Hey there!

My partner and me are planning to open a console network shop where we would have over 40 consoles (Xbox/PS3) depending on space. ( Could be more ) We are planning to create a gamer kind of feel sort of like a cybercafe. We would also serve snacks and beverage too! I need some ideas on how our interior would be and would you actually hang out in this place if there is one ?

hmm.. sounds like that place they used to have in Sunway Pyramid. and that place tanked..

it's boring and you get to play in open spaces where sound from other game booths will interfere with your experience.

if i have a suggestion, is to have a redbox-styled rooms where ppl can come in and play. that way, i can scream "PWNED!!!!!!!" and laugh at my friend's face as loud as i want without interfering ppl from other room.

This post has been edited by technophile: Aug 2 2008, 12:38 AM

Hey there!
Thanks for the suggestion... We are planning to create VIP rooms depending on our interior design .. We are also thinking of placing round tables and chairs / sofas just for PSP players to hang out there.. =D

oh another thing, please have the place in the middle of the town where it is easily accessible by ppl travelling in lrts and monorails.

i think that's another reason why that joint in sunway tanked.

We have a few possible locations in mind such as SS15 in Subang Jaya, Taipan Usj, and SS2 PJ!
Thanks for the heaps of suggestions =D

NOOOOO!!!
still too farrrrrr!!!!

must take feeder busssss....

NOOOOO!!!!~

I will survey more places when I have the time.. If you have any suggestions which locations are good please drop a msg =D

just dropped you a PM bro..

Do more game tournament like PES2008 with higher prize.

Haiya all in PJ nowdays, boring lah, public transportation is not that good over there

Why not u rent a shop in shopping complex like Midvalley, klcc, or Sogo or other places that near to lrt station.

This post has been edited by ron4: Aug 2 2008, 05:19 PM

true, very true.

as much as KL will always jam, PJ is much more worse (if you are driving).
and yes, it's hard to reach there by public transport.

A good place would be around KL, Bukit Bintang area. Although if you rent a place in Times Square or Pavillion, it'll cost you a bomb too. So depending on your financial support, its best you look around.

Personally, it would be great if you open up at Pavillion though or atleast SG.Wang.

I will support if it is at Bukit Bintang area..

i think ss15 will get more customer as there is so many college there. just my 2cents.

Make sure there's WIFI and its fast..I do hope that there's no PS2 though..Juz next gen consoles would do..

Hey , great to see some good response around.. And yea we would be having only Xbox and PS3. We are still looking around for a spot and we aren't too keen on having it in a shopping mall though. But we will try our best to give what you guys want ! =D

No wii love? Not from KL area. But imo. The Wii can attract some new costumer. Like kids, girls or adults. Well, for the girls part. The guy can go and play with friends while the girlfriend can go play wii. Simpler gameplay would attract them more. Just my opinion.

Most important is make a special room for those smoker player.. so their smoke wun disturb other non-smoker players..

not to be judgemental but i dun think most college students will want to plop their limited cash on the playtime. unless they can keep the cost low, all i see is young adults and yuppies are going to enjoy this. and family of coz.

coz the last time they had it in sunway, i remember for one hour the charge was too high for me to play there.

i used to work around BB area, it would be fun if i can get away in my own game world after work sometime with my colleagues. have a pot shot or two at someone in winning eleven etc.

that's the market you need to tap. ppl with money and willing to spend.

and yes, please have it in a shopping mall. the rational is everywhere. accessibility, human traffic, ease to do events.

remember this shop with great potential called Settler's Cafe? it was a hit in Singapore so they brought it here and set it up in SS2 (or was it 14?). too bad none of the ppl like me (i'm staying in danau kota, which is 10 minutes from KLCC area driving and 20 minutes if i take the train) wants to go.

having it in a shoplot will undermine your acceptance as ppl will quickly see you as another cybercafe.

well.. that's my 2 cents.

couldnt agree more about the location at a shopping mall. though imo a good shopping mall repo will also inherit you wif the same repo. choose a ghost-town-like shopping mall, and u shall hav ghost as ur customer if u know what i mean. (unless u're real damm cheap and good.)

u may also earn more income by selling not just ps3,xbox or any other consoles original game but also foods/snacks/drinks to keep us energized throughout the day

suggestion, less opening hour during weekdays, more opening hours during weekends to balance ur expenses...

held some competition every now and then, and u should be good to go.

Hey there! Yep we would definitely have a snack bar =D..and thanks for all the great suggestions and feedback.. keep them coming!

Sounds like an interesting idea, not too sure how feasible it is, but I'll definitely check it out

I agree with what other people said, organize enough local tournaments, have a gamers league or something and you'll definitely boost your chances of success a fair bit.

Check out for license from Perbandaran 1st..can open console cafe or not
nanti keluar kat Edisi Siasat,lagi pening
Golongan pelajar ponteng berleluasa skarang ni

Yes, you also need to check whether Microsoft and Sony is ok with you using their games to make money. Especially Microsoft. They may try to charge you royalties.

Also take into consideration that console gamers usually play online so they may not need to go to a shop to play. That means that your target market will be mainly gamers who haven't bought a console/cannot afford to buy a console. If they cannot afford to buy a console, then you can't afford to charge them too high.

If you can work out the main issue above (MS and Sony) the idea may be feasible.

This post has been edited by ooj: Aug 5 2008, 02:32 AM

hahahahahaha. sorry but i find the first para funny and ironic. coming from a fella who runs a home business renting out games and blu-rays.

Ooj's first para is already my main concern on the first place of providing Gamefly's service.

the reality could be more expensive than you can imagine.

imagine just 40 units of ps3/xbox 360 in your cafe. how much would that cost already? say an average of rm1300 per machine, thats already RM52,000.

what about games? are you going to network all the machines together? are you going to provide LAN gaming? what if everyone wants to play a particular game together. are you going to have 20 to 30 ori copies of the same game? are you going to alwauys have 20 to 30 copies of the LATEST and hottest games?

let's not forget the wear and tear costs as well. game discs will get scratched. controllers will get damaged and for all you know, things will get stolen.

don't forget about other equally important things like power bills, entertainment license, furniture, etc.

and then there is the ultimate question. how much are you going to charge gamers for a session. RM2 or RM20 per hour?

truth to be told, unless you got a lot of money to burn and you don't mind burning it for a while, go ahead.

if you do open one, i actually dont mind dropping in once in a while to kill some time - if the price is right.

That's why I'm constantly moving house, keeping one step ahead of the authorities.

All I can say is good luck.

You either have loads of cash to burn or have really good investors with huge amount of start-up capital and willing to take a risk. This is an ambitious plan.

You start small and people won't see the point of playing at your premise, you start big and you run the risk of burning out. You have to juggle between a fee that is suitable for you and affordable to the customer (which is practically non-existent )

And the way I see it, the most popular games are going to be Rockband or the upcoming Guitar Hero (which is a band anyway). And how many units will you be able to support considering its not even cheap to have one?

Not pouring cold water on you but I hope you have taken into account all the costs - both start-up and also the running costs. And also take into account how long you can sustain yourself without profit.

A LAN concept cafe with consoles is interesting and it might even be possible but you need deep pockets to do so and a timeframe for people to get used to the idea.

So, all the best to you and if it works for you, I'll be one of the first to say - job well done for I know how difficult it is.

I must also add that before in the Playstation subforum, there was one person who wanted to do such a thing, but it got halted because his concerns was of the "elections".

So, I wanna say all the best to u my friend.

@ooj, Lol!

TS, beside the high cost of starting business
another major concern will be the licenses for such business

If I'm not mistaken, currently there's no license for such console gaming business, better check with your local bandaraya office before proceeding with the plan.

and again, if I remember correctly, there's already a few cases of bandaraya raiding on those small shops running similar business like yours, but all they have is just a few tiny tvs and ps2 and loads of pirated games. I remember those shops are quiet popular with those ahbengs playing soccer games and school kids in their uniforms.

No matter how much money you got to burn, as long as you don't have a proper license to run the business, it's doomed.

Wahh...your business must be damn good since you can afford to keep buying new houses, lol

RISKY BUSINESS THIS IS....

All in squatter area.

TS, another thing you need to consider is the different group sizes. If a group of 10 friends want to play, will you be able to accommodate all of them in 1 room? It may mean shifting your tv and consoles around, so you may want to put them on mobile stands.

I suggest you hire a market research firm to do a consumer survey on whether there is demand for this and also the price range they are willing to pay. I can recommend you a good consultant. He gives away free RM5 coupons and can accumulate points.

yeah. having a marketing research consultant will always help. a small price to pay for good planning in the long run.

CONSULT THE AUTHORITIES FIRST, HE MUST...

Well just a suggestion, if u really open this shop, be near a game shop
people can buy the game they like

but i would assume the shop would include video game rental?? if got then i don't need to buy a PS3 just to play GoW3

Or be part of the game shop?

i think it's better if u start your business with a smaller quantity of consoles.. then try to find the optimal quantity of them to ensure maximum earnings..

yeah i believe it will be quite a cost to start a nice and cosy place to play console games... but still if it does happen, ill go over and pay a visit too although i personally own a PS3 and PSP... keke... thats bcos we could meet real life frens... of cos... smoking and non smoking area is VERY important to keep it clean and health concious...

Lastly i would think Mid Valley, 1U or SP would be a very good place to start with as this 3 malls even weekdays are usually packed and are mostly willing to pay type of gamers IF its good... my 2cent... dont flame ya? thanks ^^

But with a small quantity of consoles, it will defeat the purpose of having a gaming LAN shop right? I mean, if I want to play with just a couple of other players, I might as well just log into XBOX Live or something.

Neat... but problem i can foresee...

saved games like personal characters.. or different levels differ from each other in cod4 personalized football team etc etc..

how does it work ?

if everyone has to start from scratch... for example... everytime a person plays cod4 ... we're only limited to the level 0 weapons and perks.. it will be boring..

Just my 2 cents.

This post has been edited by aaron5829: Aug 13 2008, 05:39 PM

I remember reading that the XBOX360 has a portable storage device (something like a USB thumb drive, similar in function to the memory sticks of the original Playstation) which you can use to store your profile info and saved games, and carry it around with you. So even if you play on another 360 console, you can still have all your stats and settings.

kinda troublesome if you ask me...

but anyway.. good luck with your console gaming paradise...

i wish it works well

the Memory Module doesn't support some games. coz the saved games are signed to a specific console. thus you can only save it on the HDD. plus i dun think many ppl who would want to shell out about RM120 for 512mb of storage.

any update on this project??...