Gaming Centers

[MORON]

$5~6 an hour! Thats RIP OFF.......... the places I go is around $1~2 USD an hour. (i'm in asia right now)

Anyway, for lan party without all the effort and playing new games occasionally it is kinda okay.... No point upgrading my comp when I play civ most of the time, but I still do want to know what HL2 is like.....

[Kuciwalker]

I think it just won't take off. NWIH I'd pay $5 an hour to play computer games.

[General Ludd]

There's a market for it, I've heard of these being quite succesful. There's two main features it has to have to work, I think:

1) Providing a wide range of games so that people can go in and play essentialy anything they want, from NES classics to the latest computer game to virtual boy rejects. Having rare and hard to find classics is a big plus.

2) Having a nice atmosphere that's clean, comfortable and aesthetically nice to be in. Creating a place where people can be comfortable socializing while playing games it pretty much neccisary for the success of it.

[Verto]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
I think it just won't take off. NWIH I'd pay $5 an hour to play computer games.

Especially when you've got Alienware in every bathroom.

[paramir]

Costs too much, it's rediculuslly cheaper to play at home. Though i have been cough in them on occasion with a group of friends, that was just beacuse i was with a group of friends

[Barinthus]

Originally posted by Verto


Especially when you've got Alienware in every bathroom.

The only reason i could think of why I'd want to use a such place is to try out a software to see if I'd like to buy it but there are demos I could download for free.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Adagio
Or at least that's how I would view this, there's no way I would pay to goto such place to play BF2 on the lowest settings

Films are at 20-25 fps per second. Anything higher is a total waste.

Just like our hearing ranges from ~20Hz to ~20000Hz, so using more than 16 bits to encode audio is a total waste.

[:) Smiley]

Never used one, but I've seen a few around town - generally quite empty.

A more successful business model might be to have free gaming, and make money selling food and beverages to addicts who never leave for days.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns


And in six months time?

A cutting-edge computer also needs to be kept uptodate. In a competitive gaming environment, year-old hardware is a serious disadvantage.

Sorry Skanks, this is total BS.

FPS is where the real need for a good system is, and all top players in every FPS I've ever played competitively (which is a few) turn down all the graphics details often to minimum to maintain frames per second even in the biggest firefights.

Hell in Quake, which I played the most, I had a customised config (hand me down from the best UK international player actually) that had a resolution capped at 640*480, frames capped at near max to ensure even gameplay, all icons for weapons turned off and replaced with NES style blobs, all textures turned to bland easily rendered ones, and all enemy models forced to be a certain bright blue one that showed up against the backdrop, and also enabled the comp to only have to load one model.

And this was the norm. So no to your statement.

P.S I like the idea though and wish the guy well. It's just like arcades with X-Boxes. Yeah it's dearer than gaming at home, but that's a silly argument. It's cheaper to do almost everything at home - ever eat out? And it's still pretty expensive to have a good MP setup with a console these days, and if you wanted to play a couple of hours a week it could be a comparable price in the gaming store.

[child of Thor]

Originally posted by DrSpike
edit:

P.S I like the idea though and wish the guy well. It's just like arcades with X-Boxes.

Which is illegal now under the software agreement written inside all console games manuals. It wasn't like that at first, but it is now.

[DrSpike]

Eh? Then this guy is breaking the law?

[child of Thor]

Well unless he has got specific permission from microsoft to do it, then i think so yes. I was looking at setting one up at work, but then checked through stuff with our legal guys when i read through the game manuals.

It basicaly says something along the lines of "excludes using software with shared users - for example in a cyber-cafe. Exclusive user licsense for origonal purchasers own use" etc.

I wonder where the re-selling that shops like Game do fits in?

This is a console specific thing i think - i haven't seen it in any PC game manual yet.

[Unspeakable Horror]

Here they cost $1/hour, around U$S0.3 But I never went to one yet.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by child of Thor
This is a console specific thing i think - i haven't seen it in any PC game manual yet.

Hm, it means you aren't allowed to let your friends to play games you bought on your own console?

I cannot see such a clause has a snowball's chance in Hell to stand up in court.

Also, statements in game manuals are even less enforcable than clauses in EULAs.

[Kuciwalker]

Hm, it means you aren't allowed to let your friends to play games you bought on your own console?

No. It is specifically targeted at these gaming centers.

I cannot see such a clause has a snowball's chance in Hell to stand up in court.

Also, statements in game manuals are even less enforcable than clauses in EULAs.

I've also looked it up in the actual licenses online. For instance, in the Xbox Live license (which is undoubtably enforceable) also contains this provision.