Video Game Bar

>>258710647
>vidya nerds liking public situations

No. Any of us fat slobs would prefer to sit in out isolated corners and play our filthy vidya without having to look someone in the eye.

>>258710647
>drinking
enjoy killing yourself fucking nerd

>not using coasters

How much of a faggot can you possibly be?

Isn't there a place called Mana Bar that's basically just filled with normalfags?

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The only kind of people you'll attract with bars like these are gamer gurrlz and gay hipsters that flock to any "underground" bar.

>>258710647
You'd attract a lot of hipsters and wannabees.
I hope you like 6/10 girls who love and never played a zelda bringing their friendzoned betas in for a coke.
Where are you planning on opening?

>>258710647
Casuals may like that... but do you want a bar full of casuals?

Fact: If you're considering opening a bar or restaurant, especially if it's related to one of your nerd hobbies (anime, video games, tabletop, etc), then you're a complete and utter fucking retarded that deserves his inevitable bankruptcy.

>>258710647
Overpriced and shitty.

>>258711023

Isn't that Yahtzee's bar?

Video game bars are super sweet, but the problem I mostly find is the selection, and the actual maintenance of the machines.

Obviously if a bunch of drunk assholes are playing the machines, they wreck the controls IMMEDIATELY. When you buy cabs, also look up the switches and parts needed to keep them up to a standard playable condition. You'll need those parts in bulk.

As for selection, usually it's like "OH LOOK WE HAVE PACMAN AND DIG DUG AND OH LOOK OVER THERE IT'S MARIO BROS ^_^"
It's never like a decent selection. Have a current fighting game. Have a racer. Maybe throw in some motherfucking Time Crisis. Shit, Namco is still making awesome arcade machines for the US.

>>258711426
>Obviously if a bunch of drunk assholes are playing the machines, they wreck the controls IMMEDIATELY.

>not installing breathalyzers on the games

>>258710647
people that like to go clubbing like to go outside to clubs/bars.
vidya nerds like to stay indoors to play videogames.

why do you think none of these places are around?

>>258711230

This. You won't be getting much money either cause hipsters are stingy as shit

>>258711426
>Time Crisis
seconding this

also beat 'em ups a la Die Hard

Your bar will be full of hipster trash ordering pbrs

>>258711023

'Normalfags' is stretching it. I've never seen the Brisbane one, but the Melbourne one was a shithole filled with utter losers. Drinks looked overpriced as fuck too.

>>258711398
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEKGIyc-854

He looks pretty unhappy

>>258710647
>do vidya nerds like this kind of places
vidya nerds that drink usually do so alone in front of a video game. They don't typically go to bars unless they're taken to one.

There's a very good reason that "gaming" bars are almost always completely retro; there's a hipster appeal to having old arcade machines in your bar.

Actual PCs or Consoles, however, don't seem to fit. Even proper LAN centers who focus entirely on having high-end PCs with good connections and abundant consoles with flatscreens have a very difficult time staying open and have to gouge energy drinks to get by.

>>258710806
This. Make it a delivery service instead

>>258711772

Ha, that's actually pretty good. I kinda wanna go there now.

>>258711813
I'd go to a lan bar.

>>258711426
>drunk assholes quickly destroy anything you'll put in the bar
>so you should buy newer and more expensive machines with more parts to break
Full retard.

>>258710647
The problem with "nerd bars" is that nerds are multifaceted as fuck. You can appeal to the lowest common denominator of nerds, but the lowest common denominator is not an overwhelming majority like it is in most other cultures. Everyone likes something different and will probably hate or be indifferent to other shit.

That being said, I would love to see more places to hold LAN parties and such. If you want a geeky bar to be popular, make sure it's open to events.

I'd lake a video game bar based around one theme, not a shitmash of mass effects and dragon ages and pacmans.

>>258711579
>none of these places are around.
There are notable arcade bars in NYC, Philly, Denver, LA, etc...

You just don't live somewhere cool.

>>258711623
>>258711240
>>258711230
>>258710806
You guys severely underestimate the spending power of yuppie hipsters. Also nerds do like to go to these places and they'll keep to packs so they feel safe. Usually it's the lanky one, the fat slob, and the short manlet with a pudgy girlfriend.

>>258710951
Dude, that cab has a glass top on it. It's specifically designed to put drinks on.

>>258710647

Bad idea.

You should open a bar because you want to have a drink, not because of videogames.

Videogames are window dressing, like a jukebox or a pool table. If you're going to have videogames in a bar, they better be fucking Nintendo consoles with party games or DDR/ arcade machines.

>>258712021
unfortunately, most people wouldn't. "Retro" arcade bars have a much larger appeal to the average social drinker than LAN. On top of that, mixing a bar with expensive computer equipment is a recipe for disaster.

Video game bars never work out.
D&B is the closest thing to a success because they also serve decent good and have party games.

>>258711918
You know I've heard there's relative success in hiring out an RV filled with TVs and consoles for parties and such. Give the kids some halos to play and give the parents somewhere they don't have to clean after Timmy has his 10th birthday. That doesn't sound anywhere near as fun as opening a barcade, though.

Like the idea OP

Would check it out

>>258712080
>I would love to see more places to hold LAN parties and such
The problem with that is that people don't actually play games you can really LAN anymore.

It used to be a LAN party would be massive servers for Quake or quake mods, CS, starcraft, all that shit. These days 90% of the people you'll see at any LAN are just playing MOBAs with randoms online.

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pic related

Just opened up and isnt that bad.

Follows old Arcade roots with 25 cent play only on most Coin Ops

>>258710647
All that comes to mind is Dave and Busters basically. In your case it'd be smaller, like a mall arcade but with booth seating and a bar.

And now I really want that. Although instead of karaoke everyone would be playing Rock Band. Now it doesn't sound so appealing.

>>258712052
>drunk assholes quickly destroy anything you'll put in the bar
>so you should buy newer and more expensive machines with the proper design qualities to damage proof it against children and drunk assholes

>>258712275

This is the way to go. You may not like it, but if you want to run a successful bar, you need to attract the hipsters rather than the neckbeards who will sit in a circle playing their 3DS's.

>>258711426
>>258711546
>>258711669
when i went to a "barcade" all the cabinets were in piss poor condition which kind of bothered me. their selling point is an arcade where you can get drunk at and all the machines are in awful condition. i guess they don't care about the condition of the machine when drunk idiots are putting in 10$ each trying to beat the simpson and tmnt.

>>258712161
>You guys severely underestimate the spending power of yuppie hipsters
Yuppie hipsters don't like actual video games and computers, they like being associated with retro gaming. The original Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, that sort of thing.

I believe OP is talking more about more recent games, which hipsters will avoid like the plague.

>drinking the liquid jew

>>258712637
Good Lord just imagine the fights that would break out when you have two drunk man-children playing against each other on Street Fighter/SnK/Tekken.

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I've been to a Barcraft once.

Shit was cash and I watched the WCS finals on a big screen and drank some burning shot with electrolydes or something in.

>>258710647
videogame bars are highly boring, unless you have must have cabinets, with the classsics we remember as kids. no shitty pinball and packman variations.

also the community has to be there, there has to be more than beer and games. have trivia nights

vidya karaoke and other events and tournaments and all the likes.

theres like 4 (loosely) in nyc and only 1 [Barcade] is doing well if you ask me.

>>258712161
>none of these places are around.
>There are notable arcade bars in NYC, Philly, Denver, LA, etc...

yup, and i'm sure those are packed with actual vidya nerds. making a shitton of money.

and not a handfull people trying to come across as "nerdy xD" on a friday night.

I don't know how popular it'd be depending on where you live.
Where I live many "real" nerds tend to not indulge in anything including drugs and alcohol.

I like to drink and I'm pretty social but I'm still not a huge bar guy. Probably because I'm not a beer fan and liquor is pretty expansive most fo time and I'm a poor collegefag

>>258712548
Have you seen a SF4 machine? A Time Crisis machine?

You'd have a busted gate and a stolen gun/spring after the first fucking night.

There's an arcade bar in Portland, Ground Kontrol. Use a lineup like it has.

Most of them have shitty selection of cabinets.
over 50% joust/galaga/pacmans

Which are fun. I guess. But you know everyone wants to play X-Men or Turtles in Time or Simpsons. I've got a huge hard on for shoot 'em ups and no where ever has them.

those emulator cabinets with like 100 neogeo games are the shit. Pinball's cool but you only need like 7-10 at most. Skeeball is the shit. Metal slug.

And beer is split everywhere. There's never enough cupholders. You should just nail a 2x4s to the wall sideways for lil beer shelves.

>>258712324
OP could test the waters with that kind of business first.

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>>258710647
Omaha, NE has one called Beercade. The area has a large hipster population but that may be due to the music lounge a stones throw away. The atmosphere is nice, it's not quite an arcade with beer or a bar with arcade cabinets.

>>258711579
false, Just because u are a faggot basement lord does not make the rest of us one.

>>258713103
I forgot about fighting games.

Get like atleast 7 different ones. Super Street Fighter 2, Street Fighter Third Strike, Street Fighter Alpha, some SNK, MAHVEL,

personal favorite is Samurai Shodown 3.
If you got Pinball, have two fighters for every one pinball game.

>>258713002
http://groundkontrol.com/arcade/

I guess the thing to do is to stock lots of multiplayer games.

>>258712701

More to the point, don't SF4, TT2 etc arcade machines cost well over 20k each?

A guy from Chile opened this place. It looks great. http://instagram.com/insertcoinbar

Hey OP, you could also stock root beer or black cherry soda or something so the nerds who don't drink could still socially blend in.

You're not serious, are you? Do you think it's 1995? What the fuck am I reading?

>>258713002
For an arcade, it sucks.
for a bar, it gets too easily crowded and they have no good beers for being the middle of fucking Portland.

>>258713390
good for you normalfag-extraordinaire

The fact remains that the target audience for a barcade with more modern cabs or PCs does not typically frequent bars.

>>258712817
>>drinking the liquid jew

what

>>258714002
And they never play good music but you can't hear anything anyways.

>>258714002
I've never been there yet, all I know is that people like it.

And
> no good beers
> FUCKING PORTLAND
LITERALLY HOW

>>258714074
if it existed id be there. chinatown fair did well for a reason. the fgc community is just lookin for a home.

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Some people opened an arcade bar a town over from me late last year. It's fuckin' rad

http://hadleyquarters.com/

>>258714082
Alcohol is a Jewish invention created to keep mankind in line. You can read all about it on my blog at www.Imastupidfuckingvirginloser*tipsfedora*.com.

The "bar arcade" I went to in the gaslamp district during comic con was more bar than arcade.

Maybe like 5 or so cabinets. But the main attraction was giant jenga, beer pong, and billiards.

The crowd was mostly still normalfags.

>>258713721
And replacement parts are also expensive, and a bitch to get your hands on.

They're not worth the investment, especially considering how dead american arcades are outside of shitty operations tied with an overpriced restaurant.

Arcades require a very dense population center and a cultural appreciation that just doesn't exist in America. You might be able to keep up a giant tourist trap arcade in the middle of a massive city like NYC, but the initial investment would have to be utterly massive.

>>258713723
Mexifag here, that place looks awesome.

>>258714369
>Alcohol is a Jewish invention

what

>>258714442
Any pinball?

Of all arcade games I love pinball the most, since digital play isn't anything like the real thing.

>>258714352
>the fgc community
is far too geographically split to patronize any one establishment regularly.

>>258711772
That's just the way he acts, really. I've seen him at a convention and he seems to be like that for the most part.

>>258714702
you build it, in NYC they will come.
host an event, get on stream
?????????????
Profit.

>>258711338
>not opening a normal bar with a room in the back for the hobbies

>>258710647
There's a reason they don't exist any more anon (outside of that dreadful Dave and Busters).

They don't make money. The electric bills exceed the measely quarters you get from pac man.

>>258715148
I'm sorry, I just don't think that's true.

You can't survive off one or two big events, you need constant patronage, and modern arcade cabs are both prohibitively expensive to get your hands on and to keep up. And that's with sober people playing on them in an environment without drinks to spill.

I understand why you WANT it to be feasible, but it just isn't.

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Back like 6 or so years ago we used to have a place at my local mall where they had gayming PCs and consoles that you could pay for time to play.
You could rent the place out for parties too.
The place went under in less than a year though.
We actually had a few places like this, but all of them died off fairly quickly.
Did these count as internet cafes?
I'm not really sure because they had a focus on games.

There is a bar where I live that is video game themed and it's a hit or miss experience. I went once where it was Mortal Kombat night and they had some really good drink specials and had a good time, and another time on Monster Hunter night where everybody was antisocial as fuck and the drinks were shitty and expensive.

It's a nice place though and it gets a good mixed crowd.

Shiiiiit this thread is making me really want to attempt my dream of making one.
I know it would even thrive where I currently live, so I'd have to swap states and appeal to the board in Salt Lake City for it.

Though if I was going to do it, I'd appeal to /vr/'s advice on maintaining old cabs and setting up new ones, as well as what they would like to see in a barcade that wasn't shit.

One idea, though it would ruin the integrity of classic or original cabinets: modular control decks. Say beer gets spilled all over one. Pop out the deck with the buttons/stick and slap another one in while the other is cleaned out. I could see it working well for the emulation cabinets, though.

Nerds don't want to be social and hang out in bars.

Just make a pizza delivery service that serves shit like the Horde or Alliance pizza or whatever

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What would you serve at a video game bar?
Me? I'd serve crab legs.

>>258715553
you can build your own arcade cabinet, for 50 dollars in wood and supplies, and 60 dollars in electronics.

you can build your own console based cabinet.
for cheap

you can build your own PC cabinet for cheap

you can build a dream cast cabinet

the fact is if you are opening a videogame based bar and worrying about the cost of something that will be your bread and butter, you might as well not even do it.

you can literally put up a tv and use controllers and it would work.

you can buy or find kiosks or you can repair cabinets by your self, its not really hard.

its feasible if you put your alchol first and cater to the fan base second. find the right combination and you are set. I yearn for a proper beer pong bar but that doesnt exist.

>>258714668
>play pinball
>notice the tilt ball is broken
commence project nudge

>>258710647

Depends on if there's arcade machines. Good ones.

>>258716238
>cheap console cabinet or PC cabinet instead of locked down PCB
Enjoy your console or PC getting stolen, dipshit

>the fact is if you are opening a videogame based bar and worrying about the cost of something that will be your bread and butter, you might as well not even do it.
If you're opening any business and not worrying about up-front costs and overhead, you are completely fucking retarded. ESPECIALLY when it comes to bars/restaurants, which are the hardest to administrate and most likely ventures to fail.

I sincerely hope no one ever takes financial advice from you.

>>258711186
Confirmed. I won the last Street Fighter II tourney at San Diego's hip Coin-Op bar http://coinopsd.com/ completely by making my opponents dizzy and then shoulder throwing them. Not one person called me out on my cheese.

Also, it gets annoying when I have to explain to the player next to me the importance of the jump attack in The Simpson's arcade game.

>>258717663
> implying there wouldn't be multiple security features...

>>258711186
>gamer gurrlz and gay hipsters that flock to any "underground" bar.

Good? They are certainly better clients than sweaty greasy fat fucks and nerds too nervous to order a drink.

>>258712548

Arcade worker here, most arcade light guns are pretty fucking fragile, and they don't make non-plastic gun shells. Unscrew 15 nearly-microscopic screws to fix a trigger spring and tell me how fun that would be to do every night when some retard breaks it.

>>258718691
nigga, what security features are you going to have on a 60 dollar would cabinet

a lock? a metal plate?

On an actual arcade cabinet, you need the entire thing for it to work. If you try to remove just the PCB or the memory containing the game's image the whole thing will fry.

In a ghetto-cab like you're talking about some enterprising dick can smash it open or pick the lock (assuming you have one) and make off with a fully-functional PC or console.

>>258719263
>>258719263
first off, this shit would be in the back.

any pussy or dumb fuck thinking they are gonna come into my bar and fuck shit up are getting clapped the fuck up and yolked up and sent straight to worldstar.


you imply these neckbeards would be ballsy enough to even try.

>>258719832

>If anyone tries I'll just beat them up!!!!!

Not sure why in your fantasy you run a bar that has one shitty plywood arcade machine and whose regular clientele is only fat nerds but okay

>>258712701
Those ones in cali are just nerds in general, they might be yuppie, but the suck all the way through.

>>258710647
Let me guess, the music would be like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nigRT2KmCE
Fucking faggot.

>>258710647
>Want to open a similar bar in Detroit

They have one in Chicago that's pretty popular, and this city is getting overrun by hipsters.

I figured a couple shootan games, couple fighting games, a few beatemups and you could get a solid crowd in

>>258719832
>any pussy or dumb fuck thinking they are gonna come into my bar and fuck shit up are getting clapped the fuck up and yolked up and sent straight to worldstar.
Hey guys

guys look

this faggot posting on 4chan thinks he's super tough

He also doesn't understand that monitoring your costs and overhead is important, and has no concept of loss-prevention

Do yourself a favor my ignorant negro friend: if you ever want to invest in or start a business, get a jewish guy to do it for you. You'll just fuck it up and lose everything.

>>258712161
The One-UP in Denver is pretty cool. Cheap drinks, good games, 2x4 jenga. They are packed almost all weekend, specially if theres something else going on downtown.

>>258710647
>Do vidya nerds like these kind of places?

About 70% of vidya nerds are socially awkward anti-social NEETS who won't even leave the house. Maybe the other 30% percent, i.e., the cosplay fags, will go so such a place with friends.

>>258720347

step it up son
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n08b1ptdnYM

>all these people bitching about normalfags

Wouldn't OP want normalfags? Are autistic virgins are large market nowadays? Do they even drink? Don't they tend to be xXstraghtedgeXx and self righteous?
Also why can't some hipsters enjoy some Pacman and Galaga? Those are still fun games, better than LoL or CoD.
Also why can't people who are not virigns and completely socially retarded not allowed to like vidya? I see threads everyday with people crying because they're so ronery with no gf. Yet if someone mentions that theyre not a complete loser, they get bitched at being normalfags and told to go back to le redit.
Sounds to me you guys are insecure and need to hobby to be just as sad as you so you can feel better about yourself.


OP you bar sounds like a good idea.

>>258721729
No one's bitching about normalfags, we're saying that a bar with games that would appeal to your average /v/-goer like SF4 or Time Crisis won't pull in the normalfags and hipsters who would populate a bar and give him money.

I know reading comprehension is hard, but you could at least try.

Your best bet is to make a regular bar and just host video game stuff like tournaments. A bar around here rotates between SF4 and Melee every other week, people come in droves.

But don't make a bar just for video games.

>>258721729
As a business owner, it wouldn't matter if the customers were normals or nerds. Money is money, and it's better than having no customers

>>258721994
>>258721729
Also, people who cry about nogf and feels ARE normalfags, and need to get the fuck off 4chan.

3d is pig disgusting

>>258710647
It's a good idea but you'll be flooded with hipsters, kids, and the ultra stanky autistic weeaboo crowd

4chan was already taken over by normalfags

due to /sp/ /soc/ and /lgbt/

why do you think everyone fucking parrots, post like they're underage, and doesn't think ironic shitposting is a problem?

oh wait, because it is

>>258715927
There's an arcade in chicago that does this called the Galloping Ghost. They mainly just construct generic arcade cabinets and then swap out the PCBs when they get wrecked.

>>258715927
Fellow Salt Lake City-fag here. I'd be interested.
Do you need help? I know more about the hardware than most people and I could be a real asset

>>258715927
>emu cabs
>in a business
good way to get sued and shut down
>modular cabs
A good idea to prevent your machines from going down due to damage, but you're still dealing with repairing/replacing damaged parts, and you'd be preventing the one truly effective theft deterrent arcade cabs have.

>Bars
One of the worst possible ventures to start, if not the absolute worst. Bars and restaurants are expensive to keep up, don't make much profit, and often go out of business extremely quickly.
>Arcades
Haven't been a viable business in the Unites States in decades

What makes anyone think combining the two is a good idea

>>258711771
Its small and cramped with overpriced drinks with casuals

>>258715927
pls respond I've dreamed of being involved in an arcade since I was a kid and have a massive hard-on for arcade hardware

>>258725465
Then you're in the wrong country, son.

I recommend dropping the arcade part and just showing vidya streams.

Alcohol + machines = maintenance. The majority of your business will be composed of period who watch assfaggots/fighting games/speed running streams on twitch anyways. Much cheaper to maintain a few TVs for the same cost.

>>258726242
>period

Meant people my bad

>>258726242
What about in-person SaltyBetting

>>258726242
You might as well just make it a regular bar that sometimes shows video games then.

I like >>258722051's idea the best. It seems the most feasible and you're not making yourself tied to the hip to a small group like "video game players". Just use video games to make them come out to your bar that's already popular.

>>258727101
Sports books are highly illegal everywhere but Vegas and Indian Reservations.

>>258727339
>your bar that's already popular
I don't think many of you realize just how difficult it is to run a profitable bar

>>258711186
I'd rather hang out with hipsters than people from here

>>258727101
I dunno what the laws for gambling is in the state/country but that's not a terrible idea.

Also catch onto stupid ideas like twitch plays Pokemon.

Yes shit is cringeworthy as fuck but its the price of staying in business.

There's a restaurant that's so in business after 3 years so far by doing this

Food is awful, limited and the drinks are overpriced

>>258727580
That's the point. If you can't run a popular bar by itself you can't run a popular bar with video games as a theme.

There's one in my town.
It's fucking ugly and filled with LoL players because it's the main attraction.
To be fair, it works for them because it's their target customers.
In other words, it's shit.

>>258727618
I wouldn't want to hang around with you anyway.

>>258727339
Regular bars stay in business anon.

Gimmicky bars don't always, especially around a hobby where most people rather watch a steam than play.

You can host monthly tournaments, that shit would be cash

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>>258710647
>get invited to a videogame/art bar on the beach
>"Artcade" already a troubling sign
>friend says he read an article about a new bar with arcades and liquor
>drags other friend out of legit arcade all the way across town to go check it out
>I reluctantly agree to go as well
>place is hard as fuck to find
>we go in and I can immediatly tell it's a gay bar
>one wall is covered in terrible paintings
>other side has a grand total of three old and busted arcade machines
>mrs pacman, DK, and some other forgettable generic shit
>theres three guys at the bar wearing really tight clothes and straight up gaying it up when we go in
>"hey guyyyyysssss welcooommme"
>tell friends ill be outside and never go back in
>minutes later they come out with very confused look
>tell them we just went into a gay bar
>their smiles and optimism gone

the only redeemable game thing it had was a projected mario brothers game on a wall but who hasnt played that shit, and why the fuck would you pay for that. fucking homosexual casuals

>>258710647
I'd settle for a nerd bar with nerdy interests in it's weekly whatevers.

Comic shit, anime shit, vidya shit. So long as it's an actual bar, with a fully stocked selection, 21 or older to get into the building, and a bartender. God damn I'd kill for this setup. The hipsters and fake gamers would be worth dealing with to meet and socialize with people who share my interests.

>>258722051
I want that. Wonder if tehre is any in Berlin

Shit man Im thirsting for a lemonade right now
Fuck

I moved to Chicago recently and the city has three arcade bars and counting. All of them are very popular even for people who don't normally play games. They're fantastic places and they've really helped me fall in love with arcade games and pinball machines after putting up with this shitty modern video game industry for years.

I've made it a personal goal to open my own in the coming years, after I have some money from my job saved up. I'm working on a business plan, doing research, taking bartending/bar-managing training, buying up some arcade machines and trying to fix them up, etc. It's all very new to me. I'm aware that a hobby-based business does need to be focused on appealing to the masses first and foremost and that I can't make it too fanboyish.

How do I open a bar /v/?

>>258728250
I'm a pretty sociable guy, your loss. Contrary to popular belief most "hipsters" aren't actually fans of being called that, and generally don't associate themselves with that title. Yea there's always going to be that one guy, but 9 times out of 10 you'll find out that you're more alike than you thought.

I'd gladly go to a video game bar if it was full of arcade machines or at least consoles with fighting games

>>258720507
>They have one in Chicago that's pretty popular

Emporium > Logan Arcade > HQ
HQ used to be a lot better, it's kinda been lacking lately, probably because they're pooling resources to their second place.

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>>258710647
biggest problem would be the smell all of those fat sweaty bodies in one room and knowing that your ac can't accommodate all of the gamers who sometimes don't bathe or don't put on deodorant. makes me moist

>>258710647
There's at least one in my city that I'm actually quite fond of. Full of arcade cabinets and pinball machines. It pushes the "nerd culture" envelope a little hard, but it's still a pretty good time. The sort of place me and my normalfag friends can go to get drunk and get in fights over who gets to play as Michael Jordan in NBA Jam.

Barcades are a great idea. Arcades died because the most skilled players who spend the most time there pay like $0.50/hr. Add overpriced drinks and a cover charge and you've got something halfway profitable.

>>258729497
those people don't go to bars

they go to house parties and cons, never bars

>>258729497
I don't think the fat non-bathers are the type of people who would go to a video game bar.

>>258729497
>legoman didn't read lol.

I live in Berlin and I know of only two gamer bars and both only stream starcraft and mobas like lol and I'm really not into both. But the one bar has at least every month a Mario kart 64 tournamentStill never went there . Sti

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>>258710647
>having lemon in your water

>>258729714
I work at a bar and trust me those people love Going to bars wearing there gamer cawadooty super Mario and hipster tee shirts they bought from Walmart

>>258730567
>64
>not double dash
Shit man you can even play with up to 16 players at the same time.

>>258730567
If there was a Mario Kart 64 tournament at a bar in my town I'd go there every fucking time.

>>258727424
Even if you bet salt?

>>258714364
going back to that area for school soon, looking forward to crushing hipsters in mahvel

Question /v/.

Would you prefer a place with marked-up drinks (e.g. $1.50 to $2 more each) but free games,

or a place with standard drink prices but you have to pay for games normally with quarters?

>>258731372
No, if you bet a meaningless currency that couldn't be traded back for real money it'd be fine.

I run a video game themed bar in Berlin, Germany, and might be able to give you a few pointers.

First of all: Forget about catering to actual gamers - you don't want those as customer base.
They don't have a lot of money to spend, they don't frequent bars often and they are annoying to normal people and bar-hoppers.
You will either have to lure in the hipster/trendy crowd or have to go "retro-future fashionista" if you can draw in 90s/80s enthusiasts.

What you can do in terms of design depends on your location, more gritty/techy neon look is obviously better in partying-heavy areas. A more warm and clean look (bright, mellow colors, pixel art on the wall, ambient sounds, no gadgets) is better for commercial areas where you can expect customers during the day who just want a coffee.

Do not put too much flickering shit into the room. One or two screens playing pleasant to look at slowpaced content without sounds are fine (works well with NES/SNES/Genesis games) but showing 3D trailers/streams with 360-noscope-explosions strains eyes and the mood.
Don't just play gamey music, keep it varied enough for people to hang out there seveal hours and have a good time (music licensing is a nightmare in Germany, so we had actual video game soundtracks playing but 90% of tracks are not befitting for a bar). If you like 80s synth sound there's a fuckton of faux-retro shit like Dynatron, Pertubator, Lazerhawk, Flashworx, Power Glove, Kavinsky, Mega Drive, Arcade High, etc.

The more technology you put inside the more heat you generate and the higher the power bill is.
Playable hardware tends to break, to lead to theft of games, cables, controllers - avoid it.
This is especially important early on when you bleed money until you attract anyone.
Don't do "free drinks for cosplayers" - you'll go broke.
License everything you show - even if it's a stream or youtube video. Fines are extreme and a single customer photo/recording counts as evidence
Don't offer free WiFi without IT skill

>>258713103
>I've got a huge hard on for shoot 'em ups and no where ever has them.

Ya me too wtf is the deal with that

>>258735374
Is it a very profitable business? How long did it take after opening to get in the black?

Which bar is it, please dont say interface or meltdown >>258734826

>>258734110
Shit, thid was a question for this dude
>>258735374

>>258737167
No - don't want to shatter your dreams but running a bar is hard work and you have to invest a lot into starting and surviving. You also can't get a loan, no bank is sane enough to invest into a bar these days, in particularly a gaming themed one.
Turning a steady profit took me a bit over two years as Germany is very demanding in terms of taxation. Before that it was up and down and living a very minimalistic lifestyle with night shifts at local clubs to pay the bills.

I knew what I was getting into though. I'm in my early 30s now and spent my fair share working in and running other people's bars.

If you have no bar background, don't start one. Be sure you know the basics about accounting, marketing and serving drinks before even considering our own bar.
Learn what it takes to serve various types of customers - I want to stress how important this part is - as you don't know who you'll attract and have to adapt. Don't expect customers to flock to your place and like it unless you have a platform to market to them specifically. Our techy game look made us switch a bit into retro games from the previous early modern gamey themes as we had the faux-retro 80s crowd come by for their weekly dose of neon and bright screens.

If you fill a niche with high demand (and you better be damn sure you are right) it's also possible to hire someone with bar experience to run the place for you and have a full-time job on the side to pay his salary until you break even. This obviously only works if you can get enough customers to warrant hiring someone.

>>258738626
Mark up the drinks. You won't survive on game earnings - in fact they'll amount to almost nothing after deducting electricity. The drink markup can always be justified with all the machines and lights running for ambience.
People come for the atmosphere and drinks, not the games. Bars are a social thing, gaming not so much.

You can always offer a particular drink (cheap alcohol) as daily special so people can buy something normally priced and get wasted on it.
If you carry a lot of "novelty" stuff like chilli or licorice absynthe you can make quite the buck from people ordering it out of curiosity, provided you advertise it a bit.

What also goes well is offering special rounds of drinks in line with certain events, i.e. yellow/blue cocktails when a Protoss player wins a StarCraft match. If you do design such events well, people will order those - even if the price is a bit higher than normal.

>>258710647
Daniel is that you? That was a nice looking sulfet man.

>>258735374
Thanks for the pointers.

I have a strong feeling marijuana arcades will be opening soon.

>>258740326

If I may ask, what made you get into the business if it's barely profitable? Do you regret your decision at all?

>>258743104
I'm a bartender and have been since I dropped out of school. Working for other people in this particular business is godawulf - the shifts are horrible, you never get a day off, in particularly not on holidays or interesting events. As most bars don't turn a decent profit and as such can't afford to hire you it's either classy places like hotels or posh bars to live from tips (looking too much like a biker for that) or night clubs. The latter means listening to dubstep at full volume and getting yelled at by drunk 19 year olds. I'm too old for this shit.
The only way out of employment to become my own boss was doing something financially risky but lack of major funds or a loan didn't allow for anything overly fancy so it became "just a bar" - the theme was pure passion as I collected lots of gaming stuff as hobby throughout the 90s until 2005.

Having regrets about my career choice, should've gotten an education and gone to university but that's history. Don't regret opening the place - in retrospect. There were times when I thought I should close up but kept going and now it's possible to turn a profit to make a living.
I know it won't last forever. People grow tired of places and themes over years, no bar lives forever. The question is just when and what I'll do then but there's still time to figure it out.

>>258745253
Thanks for all the advice. Sounds like I should stick to the career I have now for a while then before I try to open a bar and do it right. I barely have any bar or arcade cab maintenance experience as it is.

>>258745253
OP here, thanks for all the input, what's the name of your bar?

>>258710647
Terrible gimmick idea for a bar, you will be out of business in a month.

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>>258710647
Why in the fuck would I ever want to leave my house?
There are people outside of it.

>>258747465
>look at me I'm such a special snowflake neet! :^)

>>258748864
I'm also asexual.