B.C. arcade gains extra life after winning long battle for liquor licence

At a video game arcade, a big win might mean logging a high score on the Donkey Kong or Galaga machine with your initials.

But Maryanne and Brad Eyers are celebrating a different type of victory: after years of trying, they finally have the right to sell alcoholic drinks at their arcade business in New Westminster, B.C.

"Our business is slower than it was pre-COVID," Maryanne said. "This will be a bigger draw for people to come in to play games, have a drink and have some fun."

She said obtaining the liquor licence for the Capital City Classic Arcade was the final level in their five year-plus battle against what they say are outdated rules governing arcades, including where they can operate.

The Eyers had to get approvals from the city and the province to get their liquor licence. The process, which they began in January 2020, cost an estimated $15,000. 

"It feels kind of ridiculous," Maryanne said. "We have friends that have arcades in Alberta … It took them two weeks and $200."

The Eyers feel they were treated more stringently than other businesses seeking to sell alcohol.

Lawyer and law school professor Jon Festigner, who specializes in video game law, says he's not surprised the Eyers' proposal got a long look. 

Although becoming more common, mixing arcades and alcohol is still fairly novel.

Festinger says many of the old laws around arcades are ripe for change. Many, he said, came from a moralistic viewpoint about the perceived harms video games did to the minds of young players.

"I think there once were concerns about what kind of people … hang around video game arcades," Festinger said. "I think it's illustrative of a meaningful change where we don't see video games as dangerous anymore."

"The understanding of games and what they do and what they don't do is much more sophisticated," he added.

Personal passion

Walk through the Capital City arcade and you'll be bathed in the glow of the machines' video displays and marquees: Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, 1942, Gauntlet and dozens more. 

They're the quarter-gobbling games that could decimate any allowance — although Capital City's are set to free play and customers pay an hourly rate for gaming.

The cabinets are largely in their original condition. One has cigarette burns on the control panel. Another has decades-old graffiti on the side.

For anyone reading this with a sore back — that is, Cold War-era millennials and older — it might bring back old memories.

"It definitely is the nostalgia," Maryanne said. "It hits that part of yourself that you remember being a kid, right?"

The machines are part of a personal collection. Maryanne bought their first in 1994, an old Centipede cabinet for $75.

She says the couple want to share their love of old-school gaming with their customers, who are generally 35 and older, but also the young kids they bring in with them.

Licensing timeline

The City of New Westminster says it has supported the Eyers' arcade concept since 2017, when they first applied to open. 

The city had old laws restricting arcades, however, including a requirement they be in a mall or movie theatre.

The Eyers received a temporary business licence starting February 2018.

In January 2020 they sought a permanent business licence, permission for later hours and a liquor licence. 

After a consultation process, New Westminster gave its OK in February 2021. The city says it usually aims to have those applications completed within a year but the pandemic slowed things down.

The Eyers also had to get provincial permission. The province received their application in August 2020 and it was approved last month, with conditions that there be no more unaccompanied minors and no minors at all after 10 p.m.

"It's a big relief," Maryanne said. "Now we can just concentrate on the business itself."