The Black Out PC Cafè in Fairfax isn't about hooking up to the internet or logging on over a cup of coffee, it's all about interactive cyber-games, bordering on a cult attraction. They're not alone, the Music Room near Fairfax Circle and PC Plaza on Rolling Road in Springfield offer the same fare.
"The easiest way to explain it is a high tech game room. They're all online, multiplayer games," said Tammer O'Conner, a tech consultant at Black Out.
"Diablo and Everquest are like crack, people can't get enough. It's mostly high school kids," O'Conner said.
Daniel Patena is a senior at West Springfield High School that frequents PC Plaza. His screen name is "Psycho." He was sitting on a bench at 11:30 on a weekday waiting for the cafè to open.
"It's a cafè where people get to hang out, kids need a place to go. It's better than going out doing 'other' things," he said.
Fellow West Springfield senior Jason Shrout agreed. He goes by "Gotammo" in the cyber world.
"It's no different from home, here you get a little bit of social life," he said.
Buzz words around Black Out are "Diablo," "Everquest," and "Counterstrike," which are their most popular games, and players are known as "gamers." On the screen, the player is behind the sight of M-16's, Baretta pistols, cannons and grenade launchers. Individuals can all play in the same maze, shooting each other or groups can go up against other groups, here or all over the world. Blood and severed limbs on the screen add to the attraction.
Both Patena and Shrout have a schedule at school where they get the afternoons off to work. Patena works at the gas station around the corner from PC Plaza and Shrout works at a gas station in Burke.
TRUANCY RULES are in effect at Black Out, just like at any school. ID's are required before 2 p.m. and those under 18 aren't allowed during school hours. Over at the Music House, a sign out front printed by the Fairfax County Public School System lays down the law.
"School attendance: It's the Law. Virginia compulsory attendance laws."
Black Out manager who goes by "Mr. Morey" to regulars, knows the problems with truancy among the high school ages. He said the weekends are the busiest and the Fairfax City police are always patrolling the parking lot.
"I have a lot of parents that drop off their kids, come pick them up in three or four hours," he said.
Fairfax County public information officer Jody Donaldson said the police can enforce truancy but it doesn't happen that often. A call must be made first to their non-emergency line.
"If we know the whereabouts, we go pick them up," he said.
One Black Out employee from Fairfax walks around the floor helping players. He chose not to give his name. He is of Korean descent and notices the popularity among the Korean community.
"The idea of this came from Korea. It's 50-50, 50 percent are Koreans," he said, with the male-female ratio about two to one.
O'Conner noted the Korean connection as well.
"It's very big with Koreans," he said.
Over at the Music House near Fairfax Circle, Danny Pak heard similar stories from his cousin who was just in Korea.
"If you go to Korea, they have places like this everywhere," Pak said.
Patena saw the same on a recent trip to the Philippines.
"I lived in the Philippines and I just went back and they're all over the place," he said.
AT FIRST GLANCE, it's hard to tell the Black Out is even open. The room has about 40 computer terminals, 20 on each side of the room with a few couches in the middle. There isn't much overt action but on crowded evenings, music accompanies the click of the mouse. In the back of the room there is a bar that serves sodas.
Music House is non-descript as well. Housed in a brick building with a "Music House," sign, the "gamers" are in the know. Although Music House does have Korean CD's for sale, computers and comics dominate the interior, not music.
Both locations provide high speed internet access, such as T-1 or DSL lines that can handle the load that comes with transmitting the graphics used in the games.
PC Plaza looks the same from the outside but the neighbors in that shopping plaza on Rolling Road aren't happy about the crowd that it attracts at all hours. Dana Burton is at Just Fur Pets a few doors down.
"My clientele is not happy with the place. They spit, they curse, they won't move from the front. Their girlfriends try to drag them out of there, there's fights. I'm sure truancies a problem. As the weather gets nicer it's only going to get worst," she said.
An employee at the upholstery store on the other side had more of the same. She chose not to give her name.
"Everything is students, no adults. Crowds of students come out, smoking and spitting," she said.
Lando Sunga owns the Fiesta Springfield Oriental Store in the plaza. He likes the business.
"They're kind of busy sometimes, after school. It's fine with me, they buy sodas," he said.
Over at Black Out, Fereshtavadi said the timing is right. Their crowded times are when the other stores in Fairfax Square shopping center are closed for the evening.
"Weekends, the busy hours are after eight or nine when the stores are closed," he said.
THE GAMES ARE ADDICTIVE to some. Pak was just in killing an hour before work. Some high school teenagers or college students come in at all hours.
"If you weren't a gamer, you would have no clue. We had one guy over the weekend here for 31 hours. I got addicted to Yahoo Pool for a while," O'Conner said.
Fairfax resident Brad Dowell did admit the "in-crowd" nature to the games.
"I tried to explain it to my girlfriend, she had no clue," he said.
Chris Pierce was a Richmond resident, in town for a few days. He plays from home but is not a fanatic. He has a cousin that is though.
"They had one in Richmond for a while. I have a cousin that does it all day, all night. Sounds like brain damage for youth," he said.
Some gamers get in groups, commonly known on the circuit as "clans," and either play each other or other teams. O'Conner is on the Striker 2000 team which was derived from the name of a computer server that was used at one time. They strive to win the CPL Tournament, which is the Super Bowl of cyber games.
"This whole thing is about cyber athletes," he said.