Author Topic: Opening a gaming lounge (Read 11666 times)

ModernTek · « **on:** February 15, 2011, 08:05:03 PM »

Okay, so I know a guy that wants to open a "gaming lounge." He was asking me for help because he isn't really a tech guy. What would you guys do if you were opening a "gaming lounge."

He is planning on opening this at a local mall. Possibly hosting tournaments with "good" prizes.

By "gaming lounge" he means a place for kids to play xbox 360/ PS3/ Wii, Hangout, and Eat.

All ideas, comments, and suggestions welcome. Thanks!

robin1989 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 15, 2011, 08:13:48 PM »

big screans and super comfy seats and been bags. and have the sound got to a set of good headphones or speakers. the only way you will be succesful these days with a gaming lounge will be to offer an experience that the customer cant get or afford at home. and dont forget a massive selection of games and possible a selection of controllers

FOOKz™ · « **Reply #2 on:** February 15, 2011, 08:40:32 PM »

A videogame jukebox play for 15 minute increments for like $2 for 15min on any game.

play against other people on the same game. heated seats. massive subwoofers. track lighting. 3D tvs. lights in the floor. have scheduled tournaments for the hardcore gamer(Makes tons of money). the "win to earn tickets to get prizes" is old as i can remember. maybe "the more you play you earn tickets to get prizes & discount on tokens etc." so its win win in that case

a few private party rooms with like 20 of those nice 60inch TVs, use those to hook up to the game jukeboxes and they are unlimited play time until party is over.

Monk3y · « **Reply #3 on:** February 15, 2011, 08:47:17 PM »

Big screens are nice and all but if you plan on having good tourney's and such then I suggestion having 2 4v4 stations with some 22" monitors with 2ms response time so there's virtually no lag and along with some good headsets so that way teams can hear their teammates and the game (blanking out all other back round noises). I would suggest Turtle Beaches since they are cheap, fairly durable, and sound great. Along with the 2 4v4 stations also having a broadcast behind the players where the audience can view the action from a distance. If you can do that then you can plan on having pretty good tourney turnouts in my opinion. For all other gaming stations and such I suggest bigger screens though. A good 42 inch or so would do fine. An occasional 60" or a few is always nice as well.

GhoSt · « **Reply #4 on:** February 15, 2011, 10:21:29 PM »

I would suggest getting trittons over turtle beach, I have had a couple of pairs of each and the beach's break much more easily, especially if you don't take care of them. Just get low end trittons (ax180).
Well advertised competitions is the best way to pull in the crowds for a gaming lounge.

HiddenVenom · « **Reply #5 on:** February 15, 2011, 11:33:28 PM »

Make sure there is a large PC LAN area! The majority of returning gamers will be your tf2, counter-strike players.

Toughened Glass on TV's might be a good idea.

whitetop · « **Reply #6 on:** February 16, 2011, 01:01:37 AM »

we get this like every month at my shopping center near me

they have all 3 consoles and top games to show off 62" projector screens great lighting but no food
anywhere near the area.very bad seat for me but others they were great.stereo headphones blasting like mad in your ears. they have them for weekends and get lots of people queuing up just to play on them but no net connections but can take your own memory sticks to save onto.

robin1989 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 16, 2011, 06:22:09 AM »

also for connecting all the consoles and pc's up you should use gigabit lan going to a gigabit switch and probably get 3 or 4 crazy fast broadband lines and bond them together so that you have a nice big pipe for bandwidth. i have a bonded line at home with only 2 lines but its a lot better than when i only had one line as it means instead of 5mb down and 512kb up i get 10mb down and 1mb up (best i can get in my area until they bring fibre which will mean a combined 80mb down 30mb up)

also for tournaments if you can capture the video feed off all the entrants then shoot them all up on a projector onto a massive wall for spectators

techninjadude · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2011, 07:41:58 AM »

Make it so that If you wanna play you need Id to get in. The Id will cost Money. So that if the person vandalises something you could find him.

jacobia jacob · « **Reply #9 on:** February 16, 2011, 11:47:09 AM »

it's going to need to be competitive just about all the time to make a profit. consoles are too popular for someone to pay just to play the same games they could play at home.

robin1989 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 16, 2011, 11:58:38 AM »

and have a massive fridge filled with all the different energy drinks

ModernTek · « **Reply #11 on:** February 16, 2011, 08:01:54 PM »

Loving the ideas guys. Especially the energy drink one haha. I think we are going to require the kids to leave an id at a check in point and tell them that by leaving their id they acknowledge that they are responsible for any damage done to anything at there station or area or whatever.

Thanks a lot guys! Love the ideas. Your bringing ideas into my head that I wouldn't have thought of before.

robin1989 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 17, 2011, 04:09:44 AM »

one idea would also be to live stream to the web the tournaments - build up a community around it so have people register before use so you then have there details for marketing and also they can maybe get rewards or keep scores on when they play in tournaments etc

techninjadude · « **Reply #13 on:** February 17, 2011, 04:38:41 AM »

Make it epic, or dont do it. Otherwise it will be a Crap bussiness.

frenulem - No.5417 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 17, 2011, 12:12:04 PM »

It's gonna cost a hellva lot of money, also i'd charge Extra and have some RF and Modded controllers, charge abit more to use them, in house tourneys, energy drinks and snacks, comfy chairs, wired controllers. you'd need to put the consoles in a custom housing because the cooling would be a factor, i liked the livestream thing, capture cards, charge a few quid to have a game you choose emailed to you, or put on a memory stick, have a projector or a few screens displaying the big tourney games, have a wide variety of games and have a single player lounge for people that wanna try out a new game before they by it, Thats what i got, supose i should bullet point....

Special Controllers (Mods And LEDs, The jitter is so funny to watch)
In-house tournaments
Comfy chairs is a must
Wired controllers (Or the money you will spend on batteries will be massive)
Cool The consoles well
live stream your big games
Capture cards and charge for copies of games
Single Player Area
Food and enrgy drinks
Get some Gaming paraphernalia, like an airsoft Famas on the wall or something
VIP lounge sounds cool
Do events like machinima's straight to 15th prestige

robin1989 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 17, 2011, 01:32:14 PM »

also if oyu got a liqueur licence you could offer adult nights

Famas · « **Reply #16 on:** February 17, 2011, 01:40:50 PM »

think this is a great topic one thing people havent mentioned witch is a must is communication as for talking over ps3 network etc thats rubbish when your all next to each other theres a great headset on the market called astro these are the best all the pros use em and just are crisp sound quality as for chat you can daisy chain the headsets together meaning you have a private network of team talk just an idea

FOOKz™ · « **Reply #17 on:** February 17, 2011, 04:43:09 PM »

Quote from: Famas on February 17, 2011, 01:40:50 PM

think this is a great topic one thing people havent mentioned witch is a must is communication as for talking over ps3 network etc thats rubbish when your all next to each other theres a great headset on the market called astro these are the best all the pros use em and just are crisp sound quality as for chat you can daisy chain the headsets together meaning you have a private network of team talk just an idea

Thats What I'M talking about!!!

you need the mixamps to connect your astros up together. I have a pair of astro A40 headset and speakers and they dont squeeze your head and the wiring doesn't break like turtle beach. Astro sets are worthwhile even though they are expensive.

jrfhoutx · « **Reply #18 on:** February 18, 2011, 12:10:57 PM »

liquor license and vintage arcade machines for the older crowd

or parents... My favorite place in Houston is the 1820 bar and lounge on a friday night, they open up joystix next door (

by the same people) and you can play some original arcade machines while you're getting smashed...

makes Ms. Pac-Man and Space Invaders so much more fun...

techninjadude · « **Reply #19 on:** February 19, 2011, 03:33:58 AM »

Must be wired Controllers
Sell Consoles/Modded Consoles ( Not Flashed, Tricked Out )
Sell Modded Controllers
Have a Repair Shop
Food and Drinks
Have a Cheat book, some where.
Sell Games
Good Air-conditioning, Fresh Air ( Will be Nice as a Hangout in the Summer )
Cheap TVs,
Make It all suit your budget, and make sure you make lots of money and £10 a day more like £500 a day. So you could buy Upgrades.
Charge people if they break things, and like if they spill something.
Charge them per hour, and the more people on a console the more money.
Make the prices high and Friendly and make offers.
Oh yeah and Dont forget to play a Tycoon Game before you start the Shop. LOL Its does help.
Have a Redemptions area like, you collect points the more you play and use them on food and cheap stuff.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT BORROW ANY MONEY, OTHER WISE YOU WILL BE BANK CORRUPT AS IT IS A CURSE, THAT IS HARD TO DISPOSE OF.

robin1989 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 19, 2011, 03:45:25 AM »

also fill from the front - you want to seat people at consoles starting at the front as people wont go into an empty shop/restaurant/arcade etc maybe even allow staff to play on the consoles if there is no one there as long as it is in the front of lounge this will get people to at least come in and look around.

maybe do like a chicago rock but for gaming with like rare consoles or games or merch on the wall etc

Famas · « **Reply #21 on:** February 19, 2011, 01:33:29 PM »

id suggest like fruit machines do they attract customers to the machine with colour spectrums witch means the prettier and the more they stand out the more people come in and are intrested just a thought

robin1989 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 19, 2011, 04:41:08 PM »

i think in the usa they would need a gambling licence or something for that

Famas · « **Reply #23 on:** February 19, 2011, 05:17:12 PM »

them things make loads of money

DuctTapedGoat · « **Reply #24 on:** February 19, 2011, 06:26:03 PM »

Don't forget to lock down the systems so nobody messes with them - last thing you need is someone attempting a soft mod. Just plexiglas cabinets would be enough.

I like the ID concept, but also put a monthly fee down - this way if someone damages something, you have current billing info to contact them through. It doesn't have to be something huge, just 5 or 10 to start it, 10 or 15 a month to keep it active. For fine print I'd do a 6 month contract, 20 dollars to break contract, contract is transferable for 10, damaging property breaks contract and they're temp banned until they pay the broken contract fee, pay for any repairs, and pay to make a new contract. As well, you gotta be sure you have the guts to ban someone and keep them banned, no exception.

All of your systems should be BRAND new - keep em under the biggest extended warranty you can find.

Find a local modder/repair guy to do inhouse repairs for members, charge the repair guy a cut for the work that's done in shop.

Buy and sell new and used games, parts and accessories.. But - contact police before you set it up, this way they're able to let you know when certain systems and games go missing and might turn up in your shop. When members register, let them register their personal systems with your business. This way if someone steals from a member, you can flag it as stolen, and get the thiefs info from an ID before you deny him the transaction.

Make some promo gear - bumper stickers, case skins, shirts.

You gotta have the docking stations for PCs and Laptops, LAN parties rule.

Most everything has already been mentioned, keep stocked up on Red Bulls, Bawls, Monsters, Rockstars, and Coke products (^_^).

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Author Topic: Opening a gaming lounge (Read 11666 times)

techninjadude

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