A pc gaming lounge in NYC

[Workpac]

Are you sure that 7$ is correct?

http://www.nycnextlevel.com/pricing

Gaming Area Hourly Rates:
$3.00 for the first hour, per person
$2.50 onward per hour, per person
(Hourly rates require an photo I.D. or $10.00 deposit)
$10.00 daily flat rate, per person

Rentals:
$3.00 per joystick
$2.00 per pad
(Requires a photo I.D. for rentals)

You would be paying for the controller too. That means for the first three hours you would be paying 11.5 dollars plus a refundable $10 deposit to play with a controller vs paying $20 for 3 hrs with me and you get 4k gaming plus the option of keyboard/mice or controller plus the gaming headsets and the ability to save your game. Either scenario you need to walk into the store with at least $20 for three hours. In the former cast you get to play at maybe 1080p if that and walk away with $10 extra dollars or stay and play an additional 5 hours.. AND i my case you get the added experience of 4k, headset, keyboard or controller, and the ability to come back at a later time and continue where you left off. The model of the company you showed is meant to keep people as long as possible. My model is meant to keep people circulating. Though there is still a potential problem of whether or not people are willing to pay $7 at least I can claim to offer a experience while the other one offers a better value. It comes down to consumer preference and I would be willing (if possible) to offer a better bundle for 3hrs if that were necessary.

 

[Rakehellion]

How is this objective feedback? You are giving me your wholly biased opinion which is what I asked for but do not be surprised when I respond to stuff like this.

Biased? You don't even know what side I'm on so you can't claim I'm biased, sugartits.

EA knows that ~99% of gamers don't have 4K sets, so they optimize the game to look best at 1080p or whatever, meaning texture resolution and mesh quality will simply be nonexistent to fill in the gaps.

4K is a gimmick. If that's the only thing you're offering customers, then you're screwed.

I agreed with the first half of this but the latter half is purely opinion. I know more people who play on pc than people who play DC and GH. This is my subject to my experiences but it obviously differs from yours. If you are older and wiser than me then perhaps you should be more objective.

"You should be objective." "I know some people."

Do you even read what you type?

 

[Workpac]

I don't think gamers would pay to play at a lounge for 4k gaming when they could save that money up and buy the equipment themselves.

You need to be able to provide them a service/experience that they can't just save up money for and set it up at home, i.e socializing type environment etc

I agree I was hoping that the gaming head set, gaming chair, 4k and stuff in addition to the social aspect would be enough to provide an experience they cant get at home.

 

[Homerboy]

I agree I was hoping that the gaming head set, gaming chair, 4k and stuff in addition to the social aspect would be enough to provide an experience they cant get at home.

Gaming headset? You mean I get to use the same ear-wax covered, spit-riddled headset as the fat, sweaty, unshowered dude used right before me?

I'm in!

 

[NoCreativity]

You've got an excellent business case. I say open at least a half dozen shops, maybe more, around NYC. Look to expand to other cities within the first couple years. This idea is a goldmine.

 

[Workpac]

Biased? You don't even know what side I'm on so you can't claim I'm biased, sugartits.

EA knows that ~99% of gamers don't have 4K sets, so they optimize the game to look best at 1080p or whatever, meaning texture resolution and mesh quality will simply be nonexistent to fill in the gaps.

4K is a gimmick. If that's the only thing you're offering customers, then you're screwed.



"You should be objective." "I know some people."

Do you even read what you type?

EA barely produces games that output at 1080p. The trick is that the extra pixels come with more screen real estate and in turn produces more detailed, and crisp images. 1080p has in the neighborhood of 2million pixels while 4k has 4 times as many so that is 8 million. That is no gimmick. 4k is a gimmick for television because tv shows are not recorded in 4k, and they often scale them. But you are right 99% of gamers dont have 4k sets which is why I thought this to be a plausible proposition.

 

[Workpac]

You've got an excellent business case. I say open at least a half dozen shops, maybe more, around NYC. Look to expand to other cities within the first couple years. This idea is a goldmine.

Why do you say this? Everyone else clearly seems to disagree lol

 

[Homerboy]

EA barely produces games that output at 1080p. The trick is that the extra pixels come with more screen real estate and in turn produces more detailed, and crisp images. 1080p has in the neighborhood of 2million pixels while 4k has 4 times as many so that is 4 million. That is no gimmick. 4k is a gimmick for television because tv shows are not recorded in 4k, and they often scale them. But you are right 99% of gamers dont have 4k sets which is why I thought this to be a plausible proposition.

I hope your accounting skills are better than your math skills

 

[Workpac]

I hope your accounting skills are better than your math skills

Lol I had the number in mind but erased and retyped and well...

 

[GrumpyMan]

If I were a loan officer I would tell you, sorry, no can do. Why?, because the cost of 4k monitors will be plummeting soon just like every single other product has done, and you will be out of business since everyone will have one or more at home. Just like Plasma TVs when they first came out. And your loan terms would have to be for longer than you could stay in business.

 

[Workpac]

If I were a loan officer I would tell you, sorry, no can do. Why?, because the cost of 4k monitors will be plummeting soon just like every single other product has done, and you will be out of business since everyone will have one or more at home. Just like Plasma TVs when they first came out. And your loan terms would have to be for longer than you could stay in business.

Well in my business plan I plan to always be ahead of the curve. I would upgrade to 8k monitors when they come out and then occulus rift... etc etc. While the price of 4k tvs and monitors are decreasing, dont expect them to be affordable within the next couple of years. Think of it like 3-D. The price of 3-D tvs dropped slowly, even with low demand. Then there is the cost to power the screens. The cost of computers with that capability will not drop in the near future either. Nvidia will probably not drop their prices too much below what hey have historically charged and AMD and their drivers are not reliable enough for a gaming lounge, and even if they were they are major power guzzlers and serious heat projectors. Not economical at all.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Why do you say this? Everyone else clearly seems to disagree lol

 

[momeNt]

Well from a security standpoint, the products you are buying depreciate very quickly, and the resale market for them is pretty much eBay.

When you get a loan for a restaurant, the restaurant equipment doesn't depreciate as quickly, and there is a market for going out of business restaurant equipment auctions that helps banks feel better about securing these loans.

Very few businesses have the capital depreciation that a PC lan center would have. Which makes it tough to secure a loan.

 

[Workpac]

I appreciate the time you spent looking for that fancy image but I got it which is why I asked him why he said that lol. I was trying not be presumptuous and gave him the benefit of the doubt in the unlikely event that he was going to give feedback..

 

[hoorah]

As with everyone else here I don't see it happening. I don't know what kids today are doing, but growing up as a gamer I gamed on what I had available and it was generally good enough. If I wanted better, I worked/saved and bought a graphics card, memory, and that made the game better, but mostly if it ran halfway decent it was fine at whatever quality level. I never had the urge to rent a chance to play anything 'maxed out'. But thats just me.

As many others have said, any PC gamer is going to have their own rig, and the amounts you'd have to charge people to keep the business open are going to make it cost-prohibitive for a customer to rent. For example just throwing out some random numbers, for 3 'sessions' at $20 I think most gamers would rather just spend $60 on getting 1 or 2 tiers higher graphics cards in their own machine.

I'd personally never go to a gaming lounge but I understand I'm not in the target demographic. That said, if there were a place where I could bring my own rig/laptop, play a few LAN games with friends, and connect locally to a common repository of blu-ray rips I'd say you'd be getting warmer.

 

[Workpac]

Well from a security standpoint, the products you are buying depreciate very quickly, and the resale market for them is pretty much eBay.

When you get a loan for a restaurant, the restaurant equipment doesn't depreciate as quickly, and there is a market for going out of business restaurant equipment auctions that helps banks feel better about securing these loans.

Very few businesses have the capital depreciation that a PC lan center would have. Which makes it tough to secure a loan.

That is true. My solution was to sell it every two years and buy in bulk. But this is true the depreciation on the assets would be much too fast and even my solution is only mitigating a cost (which would be a cost that many other businesses do not face). That is perhaps one of the main things keeping me from pulling the trigger.

 

[Workpac]

As with everyone else here I don't see it happening. I don't know what kids today are doing, but growing up as a gamer I gamed on what I had available and it was generally good enough. If I wanted better, I worked/saved and bought a graphics card, memory, and that made the game better, but mostly if it ran halfway decent it was fine at whatever quality level. I never had the urge to rent a chance to play anything 'maxed out'. But thats just me.

As many others have said, any PC gamer is going to have their own rig, and the amounts you'd have to charge people to keep the business open are going to make it cost-prohibitive for a customer to rent. For example just throwing out some random numbers, for 3 'sessions' at $20 I think most gamers would rather just spend $60 on getting 1 or 2 tiers higher graphics cards in their own machine.

I'd personally never go to a gaming lounge but I understand I'm not in the target demographic. That said, if there were a place where I could bring my own rig/laptop, play a few LAN games with friends, and connect locally to a common repository of blu-ray rips I'd say you'd be getting warmer.

Ahhh I see. Thank you for your input. While you probably are not a part of my target demographic it would be nice if it were possible to find a way to hook people like you too. But this is a very good suggestion.. thanks again.

 

[Markbnj]

To be a successful entrepreneur, by definition, you have to put your all into an idea that nearly everyone thinks is a bad one, or at best hasn't considered yet. If there was a consensus that the idea was a good one, someone else would have done it already. The risk for the entrepreneur, of course, is that most ideas aren't good enough, and the crowd's wisdom is often right. That doesn't deter the successful entrepreneur, because he or she is crazy. So, have fun.

For what it's worth: I agree with the general consensus that you are unlikely to recreate the era of the arcade around high-end PC gaming. At the least I think you would need to support console games, possibly food and drink, and possibly other kinds of activities in order to get enough revenue to support the high capital investment and ongoing operating costs. You should take a hard look at trends for comparable brick-and-mortar leisure services like movie theaters, play centers, sports centers, etc.

 

[MrDudeMan]

I appreciate the time you spent looking for that fancy image but I got it which is why I asked him why he said that lol. I was trying not be presumptuous and gave him the benefit of the doubt in the unlikely event that he was going to give feedback..

I feel like I need to post the picture again, but that might put us in an endless loop.

 

[MrDudeMan]

To be a successful entrepreneur, by definition, you have to put your all into an idea that nearly everyone thinks is a bad one, or at best hasn't considered yet. If there was a consensus that the idea was a good one, someone else would have done it already. The risk for the entrepreneur, of course, is that most ideas aren't good enough, and the crowd's wisdom is often right. That doesn't deter the successful entrepreneur, because he or she is crazy. So, have fun.

For what it's worth: I agree with the general consensus that you are unlikely to recreate the era of the arcade around high-end PC gaming. At the least I think you would need to support console games, possibly food and drink, and possibly other kinds of activities in order to get enough revenue to support the high capital investment and ongoing operating costs. You should take a hard look at trends for comparable brick-and-mortar leisure services like movie theaters, play centers, sports centers, etc.

I would probably go to a strip club if there were console gaming stations. Grinding + fragging = win. Now THAT'S how you do it, kids.

 

[TwiceOver]

Why not. Aren't people literally dying to play at places like this in Korea, Japan, China?

Personally though, I wouldn't worry about 4k that's not what drives people to places like this. Also, you need to have a real IS person look at your plans. It isn't as simple as building up some machines and installing games. You need Group Policy, Windows Servers, intrusion prevention, enough server space for saving user profiles, disk quotas for those profiles, internet filtering, not to mention a fat pipe of internet.

EDIT: Linux servers for hosted games, virtual servers, clustering failover. This is the type of business that can't afford to be down for a couple days while you google how to fix domain issues when your DC is down.

 

[hoorah]

 

[Workpac]

Why not. Aren't people literally dying to play at places like this in Korea, Japan, China?

Personally though, I wouldn't worry about 4k that's not what drives people to places like this. Also, you need to have a real IS person look at your plans. It isn't as simple as building up some machines and installing games. You need Group Policy, Windows Servers, intrusion prevention, enough server space for saving user profiles, disk quotas for those profiles, internet filtering, not to mention a fat pipe of internet.

EDIT: Linux servers for hosted games, virtual servers, clustering failover. This is the type of business that can't afford to be down for a couple days while you google how to fix domain issues when your DC is down.

Yea I was going to go with igames and I had a few software programs in mind for this type of stuff

 

[Newell Steamer]

Hey - best of luck!!

Be sure to announce the location!!

 

[Rakehellion]

To be a successful entrepreneur, by definition, you have to put your all into an idea that nearly everyone thinks is a bad one

No, that isn't what success is about at all. And this has been done before, but we're in a different era.