Poll: The Gaming Cafe
- Thread starter tyzzni
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So basically... Bring back arcades? I like the sound of it, but I can't imagine how it could make a profit.
we had a cyber cafe that centered around gaming about... 12 years ago..
all the kids used to go there every friday night.. it was a huge social gathering, and it was an opportunity to meet likeminded gamers of different ages who went to different schools, and just have fun.
We went on friday because they had a deal.. normally it was 10 dollars for an hour.. but on fridays, they'd open the doors in the evening, and charge 5 dollars.. you could come in, visit with your friends.. get about an hour and a half on the computers (taking shifts.. we'd play magic the gathering or socialize during our offshifts), and it was great. Best part of my childhood barnone. Kids would buy the place out of snacks and drinks every friday, and we'd all have an amazing time.
Then they stopped doing the deal. 8 months later they were gone. Real shame. Don't know why they stopped the deal - maybe filling all their computers for half the regular price was hurting them financially.. but it was the only thing that they did right. the 25-30 people who showed up every friday were their biggest fans.. they occasionally came in at other times and paid the 10 dollars for their hour, and on those fridays, they must have made hundreds of dollars selling drinks and snacks.
Real shame
Starting Point, I miss you
as for the point of this post... I don't know.. waxing nostalgic with a bit of an anecdote.. ignore it, it's ok
all the kids used to go there every friday night.. it was a huge social gathering, and it was an opportunity to meet likeminded gamers of different ages who went to different schools, and just have fun.
We went on friday because they had a deal.. normally it was 10 dollars for an hour.. but on fridays, they'd open the doors in the evening, and charge 5 dollars.. you could come in, visit with your friends.. get about an hour and a half on the computers (taking shifts.. we'd play magic the gathering or socialize during our offshifts), and it was great. Best part of my childhood barnone. Kids would buy the place out of snacks and drinks every friday, and we'd all have an amazing time.
Then they stopped doing the deal. 8 months later they were gone. Real shame. Don't know why they stopped the deal - maybe filling all their computers for half the regular price was hurting them financially.. but it was the only thing that they did right. the 25-30 people who showed up every friday were their biggest fans.. they occasionally came in at other times and paid the 10 dollars for their hour, and on those fridays, they must have made hundreds of dollars selling drinks and snacks.
Real shame
Starting Point, I miss you
as for the point of this post... I don't know.. waxing nostalgic with a bit of an anecdote.. ignore it, it's ok
I'd love something like that, if it's a success would you consider branching out and perhaps opening some in the UK? This seems like a great idea, non of my flatmates are massive gamers apart from one, and even then that's mainly sports games (which I'm not interested in), so somewhere to play with other like minded people would be brilliant It's social and yet it's gaming too, and hopefully it'll help abolish the stereotype of 'anti-social recluse' gamers like the WoW fanatics
It's social and yet it's gaming too, and hopefully it'll help abolish the stereotype of 'anti-social recluse' gamers like the WoW fanatics 
Will it be successful? In this economy, i'm sure some people will take advantage of it. After the recession, i'm sure some arcade goers will replace it for the arcade, mostly little kids. So if your area is tech savvy a bit, then it will at least turn up small profits.
Would I use it? Well social gaming is best with friends in your living room. If gaming clubs at schoot tell me anything, I don't enjoy just sitting around waiting for twenty people to take turns playing Rock Band.
Would I use it? Well social gaming is best with friends in your living room. If gaming clubs at schoot tell me anything, I don't enjoy just sitting around waiting for twenty people to take turns playing Rock Band.
Honestly my friends and I where considering this idea, but upon some research onto the matter we kept hitting the same roadblocks.
Mainly how to manage the overhead of the consoles(I.E. consoles are fairly easy to break and can at times be just as if not more expensive depending on the type of damage to repair/replace that is of course when you factor in all the peripherals/shipping/down time/wages of your staff required also not mention the normal stuff like T1 lines electricity and other utilities) however aside from the initial cost and the subsequent upkeep which is associated with any kind of gaming establishment that is prone to temper tantrums of teens or 20?somethings for that matter who just got "totally PWNED by the 1337 gam3r in the corner" the only other major hurtle we encountered was the ability to "manage" the customers actual time spent on the system.
For example if someone came in and paid for 2 hours by plopping down 20 bucks but your establishment was busy I.E. lots of gamers what keeps said customer from blending in and ripping you off? Most cyber cafes answer to this is time management software where the customer has a user account which is then credited with the time they paid for; when the time expires they are not allowed to use the systems until the buy more.
Basically our problem was we could not find any such software for Consoles so there for you?d have to resort to an honor system which is destined for failure or hire a bunch of people you can?t really afford (at least most new business ventures cant)
To stand behind the patrons and baby sit them with a stop watch.
Hope that jumbled mass makes sense. But aside from those issues it is a very good idea just at the current time not very realistic.
Mainly how to manage the overhead of the consoles(I.E. consoles are fairly easy to break and can at times be just as if not more expensive depending on the type of damage to repair/replace that is of course when you factor in all the peripherals/shipping/down time/wages of your staff required also not mention the normal stuff like T1 lines electricity and other utilities) however aside from the initial cost and the subsequent upkeep which is associated with any kind of gaming establishment that is prone to temper tantrums of teens or 20?somethings for that matter who just got "totally PWNED by the 1337 gam3r in the corner" the only other major hurtle we encountered was the ability to "manage" the customers actual time spent on the system.
For example if someone came in and paid for 2 hours by plopping down 20 bucks but your establishment was busy I.E. lots of gamers what keeps said customer from blending in and ripping you off? Most cyber cafes answer to this is time management software where the customer has a user account which is then credited with the time they paid for; when the time expires they are not allowed to use the systems until the buy more.
Basically our problem was we could not find any such software for Consoles so there for you?d have to resort to an honor system which is destined for failure or hire a bunch of people you can?t really afford (at least most new business ventures cant)
To stand behind the patrons and baby sit them with a stop watch.
Hope that jumbled mass makes sense. But aside from those issues it is a very good idea just at the current time not very realistic.
Just keep a laptop with a bunch of timers running, and have it placed right next to a power control system for the consoles. Simply shut off console power after the time is up, and if possible, give in-person reminders before time runs out. You just need to hire an electrician for a day or two.trentdarr said:
Yeah, my local HMV has one in its basement, its £1 for an hour, although they only charge that if there's more then a few people there, more often then not me and my mates can just walk in if no one is already using something.MaxTheReaper said:
We had a few around here in MA, they all went belly up in less than a year. People already have food at home, and they can bring friends to their house. People already play online with their friends without having to drive. People already own computers, and don't have to pay to use them.
The big thing that's going to make it work is sponsors. Find a lot of good sponsors so you don't have to spend a lot of your own money.
The big thing that's going to make it work is sponsors. Find a lot of good sponsors so you don't have to spend a lot of your own money.