REVOLUTION GAMING
By Dave Roberts
A hundred years ago I was amazed to see space invaders for the first time. It was at a bowling alley, and this really early exposure was made all the more amazing by the two drunks yelling “die martian scum! Kill him, kill him!” at the top of their lungs.
Some time later the computer game has gone through a number of rebirthings, and had an image rollercoaster ride, from bad boys at pinball parlours, through pasty white geeks locked in their rooms, to the point where they’re almost inescapable and everyone under thirty has a number of ways to play them.
They’re not necessarily cheap anymore, twenty cents in the slot at timezone has come and gone, and today the main way that young people play computer games is through their own consoles. Sony’s Playstation and Microsofts’s Xbox sell for hundreds, and then games on top of that are costly.... Kids still want to play, computer games are one of today’s significant art forms. |
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The biggest issue with computer games now is competing against other humans, rather than just against the box. Local area networks (LANs) are one way of doing it, in which lots of people with computers or consoles get together in a hall or venue and hook up wires and play. There’s always the internet, with any number of viruses and adverts, and the search for the best way to play continues.
All of that is a long introduction to two guys who, like most of the rest of us, saw that the world of wages has it’s safety, but also has it’s limits. Their first toe in the water in running something of their own started with understanding that the world of computer games opens up when people play against each other, and that kids want to do that.
Brad Barr and Justin Parker met at work, and with a few things in common, came to be friends. With an interest in the community, they found themselves supervising LAN sessions, at the Italian club and later regularly in Dalyellup, where up to 30 young people are locked in and supervised for a time from 2pm to midnight. As with many good ideas, the first sign of an opportunity arrives when you’re doing something for someone else. Revolution gaming formed in their minds, and a business plan took shape.
With an understanding that birthday parties are a growing market, and a knowledge that kids want to do this stuff, they’ve bought enough gear to turn up at anyone’s house and put anywhere up to 12 people on Xboxes where they can shoot, blast, race and generally play one another to their hearts’ content. The party is safe, self contained, and judging by the sales, popular.
They’ve also had approaches from larger organisations who see it as a way to add something to the experience they offer, so are currently talking to a major shopping centre about holiday programs.
So as with all the businesses we look at, there are some questions..... are you ever going to leave wages behind? Well with this particular service, probably not, but while we’re out in the marketplace, who knows what we’ll come across. What’s probably more likely is that we’ll stay with our employment and this will be both fun and profitable. Why did you pick this business? Didn’t I just say this is fun AND profitable? It’s also a development of something we do that’s good for our community, so we get everything we need from doing it, just not enough cash.
And of course “why are you choosing to run the business here?” Given that we like our business, and we like being here, and anyway we still have to work for wages locally, there’s not really a hard choice to make.
There you have it, two young blokes giving business a go and finding some success, almost instantly.
August 2006
