I've been thinking of making a Gamers Cafe

[Cmtz]

I want to make sort of a place where people could enjoy good drinks (non-alcoholic), icecream, sweetbreads and your common junk food. There would be places to sit and enjoy everyone playing while you eat. If you want to relax you grab a beanbag and play some Mario Kart, Meteos, Golden Eye all on your DS or a borrowed DS. There would also be Mario DDR games, SSB, Guitar Hero, House of the Dead and other good 2 or 4 player games. Free Wifi would also be available for anyone who would like to bring their PC or DS. There would also be a monthly fee of 10 to 20 dollars.

What do you guys think?

[Crazycarl]

great idea, but your main problem is making sure youre shit stays in the cafe. Meaning your best idea is set up any thing you have, have large marking, or tags on them iding it to your cafe. something like "This is Stolen". The second is drinks and and crumbs being all over your equipment. they are the only problems i can see. But hell I would go to a place like that.

[stressboy]

I think you would go broke, unless you also charge for the food and DS rentals.

[Cmtz]

I would charge for the food as well, but the DS would be free. Of course it would tagged some how.

[keiblerfan69]

Ok the way it should work with the DS' is that they should either be connection to something or they should have to put down a certain amount that they get in return after returning it. Food should have to be seperate but drinks should be fine. I know I would go to it is it was near me.

[JWKobayashi]

You'd have to have something to make you money while people hung out. I'm not sure that I'd pay an enterance fee, but you just need to make sure that the food and whatnot sells. Otherwise, you're not making money to keep the place running.

I'd check it out though.

[noname11]

there'd be problems with the public performance right under the copyright code , wouldnt there? i think the games themselves state theyre licensed for private viewing only....


unless you're selling the game, like how target displays them , i dont think you could pull off the idea... maybe there'd be a way out if you just provided the system and people brought their own games? but even then u still might be violating pblic performance rights ...

[c0ldb33r]

there'd be problems with the public performance right under the copyright code , wouldnt there? i think the games themselves state theyre licensed for private viewing only...

I think noname's got a good point here.

Plus, I think you'd need to charge more than a $10/$20 monthly fee otherwise you'll sink pretty fast. Rent in commercial spaces is usually pretty outrageous. Then you have to think about all the other expenses and insurance.

[Cmtz]

What about the stores that rent games. How do they get through all of that?

[noname11]

i think there was a lawsuit brought against tower records for that [playing music in the store, like how game stores let you play games in the store ] ... and basically the record companies backed off after tower got the FTC to investigate the record companies for possibly fixing prices [yeah, $19.99 for all CDs wasnt obvious enough] ...but basically what it comes down to is if it aids in the sale of the game its OK ...


As for the game lounge idea, id probably just make it an internet cafe with consoles and argue [if any one complains] that consoles are computers also .... and sell used games there, but i wouldnt promote it as a gamer's lounge in any sense that would make it seem like a public performance [ie where people go there to crowd around a game / to have tournaments]

[smork]

Don't you live in the Rio Grande Valley, cmtz? It's not exactly gamer central down there, you know. I think the idea could work in an area with alot of gamers, like Austin or Houston, but I don't know about in McAllen, etc...

[Skyone]

That'd be the s***, but you'd have to make sure no kids would get the controllers greasy. You could always add a 13 or older sign up. But, ya know, meh, that might be mean...

[Cmtz]

Don't you live in the Rio Grande Valley, cmtz? It's not exactly gamer central down there, you know. I think the idea could work in an area with alot of gamers, like Austin or Houston, but I don't know about in McAllen, etc...

There's plenty of gamers here. They just have a hard time comming out of the woodworks.

[SirDrexl]

Just make sure you don't keep it open 24 hours, or if you do, at least put a limit on how long someone can be there. That way, you don't have guys dropping dead from playing for days at a time.

[whoisKeel]

anthony1 was thinking of something similar awhile back:

I thought it was a cool idea.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/view...light=business

[Damaramu]

Don't you live in the Rio Grande Valley, cmtz? It's not exactly gamer central down there, you know. I think the idea could work in an area with alot of gamers, like Austin or Houston, but I don't know about in McAllen, etc...

There's plenty of gamers here. They just have a hard time comming out of the woodworks.

Oh yeah, there's a little Tapioca drink shop right down the street from where I work. They have a dedicated PC gaming area where you pay to play and they offer free wi-fi. Food is so-so, but the drinks rock.

They've got a big flat panel HD TV in this one lounge area and a few months ago I saw someone with an X-box playing some fighting game on it...I think it was Guilty Gear. Hmmm...

[c0ldb33r]

I'm pretty certain that stores that rent video games have to pay a premium price to do so. At least that's how it used to be for VHS tapes. A rental store tried to get us to pay for a tape once and they were trying to charge us almost $100!

[thehistorian]

I'm pretty certain that stores that rent video games have to pay a premium price to do so. At least that's how it used to be for VHS tapes. A rental store tried to get us to pay for a tape once and they were trying to charge us almost $100!

So don't rent the games.. Rent the controllers...

[c0ldb33r]

I'm pretty certain that stores that rent video games have to pay a premium price to do so. At least that's how it used to be for VHS tapes. A rental store tried to get us to pay for a tape once and they were trying to charge us almost $100!

So don't rent the games.. Rent the controllers...

You'd still be using them in a public setting for profit, so I imagine you'd still need some sort of licensing fee.

[bigdaddychester]

why not bypass all the licensing, rental fees, tagging, etc. and concentrate on operating a true cafe. Nice drinks, simple sandwiches, desserts, and coffee will bring in more repeat business. As the business begins to build a reputation, advertise the fact that you have free wifi and encourage gamers to bring in their DS's and PSP as well as their lap tops. Perhaps have a "competition" night.

It is a great idea you have. I find myself more willing to stick around a place, have a few drinks and play some DS online if the wifi is free and isn't overly crowded, but a portion of the crowd that will come in for coffee in the morning or lunch (these will be the people that will spend the most money) are not going to continue to visit if the place is not inviting. If it is billed as a place just for gamers to hang out at, and there is food available, some people might not bother to stop in.

Besides, you don't want your business to end up as a day care center for a kid with no money in his pocket . I think The Gord has a commandment about that.....