Questions about Gaming Centers

[QforQ]

Hello everyone, I'm looking to get some advice from the FOH community. My friend's cousin wants to open up a gaming center in the city I live in and he wants us to help him out. We've never owned or operated a gaming center, and there isn't one in the center or close to here that we know of, to base anything off of. What I'm looking for is any suggestions that you guys can throw out there for what you liked about your local gaming centers and what you think we should do that would help make our business attractive to customers.

What we're planning to do is offer both computer and console games(Xbox360 most likely when we launch). We will also offer soft drinks and caffeine drinks like Red Bull, Bawls, and stuff like that.

Thanks for your help!

[kcxiv]

i hear the only real way to make money off them things is by selling food and drinks.

[Lyenae]

It's all about location. Location will make/break you, it's NOT as simple as "There's no computer cafe near where we are..."

You'll probably also need a strict no outside food policy.

[QforQ]

Originally Posted by Lyenae

It's all about location. Location will make/break you, it's NOT as simple as "There's no computer cafe near where we are..."

You'll probably also need a strict no outside food policy.

Yeah I understand location is key, I'm not trying to sound like it's not. I was saying that there isnt a local cafe near here so we're kind of going into unknown territory here.

[Zuuljin]

Start tournaments and stuff, and charge for entrance fee's. Give out prizes.
And sell your own food/drink and dont let them bring in their own. Offer discounts for large time chunks. Make it a very social atmosphere. Hire hot chicks to work the front desk/foodbar. Hire strippers (for the 18+ part of the center). Have a wide variety of games. Make the place comfortable. Dont pack it too tight. Let crowds gather around stations so people can have fun watching without rubbing up against everyone else.

Just think of reasons, "Why would I want to go to this gaming center when I can just stay at home and play for free."

[Aulirophile]

Strong furniture and stuff that doesn't show oil (from hands). This can vary but generally, if you're anywhere near a school, a lot of your customers will be kids. Being near a school is a good thing to, steady customer base.

Variable pricing. If no one is on the computers at a certain time anyway, anyone sitting there doing something is more money then 0.

Tournaments. Community events. People can play video games at home, even watch other people who are bad ass play video games from home, but being there live and in person is the biggest draw. Need to tap into video game culture.

Properly set up HD gaming.

Ability to save files at the cafe and then go to a website, login with your cafe userID and pass, and retrieve them. Saved games, etc.,

Make people either bring their own headphones or buy a pair there and allow them to be stored behind the counter so they can ask for them.

Good food. Chips/cookies/etc are good but even just a decent sandwich counter will increase your business a lot.

Gift cards (I've only ever seen one cyber cafe do this and it was really popular).

Really fast internet. Though you'll need to be careful I've been to a couple places that let you download TV shows/DVDs/etc and it took all of a few minutes instead of hours. Plug in an external HD and take it home to watch. This was in an area with low penetration of high-speed internet though.

Good lighting.

[BigMovieBuff]

Build a MAME cabinet with working coin door.... yes I'm serious.

Like others have said, sell as much as you can. Concessions for sure, but gaming gear/devices/accessories/gamecards, etc. will also bring in cash. There's really no limit to this. Sell custom build gaming PC's, MP3 players... so many things, just don't try to do it all at once. Start simple with concessions and grow from there.

Keep it a safe, clean environment with strict no drug policies... the LAST thing you want is your place on the news because some tweeker O.D.'d at your shop.

Hot girls working counter = $$$

[QforQ]

What is a MAME cabinet? Sorry for the noob question but ya lost me there.

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by QforQ

What is a MAME cabinet? Sorry for the noob question but ya lost me there.

old arcade game. The really big ones. Can pack quite a few games there. Streetfighter is huge for some kids.


MAME - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[QforQ]

Ah I see, I've heard of people making those just wasn't familiar with the term. Seems like it would be interesting, not sure if we'd open up with it but it would be an interesting project.

[Vinen]

How legal is that is the question in terms of having in a gaming center?

[kcxiv]

I think they should be ok as long as you make it free? I would like to know as well though.

[QforQ]

Yeah, on a hunch I dont think that would be legal.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I'm interested to see what else you guys come up with!

[Arbitrary]

Originally Posted by kcxiv

i hear the only real way to make money off them things is by selling food and drinks.

I have seen more than a few game stores shrivel up and blow away and there were a few common elements among them.

1. Junk food is your friend. Buy it wholesale at Sam's Club or the equivalent and never use a vending company. Fuck those bastards and their machines.

2. No fucking comic books. Seriously. Do not have a wall of these money sinks in your store. I've seen them kill stores singlehandedly. Comic books will do nothing but hurt you. Don't sell DVDs or rent movies or any of that shit either.

3. Do not buy a goddamn thing from Games Workshop. The deal you have to sign to get a Warhammer rack in your store is robbery. The miniatures are expensive and the game is elitist. Take the ten grand they want and put in computers. Do not deal with this company.

4. Stock whatever is the current crack of the gaming world but do not get suckered into stocking up on what might be hot. Magic the Gathering had the negative side effect of getting stores to load up on game after game in the event that it was The Next Big Thing. Pokemon was huge and stores didn't have enough, Mageknight was huge and stores didn't have enough. It's going to happen. You aren't going to have the supply to meet the demand if one of these fads hit. Fine. Do not buy a box or two of everything "just in case." Magic the Gathering, Heroclix, that d20 miniatures game, Yu Gi Oh, World of Warcraft CCG, those are your friends. Have a couple shelves of board games, a couple of game books, nothing major and only stock quality. Settlers of Catan, the core 3 DnD books for d20, that sort of thing.

You can always special order for people.

5. Run official tournaments. Run Official Tournaments.Find a Rank 1 MtG judge and do Friday Night Magic. Yu Gi Oh, Heroclix, whatever has an official ranking system and players in your area, find a guy (hopefully the same super nerd) and run em. A room full of 12 year olds on a Saturday afternoon is going to buy a ton of candy, soda, and blow every penny their parents gave them for the afternoon.

That covers the problems I personally saw and can remember.

edit - The strong furniture recommendation from Aulirophile is no joke. Gamers tend to be over-sized and some minor horseplay will occur from time to time. Even if everyone is an angel 24/7 cheap chairs and tables will wear and break much faster than you'd think possible.

[brekk]

Do not over focus on PC games, 4 way console games on big plasma screens are what will draw kids in. Without meaning to stereotype PC gamers are not generally the socialize in public type.

moderate any in store servers well. I went into a store near me a couple times, and had fun with the 5-6 mid teens kids playing ut2k4 on the store LAN. I had a great time stomping children, but it only takes one person like that to really sour someones experience so they never return to the store.

Setup your business as an LLC, (Limited Liability Corp) so when it goes bankrupt (it will) your personal finances aren't dragged down with it.