It was a long time coming when Logan Arcade owner Jim Zespy followed music producer Steve Albini onstage to introduce the arcade cabinet he’d constructed for a video game starring his friend’s famous cat. “I’ve known Mike for a long time. I never thought I’d be running an arcade and he’d have a world-famous cat,” Zespy said to a crowd of several hundred fans who’d crowded into his arcade bar in Logan Square last Friday night for the game’s premiere party.
“It’s obviously not a thing I’m going to get a lot of money or fame from,” says Bridavsky, while his celebrity cat perches on his tattoo-covered forearm. “It’s a very niche market, obviously, to do an eight-bit game about a cat from outer space. But I kind of felt like that her becoming famous has opened up all these opportunities to do cool fun stuff that I’ve always wanted to do, and so here we are.”
“You get a yogurt cannon on your spaceship that fires different flavors at enemies,” says Bridavsky of his virtual cat’s arsenal. “Vanilla yogurt freezes, blueberry yogurt explodes. There’s a boss you fight that’s a rat with a boom box that shoots soundwaves at you. It’s all very 80s and very weird.”
Zespy says he still thinks of Lil’ Bub as simply “Mike’s cat,” but he’s amazed at the overwhelming response she draws. “She really does bring a joy and wonder out of people,” he says. “You know, some people get into certain celebrities or athletes—but eventually they almost all let you down. That’s not going to happen with Bub—she’s always just a cute little cat.”
