Well, here we are, the last week of 2017. Typically, the holidays are quiet as far as video game parties go (NOT so much in all other areas of life!), so this makes for a fine opportunity to look back at the outgoing year and peer at the horizon of 2018.

The most important addition to EZPZ was not new games or consoles, but a new game coach! If you had one of our mobile video game parties this year, you’ve probably met Tomas. He’s been an incredible addition to our very small team. In “real life” Tomas is a class-A truck driver and transportation manager, and has slid into the role of Game Coach/Driver exceptionally well. He’s pretty reserved and soft-spoken at first, but he’s incredibly great with kids (he has none of his own, but has a couple of nephews that he’s very close to) and he has just as much fun during the parties as the kids! 

2017 has been a wonderful year of growth for EZPZ. We’ve practically doubled the amount of parties over the previous year, and have begun much-welcomed relationships with CSUMB, the Presidio of Monterey, the City of Marina, and numerous schools and churches throughout the 831. We look forward to forging more such relationships next year! We’ve also added the Nintendo Switch to our lineup of game consoles.

One of our biggest challenges is keeping our game inventory updated with the games kids love to play. Game designers have increasingly made games either single player only, or rely on online multiplayer action rather than “local” multiplayer. As much as we’d like to have the bandwidth capable of handling all of our game systems, it’s really not feasible. Plus, what makes a mobile video game party the most fun is the ability to play alongside friends and family, not alone or against an anonymous player somewhere else in the world! We will continue to procure the best local multiplayer games possible and even lobby game companies to not leave local multiplayer games behind.

Our other major challenge this year has been our generator. As you probably know, our mobile game theater is self-powered via a gas generator that is located at the front of the trailer (on the outside, obvs!). This year, our generator has given us (and our mechanics) fits with occasional breakdowns. We’ve avoided major interruptions to our parties by using our backup generator and, as of this writing, have hopefully figured out the issue of our main unit.

2018 is promising to be bigger and better for EZPZ! We already have bookings at churches, CSUMB, and our bread and butter, birthday parties! We’re so grateful for our Central Coast community, anchored by Salinas, Monterey, Hollister & Santa Cruz, for supporting local businesses like ours!