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Games Entertainment

Theater Morphing Into Multi-Player Gaming Arena 195

Posted by timothy from the leaving-the-basement dept.
J3zmund writes "This article highlights the attempt by ESports Arena to bring gaming to the masses. They're building what looks like a command center with gaming equipment, comfy chairs, and big screens to follow the action. For the price of a movie, patrons can frag to their hearts' content for 2 hours (extra time available, of course). This could sprawn some interesting events (once gaming goes beyond 'kill'). With The Sims ready to go online this month, it could open this up to a much larger audience than the "young males" they currently identify. How 'bout some Sim Rocky Horror Online Saturday nights..."
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Theater Morphing Into Multi-Player Gaming Arena More

Theater Morphing Into Multi-Player Gaming Arena

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  • back in the early 90's (Score:3, Insightful)

    by peripatetic_bum ( 211859 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:23PM (#4823670) Homepage Journal
    Did they attempt this in the 90's. I remember in chicago go to Pier One and playing the BattleTech Mech games. Expensive but fun as hell.
    I also remember they went out of business as soon as the pc had a good cable connection and mechwarrior2 came out. What do they think is different now?
    thanks
    • I think they still do those types of games at Dave & Busters. Or at least they did as of about 2 years ago. I prefer Ski Ball myself.

      --
      Yer Sex on a Ski Ball [tilegarden.com]

    • Multi-Player Gaming Arena Morphs Into Theater!
    • It moved to Fox Valley Mall in Aurora. It may have gone out of business AFTER that, I don't know. I do still have my mechwarrior ID card around somewhere.

      So no, this isn't new, HOWEVER...

      I'm actually going to (this makes me feel young) a Mechwarrior IV party in a couple weeks. Still need to buy the game so I can. We're all going to be carting our computers over there and networking them together.

      I think people would pay $8 to NOT have to cart over their computers, get the immersive cockpit experience that the Battletech center offerred, and be able to have parties with their friends.

      Lord only knows how many tokens I've dropped in that infernal Star Wars machine at the arcade.
    • The BattleTech (or whatever) simulator was pretty awesome, but it took up a lot of real-estate per player. It was also very complex, which must have appealed to some people, but probably not most.

      For my part, I preferred the VR FPS game down the hall...it was like Photon for people too lazy to run around...

  • I Hope the EPA is ready... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Pius IX ( 631823 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:25PM (#4823683)
    Thousands of nerds...one big room... Glad I won't be there to smell it.

  • Popular games changed.. (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I would hate to see popular games like say counter strike or BF 1942 changed (ie terrorists and nazis removed) just for the sake of mainstreaming.

    as for the sims /me shudders

    • Re:Popular games changed.. (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I would assume they would do some kind of ID checking at the door (maybe kids can go in if sent in with a parent). Saves money from having to develop a modified mainstream version of the game, and saves the game makers/theater things a lot of heat from hardcore gamers.
  • just imagine. going to the local 'game theater'. paying your 10 bucks or so. then getting in a flight simulator type game along with 30 other gamers and fighting against each other, deathmatch style or cap the flag style or completing missions.

    esp when VR becomes a bit more of a reality. i am kinda surprised this hasn't happened sooner.
    • You know as much as gamers think of games like Quake and Counterstrike, I think the best way to get mass market appeal in a setting like this is to add head-to-head Tetris, chess, or checkers to the menu. Girls LOVE Tetris.

      • Re:i always thought this was a good idea (Score:4, Funny)

        by Anonvmous Coward ( 589068 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:33PM (#4823747)
        " I think the best way to get mass market appeal in a setting like this is to add head-to-head Tetris, chess, or checkers to the menu. Girls LOVE Tetris."

        You do realize that games like Counterstrike and Quake already have mass market appeal, right? Heh.

        Girls only make up half of the population, we don't need them.

        • Re:i always thought this was a good idea (Score:4, Funny)

          by Apathy costs bills ( 629778 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:47PM (#4823810) Homepage Journal
          You do realize that games like Counterstrike and Quake already have mass market appeal, right? Heh.

          Well, that's true, I guess you could consider Slashdot to be a mass market. But I bet you a "Deer Hunter Cyber Cafe" would do well in Tenessee, and a "Dance Dance Barbie" kiosk would work great next to The Gap.
          Girls only make up half of the population, we don't need them.

          You know, you should try intercourse and then check back with me on that.

        • Re:i always thought this was a good idea (Score:5, Funny)

          by zaffir ( 546764 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:54PM (#4823868)
          I've found that most women have some inate ability to completely rock at fighting games. It's gotta be genetic. I've been at parties where a guy with 100 hours of street fighter under his belt loses to someone's girlfriend who has never played.

          • Re:i always thought this was a good idea (Score:5, Funny)

            by ottffssent ( 18387 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:04PM (#4823914)
            Scary huh? Worse than "has never played", has never touched a PS2. Worse yet, she proceeds to kick the next guy's ass. And the next (who complains it's the controller's fault). And then, after switching controllers and opponents, loses the first match, wins the second, and ties (two swordthrusts both connect at the exact same instant) the third. I didn't think you *could* tie in that game. We don't let her play anymore.
          • I've found that most women have some inate ability to completely rock at fighting games. I've been at parties where a guy with 100 hours of street fighter under his belt loses to someone's girlfriend who has never played.

            Lets see now, do you really think that girl is just going to pick up a controller and beat a bunch of dorks that have been practicing combos for 100+ hours?

            Or would it be much more plausible that said dorks probably want to score with this girl and let her win as some sort of social icebreaker.

            Hmm.. tough one

            • Re:i always thought this was a good idea (Score:4, Insightful)

              by Mnemia ( 218659 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:42PM (#4824131)
              I've actually noticed this phenomenon as well, and I don't think it has anything to do with guys "letting her win". Give the girl some credit! I think that first of all it's just that girls play the game in a different style from guys who've been playing forever, throwing off their rhythm. Also, the guy may be ..."distracted" by playing a girl as well, even if he's not letting her win. Besides, I imagine the beginner's button mashing approach is nearly as effective as a skilled player when said skilled player is drunk ;)
              • I have to agree. I have seen a woman beat several "hardcore" players without ANY chance of getting into her pants. Women and fighting games just seem to go together.
              • I think women can be better players in general because they are less prone to having rage cloud their focus. For example, women tend to pick up consistent golf play much more readily than men, and if you watch women and men together taking lessons or just hitting balls at the range you can see why. Women focus on the mechanics while the men, who may initially focus on the mechanics, tend to get frustrated and take it out on the club and the ball... and therefore, their backs as well.

                - DDT
                • When the adrenaline flows, I play much better. I remember playing a perfect game of Street Fighter2. I went through dozens of opponents then beat the game, without ever taking any damage. The sweat was pouring off me after that.

                  I have also been able to zone in and get a zen like level of control. It is not the same.
    • It seems to be a constant "cold war", where the equipment and software is just a little bit ahead of what you can do in your home. Forcing a replacement of most stuff every year or so.

      The only way this amounts to something is where it makes sense to play as a group where you need to look or talk to each other (where this adds something other than the chat function of most multiplayer games). If you're gathering to imerse in individual VR units, it will only last as long as they stay ahead of the technology you can have at home, which seems difficult these days.
  • truly an interesting concept but besides probably having bigger screen and more comfortable chair, how is this different from your local internet/gameing cafe? looks to me like that would be the same thing.
  • with Fred Savage and they played Nintendo at the World Video Game Championships. What I remember was where Fred's character's brother was playing Super Mario 3 with a power glove, and I was like, hey, that's not possible. Anyone remember (I should probably go to imdb and look it up but I'm too lazy :)?
  • LAN party/cafe with the added extras of lots of money, a need to make revenue and appeal to more than just the /. crowd ?

  • article kinda pissed me off (Score:5, Insightful)

    by erax0r ( 626272 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:28PM (#4823706) Homepage
    "The whole LAN party scene has been kind of like a geeky cult thing," he said. "These guys are making it more mainstream."

    They make the article sound like only total geeks and kids go to lan parties..wtf I originally lived in wa state and found lan parties all over..not everyone was geeks or zit faced teenagers... There are alot of mid 30's-40's adults that attend the lans Ive gone to. I recently moved to arizona this summer and got a job at office max. Turns out they hold a monthly lan with all of the employees and its a blast. Some of these guys barely know how to operate their computer but they enjoy lanning. Welcome to the new age of entertainment...its been around for a while.

  • doesn't seem worth it (Score:3, Insightful)

    by pbranes ( 565105 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:28PM (#4823709)
    With going to a movie theater, I can understand paying that price because I can watch a good movie on a huge screen with great sound.

    Now, with a video game, why would I pay $10 (or whatever) to play with the same kind of setup I have at home? I would imagine that the people who would be interested in this already have a very good setup at home and this would be a waste of time for a lot of people.

    This isn't an arcade where one game is a quarter - the price they are asking is prohibitively expensive for what is received. I would rather even rent a game and play it at home or at a lan party.

    • Re:doesn't seem worth it (Score:4, Insightful)

      by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:34PM (#4823753) Journal
      >> Now, with a video game, why would I pay $10 (or whatever) to play with the same kind of setup I have at home?

      Because 10 of your friends can go with you, and you can all play. No waiting for the next lan party.

      >> This isn't an arcade where one game is a quarter

      No it isnt. Arcades are dead. Arcades are, for all intents and purposes, a singleplayer experience. The handful of head-to-head games don't count.

      I can see a market for a place to kill a couple hours playing Halo with some friends, without all the hassle of setting it up yourself.

      Throw in a few tourneys, a few prizes.. They could make a go of it.

      >> With going to a movie theater, I can understand paying that price because I can watch a good movie on a huge screen with great sound.

      You been to the movies lately? Huge screen, sure. Great sound? Unless you like the sound of some assholes cell phone and wanna-be smartass 13 year olds. Good movies indeed. -1 troll for you!

    • The site's slashdotted already!

      why would I pay $10 (or whatever) to play with the same kind of setup I have at home?

      For the same reason that people still go to movie theatres despite being able to watch movie at home. I'd say that the reasons include
      -Better Hardware: screen and sound system
      -more people
      -You will get to try the Newest Thing (TM) before deciding to buy it
      -Be able to frag more people that you can see and tease (one of my problems with online gaming)
      -Atmosphere (?)
    • Ok, so it was two words. If they start offering tournaments and prizes, they'll draw a few folks. Hell, I remember going to my one and only Sci-Fi convention and playing in a Commodore 64 Pac-Man-type tournament (clearly I have dated myself) and kicking everyone's butt by about a zillion points. I got...a hat. But damn that felt good. Strutted around like the cock of the walk for the rest of the con.
    • The point is, my gaming fellows, is that *not* everyone regularly attends LAN parties, nor does everyone want to go through the hassle of:

      Unplugging, packing, transporting, unpacking, plugging, setting up, PLAYING (finally!), packing, transporting home, unpacking, plugging, and setting up back at home.

      THAT is one of the reasons why I have never been particularly attracted to LAN parties. However, getting to go to a place where all the work has already been done is a much more enticing proposition.
  • I often go to the local snooker/pool hall to play with my mates and get drunk :) this could be evan better if they allow us to drink and play games, they woudl have to have a good selection of games to play though.

  • Let's Hope... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mtn_Dewd ( 15169 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:29PM (#4823713) Homepage Journal
    That they offer play to the multiplayer version of Barbie Fashion designer.
  • With the advent of 'professional' gaming clans, I think it was only a matter of time before people started to glam-up the humble gaming cafe.

    Now, to business. Who's to bet that for a further couple of bucks per session people would pay for a workout? Anyone out there interested in funding me to install one of those stick-the-pads-to-your-gut-it-really-exercises-you -well electric shock contraptions to each chair?
  • ...someone will make a TV show out of it, something along the lines of "Dog Eat Dog" or "Fear Factor". I expect someone is already rushing out some episodes. If people watch those shows, then why not watch other people play games? There would also be some ability for true viewer interaction.
  • now have a way to spend friday night "out"

    how sad, only teenage boys will fill these places, girls, don't go out to play games, well not ones that involve computers...

  • who else thinks that... (Score:5, Funny)

    by newsdee ( 629448 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:37PM (#4823764) Homepage Journal
    ...some people will pay admission, drop a vat of popcorn over the keyboard, idly look at the screen, speak loudly to their neighbor during the whole game, and then leave saying the movie sucked on their cellphones... ^^

    • This reminds me of my gripe of the month. I went to a movie, and the person next to me and my friend not only left his phone on. It ringed three times through the movie! And you may think that is no big deal. But the guy...ANSWERED IT! He answered and talked on his phone during the film. He didn't even leave his seat. Or try and speak quietly. Luckily the movie was the transporter and I didn't miss anything.
  • I wonder if they'll haze virgins at these LAN parties.

  • I'm kinda with jkcity on this one... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Salubri ( 618957 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:47PM (#4823813) Journal
    Think of it this way... You're sitting in a comfy leather chair in an air conditioned arena. The replay of you bringing in the winning flag-capture is flashing on one of the giant screens at the front of the arena. A waiter/watress brings you the vat of scotch you ordered, and you slowly nurse it whilst clamoring with your local clanmates as you ready for the next match...

    It'd be like going to the clubs, only slightly better in that no obnoxious idiots would look at you funny for just sitting at the bar soaking in the scenes and sounds.

    This will only be really successful if they can make the gaming experience people get at home better. They have to offer things like cigars, drinks (free refils on sodas), snacks, and whatnot. Furthermore, if they REALLY want the bucks from the men of that age bracket, have cute women be the waitresses. Think about it. What horny male gamer 21+ wouldn't like to game in a big comfy chair while an attractive woman brings them drinks and their success is trumpeted to all there? I'd be there in a heartbeat.

    Without the ammeneties though, say it's just a movie theater converted to an arena for gaming, and all they do for you is give you a terminal and some time. That will fail. There has to be a draw.
    • have cute women be the waitresses. Think about it. What horny male gamer 21+ wouldn't like to game in a big comfy chair while an attractive woman brings them drinks and their success is trumpeted to all there? I'd be there in a heartbeat.

      Yeah, they could call it BOOTERS.

      I think you might be a tad over-optimistic with your idea. It sounds like a good idea, but really.. how many 'wonderful' things really exist out there?

      I'm sure lots of people would like cinemas where you got a blowjob from a beautiful woman throughout the film while being given free Jack Daniels refills, but they don't exist.
    • If movie theatres can only afford pimple-faced teenagers, what makes you think this idea (definitely a smaller audience than movie theatres) will be able to afford hot ladies?
    • Without the ammeneties though, say it's just a movie theater converted to an arena for gaming, and all they do for you is give you a terminal and some time. That will fail. There has to be a draw.

      Exactly. If there isn't, how is it any different than going to a local game-cafe (generally dark, smoke filled rooms with dozens of networked computers) and paying a few bucks for a couple hours of fragging?

    • Just picture something like that in Vegas, where you pay by the game and there's a payout for "winning". Everything is already set up there for just that kind of thing.

      Wow. I would be broke.
    • Yep, this was something I had envisioned if I was going to open a "LAN" theatre type business.

      The largest problem I think to over come is: keeping everything very social. The whole point is to go out and have fun, but being able to talk to each other is an important part. A lot of the layouts for most net cafes in the surrounding Toronto,ON area doesn't really allow for anything like that. They try to cram as many seats that'll fit in them, and the layouts prevent you from easily sitting with your friends if you arrive and there's a bunch of other people there already.

      Something along the lines of waiting to be seated by a waitress, and she'd arrange for your group to have a 'table' of PCs together.

      Hmm .... the more I talk about this, the more I want to go ahead with this.

  • Sprawn? (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by Swaffs ( 470184 )
    That's a word?
    • I was wondering the same myself. I think it's what they call a well-known Todd McFarlane character in Japan.

      Yeah yeah, lame, I know, but I couldn't help myself...

  • Something similar has been tried here in finland, that corp went to bankruptcy back in 1996. Or thats
    what i've heard, never visited any of their gaming 'heavens'.

    Basicly same idea except they had just normal gaming pcs networked together, no spectator seats etc...
    Of course, gaming is a lot more 'appreciated' today, more players, better multiplayer games etc...
    Might work today in big cities with enough customers.
  • I guess Nvidia was on to something with the term "Cinematic Gaming." [nvidia.com]
    My friend once asked something that made me laugh and then think. He asked, while I was watching Jerry Springer and he was playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein, "When did television get so bad, and video games get so good?"
    I mean look at this! [tomshardware.com]
    I don't know about you, but I don't want to just WATCH Tom Hanks in saving private ryan, I want to BE Tom Hanks in saving private ryan - only without the dying part.
  • Usually the terms sport and athlete conjour up images of a finely tuned body, scuplted to be able to compete with the best of the best.

    So what is a finely tuned cyberathlete?

    * Power - two days, no shower, questionable underwear state
    * Endurance - body by Jolt
    * Agility - nimble fingers can swap weapons, load rockets all while dogding enemy fire
    * Natural Talent - doing the above in rear view mode

  • Why? (Score:2)

    by Rew190 ( 138940 )
    Might be fun to try out, but for the price of a movie ticket you can rent two games and hang on to them for days instead of two hours. Besides, with XBox Live and PS2's online system, it doesn't strike me as necessary to pay a fee for player matchmaking. Sure, with this the players are actually physically there, but aren't the only people you want to be talking to your gaming buddies anyhow? And if that's the case why not just have all of them cover over to one geek's house and all play from there?

    • Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by susano_otter ( 123650 ) on Friday December 06, 2002 @12:38AM (#4824434) Homepage
      For the price of a movie ticket, I can rent two games, keep them all week, and play them alone in my living room.

      Since I generally hate people who are unlike me, this works out fine, and it's how I watch all my movies.

      But every once in a while, it'd be nice to head down to the local LAN party, hang out with people who are enough like me that I don't hate them too much, pick up a few games of whatever in an atmosphere of [cameraderie|easy-going competion|blind fury], and then roll on back home.

      Hell, I used to go to the cinema once or twice a week, back before everybody and their asshole started taking calls during the movie. Swap out "movie" for "LAN party", and I guarantee you that two hours there would be worth two games alone at home for a week.

  • Rocky Horror.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by trotski ( 592530 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @10:58PM (#4823883)
    "How 'bout some Sim Rocky Horror Online Saturday nights..."

    Hmmmmmm, how about not.

  • The cost of upgrading (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Gyorg_Lavode ( 520114 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:00PM (#4823896)
    Gaming environments such as these will rely on having better and more hardware than home users have. How will this affect their business model when they have to upgrade their hardware every 6 months to be able to play the newest games? Also, will they be buying 20 to 30 licenses of every game that comes out that is heavily played? I am interested in the cost of sustaining such a complex focused at gaming.
    • The article implied that the gaming environment was composed of PS2s, GCs, and XBoxen; no direct reference to PCs (though the picture in the article showed one).
    • Dave & Busters is an adult/teen bar/arcade. Most games are multi-player, and the whole thing looks like Vegas.

      The equipment there is not replaced every 6 months. Much of it is inferior to my modest Athlon 600 with a 1 year old video card.

  • interesting (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sirinek ( 41507 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:01PM (#4823903) Homepage Journal
    Two things:

    1) $10 for 2 hours of gaming in a nice comfy theatre? What a steal! That would get a LOT of people interested.

    2) "The Sims"' primary demographic is "young males"???? Funny, though there are certainly many young males who enjoy The Sims, I find it is popular with everyone who DOESNT fit the young male stereotype (ie those who dont like FPS games, etc)

    siri

  • Not a fancy arcade? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by LinuxInDallas ( 73952 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:05PM (#4823921)
    The article claims that this is not really a video arcade but I don't buy it. Other than the fact that they are using game consoles and have "executive leather chairs" how does this differ than an arcade? Sounds like a video arcade of the 21st century, but still an arcade.
  • sports games -- esp football (more people to pay for the priviledge).

  • Great!! How long before more headlines [slashdot.org] like this?
  • ...to demolish everybody in Super Smash Bros. Melee in when I'm not in college.

    My handle gives away my favorite character.

    I just hope this doesn't end up being like a lot of other things that identify themselves with videogaming but don't actually include anything without a HUD and a BFG or an arcade with someone doing a jump kick followed by a medium punch canceled into a dragon punch.

  • The hardware-whingers and lag-bitches will need antother reason why their 133t skillz aren't working today.

  • I see you shiver with antici.....* AAAH LAG!! * pation!

  • When the gaming center opens in January, there also will be video screens of varying sizes hanging from the walls so gamers and spectators can view several different contests at once.

    Sweet, now I don't even have to play! I can pay to watch other people play!
  • I found that saddest T-shirt ever on ebay once, it was a t-shirt somebody had made for the Commodore 64 Rocky Horror Picture Show game. I figure a shirt like that must appeal to about 6 people in the whole world.

  • Ugh, another thing I can't do.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by joel8x ( 324102 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:27PM (#4824038) Homepage
    This sounds like it will be another case of Simulator Sickness [loonygames.com] on a grand scale for me. Anyone else who suffers from this knows that since the dawn of Doom, video gaming has been a nightmare for us. I used to play hours upon hours of video games when it was just nice side-scrolling or over-the-head aspects. Now after about 40 seconds of Unreal I'm ready to pass out. The majority of games that come out now that are worth anything are 3D, and I can only manage to play very few of them.

    • I remember when i first started on 3d games, mechwarrior 2, terminal velocity, descent. I was allways whipping my head around for god knows what reason. I couldn't play for more than 20 minutes w/o a stiff neck for days afterward.
    • I can't remember where, but I recall American Mcgee (creator of Alice, Level Designer on Doom2, Quake2 and maybe a few other id games) saying that FPS games such as the ones he made levels for gave him motion sickness/simulator sickness. His solution was to make the viewing area as small as possible (usually done by pressing the "-" key in many games). Most FPS games that I know of allow you to do this. I doubt making the view smaller will help everybody, but it may be worth a try if you experience this.
    • Get an old Cyrix chip and a regular PCI video card.

      Once you get UT down to about 2 - 3 frames per second I'm sure you won't have any 'simulator sickness' problems.

      Personally, Decent was the only one that really got me confused. (I'd keep trying to "flip the world" in my head to figure out which why my ship was flying.)

  • 5 on 5 (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Pean ( 524414 )
    Now something I think would be cool would to hook up some EASports NBA Live or NBA2k3 on multitap. If you can sit in a big theatre and play a pickup basketball game on a huge screen with 9 other people, I think it can be pretty decent. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm fscking out of shape and white. Plus, it would be cool to drink (if you could) during it.

  • The Catch (Score:3, Interesting)

    by SmartGamer ( 631767 ) <sgamer@swbeMONETll.net minus painter> on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:30PM (#4824048) Homepage
    I'd observe that there's a little problem with this theory: a lot of people won't pay 1/5 the cost of a game just to play it for two hours with people they know. Perhaps for 2h. with people they don't- but then, that's what netplay is for.

    A version which would be far more likely to be succesful would be where the games are exclusive to the "gamevie halls-" not released to the public yet, and it won't be until it goes out of the game theatres. (Sort of like movies that go to home video, as opposed to those released to video the day they go to the movie theatre. Which gets a better turnout?)
  • Check out this place:
    http://www.iplay.ca
  • If that's really what it looks like, what are they going to be playing on the screen ?

    Recordings of previous games ? For chrisstake, that would beat out Arnold Rimmer's Risk Story [demon.co.uk] for boredom.

    Current Games ? Gee, well I guess I'd have to choose a seat where I can see the main screen while playing. Give a little bit of an edge. Who needs cheats when your opponents screen is being projected at 20 x 14 foot resolution above their head.

  • And I'd go to this why? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Kris_J ( 10111 ) on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:43PM (#4824133) Homepage Journal
    This coming Sunday myself and up to 7 friends will be playing Diablo II all day. I wouldn't comment, except that I appear to be the target audience. Not only do I get to play for as long as I like, while consuming food and drink I like, I get to play a classic game that's unlikely to ever find its way into one of these theatre dealies and one that's colaberative, not combative.

    Places like this theatre are just going to fill up with the same sort of arseholes that ruin Internet Cafes.

  • This will absolutely fail (Score:3, Funny)

    by teamhasnoi ( 554944 ) <teamhasnoi AT yahoo DOT com> on Thursday December 05, 2002 @11:54PM (#4824208) Journal
    I will not and no one else will relearn how to play FPS games with their Bizzaro-World keyboard and mouse setup. [signonsandiego.com]

    MASTERKILLA - "Fragged again?! WTF! It's my keyboard and mouse! They're all F*CKED an backwards!!"

    0WNZU - "5ur3 th3y 4r3, LAM3RZ! w0ot!!!! 1 rU!3 t1M3 4nD 5P@C3!!!! U SUxxx00rs B4D!!!!!!!!!!!"

  • It amazes me that there is so much difference between USA and some other countries...

    Back in Russia and Korea (slashdot reported [slashdot.org] this wired article [wired.com] a while ago, look for baang word) they are so popular.
    In fact, I used to work in one in Moscow. They are called gaming clubs back there. Huge market.

    The funny thing is the economy... I mean one hour costs from 0.5 to 1.5 US$ back there and there are always people there (some regulars too), even if they have computer at home. Most of the market is covered by small clubs though, 20 or so computers with average hardware (for a gaming machine) and internet access.

    Back here in USA all you have is internet cafes, and you really can't find one... people do LAN parties, but that's it.

    I am not sure if that is the reason for World Computer Games results [worldcybergames.org] (if you even know what that is)

  • Couldn't have picked a better place myself (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rmckeethen ( 130580 ) on Friday December 06, 2002 @12:06AM (#4824275)

    If this is going to succeed anywhere, San Diego's Gaslamp district is probably one of the better places to start. I live in San Diego, and I can tell you that the Pacific Theater is dead center of one of the biggest party zones outside of Los Angeles. Add that to the very high local population of 18 to 24-year olds from all the local colleges, universities and the Navy and Marine bases, and you've got what looks like a good chance of making a buck or two.

    Personally, I wish them success. I wouldn't mind giving it a try myself. It will be interesting to see just what they've got set up come January.

  • brilliant (Score:2, Interesting)

    by katalyst ( 618126 )
    This is a brilliant concept. There was a 3d game called Chasm-The Rift, which enabled the server to actually split the display into 4 quadrants , so that one could see the players fragging each other - i guess it was ahead of its time. I wonder how they are gonna make the costing work ; will they charge the same as a movie ticket for 2 hrs of gameplay? And why only consoles ? Why not PCs ? I guess we'll have publishers like EA sponsering events, with banners (and maybe pompom girls) all over the place. I'd be spending the better part of my weekend at such a venue !!!!

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