The last 2 things that Virtuamike mentioned are awesome ideas.
Downtown, there is a internet cafe and they run a MP3 server and they also use it for music around the place. It works great and I highly recommend something like that.
As for the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube stuff, you can hold tournaments with those as well. Just pop in games like Super Smash Brothers, Dead or Alive, Halo, Soul Calibur, ect... they do it at the CPL after hours and it draws tons of people.
The place by my house runs a T1 line and their network is fvcK'd bad cause when I was in there, my clan nearly brought down the server.
If you feel so inclined, run a 24/7 CS or Q3 or Wolf server and you can advertise you place all day. Works decently.
Downtown, there is a internet cafe and they run a MP3 server and they also use it for music around the place. It works great and I highly recommend something like that.
As for the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube stuff, you can hold tournaments with those as well. Just pop in games like Super Smash Brothers, Dead or Alive, Halo, Soul Calibur, ect... they do it at the CPL after hours and it draws tons of people.
The place by my house runs a T1 line and their network is fvcK'd bad cause when I was in there, my clan nearly brought down the server.
If you feel so inclined, run a 24/7 CS or Q3 or Wolf server and you can advertise you place all day. Works decently.
I've been heading to LAN stores for the past three years, and this is what i have noticed around here.
1) Environment. Set up an mp3 server as other have mentioned. Keep the mood cool, ambient. Make sure you don't have 20 100w light bulbs powering your store as well, keep the lights down, it'll also contribute to the mood. Darker walls may also help.
2) Computers. Virtuamike pretty much summed it up. Keep them clean too, but LOTS of that disinfectant spray. I loathe handling LAN keyboards/mice.
3) I don't think that the xbox/ps2 gaming consoles are going to be worth it. Your store will probably be known as a LAN store, not a gaming console store.
4) Theft. SECURE EVERYTHING DOWN.
1) Environment. Set up an mp3 server as other have mentioned. Keep the mood cool, ambient. Make sure you don't have 20 100w light bulbs powering your store as well, keep the lights down, it'll also contribute to the mood. Darker walls may also help.
2) Computers. Virtuamike pretty much summed it up. Keep them clean too, but LOTS of that disinfectant spray. I loathe handling LAN keyboards/mice.
3) I don't think that the xbox/ps2 gaming consoles are going to be worth it. Your store will probably be known as a LAN store, not a gaming console store.
4) Theft. SECURE EVERYTHING DOWN.
Just some humorOriginally posted by: iamwiz82
i'll be the first to ask why you would want gamers to untie? Maybe you mean unite?
I have a private CS server running for about a year now. I'll be moving it to the shop along w/ two or three other DS's. ? Good IdeaOriginally posted by: Radeon
If you feel so inclined, run a 24/7 CS or Q3 or Wolf server and you can advertise you place all day. Works decently.
1. MP3 Server is a good idea as well as dimmed lighting.
2. DISENFECTANT!! Lifesaver
3. I already have the consoles, and I know quite a few people who are more into consoles than PC gaming ? plus, some of my customers will want a distraction for their kids who don?t play PC games. Don?t worry, no danger of being known as a console shop!
4. Secure - Roger that.
Minnesota, West Minnetonka/Mound area.
Thanks vash, good input. Comfy chairs, nice screens, got an excellent location on Metro Bus route, across from strip mall & video store, beside burger joint, centrally located in town.
The city part - now that'll be interesting. There's a bar across the street so late hours shouldn't be an issue - don't know about all nighters. The city board could have issues with "Killing" games I suppose. Looks like I'll be attending some City planning meetings. I attended one meeting where they declined a Retail Liquor store because they didn't want the trash element coming into the city - hope there are a few Gamers on the City board!!
-Sketcher
A little advice about the consoles. DO NOT charge people to play them. If you get well enough known, Nintendo will start charging you for charging others to use their games.
A little place similiar to your idea opened up in orange county california. Only the only thing they did was rent console systems. Basically you payed 7.00 an hour and could play on any of the current consoles, any games you wanted. The store offered minimal snacks and drinks, and had 10 of each of the current consoles. You could hook them together for multiplayer gaming etc if the console supported it. They provided the console, 27" TV, controllers, headphones, and games. You provided the 7.00 an hour and the passion for gaming.
Well they earned quite a reputation. They had a HUGE projection TV that they could use to display whatever was happening at any of their stations, so if you had a couple of people going at it on a multiple player game you could watch it.
Somehow the news of the place made it back to nintendo, and nintendo forced them out of business. Either they had to come up with a way to show exactly how many seconds each nintendo game was being played, or pay nintendo a flat fee per a month. The flat fee was outrageous for a little mom and pop place, and to get the time accounting setup and wired into all the consoles was also to much money for them.
So the morale of the story is, if you have nintendo consoles hooked up, don't charge people to use them.
By the way the other video game companies at the time, didn't care. In fact they actually sponsored events at the store and gave away free games and stuff.
So I tip my hat to NEC (Turbo-graphics 16, and SuperGraphics), Neo-Geo, and SEGA. All three of those companies realized the good it was doing to let people try all their equipment and games in a positive atmosphere, without having to lay out the 200.00 - 300.00 for a system and a few games.
A little place similiar to your idea opened up in orange county california. Only the only thing they did was rent console systems. Basically you payed 7.00 an hour and could play on any of the current consoles, any games you wanted. The store offered minimal snacks and drinks, and had 10 of each of the current consoles. You could hook them together for multiplayer gaming etc if the console supported it. They provided the console, 27" TV, controllers, headphones, and games. You provided the 7.00 an hour and the passion for gaming.
Well they earned quite a reputation. They had a HUGE projection TV that they could use to display whatever was happening at any of their stations, so if you had a couple of people going at it on a multiple player game you could watch it.
Somehow the news of the place made it back to nintendo, and nintendo forced them out of business. Either they had to come up with a way to show exactly how many seconds each nintendo game was being played, or pay nintendo a flat fee per a month. The flat fee was outrageous for a little mom and pop place, and to get the time accounting setup and wired into all the consoles was also to much money for them.
So the morale of the story is, if you have nintendo consoles hooked up, don't charge people to use them.
By the way the other video game companies at the time, didn't care. In fact they actually sponsored events at the store and gave away free games and stuff.
So I tip my hat to NEC (Turbo-graphics 16, and SuperGraphics), Neo-Geo, and SEGA. All three of those companies realized the good it was doing to let people try all their equipment and games in a positive atmosphere, without having to lay out the 200.00 - 300.00 for a system and a few games.
Why risk it? Don't charge for using Nintendo consoles.
Run tournaments often, both small and large ones (team and individual games), for console games and PC games. To entice gamers to come in, offer a prize that is representative of the size of the tournament. More prizes mean more people, more exposure, etc.
The biggest difficulty with these things is setting them up and organizing them. Depending on the tourney, you could charge entry fees for individuals or squads. Setting up a webpage sign-up form would be a plus. Make sure to put out flyers and advertisements about the tourneys in teen hotspots, like schools, colleges, local paper.
Run tournaments often, both small and large ones (team and individual games), for console games and PC games. To entice gamers to come in, offer a prize that is representative of the size of the tournament. More prizes mean more people, more exposure, etc.
The biggest difficulty with these things is setting them up and organizing them. Depending on the tourney, you could charge entry fees for individuals or squads. Setting up a webpage sign-up form would be a plus. Make sure to put out flyers and advertisements about the tourneys in teen hotspots, like schools, colleges, local paper.
for the love of god dude... don't get a dell if your really going to go through with this you can make your own systems for a lot less, and with the hardware that you need and none of that stuff you don't.
NRG drinks are a must, i saw someone said something about bawls, gotta have redbull, amp, sobo adreniline (sp), other sobo drinks are good as well as the snapple elements.
space for people to bring their own computers in. maybe there is going to be a big tourny or just a big grouping and people dont want to use your systems, just charge them 5bucks or whatever for network access.
as for games, counter strike is a MUST, war craft 3, starcraft, ghost recon, day of defeat, there are soooo many more.
if you like pm me, i helped set up a business like this here in my home town.
stev0 <- has a lot of good ideas
if your really going to go through with this you can make your own systems for a lot less, and with the hardware that you need and none of that stuff you don't.NRG drinks are a must, i saw someone said something about bawls, gotta have redbull, amp, sobo adreniline (sp), other sobo drinks are good as well as the snapple elements.
space for people to bring their own computers in. maybe there is going to be a big tourny or just a big grouping and people dont want to use your systems, just charge them 5bucks or whatever for network access.
as for games, counter strike is a MUST, war craft 3, starcraft, ghost recon, day of defeat, there are soooo many more.
if you like pm me, i helped set up a business like this here in my home town.
stev0 <- has a lot of good ideas
My suggestions are...
1) If you don't have T1 speeds, don't bother. I'm serious. There is a store in my town that has managed to stay aloft for a little over a year. They have a full T and half of thier customers are just there to surf. The other half are there to on-line game. You will need the bandwidth.
2) build your own, or have custome PC's built. Buy extras. It will be cheaper.
1) If you don't have T1 speeds, don't bother. I'm serious. There is a store in my town that has managed to stay aloft for a little over a year. They have a full T and half of thier customers are just there to surf. The other half are there to on-line game. You will need the bandwidth.
2) build your own, or have custome PC's built. Buy extras. It will be cheaper.
weekly game tournaments with decent prizes, late-night hours (until like 3 or 4 am or hell even open 24 hours) Mabey some arcade machines, also live music or Dj's could attract a pretty decent crowd if you have the room.
late night hours are a definate must, as well as good ac, nothing is worse than being hot at a lan party. T1 would be a must if your going to allow people to play over the internet.
lighting is something else that i don't think anyone said... no flourescent lights. imo wall sconces that shine up, with incandecent bulbs, i might be getting picky, but if your pulling 6hr+ shifts gaming, it will help the eyes a whole lot.
comfortable chairs, nothing is worse than paying and having to park your ass on a hard fold up chair. same goes for nice desks.
here are some pics of a really well thoughtout joint in the minneapolis area. http://www.thestompinggrounds.com/ well everything except for the comps and mice, but you get the idea.
lighting is something else that i don't think anyone said... no flourescent lights. imo wall sconces that shine up, with incandecent bulbs, i might be getting picky, but if your pulling 6hr+ shifts gaming, it will help the eyes a whole lot.
comfortable chairs, nothing is worse than paying and having to park your ass on a hard fold up chair. same goes for nice desks.
here are some pics of a really well thoughtout joint in the minneapolis area. http://www.thestompinggrounds.com/ well everything except for the comps and mice, but you get the idea.
Originally posted by: Sketcher
I'm planning to start a LAN GAMING/PC Repair shop in a local retail space. (and I'm not interested in serving up double foam/half cow/can't pronounce drinks and cookies). OK, mabye cookies...
If this were a shop in your neighborhood, which games would you prefer - and what kind of environment would you like established. In other words, per your opinion What would a local Gaming shop have to provide for you to be a regular customer - or at least an event customer (LAN Party - competition - etc.).
1. I have free 1000 sq ft retail space (I pay utilities only) can expand building if it goes well.
2. Onsite parking and is next to Metro bus stop.
3. Close to Fast Food (discount for gamers), strip mall etc. (will also sell Sam's/Costo frozen/microwave foods).
4. High-speed Internet access. (I just check T-1 prices however, perhaps will build up to that
5. Word Processing & Graphics Arts software w/quality printing hardware (for alternate services to gaming).
6. PC repair & upgrade services.
7. Game Rigs will be mid - high level DELL's, Good cards - I game myself, so I know the importance of good hardware.
8. Enough floor/table space for diehard's to bring your own rig - or just the Box, I supply peripheals.
8. XBOX and PS2 consoles w/ 27" TV's.
9. I have a Data Projector & Movie Screen & DVD Player for "Movie Night". LOTR looks AWESOME on it
FPS games like CS, QIII, UT3 would be a mainstay - but what else is worth building into a LAN shop?
I'm currently a Network Systems Admin so the tech side is a non-issue.
OBVIOUSLY - many of you have great Game Rigs, Broadband and even multiple setups at home - so YOU typically wouldn't be my TARGET MARKET. However, more and more people simply like the social atmosphere - don't have the $$ for a good game system and or enjoy gaming but don't care about computing.[/b] Not to mention, it gets old carrying your computer around everywhere, no matter how cool your case looks.
All input (relevant input that is) Greatly Appreciated!!
Thank you!
-Sketcher
Response to questions in this order:
1. Know what triple net is? What about CAM? Enviromental Impact fees?
3. Know what regulations/licenseing you'll need to sell RTE foods? need a soda vendor? I got one FS.
6 & 7. Wanna buy parts from me? I'll make ya a nice deal on 10 dell rigs right now.
Have you considered insurance? Comprehensive Liability? Lightining? Acts of God? Force Mejure?
-PAB
EDIT: Can you afford security deposits? First and last months rent? State and Federal unemployment as well as payroll taxes? Whats your corprate structure? subchapter s corp, LLP, or chapter c?
Around here (socal), the LAN stores have many many games, but one game is played over all others: CS. Joe Somebody cannot relate to most other games (jk2, rtcw, aoe), but due to the popularity of CS, he probably heard about it.
The Lan stores are PACKED around here. They charge $2 an hour, have leather chairs, headphones, and 19" monitors. Some hold tournaments, others don't.
i'll post a more detailed post later as i have to eat now
The Lan stores are PACKED around here. They charge $2 an hour, have leather chairs, headphones, and 19" monitors. Some hold tournaments, others don't.
i'll post a more detailed post later as i have to eat now
CS
Everquest
America's Army
SC/BW
Diablo II
Have live music as well, including an open mic night, etc.
Sell the bare essentials like Sobe, mochas and energy drinks.
Get food in there that can be eaten in PC zone w/out worries for mess/spills.
Which city?
Everquest
America's Army
SC/BW
Diablo II
Have live music as well, including an open mic night, etc.
Sell the bare essentials like Sobe, mochas and energy drinks.
Get food in there that can be eaten in PC zone w/out worries for mess/spills.
Which city?
Whoah! looks like I better get my head outta the sand!
I'm going to stop by the StompingGrounds this weekend to see what it's like up close. Looks Great. Appears to be a quality setup/establishment. I've found another smaller shop a few towns away - Visiting these shops should fill in a lot of holes give me some ideas that haven't crossed the page yet. Thanks for the Link stev0.1. Nope, Nope and Nope.
3. I don't need no stinkin' licenses!
- j/k. My Father in-law owns the property and already operates a Resturaunt next to it - He's zoned the additional lot and building I'll start in for 24 hour service and is going to teach me the ropes. He's been in business for 30+years and knows just about everything I'll have to learn and deal with. I'll be using his vendors for food and drinks.6 & 7. Thank you but don't want to buy parts or Dell's from you. I've built 7 mid to high end Game rigs myself, and am starting out with almost all new warranted equipment. I'm considering building my own systems, but I'm also keeping in mind a lease agreement with DELL. If I build them, that's a capital expense that I won't recover in the event this flops. If I initially lease the equipment, and have to shut down - I fulflill my lease requirements but am not out the full expenditure for the initial outlay of equipment.
Insurance = covered, all that jazz is covered by my In-laws place and the workings out between my Father-inlaw and the city. Like I said, he'll be teaching me the ropes of small biz and ownership.
Security Deposits, First/Last Month's Rent = Like I mentioned in the original post = I only have to pay utilities for the building expenses. The building is paid for. The in-laws will let me use it rent free - and the lot and foundation are layed out for expansion if needed. As for the chapter this, structure that = I'm learning as I go. Fortunately, I have a Father-in-Law who's a best friend. He's one of the longest and most reputably established businesses in town. He knows what I need to run a business and has agreed to do what he can to help me with it.
Who knows, it might not go beyond a small PC Repair, occasional LAN Party shop. Then again, the StompingGrounds looks pretty cool. It'd be nice to go that route. Either way, I have a lot to learn and am not going to be sidetracked because of a learning curve. The money is a factor - I don't need to get rich, but I do need to pay the mortgage and keep the wife and kids taken care of!
Get a custom neon sign that has a "( . Y . )" (exactly like that), and an arrow pointing at your shop
Then make pr0n sights the homepage and have special sections like "ghey, animals, bi" etc
Charge $8 an hour and start raking in the $$
Then make pr0n sights the homepage and have special sections like "ghey, animals, bi" etc
Charge $8 an hour and start raking in the $$
good luck sketcher, there is one of these shops local where i live, only about a few blocks away. its near some fast food resturaunts and a supermarket. its REALLY popular, and really successful. theres always people in there gaming away (24-7). usually high school kids to do gaming. its called rivalution, i personally never go at all, but my friends go a LOT. just today, about 16 of my friends headed over there after school to have a LAN party. keep in mind they have incredibly fast computers and internet at home, but are going for the atmosphere. i went only a few times with my buddies, and the insides are really clean, with comfy chairs. its dark inside, with air conditioning etc. seems like a real nice place to kick it and do whatever.
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