I’ve spent a lot of times in bars recently in preparation for an
upcoming feature, or at least, that’s the excuse I use to make me feel
better about myself. Regardless of the reason, while soaking up the atmosphere of various watering holes around San
Francisco, I began to wonder why more video games haven’t been centered
in and around taprooms. The obvious rebuttal to this statement is,
“What about Tapper?”
to which I would reply, “That was 1983.” Yes, Tapper gave gamers the
opportunity to manage a rather chaotic bar for a short amount of time,
but I feel like after three decades, it’s reasonable to ask for
something more.
Casablanca,
arguably the greatest film in the medium’s first 100 years, is set
almost entirely inside Rick’s Cafe. The smoky din of the gin joint was
captured so perfectly on celluloid that many left the theater feeling
like they had actually taken a trip to Morocco and back. Raymond
Chandler, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Bukowski and countless other authors have wrote
about, and been inspired by, the strange energy that flows from the
bottles of their local watering holes. And so much about music is
associated with pulling your stool closer to the counter — from the
value of a well-stocked jukebox to a small stage nestled in the corner
that has the potential to change your life.
