Jamba Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Now I don't know about you but sometimes, I wish that I could just give some of the other consoles a try. There are a few games here and there that I'd just love to take a shot at (Uncharted *drooool*) but I don't have many friends that would let me play on their consoles. Same goes for handhelds too. So would you think that a business that rents consoles (and games) could actually be profitable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Letty Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 I'd be to worried about people damaging the consoles. Maybe more so consoles than handhelds though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightwolf Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 I'd be the same as letty, what goes to say they don't steal that console also? Would it not also be expensive to let someone rent it? Would this be over a wide area or just a small one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Personally I don't think there's a market. If you charge too much then people will just buy it themselves. if you charge too little then it won't cover the costs/damages/games etc. But if you think it's a good idea then go do some market research. PS: You would be better setting up something similar to an internet cafe but with consoles. Some guys at our school did it with their own consoles. I think a few people went to it. There is a similar sort of thing at Mansfield called Red planet near me. I think they charge a few quid per session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Hmm thinking about it, i could see it being profitable, especially With how much consoles are these days, people may want a trial run before splashing out. However i could think of a few problems. Postage costs would be quite high, probably around the £15 mark. That might be a problem, although i suppose it depends on how much you'd charge for renting it. A second would be damages to the console, however this wouldn't be much of a problem if you went about it the right way with all the "Brake it, you pay for it" stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 I think theft is the biggest issue. People don't steal rented DVDs because the value isn't worth the risk. And they can easily download it for free. But a £275 PS3. Easy money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 I am sure this was done years and years ago, Im sure I saw choices offering to rent N64s. And if im correct I'll guess theres a reason why they stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamba Posted April 10, 2008 Author Share Posted April 10, 2008 Thanks for the ideas guys. Yeah the gaming cafe is a great idea, would love to do something like that but I don't have the resources to invest and will likely never have until I pay off the debts. I think that the console renting idea could work on a relatively local scale. I would think that renting a console for say 2 weeks, then you could definitely charge around £20 maybe even a little more (thinking PS3 and 360). That would come with one game free and any extra accessories or games would be additional. Practically, I don't think that delivery would be an option and also as far as theft and damage go, there would likely be a deposit of some kind as well as registration of details (so they can't hide!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Thanks for the ideas guys. Yeah the gaming cafe is a great idea, would love to do something like that but I don't have the resources to invest and will likely never have until I pay off the debts. I think that the console renting idea could work on a relatively local scale. I would think that renting a console for say 2 weeks, then you could definitely charge around £20 maybe even a little more (thinking PS3 and 360). That would come with one game free and any extra accessories or games would be additional. Practically, I don't think that delivery would be an option and also as far as theft and damage go, there would likely be a deposit of some kind as well as registration of details (so they can't hide!) Word of warning about that last bit. My friend was telling me when he worked at Blockbusters in Tottenham people would go through other's rubbish to get 'proof' of ID and use that to open up an account, take a load of DVDs and never return them. So you have to be very cautious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rummy Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Yeah, addresses and identities aren't that hard to fake, especially on a small scale like rental shops. It doesn't sound too profitable due to the possible risk costs, but then if you took a deposit to cover the cost of the console, you'd effectively be covered regardless, the problem with that is you're likely to get less demand due to less people being willing/having the money to front for a deposit. The best way to implement it'd probably be Moogle's suggestion of a cafe type thing, though it has the disadvantages compared to a rental service of things such as the hassle of going to the cafe, there is likely to be more scope for multiplayer stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 I had an idea. Basically it's a hotel but with lots of gaming computers for customer use. It would be used by clan mett ups and such. What do you guys think? (oh and patent pending) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamba Posted April 10, 2008 Author Share Posted April 10, 2008 Ah ok... didn't think that a driver's license would be so easy to fake I see the gaming cafe as a real community kind of thing that can cater for lots of different types of experiences. I'd have a seperate room or time for big multiplayer sessions so that people can quitely sit and enjoy a quick, quiet game or say for the older folks, then can enjoy the coffee and maybe get some interest out of simply watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Gamers are so used to their computers that they're inherintly uncomfortable using any that aren't their own. Especially in regards to the keyboard and mouse. Also the customer base is too small to remain profitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayseven Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 This is a new idea? My local rental store back home has been doing this for years - at least 10. Main reason why it doesn't take off is that the rental stores tend to demand a deposit. Back when I rented a PS1 the deposit was £20, but I've heard it went up to £40 and £50 at least. Rental itself was fairly good - it was £5 for a week for the Ps1 and I hear it's roughly £10 a week nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raining_again Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 The likes of a lan cafe except with consoles would be a great idea. A good idea for an existing lan cafe that wants to expand I suppose. Rental seems like a bit risky mind :/ Too expensive and your pushing away business and too cheap and your not making profit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightwolf Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 Ah ok... didn't think that a driver's license would be so easy to fake I see the gaming cafe as a real community kind of thing that can cater for lots of different types of experiences. I'd have a seperate room or time for big multiplayer sessions so that people can quitely sit and enjoy a quick, quiet game or say for the older folks, then can enjoy the coffee and maybe get some interest out of simply watching. If you were to do that I'd say set age limits for rooms, purely because we had something like this here and kids basically wrecked the rooms, if the room was damaged, they didn't have to pay anything, didn't have to pay anything to get in either, so it was annoying when you already had membership and then they changed the rules for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamba Posted April 10, 2008 Author Share Posted April 10, 2008 Yeah, I'm not the kind of person who's afraid of say kicking people out when they are going mental. If you had boothes and rooms then it wouldn't be hard ot keep track of who is playing where. I'd need to bolt the controller to the wall though, which would be a damn shame. Registration in the cafe would be a good idea though too. (Can totally see me and Bluey doing this :p) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkatronics Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 They sometimes rent them out in holiday parks for a small fee, and deposit. When we went to france you had a free TV, but could rent stuff like: DVD players VHS players Wii's PS2s 360s and a lot more stuff aswell as games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 A gaming cafe, while a nice idea would NOT be profitable as long as gaming is still "lame". It might work in japan. Some internet cafe's will have a game console or two around for people to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluey Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 It might work in japan only one way to find out... jamba! i'll meet you at narita airport tomorrow? dunno why i'm posting this 'cause ... well, we're talking about it *right now*... but yeah! it's a good idea!! i like it ( ^__^)/ renting consoles out to peoples homes is an ok idea... but you'd need lots and lots of insurance to make sure people didnt fake ID and steal the console (or just steal it with real ID...) damage the console (you'd need a policy in place for if that happens accidentally too...) there's no need to start out big either - i think even a simple coffee shop would be hard to run for a first time business... why not have a coffee shop WITH games inside rather than a gaming ...um.... 'place' with a coffee shop inside. but yeah! nice~ ...what's the pay like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McPhee Posted April 10, 2008 Share Posted April 10, 2008 I rented a Dreamcast from the local Video Store to try it out at launch. They stopped renting consoles soon after, they regularly got broken/stolen etc and it was too much hassle to get them back or claim the money for repairs. THey had to go through the courts to get money off of some people. quote=Sanchez;722506]A gaming cafe, while a nice idea would NOT be profitable as long as gaming is still "lame". It might work in japan. Some internet cafe's will have a game console or two around for people to play. We also had one of these. It was ace! The place was ALWAYS packed at the weekends and that was back in the N64 days (at least 10 years ago). The only problem? Games were too expensive. They got shut down for having pirated versions of most of they're PS1 and Sega Saturn games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raining_again Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 I rented a Dreamcast from the local Video Store to try it out at launch. They stopped renting consoles soon after, they regularly got broken/stolen etc and it was too much hassle to get them back or claim the money for repairs. THey had to go through the courts to get money off of some people. My sisters boss (a dentist) loses a ton of money from non-payers. It's just not worth it to go to small claims court. You pay more in legal expenses than what the actually value you'd get off the customer. Pretty abysmal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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