Gaming Club

[dbox]

I am a sophomore in college and looking to start a club/bar where people can come in and play games like halo in a multiplayer environment. My friend and I have begun research on the demographics and industry, but I'd like to know what I will need to get investors to invest in our company. We are figuring close to $100K in costs of equipment and whatnot, plus the costs for insurance and property. How can I get someone to invest in me?

[The Event Guy]

Setting a bar up to function primarily as a place to play X Box won't work because patrons are primarily at your bar to drink alcohol, not play X Box.

X Box can be used as a promotional tool in order to get these people in the bar and play in tournaments, but people don't go out to play X Box. College stuydents usually stay in their dorm or apt. and veg out to play.

Also, you would also have legal issues with the gaming company because you need to have permission especially if you're advertising this regulary.

Why don't you set up a special promotion at a local hotspot and see what happens first.

[wygk]

It may sound like a great idea - but very, very few game centers have been successful.

Mixing two different businesses - gaming and bar - is even harder. Each has its own challenges. You're effectively doubling your chances of failure.

If you were a very experienced club manager with a track record of success, and a SOLID business plan with detailed financial projections, you might stand a chance of raising money and succeeding.

[dbox]

I originally got the idea from the Halo2 dvd. On there it shows a guy who lives in the middle of nowhere in CT and has setup multiple TV's throughout his house with XBox's. People from all over the country fly in to play at his house simple for the environment.

This is really what I'm going for..it's a place to play xbox with friends, make new ones playing, and be able to be in the same room as the other team you're battling against. Halo players are almost like a cult following, so the better the experience that they can have playing, the more they will do it...so if I can create a great multiplayer environment for them to play in, have enough tournaments to bring in the average players, then I think I can have a successful club, b/c it's a place to play games before a bar...the bar is simply for me to try to make a profit.

[Estefon]

We've been talking about doing a Halo party at our bar. We have 23 TV's, so it would be pretty fun. I've never played, but the 6 or so people I've talked to said they would bring in their own game player, so it costs me nothing..... what the hell... give it a shot.

[OverSeeR]

We had a Halo2 tournament in my bar a couple weeks ago. It went smooth but no one order anything. Next time I'll charge a large registration fee to cover all expenses.


By the way if you play on Xbox Live my gametag is: CommanderLex

[The Event Guy]

Originally posted by OverSeeR
We had a Halo2 tournament in my bar a couple weeks ago. It went smooth but no one order anything. Next time I'll charge a large registration fee to cover all expenses.


By the way if you play on Xbox Live my gametag is: CommanderLex

I think you've just answered your own question, Commander.

Using XBox as a promotional tool in your bar, not as a premise to start your bar.

What you need to do is get promotional support from local gaming retailers in order to have prizes, etc.

[dbox]

Commander,
What kind of nightclub to you operate? what kind of crowds do you normally attract?

along with selling alocohol, I was going to advertise a lot of caffeine drinks, like jolt, red bull, coffee, espresso, etc. because a lot of players drink that while playing to keep them up for hours. this could also bring in a nice profit.

[OverSeeR]

Dbox it doesn’t really matter what type of crowd you attract because each event I do I have a different following. I had a real good turn out but the return of investment wasn’t there. I had about 200 people show up and I sold everything from pizza to ice cream.

Next time I would get like Game Stop or other local gaming retailers to have giveaways and door prizes. (Thanks Event Guy)

[i5networks]

Dbox,
I opened a multiplayer gaming center in Chattanooga TN and at the time we were the first in the city. Of course 10 opened up in the year following us but most have closed.

One thing that most people do not consider the software cost. By far counter strike (hot at the time) was our biggest draw. You can not just buy a copy of the game and use them in this enviornment. Make sure you consider all cost before jumping in to this.

Since about 70 percent of our customers were under 18 in made no sense to sell drinks other than soft drinks. We had all night gaming on the weekends and this was very profitable.

I really don't see a good market for this for the 21 and up crowd. Most of those that are playing these games over the age of 21 are not big drinkers.

I got our store running well and sold it while it was still the big thing and I could get a big price but most of the ones that came into the market behind us did not last more than a year.

[Jersey71]

Gaming only attracts guys. Unless you're looking to have a c.o.c.k. party at your bar you should think of new ways to bring in the ladies NOT more guys..

[Mobster600]

like wat "The Event Guy" says It would One be good as a Promotional... For marketing... I am a big fan of Xbox so... Beer and Video Games from the Xbox would go good! However, People might say "Beer like All Bars... But I dont like Xbox... I like PS2." or "I Like Beer... But I never played/I a long time." So make sure that its all good... Get GCube, PS2, and Xbox. Also one more problem I see here that could be avoided is Sharing, people want to play together but if there ae more ppl waiting on playing a consel than there could be a problem. Maybe The Multiplayer feature only and after a round or a Battle than you get off and drink some beer and watch the fight. :D That is Helpful enough:D