Are PC Game centers (cyber gaming center)

[aircooled]

My buddy owns about 800 sq ft of retail space outright, he doesn't use it for anything but storage at the moment. He asked if I'd be interested in setting up a handful of computers for him, do the networking and do all of the installs (OS and games) for a small local "cyber gaming center".

I know these were big years ago, but what about in todays world of everyone having a PC's and high-speed internet at home? He thinks the social aspect of it makes it a good idea. I think the only advantage he has is owning the retail space already. Should I try to get in on this, or just do the installs and walk away. (he just games and really doesn't know much about PC's, repair, or networking).

your thoughts?

 

[Queasy]

depends on the location I would think. These places are huge in Asia but I've never seen them take off in the suburbs of the USA.

 

[aircooled]

Originally posted by: Queasy
depends on the location I would think. These places are huge in Asia but I've never seen them take off in the suburbs of the USA.

His building is definitely in the burbs, it's a booming town but still small-town USA.

 

[RadioHead84]

I think it would work in either a really small town in the middle of no where when people dont have DSL or cable. My friends goto one once and a while and they live in the boonies.

I used to frequent one when I was in highschool at the local mall. The problem is that you really can only make so much at a time. You have to figure that your target audeince are kids..and they are in school for most of the day. You can only charge by the hour...so you would be busy maybe from 4-10. thats only 6 hours a day....and you cant charge too much becuase then no one will come.

I really loved going to the local one i had near my house. This was during the orignal UT, HLDM, and CS was in early beta along with the UT version of it. We had little clans and it was lots of fun. Only problem was that the people in charge..were gamers to....they liked playing a little too much and they broke even and had to shut down.

 

[aircooled]

He works a full time job, so it would only be open on evenings and weekends. I just know that he'll continue to ask for my help fixing PC's, so I'm debating whether to talk him out of it. On the other hand, if it does well, I might as well profit from it...

 

[Schfifty Five]

Originally posted by: aircooled
He works a full time job, so it would only be open on evenings and weekends. I just know that he'll continue to ask for my help fixing PC's, so I'm debating whether to talk him out of it. On the other hand, if it does well, I might as well profit from it...

Being tech support 24/7 for those comps you set up doesn't sound like profit to me hehe.

 

[aircooled]

Being tech support 24/7 for those comps you set up doesn't sound like profit to me hehe.

If I did it, I would create a ghost image of the machines, so software support would be a breeze, hardware support is usually easy (component replacement). I just don't want to put too much effort into this if it's destined to fail, so I'm struggling with whether to try and talk him out of it or get on board and see what happens. In my goggle research, it appears to be hit-and-miss. Some places have survived and do well, while others have dead-link's to their former web site...

 

[Goosemaster]

Hardware is going to kill you though....unless you expect people to come in and play on integrated video.

 

[aircooled]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
Hardware is going to kill you though....unless you expect people to come in and play on integrated video.

That's the good part, he would buy the parts. He's just a good enough friend that I don't want to see him waist alot of money if it doesn't work-out. If he didn't already own the building I would have flat out said "bad idea". I'm just unsure if I want to get involved at all.