuck.  I was late.... my fault.  Of course it's my fault right?  This time..... Hell no!

     Ok, so brief timeout here.  Yes, I could've tried to arrive here at 8:30am, and yes I could've planned things out a little better, but guess what?  IT WOULDN'T HAVE MATTERED!  Why is that?  Cause the note says Date 2/13/18 and Time 8:15AM.......  8 Mother Fucking 15!!!  What in the holy fuck man.  Seriously?  So let me get this straight.  Please explain this to me like I'm full blown retard.  The city asks people to call them at 8:30am to receive their appointment schedule, but somehow they show up at 8:15 and expect someone here?  Uh........ NO?  As petty as this may seem, I am really just so sick of this shit right now.  I have literally done anything and everything to comply and this is just the cherry on top.  I picked up the note and walked over to the Building Division of Azusa to speak to the lady in person.  I kindly ask here if she can please contact the inspector and ask them if they would be able to return to the site to inspect today and this was a situation where I have been going through a lot for a couple years and would appreciate the help.  She tells me they can only have text communication and that she already texted the inspector and hopefully she will return by 2pm.  I then ask her if she noticed a flaw in their system where they ask the customer to call at 8:30am for a schedule yet they send out the inspector prior to that and expect people to just be there.  She said that it's quite normal for that particular inspector to arrive early but wait until 8:30 to show up.  Bullshit! Cause if that was the case, my note would not say 8:15.  I had to keep a real cool head about this but still get my point across.  It so tough dealing with people who literally give no fucks about you yet hold your life by a string.  Unfucking real that I am still dealing with little shit like this and can't even get an inspection to arrive properly.

end /rant

     More details to come.  Should be streaming later to discuss what happened and hopefully its good news.  But as of now, this city can seriously go eat a dick.  Pz.

The truth, closure, and the finish line

Many times in life you will come across hardships and challenges. And during those times is when you find yourself at a point in life where you are forced to make decisions that will greatly influence the rest of your life. These choices you make may seem unimportant at the time but its these exact choices that lead you to be the person you are today. Just think back to some of the earliest scenarios in life. Think back to grade school, where you had a choice to either study for your upcoming quiz and spend more time catching up on reading, or take the option of going out to play with your friends, or just sit at home and watch tv instead. It's choices as simple as this that lead you to where you are today. Now I'm not saying that if you chose to study more it will turn you automatically into this successful person later on in life, but it does set the tone on how you dedicate yourself and how you proceed to tackle your everyday issues.

Let me get one thing straight before I continue. I am not harping on anyone's work ethics here, nor am I trying to pass any judgement. I have made plenty of mistakes in life, and HUGE ones at that, but its all about how you bounce back to right these wrongs you have written and take the initiative to improve yourself. Obviously everyone is different, and as you get older you really start to realize these differences. As a kid, you have your parents to help guide you and warn you about what not to do and who not to hang out with. I was told that taking shortcuts in life would not be rewarding and taking the easy way out doesn't teach you anything. So for once in my life I finally did everything right. I followed all the rules. I took the long road which was full of hurdles and roadblocks and guess what?

I f*cking lost everything. And when I say everything, trust me. I've lost so much more than many of you ever experienced and much much more than some of you ever will. So for anyone to ever say "I'm not for the community" or "I don't love the FGC," you are completely wrong. My mistakes include getting obsessed with this project and putting everything aside in life. Also I would like to apologize for constantly giving timelines in which I had no control over and were out of my hands. I was always optimistic and never considered the fact that people would try to screw me over or delay my progress intentionally.

All I truly have left is this arcade and I will make it a huge success. I just hope that all of you will help me and come along for this ride. Thank you everyone. 

Love, life, and passion (part 2)

I guess its finally time for me to actually use this blog for what it really initially intended for. I need a place to finally speak about issues and hopefully find some peace in my life. I have been depressed for quite some time now and actually contemplated giving up on life. I will be the first to admit that I have had an extremely blessed and fortunate life. I was brought up in a family where I had both my parents and also a lot of contact with my mother's side of the family.

Warning: this blog will contain what some may find boring and non arcade related so read on at your own risk.

My late father was a Caucasian male of Scottish descent and my mother is Asian of Chinese descent. Being a child of mixed ethnicity was not so much a common thing during my youth and led to many issues for me growing up. I mentioned earlier that I grew up surrounded by my mother's side of the family because my father's side was basically racist and looked down on my parents and I. I vaguely remember attending a wedding when I was roughly 5 or 6 years old and being viewed awkwardly while my mother was pointed at and mocked on numerous occasion. Then there was a big fight between my parents and I believe my father completely separated himself from his side of the family. I honestly believe I grew up a racist due to being attacked cause of my own ethnicity. During the early 80's everywhere was predominately white in California. Things have come a long way in terms of cultural and ethnic diversity since then. Funny thing is, as a kid growing up I was attacked for being non-white, but as I grew up, I started to stand out cause I was half white. Sorry for the dragged out racial talk here, I promise I will get to the point soon.

The FGC is a very special community where race really doesn't play a factor on how you are viewed, where as your skill is what shows your worth. I can honestly say that I finally matured and got over my racism issues through playing Street Fighter and being involved in competitive gaming. Through gaming I also dropped my ignorance and fear of gay people and learned to accept people no matter their race or sexual preference. This community is really a place where people can better themself and learn so many things. Not only does gaming allow you to excel in dealing with the pressures of competition, but it also puts you into this giant melting pot where you can interact with people from other cultures and backgrounds and learn so much from them.

I'll leave you with a quick story on the subject since it seems appropriate. I will keep this person's name anonymous but for those in the socal scene it's pretty obvious. I still joke to this day about this with him so hopefully you guys get a chuckle out of it. Back in the day when AOL Instant Messenger was the thing, I used to chat with this dude here and there and I've known him since he was maybe 10 years old. So one night out of nowhere I get this message "yo Watson, guess who I like?" In my head im thinking.... uh... wtf? There really wasn't any girls in the scene so maybe this fool was gonna tell me something like Britney Spears or Jennifer Love Hewitt.... NOPE. He sends me this awkward ass picture of LL f*cking Cool J. Wtf? Like literally, a picture of this buff ass black dude with no shirt on and all oiled up showing off his pecs.... huge shocker out of the blue lol! But, I will never forget this moment cause this was the day I got over any issues I might have had with gay people. He basically had the courage to tell me he was gay and asked if my opinion of him changed or if it would affect our friendship.  On that day I came to the realization that there was absolutely nothing wrong with that and I was just being ignorant towards something that i wasn't. I want to thank this person for opening my eyes and making me a better person. I greatly respect this person and consider him a friend to this day, and for what it's worth, he's a total beast at fighting games and easily an all time top 10 fighting game player. And no, it's not Ricki Ortiz haha, although I respect her and her achievements and as much as I hate it, she was my favorite rival during the 3rd Strike era.

Thank you all again for reading. Next chapter..... trouble in paradise....

Life, love, passion (part 1)

Hello again everyone and thank you all for sticking with me. So many things have happened and so many huge changes have occurred since my last entry on here so I really don't know where to start. For those of you who have a good memory, I mentioned early on that I was a very private person and always kept my feelings and personal life extremely private and unless you were in my inner circle, you would really only see of side of me. This blog all started when times were getting a little tough and I needed an outlet to keep myself from going crazy. In a sense, it gave me a chance to breath and vent. An opportunity to do something and make myself a better person.  It also gave me a chance to personally and publicly thank a few people who supported me and my business when we needed it the most. Hell, I was even able to make a few public apologies and had a couple "My Name is Earl" moments. That's a TV show for those of you wondering wtf I'm referring to lol.

As a grown man, I have made many mistakes. But as a grown man I am now able to realize those mistakes and grow from them. I have lived a very fortunate life and have always had much love and care from those who are around me. I was never the type of person to jump in and out of friendships or relationships, and I valued loyalty to an extreme. I would go out of my way to help my friends and family but there was always a limit. I have my mother to thank for my stubbornness yet caring personality and I could never thank her enough for everything she has sacrificed and done for me for my entire life. I also have my father, who passed away when I was only 21 years old, to thank for keeping me in line and being stern with me when I was on the brink of becoming for lack of better terms, a f*ck up. My father served in the military for over 25 years and sacrificed a lot for our country and my family.

Ok, here comes the explanation as to why I labeled this as "part 1" of the blog entry. For those of you looking for updates on the arcade or some current Fgc drama, this isn't the entry for you. This portion of my blog will take you through the ups and downs of my life leading up to the biggest fight of my life in keeping Super Arcade alive.

Life truly is all about perspective. When you're young you take things for granted and you do things without thinking about the long term consequences and negativity you might create. I used to think and feel like the world was against me, and when I succeeded at something it was all about me. Now I can honestly say that I see everything in a different light. Over the past 5 or 6 years I started to look at things from an entirely different point of view. I put myself in the shoes of others and realize things are not what they seem. When you're in survival mode your mind and thought process can cause you to act completely out of character. When your back is against the wall, this is the time where your true heart and grit are tested. As cheesy as it sounds, the real reason I'm still in this fight to keep my dream alive is not because of me. As a fighting game player I have had my moments of glory, as a business owner I have also had my time, but as a person, I needed to finish my dream.

Without sounding arrogant or self centered, I believe Super Arcade achieved many things so far. We were a launching pad for many communities, we allowed players to have a home and grow as not just players and gamers, but also as humans. In attempts to not drag on and on and get to the point, I just want to provide more people with the opportunity to shine and be something. I want to give the community a place to play and just be themself. I want for everyone to have a place they can do what they want and achieve their goals without having to put on an act just to fit in.

Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon.

Status of Construction And More of a Personal Perspective

So I won't keep any of those who are here only for an update in any suspense.  Construction has been taking some time for a few reasons but at this point all the plumbing for the restrooms is done and electrical started as of yesterday.  There has been numerous city inspections during this process and I will list the basic things that still need to be finished.  Once electrical work is complete, the walls of the restroom will be completed and then the flooring of the entire location will be redone.  After that, the interior will receive a makeover that will include new lighting, wall patching and repair, and painting to finish things off.  This process will hopefully take no longer than a month and then we can finally get things going and open the doors.  Many people have asked what is taking so long, so let me explain things briefly here.  This building is almost 100 years old and we basically had to construct completely new plumbing to accommodate the requirements of the city to add more restrooms.  This process included the digging up of concrete to lay new sewage lines and proper water pipes.  Completely new construction of an additional restroom and water fountains, yes water fountains cause the city thinks Super Arcade is Disneyland and should have these for our customers.... Then we had to comply with all the handicap requirements and build 2 ramps from scratch with railings both in the front and the back of the store.  We were also required to build a brand new enclosure for a trash bins, apparently Super Arcade is some restaurant providing food and drink and it is mandatory to have the proper waste disposal to ensure the lovely City of Azusa stays fresh and clean.

So to sum all this up, new handicap ramps, new railings, new restrooms and underground plumbing, added an office, added 2 storage closets, fully redone electrical of entire building, new flooring, and last but not least, a new exterior paint job.  Had I have known I would've been stuck doing all this from the get go, there is no way in hell I would think I could've finished or even tried.  If I actually kept an accurate log of every penny I spent to this day on this project I would probably turn myself into the nearest clinic and seek some psychiatric help.  This project has not only taught me the biggest lesson in life, but it has also drained my soul and completely changed my life forever.  The ups and downs I have been through in the past 2+ years have really taken a huge toll on not only me but also my friends and my family.  Things have been done over the past couple years that cannot be repaired and so much valuable time has been wasted.  At this point I can only pray it was all worth it and my ego and pride that wouldn't allow me to fail has not betrayed me and led me down a path of darkness.

As the status looms of my personal reputation and existence in the FGC as it's quickly been moving forward lately, I would like to say this.  Although I am not fond of the fact that as a community we have been pushed so far into this "corporate" and "eSports" setting, I am proud that as a whole I am seeing growth and recognition for all the hard work everyone has put into it.  I am a diehard Street Fighter fan through and through, and I have competed for well over 25 and still find much enjoyment playing and challenging people.  But this wasn't my true motivation for coming all this way.  This was not the reason that kept me striving day in and day out to find a way to get things done.  When things started to weigh down on me, and times started to get really rough, I found the true sense of life and motivation from the people who supported the arcade, and the people who are no longer here to enjoy the game that many of us take for granted.  Everyday we take life for granted and I can now say and admit that I was one of these people for many years.  Though I understood as an adult what life is like, I never truly appreciated the reason I found to accomplish things and to do selfish acts without any recognition.  I am man enough now to admit all my flaws and become willing to accept change and what is needed to move forward in life.  My life changed greatly the sad night we lost one of our FGC brothers by the name of "PushaTee." Without going into detail, seeing a friend, a man of such great gaming passion, and a fellow father of 2 beautiful children die right in front of my own eyes......  That was probably the most heartbreaking moment in my life to this day and I am dedicating this entire project to him.  There are not many people in this world that can compare to this man.  It is not very often that you can find someone in this community, or in our entire human race for that matter, where people have 0 negative comments or remarks after they pass.  I have yet to come across 1 person who had any ill will towards Terrance and this just shows how truly special you were to all of us bro.  Thank you for changing my life and thank you for making our community a brighter place with your presence.  You will be forever missed and your contributions to our brotherhood of gamers are still ongoing.  I have something really nice planned to honor this man once we open and will have a dedicated area and cabinet set up with his name on it so his wife and children can come visit and see what he meant to me and the arcade.

Ok, so this blog turned out a little soft at the end and emotions start to show, but hey, I am a man of the people and will continue to try to and bring something to the community and return all that it has given to me.  I would also like to say that I will be putting up a wall dedicated to the "fallen soldiers of the FGC" to honor the people who have passed away in beloved community.  On this wall I will be placing "Dasrik" "PSX2000" "Remix aka Nelson Reyes""Patrick Collins" and a few others with some help and feedback from the community.  Anyways, its almost 5am and this old man needs some sleep.  Thank you all for reading and I will post more updates real soon.  Have a great day.