Tips for a Gamers Buisness.

[Dare]

So.. My boss, and His boss, have multiple buisnesses, and a fuckton of money.
Lets start there. Lets also state that their bullshit. Alot. But they have alot of buisnesses, and funds.

Now, repeatedly, they've discussed opening a Gaming Center to compete with the other two in town, in one of the unused parts of one of their mini-malls.

At this point, I've been hired to plot a budget for getting it up an running. A base number that will include everything it needs to meet the competition, and beat them. Do I think this buisness will actually happen? Its definitely a possibility, yes, as they've made dumber buisness ventures this year.

But all that beside the point, Im treating it as a straight up assignment for work, and as such, Im taking it seriously.

So my first order of buisness was recon out the competition.

Galaxy Lan, and Gamers Arcade.

Gamers Arcade fails, just.. in general. No point in even going on with them.
The real competition will be Galaxy Lan.

They are packing around 20 computers, large spread out area, dim lighting (of course) more than fair service rates, they are also doing custom gaming computer sales, computer repairs, and they also have 4 47 inch TV's each with its own Wii / 360 / ps3 to go with them.

Were looking at a smaller grouping. 10 to 15 machines, 2 TV's with 360's. Mebbe more in time.

The upside is the hardware.. Most of Galaxy Lan's Rigs are Intel D.C.s, with Nvidia geforce 8800's, with 2 gigs of ram.



Now, Im aware thats fairly easy to beat at a budget, nowadays, but what would you all recommend? Im truly out of my depth here at this moment in time. I can price the computers, but I'm not sure how powerful to go. I checked out their peripherals at G.L, And again, nothing particularily fancy.

Grah.. Im so lost. I keep trying to plot what sort of web connection we'll need, what the overhead is gonna run us for power and webs alone, how many backup pieces we'll need for shit thats going to break down, wether to go with self-built systems, or buy from a manufacturer (Thinking of monitors and Windows Vista itself for the extra price those cause)

Shit guys.. Help me out as always, hold my hand, and pass on any tips about buisness you all might have had at this point that you can guide me with.

To be frank, the bosses have damn near unlimited funds. But of course getting them to go in for higher end shit is going to be like trying to get gold from a water spout. But if we want to beat the competition I think were going to have to.

Bleh.

Love you all. Help my foolish lostness.

-Dare

[MAGIC]

Sledgehammer would be the one you want to chime in here, or contact directly. I know he has personal experience with setup and management of a lan gaming center. And, he pretty much knows everything and is better than anyone at videogames, true story.

I would think you want to contact vendors for sponsorship of the facility to get deals on hardware.

As far as how powerful your computers have to be, look at the competition: what they are running and be compairable or better. But, in the same breath you dont want to have to upgrade everything immediately after startup.

As far as power and network capability. You should determine the capacity you will have and contact different vendors that can service your area. They will be able to give you the best estimate of service you need.

And, even if you boss has unlimited funds. If you can show them a cost savings report showing what they would have spent if they bought everything strait up vs. how much you saved them by negotiating with pc vendors and utility companies, thats job security.

Good luck.

[Nate_LapT]

I used to run a lan center, they cost way more than you think, and cost way more than you think to run. and you make way less than you expect. these are FACTS. and btw, I have a few business plans written for a new store I would like to open. Just isnt happening until I find some investors.

http://picasaweb.google.com/digitalhi5/TheBattleGround#

[NiGHTS]

No idea on how to set it up, but FWIW if all you're doing is getting paid to recommend hardware, do it. Otherwise if you have any actual interest in this idea, I'd walk away from it. Setting up shop with 2 other centers nearby sounds like an incredibly terrible location, given minimal returns with this specific type of business.

[Nate_LapT]

its BEYOND a horrible idea. I dont even want to reason with why its such a horrible idea its such a horrible idea.

[Nate_LapT]

setting up the hardware is only 5% of the job,the rest is scripting and re scripting as games patch to block your scripting on a week to week basis's

[Dare]

Truly appreciate all the sound advice, both the cons, and the negs, I truly do.
Nate: I take your advice to heart mate, but the other buisnesses are spread out in a fairly large town, our location is right off the main interstate, and the main drag in the town.

One of the opposing buisnesses is going under due to crappy hardware and customer service.

The other, is flourishing.

For now, I'll take the other advice answered, do my best to show what edges Im giving my bosses in trying hard, but if they go with it, in this market, with the kids around here.. It'll actually do pretty good buisness. Only one real competitor and its across town for the most part. We'll be smaller, but with better hardware. It'll probably be a nightmare from hell, but it wont be my buisness. I'll just be the guy they call for help.

And believe me, I'll make them pay out the nose for it while I can if I can. =/ May be cold of me to think that way, but we've all got bills to pay. And it'll give me time to look for a nice, safe, sane, regular, dependable job, while Im going about the insanity.

Thats IF, they even do anything with it, and thats a big If. Im skeptical. But open to possibilities. I truly appreciate the input guys, and I will consider it seriously on each step. Ive learned the value of others experience.

[Nate_LapT]

well I'll give you some free pointers, your demographics better be huge to compete. you better open huge, charge at a decent rate and dont price war with the other store. that is the worst thing any center has done in the past 10 years. Devalue your store to where you can NEVER recover. Once you drop rates you cant go back up. at least within 12 months min.

This type of business takes close to a year to fully research. join igames.org and you'll see the extent of what goes into this. Along with they have all the partnerships with microsoft and all the publishers.

[Dare]

You rock.
Considered, and will check it out. Appreciate the tips to no end, bud. I really am lost in the dark for the most part, have no experience in all this stuff. So trust me, I'm listenin. XD

[Nate_LapT]

I dont consider myself a expert at this, but I do know quite a bit. I wish I knew a bit more on the automation side of things. Never got that far when I ran my store for the 6 months it was open :( damn owners and saying they have money.

[Snarkasm]

Business.

[Dare]

Yeah, I fail at grammar.

[Gate28]

I agree with IGames.org, and be active on there, have weekly events, like tournaments or members play free nights or girls play free nights. It also helps if you have "showcase" nights. For example, PC game X comes out and if someone comes in to play game X between the house of Y and Z for the day the game comes out (or the first day the center has it), they get a free hour.

Something the old center I used to go to did that was incredibly popular was the 'all-nighter' that they did every three months. People RSVP and at 9 the doors are locked and don't open until 9 the next morning. During this time, raffles, tourneys, and various shenanigans go down. At the center I went to, the standard would be that the center would buy pizza sometime during the night and doughnuts in the morning.

Also, I noticed that you didn't list a PS3 on your budget. THIS IS A MUST, especially with the price drop. PS3's have some of the best exclusives out there, despite their number dwindling compared to the exclusives on the 360.

Also, be sure to LAN the 360's and get 1 or 2 XBL gold account for both, as people are going to want to play online and password them so they can't be accessed outside of the center. Be sure to get two copies of Halo 3 and Gears of War 2 for LAN play on the 360's.

There is also this, and please forgive me if I'm incorrect, as networking is not my area of expertise, but the old LAN center I use to regular loaded all of their games onto a server and the computers pulled the games off of the server, instead of getting them right of the HDD. This lets you play any game on any computer, and the LAN center software should sort out how many licenses you have and limit the number of games that can be open simultaneously as needed.

And most importantly, keep a big stock of Bawls. They'll be immensely popular. Trust me.

[Nate_LapT]

Gate to a degree you have it, and to a degree you dont.

Your numbers are a bit off.
and as for the ps3 only get systems you are willing to invest 6+ copies of. What is the fun if only 1 person can play?

XBL, needed on each system. password? um.. they stay logged in on each system, can you even set them up without one?

2 copies of Halo3? the Minimum copy of any game is 4, who goes to a lan center to play 1v1, or split screen? Oh and for god sakes DONT get 32+" screens. It will never work. 1 Person per system.

As for the PC side you "SEMI" have the idea. the games are still loaded locally, the licenses for the games are loaded remotely. It takes a bit of scripting and knowhow to get the pc side going. Anyone can setup an xbox center.

Not everyone can smartly setup one though.
Consoles go BEHIND the counter.

Also go visit the local centers and ask them how things are done.

[Dare]

For the PS3's, Xbox 360's, and TV's, getting them is going to be fairly easy and cheap as the person who is going to own this business is also part owner of a few of the local pawn shops.

The boss has already talked over with the local Bridgemaxx web providers, and since he's done alot of deals with them, they've offered the first year free webs to the place.

Does anyone on Icrontic know particular people to contact with AMD / ATI / Nvidia who I can discuss with the possibilities of discounts / freebies with? Would appreciate it. Im willing to tackle that myself, but if somene knows the setup personally, it would really help speed things along.

Thanks again guys, for all the tips. Working on getting my proposals together as best as I can. The boss has already run my rough outline to the investors and they are talking around 50k start-up investment. Since the boss and the primary investors are co-owners of the strip mall where its going in, they intend, as I understand it, to soak the rent and power costs into those of their other businesses for the first sixth months and see how they are doing.

It looks like they are going ahead with it.. Luckily.. Im just gonna be the guy they call for help..
And, well... I'll be calling you guys for help. LMAO

Hope you all dont get too sick of me.

[Nate_LapT]

50K LMFAO
that will cover the pc's and a few consoles.
HA freebies. join igames they have all the partnerships with them. Nvidia has some good partnerships with igames.

Internet is the cheapest part of the business. it all depends on how you set it up.

Your game library should cost around $8-10k

If you like, I could sell you my research and business plan.
It would save you about 6 months of research.

[Gate28]

Never got that far when I ran my store for the 6 months it was open :(

If you like, I could sell you my research and business plan.

Why would he want a business plan for a failed business?

[MAGIC]

Why would he want a business plan for a failed business?

Yeah, and a buisness/marketing plan will very from market to market. A plan tailored for the Detroit market will more than likely not be the same as wherever you live.

[Nate_LapT]

The place I ran did not believe in a business plan. I was just the tech manager there. I consulted the guy the best I could but he wouldnt listen to any of my advice. #1 being advertising. He thought "If I build it, they will come" :(

My plan is not tailored for detroit, It is a general over all plan for any center. There are a few things that would need customized, but 90% of a business plan are quite static for data.

[Cliff_Forster]

Lan gaming centers have come and gone where I live, the only ones that survive seem to be the ones that offer another legitimate buisness offering, in most cases computer repair.

If your boss is not willing to hire a trained computer repair profesional to set up shop and repair computers all day while maintaining the lan, its probably not going to work. When I was in NJ one time, I saw a lan gaming center that also had nerd t shirts, a comics rack, and some other higher margin product, like magic card games, that sort of thing, when that all mixed together it created a nice social environment they could make some money on.

Lan gaming by itself though, I would say its destined to fail.

Hardware wise, just get a bunch of inexpensive AMD 770 based boards, put a Phenom II 710 tripple core on them and power them with a Radeon 4890. You will have the guts for under $400 and it will perform nicely in any modern game.

[Nate_LapT]

Yup, a Lan Center cant survive alone. My personal store when I open will have tech repairs, Comics, and possibly also be a coffee house. It has to be a place they want to come hang out while also paying you. The tech side generally tends to be a full time employee contently making changes keeping games current, and disc images working.

The average setup time for a center ranges 2 -3 weeks of building and configuring everything.

[Nate_LapT]

If you want a lower startup cost, I personally know a company that goes to new centers gets them setup, remotely manages the center. They also have a partnership with a system building company that leases systems to centers.
I'll grab their contact info when I get back from work.