POLL: Would you go to a gaming internet cafe?

[zCypher]

Originally posted by: DaZ

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: RossMAN
From the customer stand point - yes that would be nice

From the business owner stand point - do not do it, it will fail, you will be out of business

Actually, RossMAN is for once... wrong.

I have a friend you set one of these up almost a year ago give or take in Cali somewhere. It was indeed hard going for the first few months according to him. He MADE ENOUGH to break even on operating expenses those first few months. I talked to him a few months back, and he was just about ready to open up A SECOND SHOP, and was in the process of scouting locations and such. He was actually turning a profit at the time. No, not hand over fist, but enough to be paying back the "loan" that originally funded the place (the "loan" was approximately $20,000 of his own money and another $20,000 from a silent partner).

Anyway, his main impression upon me was that to make such a business thrive, it's all about LOCATION - finding the right location where you'll get a good amount of clientelle.

Further proof, Switchbox.ca in Calgary Alberta is doing incredible business. They started back in November I think with like 20 PCs, now they have like 38 I think? They constanly have 5-8 people in there.. and seem to have about 15 or so on friday and saturday evenings. Not to mention various tournaments. I think they've managed to pack the place a couple of times already. Of course they picked a great city, there is TONS of money in Calgary, it is afterall, the gas capital of Canada. Plus Calgary has a great and strong gaming community, hell, most of Alberta does, so word of mouth makes for cheap yet effective advertising. And they were lucky enough to open when there wasnt much competition around.

Lets not forget also, Calgary is the home of Shaw Cable, which is one of the top ISPs in North America.. I say so becuase I have not heard of a company that offers what they offer for the price. ie: 2 static IP's, 5mbit downloads, 1mbit uploads, 7 email addresses, and very high transfer caps (I've done over 50gigs this month already). And there are quite a few servers on or very near Shaws backbone.. so 20-40ms pings are not uncommon. Only costs about $20 USD a month aslo. So people can game at home, but for the most part, its a social thing. Not everyone has fast computers, or 3-4 computers at their house. Not to mention not everyone has every game either. You can go to one of these places, and everything is there.

Exactly.

 

[tokamak]

theres a place kinda like what youre describing kinda near my house. i think the rate is $3 an hour, no membership fee. its been there about 2 years, but theres never a whole lot of people, i dont know how the guy does it. its pretty fun, though - me and my friends hang out there every once in a while. one thing to consider is i dont think its legal to just go down to fry's and buy a copy of Half-Life of UT2003 and use it like that. i think you have to contact the game's publisher and negotiate a special license if you are going to have people paying to play said license....