Frii your mind

It’s half past 11 in the morning the first floor of the FriiSpirit Fun and Fitness Center, which opens daily at 11 a.m., is nearly packed, it’s walls bouncing off familiar rock tunes collected on the wildly popular computer game Guitar Hero. Yes. FriiSpirit is, categorically, a gaming café, one unlike any other in the Philippines — or probably the world.

For one, it only offers games that can be played on the Wii console, which makes it, essentially, a Wii center. And second, instead of adolescent boys hunched before rows of PCs, their expressions as severe as the war games they’re playing, FriiSpirit has a varied clientele in varying positions — some prefer to stand up and move their bodies to the music, some adapt the couch potato pose — with guitar consoles strapped over their bodies or waving the Wii stick around in a space fixed up with huge projector screens, big red beanbags, red walls and funky art.

And a lot of these “gamers” aren’t actually gamers at all, not in the truest sense of the word, at least; just students and young folk who get addicted to the appeal of playing in one’s own interactive rock band. Just like its owners. Andrea Jalandoni, Carol Go and Cherrilyn Roces were just girls who all loved Nintendo’s Wii console. “We were all in Tagaytay and playing the Wii on this really small TV screen and we were saying how great it would be if we could play it on a huge projector screen. And from there, this whole concept was born,” explains Andrea, who insists that she never played video games before the Wii came along.

And so FriiSpirit was created in the name of fun and camaraderie. “We really push the multi-player games because we want to promote playing as a group and promote the place as one for barkadas.” And a lot of that was evident. Near the café entrance, a couple of boys, high-schoolers on half-day, are having their try at Blink 182’s All the Small Things on Rock Band, a highly-enjoyable game that involves the Wii guitar, a made-for-Wii drum set and song lyrics (just so you can really sing along). Behind them, a group of college girls on break are deep into Pat Benatar’s Hit Me with Your Best Shot on Guitar Hero. Pretty soon, they’ll probably have their names pasted on the Guitar Hero Wall of Fame the girls have posted on one of the walls.

Located on Katipunan road right in front of Ateneo de Manila University, the Wii center mostly attracts students and the young crowd during the day. After work hours, however, you’ll also see some yuppies venting their daily stress through Super Smash Brothers Brawl and the Wii Sports games.

FriiSpirit has about nine projectors for sharing, half of them on the second floor where private rooms are available for small parties and events. The second floor also houses the screening room — every Friday night is Good Friday, where a film viewing comes packaged with a meal. September is Chick Flick month, so expect Clueless, Heathers and the like. The food comes from FriiSpirit’s very own café, a sizeable space (four tables at least) tucked away in the back that serves the usual short order fare such as quesadillas, sandwiches, cheese sticks and simple main courses like beef stroganoff, chicken à la king and pasta.

“It’s really a place to eat, chill, hang out and have fun,” says Andrea. Pretty soon, she and partner Cherrilyn have their own guitars strapped on, eyes intent on the projector screen, their fingers doing all the work, one foot occasionally tapping along with the beat. All attention is focused on doing Foghat’s Slow Ride some interactive justice.

This, I think, should be a whole lot better than just tapping away on some keyboard. Right?

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FriiSpirit Fun and Fitness Center is located at G/F One Burgundy Plaza, Katipunan Ave., Loyola Heights, QC. For more information, log onto www.friispirit.blogspot.com or call 434-5434 or (0929) 698-6738