Starting up a Gaming Cafe

Lltjaris on 08/06/2016 - 17:26

Hey folks,

So i am in the process of doing a feasibility study on doing a Gaming Cafe and am looking to start up with about 20 Gaming PCs to start up. I was down to the cost assessments for the actual Computers i.e. the Components/ Networking apparatus and any other hardware i may require.

I was looking to get some input into this and any other advise that you may have.

So basically i have the A/ B/ C option and the idea is to work out on a optimized route to get the best possible computers with the most straightforward maintenance requirement that will last me at least 5-7 years without having to do major upgrades.

Let me share where ive got to so far.

Cpu ; I76700k - i76700 - i56400
Mobo; Asus Maximum Ranger - Asus z170 - Gigabyte h170m
PSU ; 750W Corsair
Case; Phanteks enthoo evolv ATX - Corsair Carbide
Graphics Card; ASUS GTX970 Strix - EVGA GTX970 - Gigabyte G1 GTX960
RAM; Kingston 8gb DDR4 (2)
HDD; Seagate 2tb - 1tb
Windows; Not sure
Coolings Fans; Not sure
Networking Hardware; Not sure

Im open to any recommendations you guys may have. I am not an avid gamer myself so i will take all the help i can get.

Computing

Comments

    • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 17:17

      I intend to do this for at least 3 years and see how it goes for me unless i fail miserably in the first 6 months, thanks for the encouragement.

  • Tech5 on 09/06/2016 - 00:56

    Alright so it seems like you are just throwing money at these computers. What you want is the best gaming bang for the buck.

    —You do not need an i7 in gaming.- A i5 4690/4670 or i56600 is more than enough. You also do not need the K version unless you plan on overclocking all 20 computers

    —A H170 board is enough if you are not overclocking for 6600, or a H97.

    —A GTX970 I would recommend. GTX960 or 980 is either too weak or too powerful. The 970 is the best performance/power ratio. Wouldn't go near the R9 390 as you do need to consider electricity costs when running 20 PC's.

    —I think 1x8gb stick of ram is enough for now, giving room for another 8gb stick in the future. DDR4 if you are running a 6600, or DDR3 if you are running 4690.

    —A 500w power supply is more than enough.

    —WD Caviar blue gives best performance/reliability. I am not sure how much value you place on SSD's, but a 128gb one for the bootdrive will increase the customers sense of "speed" alot.

    —Fans that come with the case is more than enough if you are not overclocking. As long as you arent putting all 20 PC's in a non-airconned room.

    —Ethernet is always the best option for gaming and most motherboards will already have an inbuilt wired network solution, removing need for network cards.

    —A headset is probably needed. Depends on what your budget is, Kingston HyperX Cloud can be obtained for around $59, less with discounts and are well rated.

    —In terms of the case, I would put priority on size atm. I wouldn't get a mATX case. An ATX one is a better idea. Even if you don't fill it up now, it leaves room for upgrades as well as airflow

  • Aneurism on 09/06/2016 - 01:29
    +2

    If I were to ever start a gaming cafe, I'd probably make sure I had a whore house business first, and put the cafe right next to it…If you build it, they will come.

    • Hirolol on 09/06/2016 - 08:34
      +1

      I like!
      Even a massage parlor that do special service… Neon sign compulsory

      • JayM on 10/06/2016 - 18:20

        Whilst gaming?

  • alankami on 09/06/2016 - 01:44

    You can save some money on the cases. There are a few internet cafes that goes really cheap on cases (~$50 ATX cases), and they put the tower inside a mesh area within the desk with adequate air ventilation and also customers wont fiddle around with the buttons and cables. They then install a extended power button from the motherboard onto the desk for people to turn on the computer. Usually costs around $10-15.
    The extended power button looks similar to this: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71p1XcQlEKL.SL1100.jpg
    This will help you save some cash.

    For other hardware specifications, @zhuang281 has a good idea for the build.

    Most Gaming Cafe players usually play League of Legends anyways… so it should be pretty decent.

    I do think Gaming Cafes are a good idea. It is mainly location that is most crucial, and your way of promoting and marketing to differentiate your business advantages.

    Good luck, all the best!

    edit: A reason not to go full out on your computer build (i7 CPU etc) is because if your business does not go your way, you won't have too much to lose. And most gaming PCs don't require i7 CPUs, unless for those full out gamers that record and streams.

  • syousef on 09/06/2016 - 08:12
    +3

    Suggesting that any PC can remain top end and low maintenance for 7 years tells me you don't know enough about the business you're proposing to make it work. Worse I bet you end up blaming your staff when your unrealistic expectations aren't met. For everyone's sake find something you do know and are passionate about.

  • Hirolol on 09/06/2016 - 08:33
    +1

    Maybe ask some of the peripheral companies for sponsorship and provide you with free or heavily discounted stuff.
    Tell them you will put posters up and sell their product or something like that…

  • TransportPosters on 09/06/2016 - 09:28
    +1

    Open the cafe near a cluster of apartment buildings with international students. I used to live in the Melbourne CBD and this is the kind of clientele which will quickly become your regulars and fill your savings.

  • Davo1111 on 09/06/2016 - 09:41
    +4

    lol, this sounds like a huge mistake. If the gaming cafes are so "full" then why arent they expanding themselves? they have all the contracts/known costs calculated.

    You also havent established the costs of an internet connection, insurance, electricity, cost of renting the games, staff costs, system upgrades and images.

    Considering every gaming cafe ive been to appears to be run by an illegal student worker, i'd say keeping the business afloat is going to be tough.

    • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 17:00
      -2

      So far i have worked out the Internet/utilites and labor costs. Its a very small investment and a risk im willing to take. I'll let you know how i go in a few months time.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 10:37

    got to think of how you are going to manage all these machines.

    1. steam/ubisoft/origon?
    2. can people install games?
    3. storage space?
    4. network (nbn/adsl/lan)

    i think you need to also consider is backup system UPS also which will protect the machines from surges/ power failures.

    • centrelink on 09/06/2016 - 16:47

      Probably illegally install softwares in an attempt to save money.

      • Davo1111 on 09/06/2016 - 18:28

        i think they have contracts.

  • JetLi on 09/06/2016 - 11:10
    +1

    I'm no gamer or frequent gaming cafes, but if the majority are saying it's a bad idea, it probably is.

  • Soundwave on 09/06/2016 - 11:14
    +1

    Hey man, I hope your venture goes well. Screw all these haters. I will say, you might want to lower some of the specs on your hardware and save you some money upfront. I don't think you really need SSD drives and 16GB is a lot of RAM still for the games you will be running. PSU 750W x 20 will be a lot of power. Might want to stick to a 550/600W to lower your power consumption.

    Now, not a genius idea, more of a gimmick, but maybe invest in a corner or a room or two to prepare for VR. It may not kick off, but it may bring people in through the door with interest and hopefully they'll stay and spend some $$$ or actually use the VR.

    Anyways, good luck. Try and sticking to it even if it get's rough, but not long enough that it sends you down a money draining hole.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 13:54
      +1

      750W don't actually consume 750W unless that's what the graphics card is drawing. WIth a single card it might not even go above 400W. PSUs fail a lot too. Just get what's a good deal, and if 750W is on sale, so be it, it won't make a dent into power consumption, in fact it could be even more efficient.

      For example, I got a good deal on an FSP Raider 750W which is rated for 80PLUS Bronze. I will never draw anywhere close to that, but one review did some tests on it and it performed at 80PLUS Gold level efficiency at lower load.

      • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 17:02

        Your right. The reading ive done suggests the same and 750W seems to be the safe number with the specifications that i have chalked out so far. Max consumption wouldn't be more than 422W according to a few online calculators ive used, thats the sweet efficiency spot(50-60%). Correct me if im wrong.

  • mikkim4eva on 09/06/2016 - 11:32
    +2

    My two cents

    Internet cafe has come a long way, when internet wasn't accessible to every household. I have seen a full integrated system used in internet cafes in Asia.

    Target

    Students, groups and bums, MMORPG that sits there for a long period, groups that want to lan games like starcraft/dota/LOL and some simple classic FPS co-op games etc

    Specs

    Specs for computer is a bit on the high side, computer components becomes obsolete quick these days (2-3 years). Gtx960 as other said is suffice mainly due to online games are forever not going to have AAA title graphics.

    Monitors - best go TF panel on the cheap.
    Keyboard and mouse on the cheap as you will be replacing it alot.
    Gaming headset - get them chinese one, again they wear out quick

    Furnishing

    Need good chairs for them to stay long, either capentry leather for easy cleaning or office chairs like buro metro for long hours of sit rating. integrated desk to hide most part of the pc to reduce heart ache

    usb extenstion cable for external storage that they can do limited stuff to.

    System & monitoring

    There are software packages to control and monitor the internet cafe, we are talking about blocking teens from accessing sensitive material that will get you in hot waters, blocking installation of junk or anything even, prepaid and printing out a ticket with a ad hoc logon that can access any computer that is available and has a timer on the money paid and will remind and log you off after the timer finished.

    CCTV is a must, and has to be visible to consumers, vandalising of furniture, keyboard and mouse, or peeps sitting in a dark corner doing drugs or something haha

    Maintenance

    Components do fail, mainly due to heat and dust, both can be minimise with the right setup.

    Game category/library

    Trending Free to play online games

    classic avatar/sega/nintendo/etc emulation

    Starcraft, age of empire, xcom, counter strike, quake, left for dead, dota, LOL, any co-op lan games.

    How are you going to obtain them and stay out of trouble is another issue. They succeeded in asia because non of those shops actually pay for the games.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 11:41
    +4

    Hi,

    I work as a a part of the corporate sales team for one of the bigger PC retailers & distributors in Australia. I've recently finished a project opening a new gaming cafe in Melbourne and it's not just the cost of the PC's you're going to want to think about. I'm not a specialist when it comes to things regarding insurance and all the other things associated with setting up a business but I can certainly help with the networking and component side of things.

    You shouldn't be too worried about the brand of the components that you're getting - unless you're being sponsored, it won't really matter. If you're assembling them, you'll want something easy to build.

    The client I've just worked with didn't use standard PC cases - they were custom built desks with the computers built in, primarly for security reasons - clients can't simply hide a USB key loger in the back or connect their own device via a wired connection.

    There's a lot of things to cover in detail as well; networking topology and security, software licensing etc. Feel free to PM me if you want.

    I don't want to put a damper on your idea but depending on where you are geographically, look at what is around. Melbourne has a brand new LAN cafe in South Melbourne alongside one over in the inner west just having opened too.

    • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 17:05

      I will hit you up if i run into networking problem. Im glad to know people are still looking into this area of the industry. I am only looking at 20 odd computers so customized cases would probably cost me more. Is something in their set up that you particularly liked or disliked?

      • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 17:54
        +1

        Customized cases aren't that out of the question - you'd be suprised what you can get. The client I worked with was 85 units and they looked great - gives you the ability to go with a really good colour scheme throughout the place.

        Only thing I disliked was that due to budget & more importantly the availibility of parts, we had to use a cheaper PSU that has had some issues. We're working with the client at the moment to have them replaced though entirely.

  • WT on 09/06/2016 - 11:45

    The only internet cafe's I seen reasonably busy are ones in Sydney CBD and I would guess that rent would be pretty high.

    A friend used to work in one on the gold coast suburbs, nice place, there were maybe 6-8 people on a week night. Higher end pc's and peripherals at the time. Each set up including monitor, earphones etc would have been atleast $2200 each retail.

    Not sure how much money you can make if you charge $8 p/h and are consuming 500w each pc, rent, wages, repairs, theft/damage.

    I quizzed them on how they make money and my friend said they dont really care, the old man is in property/business and his son runs it, so its probably more of a tax deduction/hobby tattoo parlor/bikie type deal

    • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 17:19
      +3

      Yep, bikies.

  • TheBird on 09/06/2016 - 12:46
    +1

    I used to run a small gaming center with about 24 computers in suburbia for about 8 years.

    What you need depends on the needs of your potential clients.

    If your potential clients are the hardcore gamers who want the best and greatest, considering anything below top shelf is foolish. If the majority of your clients will be simple internet surfers, going beyond a Raspberry PI may be foolish. When I was operating, the casual gamer market was there the money was. Their needs seemed to be somewhere in the middle. It was more the atmosphere that attracted them.

    Your replacement/upgrade requirements will also depend on your competition. A competitor opening close by with better machines, better environment etc will require a steeper upgrade path. If you open close to a competitor, you may find you need a higher end machine to attract customers.

    Pay close attention to your costs. Power is going to be a large part of your costing. Machines are using more power now than ever before. From I've recently read, the new GTX 1080p video card delivers a higher performance with less electricity. If this is the case, do the math and see if your running costs will be lower over time. It may warrant a higher up front cost. Same with the power supply. A more expensive, more efficient power supply may be your better option. Monitors too. Do the math. Long term thinking.

    Pay attention to potential breakages. I found headphones. With less frequency mice, and it's strange to say, but also chairs. Never in my time had people disconnect the mice/keyboards and steal them. Never once had any items removed and stolen from within the machines.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 13:47

      rPI are great (and Desktop Linux environment) but are very limited in functionality that it would scare a lot of general users away. I would choose refurbished $50 Core 2 Duo machines over Raspberry Pi for Internet Cafe.

      The new graphics card is called GTX 1080, not GTX 1080p. GTX 1080 is VERY expensive and while the performance is fantastic it is probably overkill for the target demographic to justify such an expensive card, especially in a matter of months AMD RX480 will probably be fantastic performance for most people (even if not as much as a GTX 1080) at 1/4 of the price. Then when GTX 11xx series comes out the 1080 won't look all that special anymore anyway.

      • TheBird on 09/06/2016 - 23:35

        That's always the game. The next best always looks better than the current best and the previous best is always better value for money.

        As I said, more than anything, it depends on what the operator believes is the potential clients.

        Well picked on the 1080. Force of habit putting 1080p from that work I do these days.

  • WhatWouldBiggieDo on 09/06/2016 - 13:28

    I'm not a gamer (or a techie) but just an observation.

    I feel like, when gaming cafes were big, not everyone had a fast internet connection and not all games offered online play. It seems like the reason these cafe's existed was so that people could play each other in a "LAN" set up. With the affordability of fast internet and every game having huge servers that let you play against people around the world, why would anyone go to a cafe to do it? why not do it from the comfort of your own home?

  • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 13:38
    +6

    Lots of shit advice in here as far as PC specs go and completely ignoring the issue that with the amount of maintenance required (even with images) it would not make sense to run such an operation without vast in-house tech knowledge.

    I would also start off with less PCs or at least some VERY basic ones just to start off with. You will want to be staggering upgrades (eg: 4 per year over 5 years) rather than waiting for them all to become obsolete, because there will be periods where some games will struggle in between. If you stagger there will always be some reasonable computers available.

    Very basic PCs with integrated graphics (at least to start with) is perfectly valid as some people just want to use the Internet and plenty of games have low system requirements.

    Some people will be bringing in their own laptops so make sure there is desk space for them.

    Make sure that your location has really fast internet - EoC or Fibre. Too many shitty internet cafes just have some crappy ADSL connection.

    Run a cafe for Coffee and Food.

    Check out Software Licensing. I know that Steam have a Cyber Cafe program, and you can/should probably get some special licensing for Windows too.

    Some technical points:

    Get the new RX480 with the cheapest i5 6xxx you can find. More expensive i5s and i7s are only a trivial improvement for gaming. i3 is good too 4 real cores (i5 & i7) are better than 2 cores (i3). AMD 8 core is an option too but they are not as good for Intel, personally I would just spend a few bucks extra and get Intel. AMD's upcoming Zen might be a game changer so that's why you want to stagger.

    Expect CPUs to be current for a maximum 5 years, GPUs maximum of 2 years before they are considered "obsolete".

    Get the 1 stick of RAM. The performance gain of Dual Channel (have two sticks) is negligible. I read somewhere that with dedicated graphics the performance hit is only 1-2%, and by leaving only one stick on it vastly expands your upgrade options in the future to make use of the existing stick rather than having 2 useless sticks on your hands. For integrated graphics Dual Channel can make a big difference (20% performance hit when using Single Channel) but if you are using integrated graphics (no dedicated GPU) then performance wouldn't really be the main point anyway.

    Get a large SSD. I can see here the temptations to use HDD to get all that space, and for a home PC I would agree. But for an internet cafe you'd want to a have A LOT of games installed at once, and your customers want them all to be fast. You can always add more SSDs in the future as space requires. I would not bother with HDD at this point, and they fail, a lot.

    • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 17:08

      Thanks a lot for your advice, I would need to see how i can get my hands on the RX480 since they aren't available locally yet. Also don't i run the chance of failing if i use a single 8 GB DDR4 Ram stick? Lastly, 20 Large SSD's would probably cost a lot.

      • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 17:36

        RX 480 is not even released yet nor do we have much detail except it will be in a month or two, but the little information we do have is that it will be around GTX 1070 in performance (a little bit more), and 1/4 of the price. 1070 is no slouch either. These are all VR-capable GPUs to give you an indication of how powerful they really are. It depends on your timeframe to get up and running. Even if you want to get some PCs now and run them on Integrated Graphics until the GPUs are available, or get second hand GPUs to start with.

        I don't think that "chance of failing" really comes into it. Everything fails at some point, but aside from the obvious wear and tear of keyboard and mice that you will be replacing a lot, the internal components that will need replacing most commonly are the PSUs and HDDs (if you get HDDs instead of SSD) quite often. PSUs have a lot of electrical/heat stress, and HDDs have a lot of mechanical stress. They WILL fail.

        RAM is quite uncommon to fail. Maybe after 10+ Years it can develop a memory error, in my experience servicing hundreds of PCs. If in the unlikely event that it fails, just buy a new stick. So your PC might be out of action until you can go to the shop. Even if you have two sticks you will still need to diagnose that you even have a memory error (not always obvious) and take the machine apart to pull out the bad stick, and even do extra troubleshooting to even work out which one of the sticks is even dodgy!! You would be standardising on DDR4, so you're not going to have any problem finding RAM from any computer shop nearby any time soon. You can even borrow a stick from another computer that has two sticks if getting to the shops is a problem for you.

        I wouldn't bother with 8GB stick either unless you are on a really tight budget. When you want to upgrade the RAM down the line, your motherboard will only have 2 or 4 slots, so if you add a 16GB stick you will get 8GB+16GB=24GB or 8GB+16GB=16GB+16GB=56GB, not 32GB or 64GB as would probably be standard by then. I consider 8GB to be a waste of space with limited amount of slots, personally.

        SSDs: I would do an inventory of all the games you expect to the loaded at once, and the disk space needed for that + Windows + free space + growth. I suspect ~480GB SSDs would be the BARE minimum, 960GB more appropriate. There are deals on OzBargain all the time, otherwise check out amazon and staticice.com.au and pcpartpicker au and see what you can find right now.

        Yeah it probably would cost of a lot, especially if you are not staggering. But it's your stupid idea to run an Internet Cafe, not mine. :-)

        • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 18:07

          Thanks for all the information and yea Haha stupid but hopefully profitable.

        • TheBird on 10/06/2016 - 00:14

          Had to look up the RX480. If the specs are close to what they're bragging, it'll be worth serious consideration. I look forward to seeing its real world performance.

      • jaypick on 11/06/2016 - 16:22

        if you're worried about the cost of SSD's, you're going to have a bad time

    • fruit on 09/06/2016 - 18:18

      The performance gain of Dual Channel (have two sticks) is negligible

      Source?

  • nikkirose on 09/06/2016 - 13:56
    +1

    You want to figure out your networking first I think. Most unlimited plans are for personal use, so you need commercial iternet, and Cat 6 cables, legendary modems and an IT guy on hand. I am not sure if you can make any money on this. I have seen it tried and failed few times, but you need at least an an elite competetive environment to offer,or you have nothing at all to offer. A VR Cafe would be a better idea altogether I think, at least you would get one off customers wanting to try before they buy thier own, and kids, you will have to deal with kids.

  • Elnato on 09/06/2016 - 14:00
    +1

    It would be a lot cheaper to have a bunch of consoles instead of PC's, easier to sell on afterwards, the hardware has a longer life as well

    • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 14:02

      Ugh, I hate consoles, but this is true. Getting consoles is sound advice. Especially if you have some retro stuff that is not readily available to play somewhere else.

    • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 17:10

      I do have plans for that too ill try and save some space so i can do that.

    • fruit on 09/06/2016 - 18:19
      +2

      Consoles lol

  • JetLi on 09/06/2016 - 14:46
    +2

    It's hard enough to run a normal cafe profitably,now add the additional costs/complexities associated with gaming (I'm no techie, but there's already been so many conflicting views on what PCs are most suitable), all I can say is good luck mate. The amount you would have to spend initially for renovations on the kitchen/food counters/drink refrigerators etc for the cafe alone would be a killer, let alone the on going food stock required for the cafe.

  • berger on 09/06/2016 - 16:59
    +2

    i would be more worried about the lease contract than the computer costs.

    If business failed after 6 months you want to be able to afford to terminate a contract, based on a 12 month contract, many places do min 2 year..

    Worry about public liability, bills, outgoings, insurances..

    Half decent furniture to fit outwould costs thousands, costs of a counter, chairs, even the till and fridge for your snacks(at least) you will probably want to offer a microwave or fridge for customers top. Chairs for the customers would be $250 plus each, you need to cater for small and heavy people so a chair with 160+ Kg rating would costs a few $$

    Don't "do a deal" with a local eatery, you should offer some food/drinks and make the big margins yourself

    Does the building offer a public toilet, with disabled access?

    Coffee machine too, there's a couple thousand, invest in a coffee machine and have a proper cafe involved with the gaming cafe. Why not have a serving window facing the street with coffee and cakes, a couple chairs and a few signs supplied by a coffee company. Sell 50 coffees a day at $4.50 and there's a lot of $$ made back.

    I would think a gaming cafe would be a very hard business to get into.. You need to do it well and be better than the others in the area

    • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 17:13

      Thanks for your advice berger.

      Here's the deal So far there is no competition so i feel like i can get away with even a lower level of service(i intend to do the best i can).

      The main idea is that i plan to do this for at least 3 years unless i have absolutely nil traffic in the first 6 months.

      • TheBird on 10/06/2016 - 00:10
        +1

        Part of your competition is your customers own mobile phones,and their computers at home. These days they can use a library for free internet.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/06/2016 - 17:40

      Forgetting the cost to maintain all the PCs without doing the technical expertise in house. That cost would be through the roof. Might have to hire a IT student for cheap that has no friggen clue what the're doing and the computers always run like shit. I seen a few of those…

      • nikkirose on 09/06/2016 - 20:17

        those arent meant to make money, this guy doesnt want to deliberately run at a loss.

  • Richardc on 09/06/2016 - 17:52

    You can go to FBI or city hunter and have a look how they run the business.

  • fruit on 09/06/2016 - 18:19

    Buy a mac /s

  • Ryugen on 09/06/2016 - 18:48
    +7

    Spend your next two weeks visiting LAN centres and just playing games / soaking in the atmosphere. Have a chat with the people there, hear what they like and don't like. Ask why they come back, what games they are playing. See what the ones open are already doing and reiterate/refine/redesign. These days rarely do you need to go into a business completely blind as most likely someone else is doing it. Learn from their mistakes and utilize their customers as a sample base.

    You need to know where your information is coming from. An opinion from a 50 yr old IT administrator compared to a 18 yr old borderline gaming addict will weigh differently for you. You wouldn't take gaming advice from the IT person and you wouldn't take Tech support from the 18 yr old.

    A lot of these questions, you should be asking these people that actually spend time in LAN centres. Also chat to their operators and ask them about how they are operating. Most of them are happy to chat about there operation, probably falling short of giving you their suppliers and gross hahaha. Some people might frown at this, but market research is the name of the game and whatever you can find out will benefit you. Hit the streets!

    No offense to anyone on this website, but anonymous on the internet is not a good source of market research.

    Source: Game a lot, spent my life in lan centres before ADSL, graduated marketing

    • ltjaris on 09/06/2016 - 19:14
      +2

      No that is very sound advice, i have frequented the same gaming cafes for a while now and those were definitely my first source of information. But the amount of decent information i have received with people's responses is phenomenal. Most of the users here are people with a lot of of diverse experience who are keen to help out strangers like myself. So really ive got nothing to lose by asking people like yourself.

  • Thefiddler on 09/06/2016 - 19:23
    +9

    I'd buy a video rental store. Its practically a license to print money and a business thats sustainable and be around for hundreds of years

    • berger on 10/06/2016 - 07:28
      +2

      Incorporate a gaming cafe in there. Retirement at 30 is no longer a dream.. 🤔

    • JetLi on 10/06/2016 - 09:51
      +2

      Be Kind Rewind.

  • p3nf0ld on 09/06/2016 - 21:14
    +6

    Wow, I think your coming at it from totally the wrong way. You want to be focusing on a bar setup with esports streamed to TV's - eg dota finals, CS matches, starcraft etc. There's always someting on. Then do some VR setups and away you go. You have to offer something that people can't get for free from home. Why would i go out & rent a machine when I can stay home & play on my NBN with my own PC & play online with my friends & eat whatever I want?

    • Nichotinz on 10/06/2016 - 02:50
      +2

      I think this is the best idea so far, instead of looking for traditional internet cafe, you should differentiate and find a unique selling proposition as mention above.

      There is a growing trend with the esport show, I have seen LOL and CS in hoyts and crown for people to watch, and as mention by someone earlier that 50% of the sales came from food and beverages, a bar that show esport show will attract groupie to come to your place.

      I think this would help a lot, not to mention after watching the game/show people will be more willingly to play with their mate.

    • WhyAmICommenting on 10/06/2016 - 19:50

      This sounds really interesting, I want to go!

  • nbagame on 09/06/2016 - 21:34
    +2

    Game cafes are vanishing for a reason.

    Just invest on something else, even a cafe is better than it.

    Not mentioning you aren't really in the industry.

    • WhyAmICommenting on 10/06/2016 - 19:54
      +1

      This is my concern, people try and make money from things that aren't their "bag".

      Almost every big business success is someone who had a driving passion for something so they could stick it out / do the hard yards / try something different in the enevitable tough times.

      Hope this makes sense

  • [Deactivated] on 10/06/2016 - 09:00

    You'll need a supply of spare keyboards, mice and headsets.

    A lot of them.

    People break those so easily. Specially when they rage

  • andyken on 10/06/2016 - 10:19

    i travel overseas last year, and when i visit their gaming centre (cafe), i dont see any PC on the table, only some usb box for mouse, keyboard and headphone. so i ask the reception and he said his server can handle up to 12 USER and run all the games/application independently. it was quite fast (i play cs:go and cod)

    maybe buy 1 good server and save money on power bill, psu, case, etc
    im not sure what they use probably this: http://www.miniframe.com/technology/softxpand.html
    i found this as well: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Multi-headed-VMWa… (2014 article)

    good luck on your business

    • futaris on 10/06/2016 - 13:13

      Yeah, VMWare or LimeTech UnRAID, which is QEMU-KVM Linux based.

      You will still need a lot of Video Cards though…

    • theguyrules on 10/06/2016 - 16:44

      Something like this?

      • andyken on 10/06/2016 - 17:22

        but i dont think they spend US$30K for the server. they charge 25c/hour for gaming

  • konholyoh on 10/06/2016 - 10:59

    If your based in Melbourne, go have a look at these two internet cafes.

    They have been around for a while now, and are able to survive as they upgrade and adapt to customers.

    MC Internet Cafe.
    https://www.facebook.com/MC-Internet-Cafe-103231826426947/

    Beyond Internet Cafe.
    https://www.facebook.com/Beyond-Internet-and-Gaming-Cafe-121…

  • henryph-am on 10/06/2016 - 12:07
    +2

    Weird, I thought this kind of businesses died out a long time ago. I meant, who doesn't have a computer and internet these days. o_O
    It might be a good idea ten years ago but not now.

  • [Deactivated] on 10/06/2016 - 12:37
    +3

    If you have vr's (htc vive) available at your cafe that would be good. The cost and shipping to get it into Australia is way too much for an average gamer to buy so if you have it available at your cafe for a fee it could bring in customers wanting to try it out.

  • Hotpotcorn on 10/06/2016 - 14:09
    -2

    THERE ARE LOTS OF GAMING CAFES IN CHINA….. THEY ARE ALWAYS PACKED FULL OF TEENAGERS. GAMING CAFE WOULD BE A GREAT THING TO HAVE IN AUSTRALIA

    • johnno07 on 10/06/2016 - 16:13
      +3

      We had them. Now we don't.

  • Alpacino299 on 10/06/2016 - 15:13
    +1

    Interesting idea,

    I'd probably say strive for the best GPUs you can afford or at least work out which models are the most cost effective to replace once they're obsolete. ie. a gtx970 would more than likely become obsolete for a gaming(1080p aaa games) cafe in 1 or 2 years time.

    What monitors will you be running? 1080p? 4k?
    You could probably get away with 1tb HDD depending on how many games you have loaded on at one time.

    As others have said a few considerations:
    -20x$1000-$2000 = $20-40k
    -monitor costs
    -peripheral costs (headsets, keyboard, mice. gaming versions can be pricey)
    -chairs, tables/desk costs
    -You'll probably need UPSs for power
    -require a proper networking solution
    -Management of user capabilities and gaming platforms like steam.(I'm not sure how this would work in a cafe with multiple people)
    -Robust cooling solution to draw heat from one location to another that's generated by the PCs. Keeping people and PCs cool makes everything last longer.

  • canleyheights on 10/06/2016 - 15:52
    +1

    CybercafePro is a good management software to use. It use to cost me $2000 back in the days, but now it is free. http://www.cybercafepro.com/
    I use to have 3 internet cafes (50pcs, 30pcs & 25pcs) now I only have 1 left with 2 pcs.

    • WhyAmICommenting on 10/06/2016 - 20:09

      !

      I think this is the sternest warning so far if you plan on taking the vanilla cyber Cafe option.

      I'm still impressed with the esports Cafe idea with a bar - sounds awesome even though I wouldn't watch gaming at home.

  • johnno07 on 10/06/2016 - 16:12

    Best of luck with this idea - you'll need it.

  • nxllson on 10/06/2016 - 21:09

    What is your maximum budget?

  • belongsinforums on 10/06/2016 - 22:05

    gl op. i'd definitely go and try out vr at ur cafe if u have it

  • jonathonsunshine on 11/06/2016 - 00:30

    Not to be a party pooper but every gaming cafe that I've known of is now closed…

  • JV159 on 11/06/2016 - 08:49
    +1

    The parts you listed are an excellent line up, not being a big gamer myself and even i think so.
    Although the games will catch up with the hardware and you'll probably need an upgrade sooner than you think.

    Parts like CPU and graphics cards are expensive but key to your PC's gaming potential, you can swap these out for higher end/later versions without pulling the whole thing apart if thats what you're worried about.

  • centrelink on 11/06/2016 - 17:43

    I think if it helps save costs I'll head over to the overclocker forums and purchase second parts. You may save a lot in the end.

    • ltjaris on 11/06/2016 - 20:00
      +1

      Warranty is extremely important so I will be looking to purchase new items only,

      • centrelink on 12/06/2016 - 19:00

        Not sure if you lose warranty if you purchase second hand, but I think you can still claim warranty.. provided they give you the receipt I guess.

    • berger on 14/06/2016 - 08:20

      last thing he would want to do is buy bits & pieces, when he could buy new systems all identical.. all have the same screen, tower, internals, etc.., easy to swap parts & work on knowing each one is the same

  • BobbyJ on 12/06/2016 - 08:55
    +1

    SSD shouldn't be necessary because AFAIK the computers are usually turned on for the most part. Also, if you keep the number of start up applications low, boot time should be no more than 30 seconds.
    EDIT:
    i7s won't be necessary either since the only thing they really bring to the table over i5s are hyper threading. Most games (if not all) don't use hyper threading.
    Also, what type of Internet connection are you getting? NBN, ADSL, Broadband?
    I suggest you ask on Whirlpool to get information from those who have a lot of knowledge about computers.
    Good luck with your business.

    • shadowarrior on 14/06/2016 - 08:46
      +1

      SSDs are not ONLY for boot up times. I know that's what most drive manufacturers market SSDs as. That's like saying NBN like internet speed is ONLY to allow faster download of games/movies/tv shows.
      Also, a lot of WP and XDA members are part of OZB as well. :) Hint, I am. :)

      • BobbyJ on 14/06/2016 - 16:43

        Yea, you're right, I just didn't think that they would install games on the SSDs as well.

  • chatwyn on 12/06/2016 - 10:26
    +4

    I went to the Beta Bar in Hawthorne, which is a gaming BAR, and it's brilliant. The event was packed when I was there.

    What I think they do really well? They run regular gaming-related and pop culture events like Marvel night, Disney night, 'Mass Effect' parties with discounts for cosplayers… send invites to the university anime/gaming/Disney societies… and then (I noticed) you get university-aged girls turning up in costume, which will attract all sorts of people. Then like regular bars, they take pictures of the night and put it up on their facebook page. There might be people who aren't interested in playing computer games, but would pay money to take a picture with Princess Zelda/Spiderman/Sailor Moon etc.

    I think it's a great idea, because it opens up the customers you attract… The Beta Bar does more than just computer gaming though - everyone's got a computer, but not everyone will have a Playstation, Wii, X-Box or DDR machine… And then they've got just regular board games and packs of Uno cards, Cards Against Humanity cards for the groups who are looking for an easy social event - buying board games and printing out a pack of cards won't cost you much at all.

    Anyway, the point is you can have a successful gaming cafe if you work at it.

    • Astro551 on 14/06/2016 - 16:19

      this sounds amazing

  • pulpfiction on 12/06/2016 - 11:03
    +1

    Unfortunately no one has any reliable clue around how a given business will perform until you actually try it out. Existence or lack of competitors doesn't really tell you much either (eg if they exist, is the market saturated or if they don't, is there even a need). What it does give is areas to focus on to ensure you carve out a niche.

    The reality is that the odds are heavily stacked against your business becoming successful. A quick Google search will tell you this. On the other hand, the payoff can be astronomical, so don't be disheartened. The key is, find creative ways to minimise the risk and validate you can fit a niche as quickly as possible. Ideally you should be able to do this with spending more than a couple of hundred bucks. Failing that, at minimum do things like do a pop-up store, lease the computers for the short term, etc; until you are sure the business is heading down the right path.

    Highly recommend you read Lean StartUp by Eric Reis. Best way to save cash, reduce risk, prove your market and growth hack the company.

  • maybe a bot on 12/06/2016 - 11:31
    +1

    I went to a local 'gaming cafe' recently with a good friend of mine since I couldn't stand playing CSGO on this potato Dell laptop I had for just basic games. I get in, first thing I see is a huge multitude of people playing League of Legends. I walked up to the desk, bought an hour and was told to enter a code into the PC when it loaded up. The computers seemed to be integrated into the metal frame of the table, as you had to start it up using a panel near where the mouse was. It seemed as everything was network-based, as it started up into the Intel PXE agent, then into an asian loader of some sort, then into Windows 7. I entered the code on the screen once the system was booted - this activated an hour of time, then it pushed me into a desktop where I logged into Steam then attempted to launch CSGO. I assume it loaded an image to make sure the system was malware-free, but this came at a disadvantage - I had to wait 15 or so minutes out of the time I just activated to let CSGO update. I used this time to plug in my mouse and get used to their mousepads - since they had a mish-mash of mice from some name brands. Got in game for around 40 mins and stuffed around with my mate when both our times expired and we decided to go get some food.

    some things to note from my personal experience:
    - make sure you have good peripherals: they had knock-off razer mousepads that had the worst movement ever. I would say the Logitech G502 for the mice as they are relatively cheap and have lots of DPI steps so everyone can tailor the mouse to their needs. Get some hard mousepads, they usually last longer. Membrane keyboards are cheap and fine - you don't need a mechanical one. Get some good headphones that are easy to sanitise. I'd say the SteelSeries Siberia 350s.
    - make some PCs have different mice - make it mostly one mouse and some like MMO/MOBA mice if people prefer them.
    - keep the PCs maintained and updated
    - don't do what these guys did with the integrated PC thing. it was annoying because only one of the USB ports on the panel actually worked - and I had to either use my mouse or headphones.

  • Baebs on 12/06/2016 - 11:39

    With Skype/Discord and it only costing like 1.4k to build new gaming rigs most people I know just game at home. You'd have to be a serious gamer to opt for the "lan" experience these days.

  • [Deactivated] on 12/06/2016 - 12:50
    +1

    Who are your clients?
    Casual coffee drinkers, candy crush addicts, or hardcore poop-bucket gamers?

  • Zondor on 12/06/2016 - 15:53
    +1

    My main thing il bring up is that community is everything and will make or break your business.

    Our local place has membership cards, where for X amount of money you get a drinks discount and some free hours each week.

    Was a really good plan, it got me going in there regularly out of habit whenever I was in town.

  • Tasmaniac on 12/06/2016 - 16:19
    +1

    I live in a suburb where hundreds of businesses have come and gone over the years and it's not always easy to tell which ones will make it past the 6 month mark. It's always weird walking into a shop and saying hi when you know that it's just not going to work out for them. My advice to you OP is to research the location of your shop and work out how many optimistic small business owners have closed there doors in the area recently. I wish you success.

  • Crassonator on 19/06/2016 - 04:23
    -1

    I recommend…

    No higher than i5 6600 non K variant.
    Bang for buck gpu like gtx 1070
    DDR4 8gb (MAX! Anymore would be pointless). Seriously you can look up tests, games will barely use 6gbs!
    Asus z170-a mthrbd
    Win 10 (allows direct x 12, which future games WILL use)
    No higher than 600w PSU (unless your running dual gpus and overclocking this is plenty!)
    Maybe use one of those hybrid HDDs. They are like half SSD half HDD, not as fast as SSDs, but not as slow as HDDs. Just a 1TB. They aren't too expensive. Not as expensive as SSDs anyway.
    The rest is Upto you, the case and cooling. But all in one liquid coolers work well, mostly better than air coolers. And one intake fan and one exhaust fan is adequate. No more than 4, each one more than just 2 will have negligible temp difference, if any.

    Your budget should mostly be put towards the graphics card or GPU. But first, for your CPU. Like some of these other guys have said…. A 6700k would be overkill for JUST gaming. Also, if you didn't already know the 'K' versions of Intel processors means it's unlocked. Meaning it's overclockable. Which unless you want your customers going into the bios menu and messing around with the settings, the extra money spent on the 'K' versions or say a 6700k, will be a waste of your hard earned money. Also it voids the warranty if overclocked. So for a processor I recommend no higher than an i5 6600. In gaming its performance is the same as an i7 6700k. It will be adequate for any game you throw its way without spending too much.

    For a gpu, like Its been said, spend most of budget on GPU. So I believe a 1070 would be perfect to achieve consistent frame rates and overall price to performance, and will last into the next generation of consoles. If it is too expensive then I suggest waiting for AMD to release Polaris GPUs, because according to the specs, the RX 480 will have fantastic price to performance. Also, the 970 and even 980 are good but AMD has given faster cheaper cards to rival them, those being the R9 380-380x and the 390-390x.

    Anyway hope this helps;)

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