I think this may have been thrown around before.

More and more lately I have been thinking about wanting to open up an "arcade." But not your typical arcade. I'm talking a place to go play Xbox 360 console games (maybe PSN too idk), in little setup living areas. I don't even know how this idea would work. I just think it would be so cool, and a totally kick a$$ job!!

What do ya'll think? Would it even work?? Ideas or knocks back into reality? lol

Pay to play basis? What would the door fees be like? Would it be multiplayer games only for people who cannot afford a console by themselves? Sounds like an interesting idea

Pay to play basis? What would the door fees be like? Would it be multiplayer games only for people who cannot afford a console by themselves? Sounds like an interesting idea

Those are all the things I've asked myself. Yes, I had the thought that it'd be good for kids that can't have a console, or Xbox Live themselves. Yes, multiplayer games too. Some have a console, but can't have Xbox Live service.

I've thought about the pay to play stuff. I'm not sure how it would work. If I made like a monthly play fee, and someone came in and it was busy they would be upset that they pay for this service and they couldn't or had to wait to play. Or would like pay at the door by use be better?

I mean what about time limits? Would kids respond well to that? Lots of questions!! But I still think its a totally cool idea!

I used to live near State College (Penn State) and my parents told me how they used to rent a cubicle like room in the mid 80's to watch VHS movies. You would pay for the time to rent the space (it had a love seat for two, a small television, and a VHS player, and you would either rent VHS movies there or bring your own). It was a success because VHS players still cost lots of money and it was in a college town with a high demand for home entertainment.

Some questions you want to ask yourself if you would like to do this are:

Who is your clientele?

How large is the population where you would like to open this business?

What is the startup/sunk cost?

Are there any business models you can emulate?

How would you market the business?

The biggest road block is convincing prospective customers that going to your place of business is worth the service instead of purchasing their kids a videogame system or in addition to having a videogame system at home. Would it be the atmosphere? Affordability? You have to figure this out, and I'll be honest, I think we're living in a work of increasing seclusion. Look at home theaters, for example. Like never before people are buying huge televisions and projection screens to by-pass or replace the "movie theater" experience. Don't get me wrong, I prefer seeing movies in the theater, but I know a lot of people who prefer enjoying media in their own home rather than in public.

Another idea was having a fast food place inside too, like Taco Bell or something. I just think that it would give a place for teens (or even adults) to hang out and have some good clean fun. I'd even host tournments (sp?) and give out prizes. I mean theres alot of things I could do.

Thank you for all of the thoughts and tips TK.

There use to be a place that did something like that down here in colordo, im not sure if they are still around or not. when it first hit i was still in high school so alot of my friends thought it was very cool idea because they could go play and xbox 360 since they couldnt afford one. personally though i never cared to go for it because i could just as easily stay at home and play my own xbox and not pay to play some one elses. they had a whole mess of stuff down there though, bunch of xboxs hooked to the internet and for lans, ps3's and even had some pretty damn good computers too. its one of those things i think that sound really good on paper start out fairly decent but not work out so well in the long run. unless you can offer them something that they cant get at home you know? like i never went to the one that we had here because i had all my consoles already, i had the games i wanted to play and i had food at home. i think this is the one challenge that you would have to figure out how to avoid and if you manage to do that you would have a pretty decent chance at getting something like this to keep happening.

theres my two cents, battleground que popped

i bounced something similar around in my head for a while. it's not a bad idea, but i wondered about the legality of it. i wonder if ms and sony, etc would trip nuts if they found out you based a business around their device with no licensing. i know directv charges a special fee for equipment used in commercial settings (bars, barbershops, etc.)

i never did any digging around though. look into it. i think it's a cool idea.

There was a place back where I grew up that did this. They had a room by the mall and it was cool. The "welcome" desk was in the middle of everything and then they had areas sectioned off for different games, but it was just PC related. Then in the back was another special area where local video game stores (that are not GameStop, yay!) held tournaments.

Remember Rose, anything is possible with enough of "get up and go" attitude. If you really want to do it, I have no doubt that you will!

Owning an arcade like that is one of my lotto dreams! There's plenty of things to do that can make it more appealing than your stand arcade type place. The old staples like a foozeball table, ping pong, pool table ect .. food and drink, (maybe alcohol??) to go along with with console type gaming in a large social center. Everyone standing at cabinets next to each other instead of sit at home. I would love a place like that but I think MWB has a good point when it comes to MS-SONY-Nintendo allowing their consoles and games to be used in that manner. I think it's totally worth looking into and could really be something unique to the area. The last arcade I was in was that chain Dave & Busters and they used credit card things that you put money on and then swiped them to play games.

All very good points, and ideas guys! Thanks for the input! Thats a very good question MWB, I didn't even think of that aspect. I think that right there could make or break the idea before it even got off the ground.

What would be some other ideas that would even make this something that ppl want? Maybe a pool table and stuff like that too would be cool. I'm not too sure about the alcohol. There could be some problems with that. Some parents may not want their kids to hang out in a place where alcohol is accessable. Obviously there could be measures taken to avoid minors drinking, but I think parents would still have a problem with it. I mean I guess you could have a special area for adult patrons only.

Thank you for the encouragement Siren!! I'm getting more excited thinking about all of this!

Lots of ideas! Thanks everyone!!

You would have to think about your target audience. If you are looking to aim for the 12-18 crowd, you might want to nix alcohol. Even if that wasn't your target audience I don't how well drunk adults around expensive consoles, etc...would mix :/ Have you thought about how you would decorate it? An idea for that would be to have each console have their own areas. Like an Xbox area with painted walls that have Master Chief, the Gears crew, and other iconic characters from the Xbox...the same with Nintendo and Sony. For food...I don't know if I would go the fast food route. Have you thought maybe just a snack bar with of course some simple chips, popcorn, etc...type items but maybe some healthy items? What about a family friendly area that is separate from the rest of the playing area so that way if families want to rent a room for birthdays, etc... What other services would you provide? Like the birthday parties? Then you would have to think about how much to charge and if you would provide the decorations, cake, ice cream, etc... What about a "Gaming addiction" knowledge area and ESRB ratings pamphlets? You might also want to do contracts for parents to sign to acknowledge that their kids are a certain age and cannot play or can play with parent permission a game that is out of their age group that way you can avoid problems.

The most important part of it would be to make sure that with all of your overhead that you are still making a profit for you and your family. AND....of course have fun with it!

You would have to think about your target audience. If you are looking to aim for the 12-18 crowd, you might want to nix alcohol. Even if that wasn't your target audience I don't how well drunk adults around expensive consoles, etc...would mix :/ Have you thought about how you would decorate it? An idea for that would be to have each console have their own areas. Like an Xbox area with painted walls that have Master Chief, the Gears crew, and other iconic characters from the Xbox...the same with Nintendo and Sony. For food...I don't know if I would go the fast food route. Have you thought maybe just a snack bar with of course some simple chips, popcorn, etc...type items but maybe some healthy items? What about a family friendly area that is separate from the rest of the playing area so that way if families want to rent a room for birthdays, etc... What other services would you provide? Like the birthday parties? Then you would have to think about how much to charge and if you would provide the decorations, cake, ice cream, etc... What about a "Gaming addiction" knowledge area and ESRB ratings pamphlets? You might also want to do contracts for parents to sign to acknowledge that their kids are a certain age and cannot play or can play with parent permission a game that is out of their age group that way you can avoid problems.

The most important part of it would be to make sure that with all of your overhead that you are still making a profit for you and your family. AND....of course have fun with it!

Wow Siren! Lots of great ideas to bounce around! I love the ideas about decorating!

I think once we get back to California (BLAH!) I am going to really look into this. I'm getting more and more excited about it. It sounds like it will be a fun adventure! Thanks!!! =D

I think legalities will be a big issue. I'd read through the different EULAs to make sure there's nothing in there. Also may want to check the game manuals for their EULAs as well. Just as a precursory check before going too far down the path.

I will say, it could be a really cool place. Good Luck.

Instead of turning a profit on the games and consoles themselves, you could rent space for parties (with food etc) and include gaming for free. That may be a workaround.

Instead of turning a profit on the games and consoles themselves, you could rent space for parties (with food etc) and include gaming for free. That may be a workaround.

That could be an option PK, but I don't think I'd bring in alot that way. Got alot of stuff to look into.