On Campus Games Lounge

Winwood

Hi all

I'm looking into the possibility of setting up a gaming lounge somewhere on-campus in UCD and I was just looking for feedback. There aren't any specifics yet as far as location, size etc ... but it would be based on a pay as you go model, with social games (Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Halo, Skate ...) and maybe a rental service (TV, console and games) for students living nearby.

As I said, I was just wondering what your thoughts were;
-on the idea in general
-where on campus the best location would be
-what sort of rates you would consider reasonable
-what games you would want to see there
-any other comments/questions/opinions

Thanks for taking the time to read (and reply hopefully).

Cheers,
Winwood

Korvanica

-this would be a cool idea, good place to meet new people.
-you'd want to charge some entrance fee to help keep it running :around €2 or €3
or else a membership fee. of €5 a semester?
-rentals? fiver a night?
-no idea where would be good to have it. maybe one of the upstairs rooms in the student centre?
-Games? Halo3, Halo2, Pro Evo, Rockband, Guitar Hero World Tour, Little Big Planet, and basically any other fun multiplayer game out there.

-The cost to set this up initially would be huge. You'd need at least two of each console. (unless you only wanna get a wii 3 games and rockband on the 360 - like gamesoc- what choice) You'd also need a monitor for each console, if you're going ti try set up a gaming "Lounge" you'll need to have a permanent room you can lock etc.
-you'l need someone there nearly all the time to stop theft of games/consoles etc.
-It would be class to have a place where gaming competitions can be run easily.

Its a great idea and i hope you can pull it off, id definitly use it.

Tayto2000

The permanent lounge idea is probably not a runner since you are very unlikely to be given permanent space for it plus as mentioned you end up with a lot of fixed overheads, security problems etc etc.

Get in touch with Gamesoc, they do console stuff already along with the occasional LAN. If you were looking to make it a regular thing, you can book space on campus by going through them plus use existing faciulities like projector screens, TVs, sound systems etc. Astra hall and the blue room are good venues that have been used in the past. A 'bring and play' approach could work to get multiple consoles going...

If you're dead set on the permanent location, I'd say talk to the SU about using one of their social spaces around campus, maybe somewhere like the lounge next to 911 or similar...

Dave!

-on the idea in general
Good idea, it would definitely be successful IMO... Lots of free time during the day for arts students, and the pool tables are sh*t !

-where on campus the best location would be
hmmm... one of those rooms upstairs in the student centre? Maybe

-what sort of rates you would consider reasonable
Dunno actually

-what games you would want to see there
Pro Evo and FIFA
That's all

-any other comments/questions/opinions
Nope !

Frisbee

Winwood wrote: »

-on the idea in general

Sounds like a great idea that would deifinitely be a success. As Dave! said alot of students have huge breaks during their day with very little to do on campus besides pool.
However as someone else said the cost would be huge at first. Getting anyone who would be interested to put in ten euro at the start as a token membership fee/money for consoles.
Then when you get set up anyone else who wants to join be charged 15euro for the year.
Then for people not interested in being members 3euro an hour would be a reasonable price.
you could even ask if people would be interested in donating old consoles.
I have an Xbox I never use I could put towards it maybe if the idea took off?
Obviously people would prefer newer consoles but Halo multiplayer still looks good...

Winwood wrote: »

-where on campus the best location would be

An upstairs room in the Student Center or an Upstairs room in Arts would be the best bet I'd say.

Winwood wrote: »

-what sort of rates you would consider reasonable

See above

Winwood wrote: »

-what games you would want to see there

Pro Ev, Halo, Madden, Call of Duty, Any Wii games.

Winwood wrote: »

-any other comments/questions/opinions

Best of luck!

RandolphEsq

Dave! wrote: »

-what games you would want to see there
Pro Evo and FIFA

+1


How about a Pro Evo tournament each week? Even better!

Tea-a-Maria

Korvanica wrote: »

(unless you only wanna get a wii 3 games and rockband on the 360 - like gamesoc- what choice)

Nice dig there.:rolleyes:Gamesoc is a relatively small society and it's lucky they even got funding for what consoles they have now.I reckon they do a great job with what they have,having been to such console nights myself.

I would be curious as to how easy or otherwise you would find it to get a room specifically for this proposed lounge,since gamesoc have headaches trying to book rooms for events on a weekly basis for console nights.

Will be keeping an eye on this one..

Brimmy

In fairness when you compare Gamesoc to it's DCU counterpart it is laughable.

We don't even have LANs on campus and have to go to town for them. I commend them for trying but their isn't nearly as big a selection as games societies elsewhere.

(Then again I'd have joined DCU for Stocs alone)

Winwood

Thanks to all for the feedback, it's very much appreciated!

The location is obviously really important but I was worried that having it somewhere that was in anyway difficult to get to would be a big issue but from the responses I'm not so sure. If it was on the third floor in the arts building somewhere for example, would you still consider spending time there (Assuming you're not in the arts building already)?

Also, I was wondering if any of you had thoughts on PC games. I'm a console gamer so I'm out of my depth to be honest, but for those of you who are PC gamers, would there be any point in considering it? How expensive is it to buy and maintain (upgrades, games, maintenance) a gaming PC and is the appeal the same as for consoles as far as pick up and play goes?

It isn't really fair to compare this to Gamesoc or any societies really as this involves venture capital, entrepreneurial loans, contracts, etc ... and as it was pointed out, they do well with limited resources. Also, this is all hypothetical as of now so their two actual consoles far outstrips my however many virtual consoles.

Again, thanks for all of your help and feedback

TDOie

Good idea.

Dave!

BrightEyes wrote: »

+1

I was just being diplomatic, I would of course never be seen playing FIFA

Joneser

On the idea of PC games, i think you should leave it up to people to bring their own laptops, and you could have counter-strike tournaments or sumthin like that.

I think a leader board for each of the games might be good aswell, although then ppl may get too serious about it

TDOie

Even though Im a PC gamer I couldnt see the idea of a PC gaming area ever working , Why Pay to LAN Counter Strike or Call of Duty when you can go into the CSI building and do it for free? The console Idea would work but the PC one I cant see as practically working even IF they provided the machines , I'd still much rather play on my home Desktop.

Zounds

Korvanica wrote: »

-The cost to set this up initially would be huge. You'd need at least two of each console. (unless you only wanna get a wii 3 games and rockband on the 360 - like gamesoc- what choice)

For the record GameSoc has a Wii, two X-boxes and seven individual games (multiple copies of some so more than seven discs). Which I think is pretty good going on the €700 grant we were given by the college.

(I'm on the GameSoc committee)