Hey people,

im in college for bussiness management right now, a couple years ago i went to a gaming center in my city and it was....okay, since then its the only gaming center in my entire city and it has SHUT DOWN, i knew a while ago that i wanted to open my own center and now the only competetion has shut down! recently my grandfather died, leaving me (and only me) his entire will ( i wont say how much but i made me wanna quit college and retire)


anyways i have some big ideas for my center, but i need a public opinion on what they would like to see if they went to such a center,

originally i was going to get a 2 room lease (but now that i have come into some money) im thinking a much larger suite could be obtained (im looking currently at a suite with enough space for 5 rooms, ***or sections***) i have also picked this place as it is with walking distance 3 elementry schools and 2 middle schools, and a VERY short drive to 2 more middle schools and 3 high schools, it is smack dab in the center of the learning distract and the building next door is a game stop, there is a mcdonalds and pizza hut in the center as well as a kfc and A&W (this spot is a gold mine)

i know for a fact that i NOW want 2 rooms, set up as
1 : a retro game room, i have a snes, nes, (found it!)& n64 my best friend who will be partnering with me also has an n64 and a snes, while our collection is not that of the site, it is pretty large, im thinking in this room i could also have a few arcade machines, and maybe a pinball table (please not i want to stay away from making this place into an arcade,this will only be in this room)

2 : this second room will be dedicated solely to tourney play (trading card play when not in use/// or maybe a guitar hero or rock band room)


i have ideas for the other room in my place but they are all subject to change,
here is what we are working with:
6 xbox 360's
5 playstation 2's
7 wii's
6 *gaming Computers*
11 gameboys and 11 psp's

if i could, from you vizzed board members, Hear about your ideas i want everything from

seating, - food - wall color- to age limits - merchandise sales- repair shop options ECT!

please let me hear all your ideas EVEN IF THEY ARE tiny you guys are my customers now i want to know what you want!

I'll bite...

okay, let's start off with: "how will you make money?" Will you charge an admission fee, a membership fee or a pay per use sort of fee? You really should consider that first.

Second, how will you regulate play time among the consoles? Most people playing video games don't want to give up their time once they're playing something... and many games require many hours to complete. So, how would you regulate that sort of thing? Cause I think this would be one of your biggest spots of contention right here.

That's it for now.... a lot of what you do depends on those 2 things.

Wow, that's awesome! Sorry about your grandfather though...

You're going to want to sell Wiis, Xboxs, etc, due to popular demand.
I was also thinking that you might want to get gaming magazines that the people can buy, like Nintendo Power or Tips and Tricks.

Videogamegod : i think you misunderstood, me i will not be selling concoles, im selling a place to hang out with friends, once i pay off the original console and pc debt, (about 6 grand) i will charging people to come in and use the facility as far as selling things goes i really wanna stay away form that unless its small thing like food or drink maybe mmagazines like you said, if i do end up selling merch it would be smaller accessories (mouses controllers memory cards, ect)

Sweet, I always thought that having one of them would be cool. Are you going to buy some retro consoles for the people to play?

I'll move this to Your Forum, because it seems more of a personal thing.

(moved)

We have had several attempts at things just like this around were I live.. and I'm sorry to say all of them seem to fail with in a few months. If you can manage to pull it off let me know because I would love to see how one is once it gets going.. instead of just seeing it fail.

geeogree : i have thought about this, ive come up with a number of solutions

one is i can charge an admission fee Per room, how this would work is as follows

im thinking that a 5$-10$ admission fee will be charged with an additional 2$ fee per room you want to axcess the 20$ in total if you wish to axcess each room, each room will be deffrent, and there will be a lobby/eating area

i could charge a one time fee of 15$ per person to enter the facility and use it whole axcess, (where some people would only pay 12$ or 14$ to have axcess to 2 rooms, they now pay the 15$ instead, or vise versa)

i could charge an entry fee with a sign in/out list entry to the whole facility will be 5$ and will be charged 2.50$ every hour,

i could also offer membership cards, where you pay 50$ monthly and have full axcess for the full month

lastly i can generate additional cash flow by holding tournamets, 20$ to enter, lets say 10 people enter i will hold a 150$ grand prize, for the winning team and offer free full day passes to the 2nd place team, ect i would hold between 1-5 of these everyweek where i take 25% of the cut

Yeah, it sounds great to me, as long as you spell "Gaming" right on the sign out front.

what im looking for in this thread people is what you would expect to see if you where a customer walking into to one of these places,
what kind of food you like, age group, ac temp... everything

Overlord_ash : Oh, O.k, well, you might want to sell a few games, but for like 20 dollars.

I'd see kids and teenagers all over the place, and we love anything that has blood and violence. So try to aim towards that.

The temperature should be mild, because gamers hate sweating their controller hands off, and they don't like to freeze so much that they wouldn't be able to play because their arms would be trying to heat up.


Well, I'd expect Gamer food, like Gamer Grub, Pizza, hot dogs, chips, energy drinks, Cola, burritos, etc. Just the kinda stuff that keeps you awake, has a good taste, and is bad for you.

You should also offer a bunch of gaming magazines for the people who are waiting.

I would walk in and expect to see a mall type view with large lights.
A water fountain in the middle of the entire place with one or two benches. I would expect moderately nice chairs that are shiny for the food area not very many eating places since this is a gaming place. Then theres the bathrooms. One near the entrance another near the middle area of the building to the right. In the retro arcade I'd expect a linoleum floor a few couches as gamers tend to slouch. Along with Moderate sized tv's to the consoles. Then the arcade machines will be placed in a row along the end of the room With a black rug with a small strip of metal to separate the two floors. In the tournament area I'd expect a blue rug and several card tables. There should be cushioned chairs as gamers are coing to be seating for along time and would be uncomfortable on a wooden surface. In the main console room I'd expect some slightly dimmer lights. The rug would be clean and well maintained (any color) I'd probably think you might be selling memory cards there as well. Or they can just use the memory card already there. The Tv's should be bigger and better quality then the ones in the retro room.

As for any extra shops Sell Nintendo power and cards in the tournament room. I wouldn't really care if there was a guitar hero room.

So tell me if you like any of my suggestions thats my vision.
About the well maintained rugs in the console room.
Allot of people would be there so there would be more food crumbs and dirt from shoes.

I have read through all these suggestions and info and I agree with them all. Honestly I cant really suggest anything but try to make the place organized but nice and flashy at the same time. Another thing you have to do is advertise to get customers, but right now focus on getting it set up. Once you get the buisness set up I would love to see some pictures.

Nice idea u could have a computer that moneters time for each person so u know wich system is liked the most and the play time of every one at the center

You should also have a place where people could battle On Pokemon or SSBB, they'd really like that.

pennylessz : you really gave me an awesome idea for my retro room there bro, you didnt directly suggest it but it evolved,

i think im going to dress the whole room to match the name, im thinking lava lamps could make good lighting, im thinking an overall 80's theme ill prob get good t.v.s and make a plastic shell that looks like an old t.v. to go over them,

thanks for all your other suggestions too

Jumpman12 : it will be a little while before i produce any pictures, i want to finish my business management class first, i don't want to be thrown out there all wet behind the ears

hnnn : i thought the paper log-in/log-out would work, but maybe a computer would help keep it more organized and i could save on paper

Videogamegod : your a mind reader that is actually something i have thought about,

i've also thought about offering a "lock-in" night, where you could pay the 30$ maybe 40$ and stay the whole night at the place,

I was wondering, how much would anyone on the board be will to pay hourly and day pass as well as month pass, and i mean the max amount,

well this depends what systems you have # of games, stuff like that(the monthly fee), you should have a shag carpet lol, tell me where ur gona make it, on a vacation i might come and see it

Overlord_ash : The stay overnight thing is a REALLY good idea. I think even some grown-ups would want to do that.

I've only come across one of these before in my life though I never went in there I have seen one before. I think its neat its like a arcade except with more current gaming

For a place like this I think the most fun part will be online play you definitely should get net in there and can do competitions online and offer free memberships or rewards.

Since there doesnt seem to be many seats open I would consider putting in an actual arcade room, make the arcade a waiting area or something and make it free play.

If I had the money I would make a room for each system or a room for each brand.

Videogamegod : yea, i would have to put a age on it anyways, if any kids under the age of 12 stayed i would need a child care license and i dont wanna go through that trouble, besides i really wanna steer it more toward the middle school kids and high school kids, although i dont condeem a family scene

i also thought maybe i could add lockers, in the lobby/dining room rent them for 1$ or 2$

also i def plan on there being a network set up, i plan to utalize every feature of the consoles i can, im thinking i could have a movie nigt too, with a nice projector i could offer a genre of movies, maybe that would be a good use for the lobby, since its currently the only room not generating income