Other Opening LAN gaming center, need input...

I think that by default all new registered people should see all forums/threads/posts as read.. Since it seems that it's always new-comers who dig up the oldest threads ever =\

 

Sorry about not posting back. I've been very very busy writing a business plan to try and get this off of the ground. I've also been doing tons of research. I have a pretty good idea of some of the downfalls generally associated with gaming centers. My biggest problem is finding a good location. I am looking at running 8800GT graphics cards with C2D processors and 2 gigs of ram. Each machine will be about $1k US. I will be based in Colorado Springs Co. I am looking for a location that is close to schools and next to (hopefully in the same property) food. I have already taken the AC into account, as well as the cleanliness factor. I will inspect each workstation after users are done with them to ensure cleanliness. I am also going to ensure the bathroom is clean etc. I am looking at putting a sign up asking all customers to wash their hands after done to avoid the spreading of germs in such an environment. I'm the most worried about getting started honestly. I've never opened a business and that is going to be my biggest challenge. I've gone through some business courses and determined that if the market will support such a business it will be difficult for me to fail with all the ideas for promotion i've got. I'm going to do old school tournaments like Pong, and frogger. (Anyone seen grandma's boy?) I'll have days like challenge the old fart at your favorite game, and if people beat me they get like 2 free hours on a puter or something like that. Monster, Ballz, Dew, Starbucks will all be offered as drinks, but I will prohibit eating at consoles. I will have a seperate cafe for people to eat at and maybe have vidz of games running in a continuous loop on there. I'm still trying to generate other ideas, and thanks to all that have responded.

 

I've also got the idea of going to pick kids up in the winter due to the fact that I have a 4wd Jeep. Maybe like a Gaming Jeep taxi to prevent customers from not coming due to the weather.

 

I think you're cornering yourself if you go specifically for gaming. As soon as a non-gamer sees a gaming centre they are instantly put off. Try and appeal to other computing activities that might require powerful machines. For example, a Photoshop course (as I've already mentioned) and other computing workshops. Even teaching people to use the Microsoft Office programs would be popular. Licences are obviously a bit of a problem but considering the average Photoshop course charges about £300 a day I wouldn't worry too much

 

While this is a great idea, it is simply not for me. For one I am not exactly photoshop savvy. I mean I can resize a picture and all but that's about it. Furthermore, it is going to be a gaming center first and foremost. I am going to have problems getting a loan for a gaming center/misc seminar hosting center. I feel that your ideas are good but I'm trying to be successful at one thing first. Then I will try my hand at other endeavors. Like you said also, the last time I checked Office and Photoshop aren't exactly cheap programs to purchase legitimate licenses for. Also, this is probably going to be a one man operation for a while so training would be difficult. Any other ideas that you guys can come up with?

 

What games will you have?

How many PCs, consoles etc. will you offer?

Also group rebate would be cool! We have a LAN party once in a while, 18-20 people. It would be great to go to such a center, just sit down and play, but the cost is too high for the lot of us. Especially since we would play many many hours.

 

I wasn't suggesting you actually did the training yourself. You could loan out the centre to professionals who can do it. They pay you to use it for a day course or something. During school terms its going to pretty quiet during the day anyway. So take advantage of that.

Just as an idea of how much money people pay for these things. I was looking into photoshop courses the other day for my sister and the cheapest I could find was £300 for a day (9 - 5)! They hold the workshops in universities during the holidays. They aren't affiliated with the UNI, they just hire the empty computer labs. Say you loaned out the PC's to a service like that, even with only 20pc's at 20% per PC you're making £1200 for 8 hours and all the PC's are free in time for the gamers.

 

I think this is a great idea but keeping steady income might be hard.... maybe some kind of resteraunt attached would be helpful. Corperate sponsors might help.

 

Corporate sponsorship is going to be pretty tough from what i've heard as lan centers only occupy like 13% of the gaming population which means marketing for Nvidia etc isn't going to shell out for them. As far as the setup goes it's posted on the first page but roughly 40 pcs and 10-20 Xbox 360's. PS3 is going to have to wait as there aren't to many multiplayer games out for it yet. Wii's will be for downloading the retro games and also for playing gimmick games like golf/bowling/etc. Now that you've explained the courses things I think it will definately be something I look into. On a side note I went to the local gaming center this weekend for some under the table research. The dude only had 3 copies of the new splinter cell game for his consoles yet he has 8 xbox360's. That just didn't make sense to me. Also he didn't even have COD 4 yet and it's been out in the us for like 3 weeks now. Consequently getting the latest games will be priority one for me as you don't want people to leave because you were too stupid to have the game they wanted to play. His excuse was that he had it on PC so therefore isn't going to buy it on the consoles. The three other people that were with me hate playing on PC's and refused to play it that way. Learned some interesting things there. Also, I went into the bathroom when he first opened the door (10 minutes late) and it was filthy. I mean he could have at least cleaned it right after he closed the night before. Just little things that my business sense were picking up that I know I could do better than him. As far as group discounts for parties go that is a definate yes. I will hold tournaments with lock-ins etc. Nothing like guaranteed business for X number of hours. Keep the ideas coming fellas. I'm writing everything down.

 

Well Good luck to you, I would recommend that you do a lot more research. A place that you may want to check out that has a lot of information is www.igames.org, it is the closest thing to a trade organization that game center industry has. Further more I can only assume you are talking about my center since the other center in Colorado Springs only has 2 Xbox 360's. If you had just come and talked with me instead of bad mouthing my successful business that is not only the largest center in Colorado but also been open for 2 years, I may have been willing to be more helpful. As it is your thoughts on how to run a center are very nice in thought and fail in practice. But good luck to you, I hope you can get it off the ground and it does not die were so many other centers do, in someone’s head.

 

IM from COLORADO SPRINGS

...Okay. I was involved with a LAN center by the name of EVERLAN. they licensed the name from the EVERLAN gaming conventions in Colorado Springs. We were right across the street from Palmer High school, next to the flower shop and the carls jr. We had a great clientele basis. The owners moved the store over by dougherty hs due to high rent costs. A couple of things that my old "home" did well...
1. They had great location
2. They had great consessions
3. They had good pricing
4. They had a great envoirnment, I believe around 24-30 pcs, a dedicated server, great games, and BETA games( I played WoW when you could fish in little rain ponds in the middle of the road, I played CS:S on DE_DUST when it first came out)
5. They partnered with large companies, got discounts and sponsorships.
6. They sponsored a couple of In house teams, We progressed through CAL-M seasons, we had team 3d come down and play with us.
A couple of things they could have done right....
A. They werent too involved in their community
B. They werent involved in gathering new business, relying on the high school as a sole means of income.
C. They moved their location to a crappy location, but managed to keep the new location just as big.

-----------------------------------

So. All in all, What they did worked for them. The fact that the owners both had full time jobs, and families detracted from their business. I think what really caused their failure is

I. The move to a worse location
II. Not being involved with the community around them
III. Not finding a new stream of income, or offering different services
IV. No marketing.


If you want to talk to me about this email me! Im currently writing up a business plan for the LAN center I'm starting, would love to talk to you about Ideas.


-Klepto

 

Chocolate machine,
Crisp machine,
Coffee machine,
Can machine,
Lots of competitions to enter like beat em up games, FPS tournaments, inter-LAN cafe tournaments.

 

Wii users are gamers too ya know.

Would also attract women. Not necessarily a bad thing ... however LAN owner may want to introduce a deodrant dispenser because LAN gamers are notoriously SMELLY and I hear women don't get that.

 

OMG I just noticed this thread is 2 years old ... lol

Bit late on the post their Klepto!