If you were born in the 80’s or anytime after, there is an outstanding chance that you owned video games.  If you happen to be a part of the male species, chances are a large portion of your social festivities revolved around video games.  Remember all those nights of staying up late trying to beat that level of Tetris, or cheating by putting the gun all the way to the screen to better your shot accuracy in Duck Hunt?  Video games go hand in hand with childhood memories for a lot of us.  I know I personally owned a Nintendo, SEGA, and Nintendo Game Cube.  I played Sonic the Hedgehog for hours, secretly thought Luigi was cooler than Mario, and did my share of bragging when I beat my very first game, The Little Mermaid.

In an effort to reconnect the Southern California crowd with the magic of playing video games, an organization known as UGTL hosts a variety of gaming events and get-togethers.  UGTL is run by 6 game-loving individuals, 4 of which have a background as QA testers for Activision.  When bored at work, it was only natural that this fiercesome foursome would begin to challenge each other in games and play for money.  Realizing that this wasn’t exactly the best corporate America pastime, the events quickly moved to people’s homes.  The video game tournaments soon involved BBQs, music, and art and took on a life of their own, forcing the group to move out of the backyard scene and rent out warehouse spaces for the event. Founder Bryan Marquez, “Bmarq” to the LA gaming community, explains that the point behind their events is, “To create a social tournament and bring back the arcade feel of being around people, socializing, and having a good time.”  In addition to events at warehouses UGTL has teamed up with Buffalo Wild Wings to host gaming days, is planning on setting up a permanent gallery of gaming art, and is actively pursuing other ventures.  Bryan explains that these tournaments and events put on by UGTL are a great way to “get people out and get active.”

Saturday, I headed over to the Rec Center Studio in Echo Park for UGTL’s Street Fighter 4 Xbox tournament.  What an event!  By the time I arrived, over 250 people had already packed the warehouse, drink and joystick in hand.  It was a full on smorgasbord of gamer delight.  There was a large brick wall with a fire pit and white leather couches on which people sat, drank, and watched as old-school commercials for video games were projected on the adjacent wall.  In the back of the warehouse, a Pixel Drip art gallery was going on, complete with live artist demonstrations.  The back rooms had flat screens and video games available for patrons to try their hands at, including classics like Super Mario Brothers.  The tournament took place in the main room, and was best of 3 and the rules were Pokémon style, as a participant explained to me.  As teams took on one another, incrementally growing crowds gathered to watch the battles go down.  In the corner, t-shirts were for sale as well as other gamer merch.  The evening was accented by the beats of talented DJs who spun from the upstairs loft area, as well as tacos, quesadillas, and a performance by 8 Bit Weapon and Compute Her.  I’d call the event a success and UGTL’s Alfredo Barraza said that the draw was probably the best that they have seen thus far, not bad for an organization that’s been rolling for under a year.

Noteworthy observations: A guy in the corner feverishly trying to disassemble and repair a joystick after a soda-spilling incident, a fashion forward hipster chick clutching a purse in one hand and a joystick in the other, and a girl walking slyly up to player holding a joystick, asking if she could touch it, and giving it a suggestive stroke.

For more information on UGTL and their events, please visit www.theUGTL.com

Words by Nicole Pajer with photos by Sidney Bensimon