Small business question

[reveal]

Let's say you're walking through the mall. You come across a store that looks interesting. Inside, you see 15 "stations" that consist of small, divided tables. 5 stations have an Xbox, 5 have a PS2, and 5 have a Nintendo (whatever the latest is) with a TV on each. You can sit up to 4 people at each station. You can purchase sodas inside and drink them but if you spill any on a console, you buy the console.

You can rent time at the console for either a half hour or a full hour. The basic package consists of two controllers and the ability to have one game out at a time (you can bring a game up to the front counter and get a new one at any time). You can also rent four controllers, for a bit more, and if the console has network capability, like the Xbox, you can pay more to play with people beside you. Also, the selection of the games is large and they always have the latest and greatest, allowing you to try games before spending your hard-earned cash on a lemon.

Would you be interested in something like this? If so, how much would you be willing to pay for each scenario, i.e. 30 minutes with 2 controllers, 1 hour with 4 controllers, etc.?

This is a serious question. Thank you.

 

[Jdvn1]

There's a place near my house that does almost exactly this. Except they also have older systems (N64, SNES, etc).

It's moderately popular, and I would go more often if I had the money to go and people to go with(who didn't own the systems themselves).

The last time I went was to play at a tournament they had there, actually. Which is a good idea, I think.

 

[Torm]

I can't think of any time I would use someplace like this that the situation wouldn't prompt me to go buy a Nintendo DS (or a few), instead of using it on a regular basis.

On the other hand, where I WOULD go is a good, old fashioned, video arcade - no stupid skeeball or crane machines or rotating chickens with eggs or any of that crap, just wall to wall Sinistar, Time Pilot, Baby Pac-Man, MK II, Circus, and on and on with the like.

The problem with this is that you'd need to charge more than the old quarter-a-game. I'd get irritated if I had to pay 50 cents to play Ms. Pac-Man. OTOH, I could see myself paying for a card with a certain number of hours in the arcade without having to put any change in anything, even if that worked out to be more.

Bear in mind when I say this that I have MAME for PC and Dreamcast - and I'd still pay to go to a real arcade. Especially on my lunch hour. (Which, btw, means that selling something quickly eaten and somewhat nutritious for on my way back to work - jerky-and-cheese, cup-o-soup, and the like - would be awesome.)

 

[Lord Foul]

When PS first came out, there was a local arcade/video store that used to have 4 or 5 of them hooked up and would charge by the 1/2 hour to use them. As more and more people bought them for themselves they stoped renting time at his store. The only thing I see different in your case is that you would offer to set up an internet account for those games that can be played on line. The on line thing could be cool if you were to set up tournaments with other stores like yours.

 

[IronWolf]

I find it unlikely that I would rent time on a console. I am much more likely to use my own console system and invite friends over to the comfort of my home (or head to their house) for my group video game needs. Even when groups of us played LAN PC games we always threw together a LAN at someone's house and lugged our PCs there and played.

 

[shaylon]

I really think it depends on the region. Some areas of the country seem to be into this and I hear there are sucessful operations that meet this business model, especially on college campuses.

I think it is a decent idea but I have no idea how well it would do. I could see myself doing this if I didn't have the consoles in question. That said I typically work out of thed comforts of my own home, or a friends house.

-Shay

 

[BrooklynKnight]

Reveal,

Against my better judgement (i'm sure you'd do no such thing for me), but in the intrests of good faith I point you to an individual that I've pointed others too. The owner of Kings Games in Brooklyn NY www.kingsgames.com.

He has a very similar set up in his store. 4 TV's each with an xbox, 2 with PS2 and 2 with Game Cube. He rents out time on each tv to play whatever a person wants, however its per person 5/hr. The more people that play at the same console, the cheaper it gets.

People DO pay for this. In fact I've seen multiple places in brooklyn alone that have this.

However, i warn you that I doubt a buisness can survive on this alone. As mentioned before his game store has a wide range of products, but most of his money is made selling CCG's.

 

[trancejeremy]

There's a game store near me that does it, though I believe just with Xboxs. They sell new/used video games as well.

It's in a dumpy strip mall though. I would think mall rent would be hard to afford with just something like that. Unless it's a dumpy mall. But then again, I've seen places in malls that do nothing but have slot car racing.

 

[fett527]

Would I stop and play? No. I would think this would appeal more to high-school/junior-high kids with money to burn, whether from their parents or their own jobs. I don't see a lot of college students blowing cash on it. And I think the draw has to be the multi-player/online aspect. By multi-player I am thinking multiple linked XBOXs for a massive Halo game as an example. You've got to make something readily available to them that they can't do on their own on a regular basis.

 

[Arnwyn]

Would you be interested in something like this?

Me? Nope, not at all.

But then, I don't think I'm in the demographic for this - I have enough income to buy the console(s) and games that I want, and play in the comfort of my own home.

OTOH, I could conceivably see myself paying hourly for a rather heavily equipped PC LAN set-up (at least 32 top of the line rigs, with big displays, headsets, and surround sound at each station and a complete collection of games both brand new and older).