Is starting a Gaming oriented Cyber Cafe a good idea?

[lovedonator]

I'm looking to start-up a business and it has to be something tech related because that's the only field where I'll be able to work passionately. The best thought I have right now is starting a Gaming cafe. I'm from Rewa,Madhya Pradesh. For those who don't know it's a no metropolis but still a decently sized city. Student population here is ample and although there are a decent no. of cyber cafes here none of them have PCs capable of running anything more demanding than GTA Vice City and no one has a LAN gaming environment. My idea is to have 10-12 PCs which can run all the latest games at full hd around medium settings,LAN play,nice gaming oriented ambiance(posters everywhere,blue led lighting etc.). I'LL also consider keeping snacks,soft-drinks and energy drinks etc. and once I've made a foothold in the market and earned some money selling gaming hardware.
So what do you think guys? Is this a good idea? If yes any tips? If NO then what else should I look into?

 

[CommanderShawnzer]

Just get 10-12 PC's and load them up with these games.
See how your business does,if its very good,start introducing modern games slowly
CS 1.6
DotA
GTA:VC & SA
NFS MW
CoD4

 

[Hrishi]

Like he said , get some basic PC and host those popular games. If they draw good gathering , then you should consider upgrading.
Don't invest in high-end hardware , right at the start-up. First analyse how well this thing can establish itself practically.

 

[ankush28]

yeah agree
get cheap 6-8 pc IMO it is enough and analyse first.
One my relative owns cyber-cafè they are doing good you can earn around 50-70k easily when you settle in this.

 

[harshilsharma63]

Buy Xbox or ps3 instead.

 

[Flash]

Add some arcade fighting games.
Compared to what shawnzer said (other than CoD & CS) , teens are more attracted to the arcade fighting games - as it wont take much time to show the "Game over" screen than others

 

[CommanderShawnzer]

Add some arcade fighting games.
Compared to what shawnzer said (other than CoD & CS) , teens are more attracted to the arcade fighting games - as it wont take much time to show the "Game over" screen than others

Arcade Fighting games?

Spoiler

PC only has Street Fighter 4 & Street fighter x Tekken.Unless you are talking about some ancient 8 bit 2D fighting games.

 

[lovedonator]

Just get 10-12 PC's and load them up with these games.
See how your business does,if its very good,start introducing modern games slowly
CS 1.6
DotA
GTA:VC & SA
NFS MW
CoD4

Like he said , get some basic PC and host those popular games. If they draw good gathering , then you should consider upgrading.
Don't invest in high-end hardware , right at the start-up. First analyse how well this thing can establish itself practically.

yeah agree
get cheap 6-8 pc IMO it is enough and analyse first.
One my relative owns cyber-cafè they are doing good you can earn around 50-70k easily when you settle in this.

Thanks to all of you for your opinions. It's good to see that my idea is not so stupid. What you guys are saying about not buying high end hardware makes sense but the other side of the coin is then what will differentiate me from other cyber cafes? I need to make a mark on the market and attract customers and for that I need to stand out. As they say- 'Jo dikhta hai wahi bikta hai'.

Buy Xbox or ps3 instead.

I am thinking of adding that later. Console games are comparatively very expensive.

 

[ankush28]

^^ they are good options too will cost same IMO or just few K more but getting pc means you can use cafe for normel users also

 

[lovedonator]

^Yeah that's why I'm using PCs so that it could be used as a normal cafe also because this being a small city,just gaming would not suffice. I'll add consoles later.

 

[Extreme Gamer]

Make sure your network infrastructure is decent. LAN play can be important.

If you're running CS, COD4 etc get at least 10 PCs.

For steam games you might want to get a Valve Cyber Cafe license (unless you install the linux versions of those games)

Spoiler

Dont ask me to elaborate on what I mean by linux version. Use your head.

 

[lovedonator]

^Yeah,I know what you mean.

 

[Extreme Gamer]

Make sure that your cafe computers are built around a decent budget GPU (like the HD 7670/HD 7750). Processors can be slightly weak, because as time progresses and you update your cafe with the latest games, they will become more GPU bound than CPU bound. Obviously you would want your PCs to run for at least 4-5 years yes?

For resolution stick to 1440x900 to maximize on available space. And when you start upgrading, you can shift GPUs from the computers being replaced to existing computers and run crossfire/SLI and extend the lives of those computers for another couple of years.

 

[lovedonator]

^Yeah nice advice,thanks bro.

 

[theterminator]

As Extreme Gamer pointed out & I would like to add that the biggest and most important thing in your business will be the network infrastructure. Nobody will play at your cafe if their game gets disconnected while on the Internet or LAN. So make sure you put more money into the network devices & the Broadband connection & decent amount of money into PCs.

 

[lovedonator]

^Yeah I have that in mind. I'm just 20 and so I've played at my fair share of 'gaming cafes' and the experience was horrible. I'll not compromise with the quality of network infrastructure. Which Broadband would you guys recommend? BSNL,Reliance or Airtel?

 

[CommanderShawnzer]

Airtel

 

[Extreme Gamer]

Definitely Airtel for reliability although they do sting a lot as far as their offers are concerned.

Although, I wouldn't count out Reliance and Vodafone

Talk to a number of operators and see who gives you the best deal. Since this is for a commercial venture, you're in a negotiable position.

 

[Hrishi]

None , other than Airtel if you don't want PITA after some time.

 

[lovedonator]

Airtel

Definitely Airtel for reliability although they do sting a lot as far as their offers are concerned.

Although, I wouldn't count out Reliance and Vodafone

Talk to a number of operators and see who gives you the best deal. Since this is for a commercial venture, you're in a negotiable position.

None , other than Airtel if you don't want PITA after some time.

OK,guys. First preference to Airtel. What's PITA though?