Welcome to the first of many editorials focused on Gaming as a Lifestyle; these features will look at multiple different jobs in the gaming industry as well as have interviews, behind-the-scenes looks, and write-ups of what it takes to work the daily grind in the video game industry. Check out the interview below and then stay tuned for many more articles in the future here at PlanetXbox360.com.
Hello Planetxbox360.com readers this is your very own ElderScroller27 a.k.a. Kris Kammerdiener and today i'll be interviewing a good friend and Clanmate of mine from Xbox Live named Cody a.k.a. Cat 6 Butter about what it takes to own and operate a successful Gaming Lounge. The Cat 6 Lounge is located in Bend, Oregon and they are getting ready to Celebrate their 1 Year Anniversary on Labor Day Weekend; they are planning an all-night Gaming party with some BBQ and fun times for all. Cody has volunteered to share some of the insights he has gathered over the last year and talk about what it takes to live a life of games 24/7.
Q: How has opening a Gaming Lounge influenced the amount of time you spend gaming in general?
A: Well before this I didn't even really game more that several hours a week with friends but after opening the Lounge I can easily get in 10 hours a day of gaming, The one limit I have placed on my gaming is that I do not have a 360 at home, this way I have some down time away from work.
Q: What inspired you to open a Gaming Lounge and how did you decide on a name?
A: Me, my Brother, and a friend were dealing with the hassle of trying to cram several 360s into the same room so we could game side by side, We were also really impressed with how easy it is to play co-op games over Xbox Live and the idea struck us that a gaming lounge would be a great idea and easy to implement. And for the name we were kicking around the idea of calling it "The Gym" but that got passed over, a Cat5 is a cable for tranferring data, and Cat6 is the newer generation of that cable with more capacity. We went with Cat 6 because we're a newer Generation of a business.
Q: What Kind of Startup Costs were involved with opening the store?
A: It was close to $100,000 my brother and I both went in on the cost but he is more of a silent partner. I also did most of remodeling work on the Lounge so we saved a bundle on what it would have cost to hire a contractor for the work.
Q: What kind of internet connection does the store use for gaming purposes?
A: Originally we had our own T1 line but it was costing us several hundred dollars a month, so we looked around for other options and found a local Broadband provider for $150.00 a month and it also gives us a better connection than the T1 did.
Q: How many game Stations do you have and what kind of TVs do you use?
A: We have 20 stations available. 16 stations are 32 inch Flat Screens, 2 stations are 42 inch Flatscreens, then we have a 110 inch HD Projection screen. I also have a private station set up behind the counter for my own use during the day.
Q: What kind of gaming chairs do you use?
A: We just have some basic Leather Chairs they sort of look like recliners and are very compfortable.
Q: Do you ever have to deal with offensive Body Odors and have you had to kick anyone out for smelling bad?
A: Oh yes, you have some people in from time to time who have skipped showers, We had one guy come in who had been living in his van and obviously had not showered in a couple weeks, It was pretty bad but I tried to be polite and kept dropping hints until he left, the next time he came in he had freshly showered so it's all good.
Q: What Age Groups come in and what game limitations do the parants place on the younger gamers?
A: We get mainly 12-18 year olds but many people of all ages come in. We also try to get parental permission for violent games being played by young kids, I invite parants to try the games so that they know what their kids are being exposed to, For example We have had many parants tell their kids they could not play Halo 3 but then once the parants tried the game and see that it's not a gore fest they let the kids play it regardless of the rating. Many other parants don't even understand the rating systems and/or don't care what their kids play so sometimes I have to make the call myself. Several parants have checked out GTA 4 and said their kids could not play it.
Q: Are your gamers all guys or do some girls come in as well?
A: About 90% are guys but a few girls come in too, although some are here just to hang out with their boyfriends.
Q: How is business these days?
A: Business is looking good right now. Our low times are when the temperature is below freezing and during the day when the kids are in school, we're expecting business to have a large boost after school lets out for the summer.
Q: Do you run any PC stations or is everything in your store console based?
A: No, we only do consoles because of the ease of use. PC's are always having hardware or software issues so we didn't even consider including them at the lounge, we wanted to keep it simple and fun.
Q: Do your customers fit the stereotype of the average, fat, lazy gamer?
A: We get all kinds of gamers here. Kids, Parants, The Hardcore Gamers, Jocks, Military Guys, Paintball Players, it's a very diverse group of people.
Q: What Genre or specific video game is the most popular as we speak?
A: Shooters by far are the most popular with Call of Duty 4 being the Primary game that our customers want to play. We run COD4 and Halo 3 Tournaments almost every weekend.
Q: How often do you buy new games or replace consoles?
A: We still have all the original 360s and have not had to buy any replacements but in the last year of Business I would say that we had at least a 15%-20% failure rate on the 360's I send off about 1 a month to the repair center, With all sorts of RRoD errors. 1 light errors, 2 Light errors, Disc Drive Failures, We even had one of the Hard Drives fail causing a temporary RRoD on any console it was attached to.
Q: Which accessories are the most durable and which are the most unreliable?
A: Well the wireless Controller Headsets are breaking all the time which gets annoying. The wireless controllers seem to be very durable because they surving being dropped all the time. Also the Guitar Hero III Guitars have proven to be VERY sturdy, We have had more than one kid in here actually slamming the Guitars onto the Ground when they mess up but the Guitar will still work.
Q: Which console is the biggest single attraction for players and why?
A: Originally were thinking that Xbox 360 and PS3 would both be popular so we had alot of each on hand as well as several Wii's but over time it became clear that very few of our customers wanted anything other than an Xbox 360, mainly because of the differences in multi-player. People want to come in and sit down side by side with their entire team and have that great experience of gaming as a group it's what keeps people coming back. Many of our regulars have their own 360 at home but they prefer the atmosphere down here at Cat6.
Q: How often do you buy new games and do you do any used game trading?
A: I buy at least 1 copy of each game that comes out and multiple copies if the game looks good, We Sell New Games and Buy/Sell/Trade in used games. We also Sell Soda and Candy Bars.
Q: How did you decide on a Suitable Location for the Cat 6 Lounge?
A: We found a good location slightly to the West of the center of Town, The reasons for this is that the Eastern Side of Town tends to have the locals who were born and raised here but don't always have alot of money. The West side of town is more affluent with money to burn, We just wanted to start up where the money was.
Q: How long does the average customer stay at the Lounge each day?
A: Most people who come in spend at least 4 hours, Some will come in the morning and play half the day then go home for Dinner and then come back to Play out the rest of the day.
Q: How did you decide on as entry fee that would make you affordable for many people and still allow for a profit?
A: We did some research and saw that most Game Lounges charge hourly but we decided on just selling day passes that way it's a simple transaction and once you pay you're in all day, We recently increased our prices to $10 on weekdays and $15 on weekends, Weekends are the popular days so we open a couple hours sooner and also stay open a few hours longer, as well as running tournaments.
Q: What are your single best and worst experiences at the Cat 6 Gaming Lounge?
A: My best experiences include getting to see that most of the kids around here are polite and good natured, We also started up Cat 6 Clan to do Gamebattles and MLG PRO it's made up of some of the regulars and myself as well as a few people we ran into online who fit in well. And Just a few days ago we were approached by an Energy Drink manufacturer who offered to sponsor some of our tournaments with prizes if we started selling their energy drink here so we accepted. My worst experiences would have to be discovering that one of the customers plugged the toilet and did a double flush but then didn't tell anyone so it flooded all over the bathroom floor. We also had a teenager become angry over the entry price increase, he threatened to burn down the Lounge and burn down out Homes and then he took it online sending some very detailed threats so we just reported him to the cops and they payed him a little visit.
Q: What do you see in the future for Cat 6 Lounge?
A: We are looking forward to our Labor Day Weekend celebration we're encouraging people to come set up BBQs and bring some food for the all night party. We're also 90% sure that we're going to switch over to being Xbox 360 exclusive in the near future. I have a friend who is a Regional Rep for Microsoft so i'm feeling him out about mabye getting sponsored by microsoft for tourneys or getting some kind of endorsement from Microsoft in exchange for going 360 exclusive. We have been slowly selling off our PS3's and Wii's over time as we become more 360 focused and it's becoming rarer for anyone to request PS3/Wii Games partly due to the lack of any really hot or groundbreaking PS3 games lately. A major change is definately on the horizon.
Hope you all enjoyed the interview PX360 readers, I'm looking forward to mabye getting into writing a game review from time to time so don't be surprised to see something from me in the future. If you are curious about Cat6 Lounge go check out their homepage www.Cat6lounge.com they don't have a forum or anything, it's just the basic website to show off the lounge and so people can find it online.
