A gaming paradise.

[Puppeteer Putin]

They have to pay a fee to get in, ten bucks at most, three bucks at least, so it would be less than going to buy the game and console.

Lets say you've got office space going at $45/square foot/yr [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901340.html], you're working out of a 250 square foot hole in the wall, you've got a bill of about $1000/mo to pay for the rent. Add in utilities, lets say they're cheap, you're at about $1500/mo. So at about $5/visit we're going to need about 300 visits a month. (This is not considering the price of the consoles, games, and furniture, food, paying employees, ect...)

This is not to be anal, I'm just wondering why places like this tend to fold a lot. It takes a lot of overhead to run these things, and you need to get a lot of visitors to support it. So my thinking is for such an Oasis to survive you'd probably need to start it up in a neighborhood with enough people willing to visit, probably folk who don't own consoles of their own. (Better throw in the cost of theft insurance and bars on the windows.

Pretty much nailed it mate. It's hugely expensive, the insurance would be insane with all those consoles and screens, along with heavily used controllers and seats, causing high replacement costs. Plus, if a controller were to brake, or for that case a whole console set up, you could loose (by you're calculations) at least $20 a day. Plus, it's ultimate problem is that consoles are usually associated with home entertainment rather than a social engagement (except LANs of Online play obviously, so it's not an obvious choice for consumers to make at the considering stage)... and there's the issue of the internet bandwidth, saved games, profiles. They're personalized systems to such a degree that it would be a pain to keep switching.

 

[fallen1]

There is a way to get by the saved games and profiles. You have to set up the system to be able to be logged in with like a card that the person gets. One place I knew did this and when I went there for about a month I never had a problem. The bandwidth at the place was also not bad when there were like 30 or so people all playing a few different games. Places like this, if planned out, don't normally run into those problems, but seeing as we are in an open chat about it you do make a point either way.

 

[geldonyetich]

I'm not saying the idea is completely infeasible, one just needs to have a good location (e.g. a place where there's a lot of people who want a little time on a console but don't own one of their own) some kind of edge (e.g. free rent because the guy that owns the building is your dad) or some kind of hook for the business model to pan out, and that's probably why we don't see too many of these.

 

[fallen1]

I'm not saying the idea is completely infeasible, one just needs to have a good location (a place where there's a lot of people who want a little time on a console but don't own one of their own) some kind of edge (like free rent because the guy that owns the building is your dad) or some kind of hook for the business model to pan out, and that's probably why we don't see too many of these.

I don't think any of us are really saying this is impossible, it is just extremely difficult to start this kind of thing from nothing. If you know people and have some ways to cut the costs (like rent or games even) then you have a better shot.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

My friends house usually works pretty well for that. Xbox live works well too. And there is also the problem of precious few games having multiplayer that isn't over live. But other than that is sounds like a good idea.

 

[SimuLord]

I can say nothing for the video game idea, but places allowing board gamers in and creating a comfortable environment for them are all over the place. Back when I lived in New England the Barnes & Noble in Salem, NH let my then-girlfriend and I come in and play Axis&Allies for hours (those who have played A&A on a board know a game can easily last all day). We bought coffee and the game tended to draw a crowd over the course of the day of people who were wondering what was going on ("are you playing Risk?" was the most common question. I have two theories as to why the manager was so friendly; he either appreciated the customer magnet that our board presented or he wanted a piece of my girlfriend. Either way, he was always happy to see us.