The all-in-one facility includes 60 game stations, a full bar, and a retail storefront. GamePro writer Andrew Hayward examines an unlikely shrine to gaming with a unique business model.
Imagine a veritable gaming paradise: one that packs in dozens of televisions and all the latest console and PC games, where you can meet up with friends -- or take down random locals in tournaments -- and spend the entire day pummeling the virtual competition without ever owning a piece of hardware or a single video game. It might sound too good to be true, but it's no dream scenario for Chicago area residents. Billed as the "world's largest gaming center," Game Pazzo sits rather innocuously within a large strip mall in Downers Grove, Illinois, a suburb located 25 miles west from downtown Chicago. Game Pazzo's looks are deceiving, as a quick glance through the windows reveals what appears to be a mild-mannered independent retail store ? but beyond those shelves of new and used console games lies something much larger and certainly unexpected from the sleepy shopping center.
The 13,000 square foot location houses about 60 rentable displays, ranging from Major League Gaming-approved 23-inch ASUS monitors up to 70-inch big screens along the right wall. Most are linked up to a console ? Game Pazzo features 30 Xbox 360 consoles (some with Kinect sensor bars), 10 PlayStation 3s, and nine Wii systems ? though the intimidatingly large space also includes a dedicated bank of PCs in one corner.
Game Pazzo also contains a dedicated stage for Rock Band jam sessions ? complete with flashing lights, a large projector screen, and two back-facing displays for the players ? as well as a private party room with its own projector screen and dedicated displays, a full bar flanked by leather couches and ESPN-tuned televisions, plus a snack stand serving up pizza, candy bars, and energy drinks. And don't forget about the retail storefront, which sells new console games and accessories, offers pre-orders for upcoming games, and buys and sells used games. It even sells some items that can't be accepted for trade-in credit (like a PSone with a few games) on consignment while taking a cut of the sale price.
With all of that under one roof, Game Pazzo certainly seems like a jack-of-all-trades combination of a massive multiplatform LAN center, a console-based arcade, and a Dave & Busters-like bar-meets-entertainment experience. Whether it's the master of any of those individual elements almost seems secondary to the fact that it's a single location seemingly primed to please just about any gamer who walks through the doors.
During a recent visit to the center, Game Pazzo founder Terry Newsome told me that it's all part of an effort to bring players together in a public, face-to-face way. "We're trying to create a socialization of gaming that's taking it out of the basement and living room, and create an environment where you can play and compete against your friends and show off in tournaments," he asserts.
It's also a business, of course, and the facility's diverse offerings provide many different opportunities for the business to prosper from its public space for video game players and their families. For a single player, it costs $7 per hour to use one of the stations, with additional players (for split-screen or alternating multiplayer games) charged just $5 per hour on the same display. It also costs one dollar to rent each console game from Game Pazzo's available library (which notably includes a dozen copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops), though users can bring their own games and play without the additional charge. Discounted all-day and off-peak rates are also available, along with an hourly charge for use of the stage. Additionally, subscribers to the premium Pazzo Plus club receive free and discounted hours over the course of the annual membership.
Game Pazzo first launched its storefront in November 2010 to coincide with the Black Ops launch and held a grand opening for the full center in February, though both were much later than planned; Newsome credits a dawdling landlord with pushing back the full launch from last fall, which he says hurt its ability to capitalize on last holiday's big releases. Despite the later-than-desired start, he says that Game Pazzo is doing okay but concedes that they "have a ways to go," as nearly any new small business would-- especially in the midst of an uncertain economy.
Source: http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/221492/inside-game-pazzo-chicagolands-massive-gaming-center/
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