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Finger on the button, gaming lounges are the full experience

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World of Warcraft, Halo, Tekken, Dead or Alive, Assassin’s Creed, Killzone, Black Ops. Ring a bell? No, this isn’t the sci-fi movie season, just the video games armoury New India is hooked on to, so far at home but now more so at gaming lounges that have sprung up across Indian cities big and small. By global standards, gaming had a tepid start of it in India, but after drifting for some years, the concept of video game lounges is gaining some serious traction now.

“The list of gaming requirements only starts with a good gaming console. You then need a good screen, the latest games and equipment, and lots of electricity!” says Ramakrishnan Mohan, avid gamer and frequenter of gaming lounges. Ser­ious money is involved here. Xbox, Pla­ystation and Nintendo are of course the market leaders in gaming but even they update ever so frequently with ‘latest versions’. Then you need equipm­ent like Kinect, Move, Motion Plus; and their own latest versions, each providing more interactive experience than the last.

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It’s here that the lounges score. Ramesh Ramakrishnan, co-owner of Pump Gaming Lounge in Hyderabad, says that lounges work because they offer the latest and best of all equipment, as also a variety of games that would otherwise be beyond most gamers’ pockets. Apart from availability of the right equipment, it’s also the abundance of them. Video gaming lounges are a great spot for competitions, or rather, battles. “Serious gamers love competing against other gamers, and lounges are perfect spots for them without the hassles of hardware and software,” says Shailendra Mahani, owner of Bazooka Gaming Lounge in Noida. Birthday parties, college festivals, even corporate let-hair-downs, gaming lounges are getting more reasons than ever for extending their services. Young start-ups are especially wise to this, gaming lounges being a preferred destination to keep staff up tempo.

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Ramakrishnan explains, “It’s also the club feel that’s a mood-booster, rather than be the nerd-at-home-in-front-of-screen. It’s a bit like drinking at home versus going to a bar. It may be the same game but it’s on up-to-date equipment, there are like-minded gamers you can connect with, everybody is talking your lingo. Big-screen lcds, surround sound, extra-comfy couches, it’s all part of a lounge’s selling points.” Plus the lounges are not just for the ‘highly addicted’, they also cater to the people they come with, friends and family. “There are serious gamers and then the not-so-serious gamers who come to gaming lou­nges for a rounded experience,” says Sethi.

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There’s Life In A Console

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But for serious gamers, the ‘fever’ is beyond comprehension. “Gaming is very serious business,” says Abhiman Patwardhan, a software analyst in Pune. For him, gaming entails endless hours of practice for the one match. It is perhaps this fever which has led to national competitions like byoc (Bring Your Own Computer) being held almost every year. “It’s three days of nonstop gaming with people who are as passionate about it as you,” says Abhiman.

Most lounges see gamers from the age of 8-50, with large numbers of professionals among them, all coming to relax for a few hours. “While the bulk of our clientele is school- and college-going kids, there are many between the age group of 40-50 who come to unwind after a day of work,” says Ramesh. All this for a price though which is also wide-ranging, anywhere between 100-350 rupees per hour depending on the location and size of the lounge and the amenities on offer. Lounges like Federation of Gamers and Bazooka run the `50 for ten minutes model while others like Pump and NxGT Gaming Lounges charge `50 for half an hour. The prices go lower the longer you play, and as in any leisure activity, “lucrative” combo offers are also available.

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Ramesh lists the higher disposable incomes and increasingly hectic and stressful lifestyles as the main contributing factors for the steady growth of gaming lounges. “Ave­rage earnings for lounges are 4-5 lakh rupees per month in a place like Punjab. Of course, it varies based on season—exam times mean lower earnings,” says Har­p­reet Singh, owner of NxGT Gaming Lounge.

But there is a grey side to the whole trend too. Not surprisingly, it’s the mothers who worry, believing that gaming needs regulation. “My kid only gets seven hours a week on gaming. Gaming time needs to be administered because too much makes the child an introvert, lacking in all form of social skills,” says Priya Khera, chartered acc­ountant and mother of a 12-year-old. Yet gamers strongly believe that there is a lot that gaming can teach you too—team-building, planning, analytical thi­n­king, time management, hand-eye coordination.... “Then again, too much of anything is harmful, isn’t it? Gaming is best done in moderation,” says Mohan. But is anyone in the lounge listening?

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