Considering opening a gaming lounge.. any thoughts

[drwelfare]

I would not, except for an occasion to demo a new game that is supposed to be soo damned awesome.

Most people I know who play lots of games would rather do it at home, while sitting in their drawers, eating junk food.

[Feral Camel]

Honestly I wouldn't go. Unless the food was fantastic and I could have a couple of brews.

Games, burgers and beers would get me attention though.

[icausewipes]

Put together great events with matches like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA5RlZoHDds

[wowaccounttom]

I just wanted to gauge peoples interest in this proposition.
A gaming lounge with 28 inch 4k panels and pc's to power them. Turtle beaches, keyboard, mouse, and controller along with super comfy seats. Tournaments and other such events would occur every other weekend. There would be mods and of course all of your favorite games at glorious 4k resolution. You also have the option of becoming a member which allows you to save your game data to the servers I provide to members. Members also get discounted hrly rate and the ability to request mods. Of course there would be high speed wifi and food.

The pricing would be
$8/ hr
$20 for 3hrs
$7 for every hr after 3

Membership is a quarterly fee of $20
Membs prices include
$6/hr
$16 for 3 hrs
$5 for every hr after 3

Would you guys come out to my gaming lounge? Just a side note I provide the games and the accounts to play them on.

No. Instead make net cafe like in Japan that allows people to take showers, stay over night, and.. "stuff". Like below, make sure to include tissue.

[Themius]

No. Instead make net cafe like in Japan that allows people to take showers, stay over night, and.. "stuff". Like below, make sure to include tissue.

The... tissues...

[Deleted]

The... tissues...

Right next to the phone for emergency situations.

[Ghazan Julio]

waste of money imo

[Phinxx]

I used to work in a brand new Internet café about 10 years ago which was located in a mainly Caucasian area in in Sydney. After a massive drive to get customers business was no where near booming after 3 months and I suggested to the owner to relocate to the Asian quarter in Sydney. Within 2 weeks of him changing location we went from having barely 5 people a day to all 40 computers being used from open to close, it was great.

Just don't make the same mistake the owner did and buy 40 WoW CD keys, you only need to download the client!

[Deleted]

The... tissues...

It is unhygienic to sneeze into your hand then use the phone.

[pateuvasiliu]

I'd rather go to the pub if I'm going out and spending money to sit somewhere.

Can't you combine gaming and drinks with others, though?

[mercychan]

Damn those Japanese net cafes look legit, any idea what the cost rate is at those places in terms of USD?

[Deleted]

Can't you combine gaming and drinks with others, though?

Booze and expensive hardware rarely mix.

[Deleted]

Most people I know who play lots of games would rather do it at home, while sitting in their drawers, eating junk food.

It's like you're watching me right now.

[anyaka21]

I would not, except for an occasion to demo a new game that is supposed to be soo damned awesome.

Most people I know who play lots of games would rather do it at home, while sitting in their drawers, eating junk food.

I think it would depend on what exactly they were doing. and besides, we are talking about most people you know, doesn't follow that every single gamer on the planet would to do that.

I think you could foster a competitive environment in an internet cafe through tournaments, possibly even with corporate sponsorships from gaming companies helping to host. Granted that would take connections, and probably a successfully run business first, but I think once you get a business like this going, I think gaming companies would jump at the chance to do something like this, it's easy cheap publicity, that's as simple as tshirts, mousepads, etc...

- - - Updated - - -

Booze and expensive hardware rarely mix.

While true, how many people do this at home anyways. Doesn't mean it won't work, besides, I think the trick is to hide the expensive stuff so the only real access someone has is the keyboard and mouse. And those are cheap. And in terms of gamers, given the opportunity, I think a lot would bring in their mice, esp mmo types that are easy plug'n'play.

[Emek]

Depending on the area i think it'd be a cool idea. highschool gamers are always demanded to stop playing video games and go outside, so they can just go to the lounge. and if it's close enough to college campuses people would just walk there and play a few games of league or some shit with their friends and then go back to class for a social thing instead of going back to their dorms\appartments. I actually see quite a few people playing league in the food court at school. i think area is a huge thing on it though, make sure you don't open one where there isn't a market for it.

Make sure you have people who clean the keyboards, mice, and headsets, everything needs to be clean or it's gonna get gross.

[Yvaelle]

There is a gaming sports bar in Vancouver that does quite well for itself - it shows LoL tournaments and CS tournaments and such whenever something big is going on - has a liquor license - and an assortment of gaming stations as well: but the real emphasis is on hosting the gaming community in a sports bar atmosphere, where everyone else is also a gamer - and you can provide arm-chair commentary about what Faker or Fatal1ty should have done on the big screen

They don't charge admission or membership either.

Which speaking of your membership fees - as everyone has pointed out - are way too high.... Way too high. You don't need to be making money off a single guy being in your store. You need to be planning around filling the place with multiple people at a time to break even - and you need to plan around big event nights to bring in the real money: not a single customer covering the hourly wage of a single employee.

[diddle]

Add some strippers and I'm down, otherwise I don't see the point.

[IRunSoFarAway]

Booze and expensive hardware rarely mix.

I still remember the time a guildie in WoW couldn't log on for the raid because he spilt beer in his computer. I'm not sure how someone accomplishes that, but if only there was slow motion video of the beer going through the fan and flying all over the place.

[theostrichsays]

There used to be one about ten miles from my place. The primary reason they pulled profits was betting and competitive playing.
People would pay like five bucks to enter team tournaments on CoD and other shooting games, get 15 or so teams and take a cut of the profit, wasn't to hard for them to do. Summer time electric bills helped put them out of business though.

[Fencers]

I just wanted to gauge peoples interest in this proposition.

Neat idea. Make sure you have a LOT of money and a plan B.