What do you guys expect in a gaming parlour?

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uashwinp

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Professional gaming parlors are limited in chennai...

And, we are looking forward to open a new gaming cafe. A gaming zone by gamers!!!

What do you expect the place to hold?

Basically, it would be a PC Gaming den.

a) What are the games would you like to see?

b)What kind of peripherals are mandatory?

c) Any suggestions on how to make it the best gaming zone in Chennai.

Let us know in the thread....

The name of the cafe is 'Atari - Gaming Lounge'. It's about to be opened in Ashok Nagar.
 
I have no idea on the games to be installed, as I aint much of a gamer. But, good headphones, with soft padding, a must.

Get some good dell keyboard and mice. also, keep at least 1/2 spares, just in case.

Do you plan to serve any food/cold drinks? That will be good additional income. Only if there arent any good eating joints nearby, though.
 
Some nice and big posters of some games.

Fifa,Nfs,Cs,Dota are mandatory
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You will probably need some consoles too (PS3 or Xbox). Many guys (mostly children) love to play on consoles.

22inch Monitors.

Core i5 based PC's with atleast 6850/6870/gtx460/Gtx560 cards. 4gb Ram minimum

A normal keyboard would be just fine, if you willing to shell out more on keyboards then Gaming keyboards from Razer/Logitech/Steel series are the best.

Good sound system (speakers + Heaphones with mic)

Logitech MX518
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(its obsolete now, replacement is Logitech g400 or a Razer DA would be good choice)

Rantopad or Razer mousepads

Interiors designed by keeping a particular game in mind..

A rack with some game DVD's for sale

Some small free goodies for Winners (if making enough profit)...

Lighting should not be bright in a cafe... It should be on the darker side, but only some special posters/DVD racks/interiors should be highlighted by red light
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a. Not much of a MP gamer so I'd let others answer that.

b. A pair of good headphones which are comfortable for prolonged gaming sessions like what vivek.krishnan pointed out. These must also be preferably easier to clean since sweat tends to spoil the cushions. Take a look at the Audio Technica ATH T-200. These are entry level closed cans with very comfortable cushions that wraps around the ears. The SQ is very good and very well suited for a gamer. Has a coiled cable so your small desktop wouldn't look cluttered. I am sure Pristine Note can offer you a very good deal for a bulk order. Do contact him!

A comfortable chair goes a long way in net-cafes and gaming parlors. Chairs and desks are some of those things that a prospective owner may not pay much attention to and invests in inexpensive furniture. Inevitably the customers begin complaining in the long run and may totally detest spending long hours at the place. As a matter of fact, you can take a look at how Intencity has set up their shop and gaming parlor in Pune or those Reliance Webworlds (not sure if those are still operational though but Webworlds had those Featherlite branded chairs which were extremely comfortable).

You are going to need robust keyboards and mice with durable mousepads. Mechanical keyboards may turn out to be very expensive but in the long run, they are going to easily outlast those standard keyboards. Factor this - in a period of 5 years, you are going to replace your keyboard at least once. OTOH a mech. one would easily work for another 5 without wanting you to replace it. On eBay, a retailer was selling HP branded mech. keyboards on sale for around Rs. 700 IIRC. That's a good price considering these had the Cherry MX-Black keys. The TVSE Gold KB costs almost twice as much (Rs. 1300) and offers similar performance. Do note that, you have to periodically maintain these accessories to get rid of dust accumulation which the customers may complain of. These do not have any macro keys so MMORPG gamers might not like them. As for mouse, I am not sure what is the best mouse suited for a gaming parlor. Something in the likes of a Steelseries Kinzu for a start maybe? Others may help.

c. Location - a good location which doesn't cost a bomb so you could bank on the quicker ROI. Chennai folks could help.

Power outage/backups - I believe Chennai still experiences daily load shedding at several locations? Do factor this and work out the backup you are going to need suitably. Consider extra backup just in case. Your customers (any gamer for that matter) would definitely love uninterrupted sessions in the midst of a heated TF2 or DotA match.

Snacks bar - Have some patties/samosas/puffs/pastries etc. You could contact a bakery to deliver a set of these every morn./evening depending on the demand. Have a coffee/tea/soft drink dispenser. I was told that those refrigerators with the transparent front panels and branded labels are delivered by the company (Pepsi or Coca Cola) themselves depending on how much profit you can rake in per day. If this looks a bit fancier consider a dispenser itself. This is not a cafe inside the airport so do NOT price the items that way! A good price will ensure that a steady income comes from this part of the cafe as well but don't let it convert itself into a pure cafe so college-goers can hang around here while bunking classes or for those couples (you know what I meant!). So these extra facilities are only meant for your actual customers who've come there to game. A board with a funny caption can get rid of the rest. You are also going to need additional space for the folks who'd be eating these snacks so consider some plush settees with art leather which are easier to clean should they spill anything. Anything cheaper and you'll need chairs with plastic backs and a couple of tables.

Lastly, do not crib when it comes to the system specs. Gamers would love playing the recent titles in all the eye candy so if you decide to run BF3 on age old GPUs, your customers would complain of choppy slideshows!

Those are my 2 cents. Good luck with your investment!
 
If there is no multiplayer, then what is professional in it?

Here is a small idea of mine if you have multiplayer ,also it costs nothing. A small tournament every weekend. Arrange some kind of a leaderboard or something like that to display the winners names. A small prize if you can. An entry Fee to the tournament can give you some extra income.
 
If you are looking for something new and exotic. Take a look at PLAY FACTORY. Its in mumbai. They provide all gaming accessories from razer to steelseries to roccat to play.

If you are looking for a normal cafe cum gaming joint. Get 12 Pc's with good config which can get the new games working like BF3 MW3. Basic mouse and keyboard and a 19" Lcd. Thats it. Posters of dotA , Cs , Fifa , COD or any other game will make it look like a gaming parlour actually
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Organise Lan tourneys and you're good.
 
Sadly very few games today have LAN option. You could also take a look at some of the coop games like Borderlands, Left 4 Dead etc.
 
If the ambience of the parlor is going to on the darker side then Backlit keyboard make more sense.

Backlit keyboard , gaming mouse (Razer,Logitech,Steelseries etc), Good quality Headphones , 22/24" monitors. If possible have 2 / 3 3D gamming setup ( http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_3D_VisionKit_us.html ) .

Also how much for are you guys going to charge for an hour gaming. Any special discount for TE members.
 
Well, most of our member have already posted what is really needed. But do not ignore the aspect of advertising about your business, tell the public how different your gaming cafe is from others.

Just my 2 cents.
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All the best.
 
Well as someone who travelled 25km every weekend just to play dota (local MP) for 3 years flat I have the following to say:

1. Gamers scream a lot. So do not place all of them facing each other. It leads to awkward situations. Place a small blind between them. Don't take this point lightly.

It's better to have a row of 5 PCs for each section (for teams). Don't make it look like school by stacking them all together like in an office. So a set of 5 PCs here and there

2. AC is good idea. Chennai is damn hot. I don't even have to say that to you.

3. Get decent PCs with normal monitors. Don't blow them too much or you'll end up broke. 40k PCs are fine. 50k ones even better. Also have atleast 3-5 high end (60-75k)PCs are charge more or mark them special.

Gamers don't care if it's a high end PC or a low end as long as it plays the game they want. Also most gamers play CS or Dota, both low on specs and the only use for high end PC i have seen is WoW. Of course the latest ones wont play but you have to get a fine balance between them. Don't blow on expensive hardware. Also be honest, tell them it wont run latest MW3s etc and point them towards the high end PCs for that.

4. Get a normal Logitech KB which lasts long. No need of gaming mice. Buy regular Logitech mice. (they last long) Don't go for fancy stuff. They wont last long anyways. Get normal mouse pads for everyone. Get decent swivel chairs. Don't offer headphones. You will end up paying a lot for damaged ones. You don't want to be arguing with your customers if he is at fault or the prev user etc etc. Also hygiene issues which will make the headphones give a sweaty nostalgia no one wants. But give an option to use their own headphones by using a comfortable 3.5mm cord extension. Or you can offer normal cheap headsets from logitech. They will die anyways and could be the most replaced item, followed by mice and KB.

5. Hire some one for cleaning, gamers are dirty but like things to be neat around them. Also keep stock of chips, coke etc. You might end up earning more or equally on these as many gamers skip lunch etc to game. I did for 3 years flat every Sat-Sun so I can say that confidently.

6. Keep the lighing dark and get posters on the wall. Get a nice friendly gamers chap on the money counter.

7. Location: If possible and I strongly suggest- Near a college
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8. You really need a net connection or forget gaming in todays world.

You will learn after you have opened and no one can tell you.

Most important factor for a gamer is the price. So to keep the price low for the consumer you have to keep the price low for yourself. Hence skip having all high end PCs, expensive gaming mice, KB, audiogear etc.

As a gamer and a regular psychotic addicted customer I was only looking for a decent comfortable space, cost, the screen size and of course the food available.

I never even bothered about the specs or resolutions, the kind of mouse or KB as long as it wasn't greasy
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and audio ( I now realise I know none of the game sounds coz of it and I still paid, the lowest 30/h and at most 50/h
 
Another suggestion would be that dont get full HD monitors, even if your budget allows it! Get 1366x768 ones, so that you are playing at native resolutions, it will be easier on budget GPU's.

Also, if you have the moolah, ensure that you have a seperate W2K8R2 server which allows for profile roaming so that gamers are not expected to be seated at the same place they sat last time. Also ensure that the image used for all machines is the same.

If you plan to allow online gaming, get a good net connection with low latency.

I would suggest to get your hands dirty at first with a basic gaming cafe, then upgrade to a professional one. Even in this age, many gamers want to still play CS
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Finally, although this is weird, if there are many gamers in your area, get the same net connection that they have so that all can play on the LAN, this would be a boon send to those who dont have a machine on the same LAN.

Also hold a free gaming session every month (if you have spare room), where people can get their laptops and connect via LAN. If needed, they could be charged a small entry fee. But, charge people for using your PC's. The money from the entry fee could be used for some prizes like a free drink, etc
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Hello guys,

Thanks a million for the awesome reply. I never expected gamers to be so enthusiastic and actually, I was quite busy trying to setup by investment budget for the gaming parlor.

I am a gamer myself and a huge fan of various games like CS, MW3, Assassin's Creed, Arkham City and many others.

First of all, I would like to thank those users for those valuable suggestions like adding up a eatery in the parlor. Especially, the idea to stay within budget was a good one because once we invest too much it might become difficult to get it back.

The pricing is at Rs. 40 per hour and I guess it's decent. Quite the norm in most parlors I went. And, yes we have already prepared over a dozen posters to spice up the place and planning on how to make it look even more appealing.

I am planning to focus on things that many game parlors missed. First of all, console game graphics are so outdated. So, a good graphics single player games like Arkham City, Revelations or even Saints Row could be great for those who love to play alone.

The traditional Modern Warfare, CS and Dota will be there. Yet to decide on the number of PCs that I could manage in the first few weeks before more investment reinforcements arrive :-)

We are planning to put up a Plasma TV with Xbox controllers for games like FIFA, Dirt 3, PES, Street Fighter etc.. which is an amazing experience as I have already experienced playing them on it esp when you play with a buddy!

Most probably, we will be up and running by Feb 1. I would like to know where gamers often come up so that I can advertise at the right places. And, I am looking forward to target all ages and kind of gamers so as to making it a gaming hub. No consoles for now because I feel PS3 and Xbox 360 is too outdated. Let the new ones come up at E3 2012 hopefully!
 
uashwinp said:
First of all, console game graphics are so outdated.

No consoles for now because I feel PS3 and Xbox 360 is too outdated.
Click to expand...

Sorry to say this but you are terribly mistaken if you thought console visuals are 'outdated'. Please do yourself a favor and check out Uncharted 2/3, God of War III, Gears of War 3 in person. Preferably on a large display.
 
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