"It's a place to socialize with friends or meet new people... It's a sort of brotherhood thing"
May 18, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SHEN charges 10 yuan per hour. On average, Football Dream House receives 40 people every day, most of them men in their 20s.
"Young people like to come here during their spare time," said Shen. "For them it's more than just a place to play video games. It's also a place to socialize with friends or meet new people. They can compete against one another or even form teams to compete. It's a sort of brotherhood thing."
The bar serves drinks and snacks, and also allows customers to bring their own food.
Shen's overhead costs amount to over 3,000 yuan a month, including rents and utilities. The bar brings him an average monthly profit of around 6,000 yuan.
Buoyed by the success of his first business venture, he opened a second video game bar early last year, opposite the first one and under the same name. Unfortunately for Shen, a lot of other people had a similar idea for game bars around the same time.
In 2010, hundreds of board game bars mushroomed all over the city as young people seemed bent on tearing themselves away from electronic machines such as computers and televisions. Board games such as Sanguo Sha, a card game inspired by the Chinese classic tale "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," and Uno, a game that originated in the United States, became household names.
"The proliferation of board game bars encroached on my video game business last year," said Shen. "Though most of the customers still frequented Football Dream House, they didn't come as often as they used to."
Shen's perseverance through the downturn in business proved fortuitous. Many board game bars folded within a year as the fad quickly lost momentum.
"Believe it or not, video games have a lasting attraction for young people," said Shen. "They develop emotional attachments to the games that don't change as they grow older."
Still, Shen remains concerned.
"As the prices of video game machines keep declining, a great many people can afford to buy Xbox or PS3 and play with their friends at home," said Shen. "Besides, rising rents are eating up most of my profit."
But he's not ready to throw in the towel yet. Shen said he plans to buy even more machines, including the latest controller-free Kinect for Xbox 360. "I want to add more types of gaming machines to my bar so that customers are able to enjoy a wide range of choices here," he revealed.
"Young people like to come here during their spare time," said Shen. "For them it's more than just a place to play video games. It's also a place to socialize with friends or meet new people. They can compete against one another or even form teams to compete. It's a sort of brotherhood thing."
The bar serves drinks and snacks, and also allows customers to bring their own food.
Shen's overhead costs amount to over 3,000 yuan a month, including rents and utilities. The bar brings him an average monthly profit of around 6,000 yuan.
Buoyed by the success of his first business venture, he opened a second video game bar early last year, opposite the first one and under the same name. Unfortunately for Shen, a lot of other people had a similar idea for game bars around the same time.
In 2010, hundreds of board game bars mushroomed all over the city as young people seemed bent on tearing themselves away from electronic machines such as computers and televisions. Board games such as Sanguo Sha, a card game inspired by the Chinese classic tale "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," and Uno, a game that originated in the United States, became household names.
"The proliferation of board game bars encroached on my video game business last year," said Shen. "Though most of the customers still frequented Football Dream House, they didn't come as often as they used to."
Shen's perseverance through the downturn in business proved fortuitous. Many board game bars folded within a year as the fad quickly lost momentum.
"Believe it or not, video games have a lasting attraction for young people," said Shen. "They develop emotional attachments to the games that don't change as they grow older."
Still, Shen remains concerned.
"As the prices of video game machines keep declining, a great many people can afford to buy Xbox or PS3 and play with their friends at home," said Shen. "Besides, rising rents are eating up most of my profit."
But he's not ready to throw in the towel yet. Shen said he plans to buy even more machines, including the latest controller-free Kinect for Xbox 360. "I want to add more types of gaming machines to my bar so that customers are able to enjoy a wide range of choices here," he revealed.
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