General question, mostly for LAN Gamers...

[Handruin]

I'm looking for everyone's thoughts about paying for network gaming at a local place. What if there was a place where you could go on a friday/saturaday night (any day actually) and have gaming tournaments using a controlled set of computers? This way no one has to move all their PC equipment for a LAN party, and everyone has an equal chance in the game because there will be no cheats allowed. There would also be a bar for those who like to drink.

I realize it depends on the price, but even if people here are not big into gaming, do you think it's a decent idea?

-Doug

 

[Buck]

I'm looking for everyone's thoughts about paying for network gaming at a local place. What if there was a place where you could go on a friday/saturaday night (any day actually) and have gaming tournaments using a controlled set of computers? This way no one has to move all their PC equipment for a LAN party, and everyone has an equal chance in the game because there will be no cheats allowed. There would also be a bar for those who like to drink.

I realize it depends on the price, but even if people here are not big into gaming, do you think it's a decent idea?

-Doug

I'm not a LAN gamer, so I personally would not pay for this type of entertainment. However, the fundamentals to this idea have potential. My concerns would include the ability for this establishment to turn a profit; the cost of the equipment and the constant abuse from those using it; what will actually attract patrons: the alcohol, atmosphere, or the games. What type of environment would be best, bar/pub/brewery style, coffee house, lounge, or perhaps more food oriented? Obviously, the key is to attract customers, and then to have them pay more then they’re costing you. How long will a game take? How much will they spend for or during the game that will compensate for their occupying that chair? Sorry, I just keep coming up with questions, but no answers. But again, I do think the idea has potential, and I’m sure that someone else may have already thought of or attempted this idea.

BR

 

[Tannin]

Funny you should ask that question .... (No, not me, someone I know.)

 

[James]

There's 14 such places almost in a row down George St. in the CBD here. I think there's a market for a premium product (very latest games, Geforce 4s, 19" monitors, etc.) but the low end (Geforce 2MX, 15" monitor) is pretty much done to death.

 

[Mercutio]

The clear answer is "maybe". There are some pretty stiff requirements for doing it "right" - broadband, reasonably high-end PCs, RELIABLE SYSTEMS and a good selection of the software people actually want to use as a group.

Where I live, I've seen low-end no-pay setups for gaming in comic book/game shops and in most computer stores. Usually the machines meet the bare minimum requirement to do... whatever (play CS or Red Alert or Quake3). You'd have to offer a lot of value in your setup before you can compete with "free".

The big problems with setups like that is making them reliable. You're talking about public systems. People... do things to them. Install IM clients, disable your virus scanner, download P2P software that replaces your winsock.dll (A surprising amount of software does this, BTW), delete files without reason...

And then they'll complain when stuff doesn't always work right. Expect oddball error messages, machines that won't shut down when you tell them... networking problems.

And may your deity of choice help you if your machines aren't identical.

Legally, I think you'll need to check the license agreements of the software you're making available on your network. Some of them might prohibit being used that way.

I'll probably think of more stuff.

 

[Clocker]

A local PC shop here has a big rig with a rack of machines surrounded in a circle by a bunch of 19" monitors and people rent it for lan gaming. The only problem I can see with it is that each set-up has it's onw set of (rather good) speakers. WIth everyone sittong next to eachother, I'd think that the noise from one would intrude on another. I think hgigh quality headphones are a better idea.

I'm not sure of the rates they charge but you can probably get more info here:

http://www.micro3000.com/

Clocker

 

[Corvair]

.
I wonder if the most seriously incorrigible LAN gamers use Gigabit Ethernet, or maybe even multiple trunked GbE connections?


.

 

[DrunkenBastard]

Now that would be truly hardcore!

 

[Handruin]

The gig that was being thought of is not yet finalized, but we were thinking of a local shop that provides the service and not actually on the Internet. This way everyone has a fair chance because the machines would be equally spec'ed and no one will have the chance to install cheats.

I also had the idea of "bringing it to them", much like a local band would do. You start off small and bring the service to people who want to setup a LAN party. Once the name gets out, then they will come to us.

I also thought about the legal issue with the software. That's something to figure out during the planning, but I think there may be a way to do it.

In order to keep the machines reliable, my thought was to lease computers from a major company like Dell or...Dell. I would then setup a Ghost system to clean the machines up before every event. They could also be locked down a bit to stop a few of the non-hacking type people.

Much like Clocker had mentioned, my idea was to use headphones so that there isn't a big distraction of noise, and also so that the gamer is not interrupted by sound.

Funny you mention gigabit Ethernet because I was looking into it. Linksys offers a fairly affordable setup where you get a 32 or 64-bit PCI gig-E card (full duplex) and a 4-port router for a couple hundred bucks.

It would actually work out well since the router only has 1 gigabit Ethernet port and the rest are 100 Mb. I didn't buy it, but I was thinking about it.

 

[Pradeep]

There are a couple of programs such as PcRdist (sp?) that will automatically rebuild the system after a certain amount of time has expired and the machine is restarted/shutdown.

 

[Handruin]

There are a couple of programs such as PcRdist (sp?) that will automatically rebuild the system after a certain amount of time has expired and the machine is restarted/shutdown.

Hmmm, that sounds like an interesting program. I haven't heard of it. I'll have to look more into it.

 

[Pradeep]

http://www.pyzzo.com/pcrdist/

They had this installed on the PCs at Uni. Can take a while on a slow computer but if you only shutdown once per day it won't be so bad.

 

[Buck]

How is this idea progressing Handruin?

 

[Handruin]

How is this idea progressing Handruin?

So far so good. I haven't said anything else because the details aren't worked out yet. A friend and I are thinking about trying this. There is a location about 1 hour away from where I live that is doing this in the mall, and they seem to be successful. We're going to check them out and observe their operations. Who knows... :mrgrn:

 

[Buck]

Considering the winter conditions anywhere in New England, an indoor gaming pub sounds tempting. Whoever started the one in the mall had the right idea, since young people are already hanging out there, along with others. I was thinking more of an independent place, like in a strip mall or in older industrial buildings.

 

[Handruin]

We originally thought about an indepandant place, but after speaking with another friend, he told me about his 14 year old nephew, and how he will spend an entire saturday at the mall. He will get to the mall 1/2 hour before it opens, and then leave when it closes. I figure it's a great place since there is ample parking and basic security. Downside is the hours of operation and cost, but these may be out weighed by the success.

 

[Buck]

hmmm...shows you my mind set, I thought young people, and 14 year-olds were no where near my imagined group. I was guessing really young, like 21-27. But why would a 27 year-old hangout at the mall? :mrgrn: Plus, with teens, there is no need to serve alcohol (perhaps a bit for you if you have to deal with them). What do kids drink now-a-days anyway? Is pop still in, or are there other nifty drinks?

 

[Handruin]

Well the age group from what I can gather is very wide. My buddy said it ranges from 12ish to 50ish. There is even a clan with a son and a grandfather. I'm right in the middle being 25, but I love playing games. (too much sometimes) I doubt a 27 year old would hang at the mall, but if the word got out, the college crowd may stop by for a game or two.

I have no idea what kids drink these days. I would think soda/pop, and probably some alchohol if they can get their hands on it. 8)

 

[Buck]

I wonder if you could work off of the concept of having a pub/bar place, and instead of the usual darts and pool, have lan gaming. Have tables and stuff, with a nice resturant nearby, and I'd guess you could attract a lot of people.

 

[Handruin]

I like that idea! That would be heading towards a cyber cafe idea. My worries on both ends are drunk people playing games, or young teens being skivish. I guess it's a catch 22. The pub idea would require a full time staff. Right now we aren't looking to do that until we can even get something going. I think it's a good idea, but it may have to wait for a bit.

I was also looking into equipment, I fgured leasing would be a good option because hardware becomes outdated so quickly, and playing the best games requires the best hardware.

I'm looking into this area with www.alienware.com. they seem to target gamers.

 

[Buck]

How about finding an existing bar that caters to younger people, and ask to lease some space for a few night and bring in your equipment for a test run? I suppose the one problem would be find a bar with space. I haven't been to a 'big' bar in MA or CT yet. In California, they have lots of room. I guess the older New England buildings just started out with small spaces.

 

[Handruin]

They have something similar to this in boston and worcester (near me) called gillian's. It's a bar with numerous pool tables and video arcades, but no LAN setup. That could be something to target and use as a test run. They have a large amount of space. I can see it now "computer sends electrifying shock to man as he spills beer on the keyboard". :lol:

 

[Buck]

"computer sends electrifying shock to man as he spills beer on the keyboard". :lol:

Please, give us drinking folks more credit. It's a sin to spill any of your drink!

But I can see how a pint of stout could make the gaming experience more fun. Cheers for tonight, ER will be on soon. Besides, you shouldn't stay up so late, you'll never make to Tannin's age.

BR

 

[Pradeep]

Forget about the spilled beer, what about gettign the bits of carrot out when a bloke has a sly spew into the keyboard? :eekers:

 

[CougTek]

Well the age group from what I can gather is very wide. My buddy said it ranges from 12ish to 50ish.

It must be funny to watch the fifty years old folks play freecell in network ;-)

Oops! Sorry Bill. :lol:

 

[Sol]

If you plan to target a younger audience you may run into some problems with ratings as most of the popular MP games are rated 15+ (in Oz at least). Also mall hours may hamper you more than you think as I know that quite a few gamers have jobs during the day and can only play at night (the gaming group I am invoved in starts at 8:00pm and gos till about 8:00am). Some malls (in Oz at least) have spaces with thier won entrances but these are generally larger spaces for supermarkets and such.

I have a friend who is currently looking at setting up a simmilar thing locally as there is nothing quite the same in Ballarat. We have a local broadband ISP setting up here and they have agreed to allow him to use his games computers to access the net (a sort of internet cafe deal without the cafe) for nothing in exchange for advertising - customers come in and use the net, say oh gee this is so much better than our 56K at home and go by cable from the towns only provider kind of thing.

This seems like it could be pretty lucrative. The other item on the drawing board is to run a games server off the ISPs rack mount system. This will be providing a service for the ISPs customers which they don't have to worry about, which they kind of like, whilst making sure that there will always be somone playing - so if somone comes into the store looking for a game of Medal of Honour they don't need to bring a freind they can play online against people anywhere whilst still enjoying pings that you would otherwise need a T3 connection to get.

Hope theres somthing useful in all that.