Asa Jay's weblog

This morning I ran across an article on slashdot (www.slashdot.org) which asked the question “Can a Gaming Cafe be Successful. The article is linked here:
(http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/06/08/12/0056211.shtml).

Although my business focus is not strictly on gaming, one part of the plan was to be able to support gaming and encourage gamers to come in and utilize pre-positioned hardware. Feedback on the above mentioned article provided different opinions, examples, and stories of both success and failure. The overall feeling was that a gaming cafe -can- be successful. Here are some selected quotes and paraphrases:

“Springfield Mall in Fairfax County (not far from the Franconia/Springfield Metro Station), Virginia has a cyber cafe which also offers gaming on PCs and game consoles and its doing really well. They also have WiFi for people who bring in their own laptops. I’d say go for it!” (TheZorch (925979))

Another person writes about www.backspace.bz in downtown Portland OR. The place has been doing well for three years, is tied in with an art gallery and serves up tables for board gaming, console gaming, pc gaming, arcade gaming and a pool table; in addition, they are located in a swanky part of town catering to middle to high incomes. (kindlekoma (994806))

A general theme is that most gamers just want a place to hang out and be social, without having to bring their own equipment and spend time on configurations; they want to game and have fun. (Orangejesus (898961)) This person also goes on to say “. . . the gaming place I go to is open 24/7 and after 5 hours is free, (5 an hour) So it’s pretty common for us to just go and set up shop and do an overnight there playing till the wee hours of the morning.” (Orangejesus (898961))

One poster had an interesting comment related to marketing, “The guys running the computer place in my neighborhood has it figured out: hot high school girls. Apparently, they get paid 15 an hour, which is decent, but obviously draw in the entire geek crowd (especially from their high school). They sell computers, too.” (darkmeridian (119044)) The idea of using young girls is appealing to draw in the geek crowd, but it’s not my aim. His more pertinent comment that gets lost at the end is that the business sells computers as well, this indicates another tie-in rather that just being a gaming place. Of course, I’ll have to keep the other in mind if I even do a gaming night and want to draw a crowd.

A differing opinion indicates the idea isn’t very viable, “I live in the Chicago area (Chicago proper) and internet access is pervasive. I’m not just talking about in the home. I’m talking about other places that offer free internet access in addition to beverages and food.” (IANAAC (692242))

In support of my overall plan, one author had positive things to say about additional services. Adding printers, scanners and other office supply feature that people could use during the day; host special events targeted to specific ages or individuals; perhaps use a credit card like system for memberships and cash back programs; work out an advertising and sales deal with other businesses. (grapeape (137008))

“. . . more creative business establishments would use something like that as an attraction to compliment their other business.” (mark_lybarger (199098))

“. . . if you combine food/coffee with the gaming, you may be onto something.” ( vbwilliams (968304))

KagatoLNX (141673) who actually runs a place (geekerz.us) along with three other folks, puts some things into perspective. He/She mention that at a hypothetical $5 per hour, it still takes a lot to cover expenses. Some people just want to come in and surf or play games a little, and they will if it’s available instead of doing it at home. There may be other reasons, such as college students who need to get out of the dorm for a while or don’t trust their roomate. And last, they mention how a person should not “go it alone” and should makes sure they budget for equipment upgrades because nobody likes to use outdated equipment. I found this to be very good advice.

Poster cbreaker (561297) had some advice on things to avoid:

• “Ruthless monitoring of the players. If you have the game police watching everyone and barking every time someone does something you don’t like, it will keep people away REAL fast. Make sure you have a supply of keyboards and mice. They’re cheap. Don’t worry about them so much.”
• “Tailoring to the very young kids. While families might visit a gaming center once in awhile, you don’t want to alienate your core customer group by forcing them to be proper little gentlemen because sometimes a young kid might play. Some ediquite is a good idea, but be too strict and you’ll drive them right away.”
• “Limiting internet usage. Don’t limit internet usage. Sure, you could block porn sites, but don’t block everything else. “

. . . and some things to consider offering:

• “A game cafe should have a method of quickly regenerating a PC to “defaults” and should have a couple machines on stand-by. If you don’t have to worry about users screwing up Windows, you don’t have to be the PC Nanny.”
• “You should also provide stations for people that want to bring in their own PC’s. You could charge the same amount of money, but let people use their own equipment. If I am going to go to someplace like this for a bunch of hours with some friends, I want to bring my own PC, my own LCD screen, and my own keyboard+mouse.”

One Anonymous Coward wrote about the possible problem with teens and items coming up missing. His or her point was that a gaming cafe would be of most interest to teens, not adults, and that many teens can be delinquents.

Now this person has a cool idea, “I know a guy that has a successul gaming business. He offers a laundry feature. So people can clean their clothes while they purchase \ play games. This is a great idea considering alot of gamers need to clean their clothes anyways. btw I’m an evil genius.” (dredknight (994814)) Where have I heard this one before?

miyako (632510) is another poster who mentioned more than just games, supplying table tops and other services that gave patrons a better experience.

These comments and a whole lot more provided a lot of insight to a part of my business model. I’m keeping the page bookmarked and will refer back to it in the future.

Generally, I found most comments were positive but always showed there was more to the idea than just supplying some space and computers for rent. In most cases there was another tie-in, such as coffee, drinks and couches; the business supplied a place to relax and socialize as well as game. Cautions were given to not be very strict or focus on just one area of business. Suggestions included:

• Open table tops for board gaming.
• Empty desks with computer hookups for hire (bring your own pc)
• Offer Console and arcade gaming .
• Offer food and drinks.
• Listen to the customers to see what they would like to see.
• Keep up the equipment, update as necessary, don’t let it get old.
• Focus on specific targets, such as teens for gaming, adults for work related business, etc.
• Don’t forget about vandalism, take steps ahead of time.
• Know your neighbors, the businesses next door, help them and they’ll help you.
• Don’t try to do it all on your own, get business partners (or family).

Overall I think this was some really good insight to a portion of the market. From here I still need to do some personal surveying in Airway Heights, but this gives me a lot to think about.

Asa Jay