Editing Extraordinary Comics Places (section)

== '''Place:''' the Arcade ==


'''Qualities:'''

''Super-powered Video Games''

''Streamers and Dreamers''

''Technology for the taking?''

'''Description:''' The Arcade is the birthplace of holo-reality gaming and has become a hub for Fairhaven’s gaming culture. It’s a multi-story building of glass and steel, extending as deep into the ground as it reaches into the sky. The main attractions are the 4 massive holo-fields set on the bottom levels that allow for dozens of people at a time to play in the same battlefield. Holograms make everything look real, projected force fields make it feel real, and gravity manipulation serves as a safety net while also allowing for players to break physics in all the best video game ways.

One holo-field is always reserved as a shooter games and another for MOBA meets Dynasty Warriors style game-play. The other two have a rotating schedule, flexing for major tournaments and also showcasing platformers or niche games. The other levels contain holo-courts suitable for squad based games and holo-rings for 1v1 or 2v2 duels.

Use of the holo games requires the players to wear specially designed suits that have a holographic avatar is super imposed over them once the game starts.

Only so many people can play at a time, so the common area has eateries, shops and plenty of seating, all with countless screens showcasing the various game in progress. The main streaming services all have a studio on the premises, and several HR streamers have become internet celebrities.

Three years ago the owner and creator of HR gaming, Leon Maxwell, agreed to franchise his creation. 3 more HR arcades were built in other cities and was the birth of the Holo Gaming League. The Fairhaven Howlers are the current champions, but 4 more arcades are scheduled for completion before next season and a half dozen of the Howlers' best players just left to found the new teams.

Lots of gamers want to be part of the HGL and competition at the Arcade can be fierce. Several fights have broken out, and that doesn’t even count the attempts at stealing Leon Maxwell’s HR technology.

'''People:'''

'''Leon Maxwell''' 

Leon is proof that not everyone with powers becomes a superhero. A self-proclaimed super-genius, he left a big gaming studio because he felt he was being stifled. He went on to program and publish several blockbuster independent games… doing all the work himself. With the fortune he started to amass Leon built the Arcade to ‘bring gaming into the 22nd century.’

He’s been approached by the military and dozens of corporations to sell his devices… all of which have real world applications outside of gaming. Leon staunchly rebuffed them all. He only agreed to the franchising to open the miracle of HR gaming to more people… and only because the other parties agreed that his proprietary tech would be black-boxed, and tamper proofed.

A true ‘Man of the Gamers’ he keeps the prices for suits, controllers and the actual game fees quite low. All his costs are defrayed by the various streaming services he lets operate inside the Arcade… at least publicly. His primary funding comes from O.M.N.I. because he built and operates a secret HR facility to train their operatives.

'''Qualities'''

''Benevolent Super-Genius Inventor''

''Protecting my tech and the Arcade''

''Gamer to the Core''

'''The Imm0rtal'''

Zeke “The Imm0rtal” Crenshaw is one of the biggest HR streamer in the world, routinely coming in near the top of the charts in the ranked shooter and slasher games. Zeke has offers to join both divisions of the HGL but refused because he makes more money from his channel.

As one might expect, he’s quite full of himself. He’s fond of saying “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”

He’s been accused of hacking the game on multiple occasions, but so have all the other top players, and Leon Maxwell is always on the lookout for cheaters. The Imm0rtal has multiple endorsement deals, a whole entourage that follow him around…many of whom are good gamers as well. Winning tournaments nets him private access to holo-rings and holo-courts… and he uses these to set up challenges for amateur gamers. Zeke says it’s a chance to let rising stars break into the big leagues, but in reality he crushes them in cruel and amusing ways to boost his channel’s ratings.

'''Qualities'''

''It’s not bragging if I back it up''

''Getting rich by playing games''

''l337 s|<1llz''