We went to Lounge Arcade last night and had a great time. It's not a LAN party, it's not an arcade; it's a bunch of retro multi-player consoles grouped together amidst comfy couches in a cozily designed space called Halcyon (which initially made me think I was going to some kind of crazy gaming rave.) It's a small game party put on by Seth Rosenfeld. By day he's a producer at NewKidCo; by night, a track-suit wearing party promoter. We got a chance to chat with him about Lounge Arcade and the way electronic games have become a socializing activity.

We'd heard over and over again that there aren't that many game developers in New York City, for a variety of reasons. So I consider us lucky to have been able to meet with as many as we have. Of course we were staying with the kids who are starting Invasiv Studios, because they are generous wonderful people we can have a lot of laughs with. At Halcyon we also met not only Seth, but Jason Schreiber, president of Powerhead Games; he took the photo of us interviewing Seth on camera. And now we're crashing with Eric "gameLab" Zimmerman. Every time we come to New York there's a steady increase of people and parties we want to check out. So much so that we've extended out stay by another day. And there's so much more to do. We haven't even gone shopping yet!

I think I speak for Justin (and Andrew W.K.) when I say, "I! Love! New York City!"

(photo (c) 2003 Jason Schreiber)