Game On News

Well, yesterday was one hell of a snow day, me thinks, but today’s looking mighty nice so far. Mage and I will be manning the store today, so you’re all more than welcome to drop by!

Okay, so it’s not the new year yet, but 3 out of 4, the 366th day is the 1st of the next year.

Anyways, it has now been about six weeks since we’ve opened, and I feel good.  Tired, but good.  The store is doing okay for now, and still too early for me to see which way it will go, but I’m happy with where it’s currently at.  There are still some minor things to do when I stop in, but even now, it’s enjoyable.

Sentry has been incredible at running the store during most of the time.  Sleepless nights he’s spent at the store so that Sleepykit and I can have some time together, as well as staying open when we have people who want to stay late.  Without him, I really don’t think I wouldn’t have opened the store.  I’ve been a type who will come up to the final deal but turn back at the last minute, hoping next time would be different.  But not this time, and much of it I can attribute to him; Probably not directly, but definitely there.

Sleepykit…  She’s my wife and has stood by me (mostly) in this.  She’s been able to put up with my wanting to be at the store at odd hours and giving up personal time in order to make sure we succeed.  Of course, it hasn’t all been good, with plenty of shouting and arguing, but overall, it has been fun.  Without her support, I don’t think this idea would have ever been more than that.  It was her support that brought the idea to fruition, from a thought, to a physical manifestation of effort.

Then there’s Ayelis.  His help has been invaluable as well.  He was the one who just about single-handedly installed the rest of the PC games on the machines when the rest of us needed to get other things done.  He’s done the majority of the main site and has been a good factor whenever we needed an extra hand.  Physical labor is never fun, but his patience and tolerence has helped much.

For everyone who has helped, I thank them immensely.

It has been a wild ride and this is just the beginning, but I can honestly say I’ve had a good year behind me, and I’m looking forward to an awesome one ahead.  But this isn’t just because of the store.  Much else has happened as well.

Sentry and I went to high school together, we were both in band, and we hit it off whenever we ran into each other.  He was at my wedding, and he was able to actually get my wife to smile in a wedding picture too.  Off and on over the years we ran into each other.  Probably only stayed in contact for a few months at a time.  Last year in October, we happened to run into each other again, downtown, and I made a genuine effort to stay in touch.  Early this year, he moved in with me and my wife because I wanted to offer him a place to stay (and I’m glad he took the offer), and now, here we are.

It was a wild year, with us getting the hang of how the other worked.  It’s funny how you never really know someone until you live with them.  Been good times and some stressful times, but I’m happy he’s staying with us.  Got a chance to increase my movie and music knowledge during that time, and had some awesome online game matches as well.  I don’t think I’m ever going to forget dropping his couch (when he was moving out of his old place) using rope from a third story balcony…  Good times.

Ayelis and I go way back as well.  I met him originally online when I was trying to start a gaming project to create a video game.  He was a good moderator of our forums, did a bit on the website, and even rallied people around me.  He kept our team together, even when I was unsure of myself and was going through rough times.  He’s a wonderful guy that I hope is able to get what he really deserves.  Of course, it was him that got me and my wife hooked on World of Warcraft, but I’m kinda glad.  It’s a fun game that me and my wife can actually play together.

With my zany ideas of creating awesome software, he’s usually the one to help research and see how we can actually get it done.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him say that it’s not possible, or that we can’t do it.  He’s incredibly optomistic about helping others, even to the point where it does hurt him, either financially, or emotionally.  From PSM, to Destiny, to even more projects, he’s been there.

I’d have to say that because of these friends I have, Ayelis, Sentry, and Sleepykit, I don’t think I could’ve survived and gotten to where I am now.  I have a bit of history with all of them, and I’m glad I have such good friends.  It hasn’t just been a good year, it’s been quite a few great ones behind me that leads me into this new year.

See you all next year.

Game On!

We have now been open for over two weeks, and so far, the future looks at least hopeful. No one can expect to start a store and be successful right off the bat, but at least we’re not dead. There have been, I must admit, plenty of complications during this time, and I’m just going to give a brief rundown of some of the more note-worthy ones. Mayhaps, someone else can learn from our mistakes and not repeat them.

LAN

• It took much longer than expected to install software on every LAN computer and even longer to patch them all.
• Even though we had gone through legal channels to be able to offer the games we currently feature, not all of them worked. In fact, from the get-go, only Valve with its ubiquitous Steam engine functioned with any amount of accuracy or consistency.
• Even after we tested all the games, LAN customers were still getting crashes for reasons we can’t even begin to comprehend. Something about randomness just bothers me.
• Again, despite the legalities, not all PC games are LAN-friendly, so to speak. A few, if not most, needed tweaking before they would work.
• Though each machine is supposedly the same in terms of specs and software, they do not behave in the same fashion when faced with the exact same obstacles. Some software just gae us grief and refused to function on one machine but suffered no such problems on another. Go figure.
• The LAN software itself, known to us lovingly as SmartLaunch, is crippled in many respects. It lacks the ability to communicate with clients (although this could be turned into a rather fun game on “I’ll turn your machine off in Morse code” because it’s not actually possible to display messages. It has other downfalls which i might go into later.

RETAIL

• I came into this thing knowing nothing about games, so for me, a lot of the struggle has been to not look like an idiot. Someone asks about FF VII and I didn’t even know, until recently, what console that was for, much less its worth.
• Pricing was a fun affair because we have spreadsheets based on console and console maker, then by title. For me, this was like a maze better left unsolved. Especially so when one game title (ie. The Godfather) could appear under multiple different consoles.
• Balancing out each night also proved interesting, especially when dealing with a tax code clearly not written for the average human. Renting is taxable. For all I know, bottled drinks are taxable, but are we a convenience store? What services can we not charge taxes for? Ponder this for a time and know that it looks vastly worse from where I’m sitting.
• SmartLaunch again. This time with its ability to round that has no meaning. What is there to .3 of a cent that it finds so appealing?

PC REPAIR

• Lucky us, we’ve only had two repair jobs and one of them was family, so all I can say on the subject is, “we need a work bench!” The world is vastly better when we don’t have to put a dusty computer on the glass counter and pray nothing gets scratched.
• The insides of most people’s computers are scary. Dust colonies live there. Or worse.

And so, it has been over two weeks. Half a month. That kind of thing.  So, come on in, enjoy the amenities and have some fun. That’s what life’s all about.

It’s Tuesday and it’s been three days since the grand opening.  The whole time, I’ve been working to bring everything up to speed correctly and finishing with the miscellaneous things that needed doing.  Even though we’re open, we’re not completely finished.  I’d like to think of the store at version 0.95 or something–Everything is functional, just trying polish the surface.

For those not aware, we had some major issues with Steam and Left 4 Dead for our opening.  Steam wasn’t allowing some games to start, claiming that the servers were too busy, and when it did start, L4D was being finnicky and freezing constantly (although it would unfreeze 5-10 seconds later).  I’m pretty sure this gave us a bad first impression, but anything I tried didn’t seem to work at the time.

Add on top of that, the fact that not all of the software was completely loaded on a couple machines made the day a bit hectic.  However, by now, just about everything is done on the LAN side with the games being patched and final tweaks left to be made, so I’m happy about that.

The retail side still feels a little empty with the slatboard not filled yet, but I’m sure that feeling will fade, as we’re about to start putting stuff up on it.

Although, I must say, I feel a little empty inside.  I’ve spent a lot of time on this, preparing, and endless hours put into it, that now that I don’t need to toil away, the free time makes me feel a little empty.  I’m also sure this feeling will fade as we start taking on PC repair jobs.

Overall though, I’m trying to relax a little right now and enjoy what we’ve built.  A big special thanks goes out to all those that made it possible.  THANKS!

P.S. I think I fixed the freezes and lag that was in L4D!

It’s been suggested that I write a little about the store-opening experience, so it follows below:

Game On opened this Saturday with very little fanfare and a promising number of first-time customers. Getting there, and in fact living through the first day, was a challenge I would much rather not face again. It felt like one of those last-minute projects, save for the fact much of the procrastination had nothing whatsoever to do with laziness. We stayed up through Friday night, working to get the store operational, and finally managed to get into the groove about the time Saturday rolled around.

In terms of finances and actual “purchasing a game” mechanics, we have yet to work out all the kinks, in large part because the point-of-sale software we chose (also known fondly as POS) is somewhat inflexible and poorly suited for the task of both selling and also buying games. It’s all right for managing the LAN center but lacks the kind of in-depth inventory system that we want. It also dislikes cash drawers and assumes that receipt prints come out on standard-sized paper, but those issues pale in comparison to a hierarchy of items that goes only 2 levels deep.

Overall, the two days went as well as could be expected with both joys and sorrows. Sleep was the commodity most sought through much of Saturday, but Sunday went better and we enjoyed some peace in the evening hours. So, come check out the store, get two free LAN hours, and enjoy the 42″ TV.

Cross-posted:

The key is in my hand, and even though the ‘Space Available’ signs are still above the previous tenant’s sign, the place is now owned by CTI LLP d.b.a. Game On!

The act of signing a lease is incredibly simple; you take a pen, you initial each page of the lease in the bottom right, and then you sign your name on the required fields.  The mentality behind it however, I’ve discovered I don’t possess much of it.

It’s the point of no return and where you take your blind leap and put all your trust into your business plan and numbers that originally brought you to this place.  But the act of putting all your trust into something that you don’t have much direct control over is hard for anyone, especially when it’s on this scale.  That’s not to say I don’t trust Sentry or Ayelis.  For all purposes, Sentry is the one running the business and I’m just a financial backer, for the time being.  He is my eyes, ears, and brain while I’m not there.  I am investing a large amount of money into this, so I believe it’s natural to be scared when you don’t have any direct intervention in how day-to-day operations go.  I leave it to him mostly because I feel as though he’s probably the only one out of all of us that would be able to handle it best.

I trust them all, although I wish I could be more of the store, at least until my nerves settle down.  Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen, as sleepykit and I are keeping our day jobs to support this store.  I’m sure though, that after being open for a month or two, I’ll get used to it.

Now down to the point of this post.  While I may have a lot of pride that will continue pushing me forward, I’m really quite scared of those endeavers I undertake.  I was from the beginning of this, but not because I may lose a lot of money (sleepykit and I would make it regardless), and not because it would be a lot of wasted time.  I just can’t find a basis for the fear, and once it takes hold, I end up in a self-defeating attitude.  Many people will say ‘get over it’ or ‘there’s nothing to fear’, but that actual act of doing it, is much harder for those who never have.

Hopefully, I’ve taken a step towards the right direction with the signing of my name on that legal-sized piece of paper.

I don’t really have much to write about or contribute at this time.  The site’s still under construction and most of the other chores I’m running right now aren’t too terribly interesting a read.

So.

Since I’ve been itching to take advantage of this blog feature for a while, I thought I might share a few pics of some of the inventory we’ve acquired thus far.  Ready?

Ok go:

Money issues have been mostly settled at this point courtesy of Mage’s perseverance and my parents’ kindness and the store is set to open sometime in November. Right now we plan to start leasing the store-front on November 1st and have our “grand” opening on the 14th. Hopefully, we can kick off this business with something fun, but I’ll let more knowledgable people fill in the details. I’m just here to spread the cheer and also to link to the Game On! website, currently in alpha stages of its life.

Not quite first!

Whether we can even open this store of our dreams hinges on having enough money to purchase all the necessities and survive long enough for our customers to show up. Countrary to what I thought, this is both the most complicated and tedios part of the process, though I suspect Sentry will fight me for this “honor”. So far, we have also been least successfull in this area, and I guess I can talk a little bit about why.

The first and most obvious problem turned out to be personal worth. As a person, especially someone who works and pays bills, I have some value. If you were to take away everything I own, there would be money that, when all is said and done, belongs to me. In this case, it’s money that I share with Mage, but the idea is much the same. Well, given our circumstances, we are worth roughly $20,000 and this includes our apartment and its appreciation value. Considering we need to eat and stuff, and a roof over our heads is a must, this is not a whole lot of money. So, when we show up to a bank and ask for something like $100,000 they give us a the Death Glare.

Even once we get past that, with pleading and begging, and the vast powers of the SBA we’re not off the hook. Next the bank pulls a magical number from deep within the records of your life, and they call it a FICO credit score. This is an unseen number you cannot get for free, but should these banks even so much as peek at it, it goes down. Worse, it also goes down again once “too many” third parties have had a look, and you can’t stop it. Any bank can decline a loan application solely because the credit score of the applicants has been looked at too often in the past year.

After all this, the application is apparently thrown into a fire and if the ashes come out the right color and consistency, the bank reads your business plan. In our case, it’s a thirty page monster that details how and why we’re going to succeed in this venture, and whether we can become indentured servants should we fail. Once the bank has decided that you have wasted a sufficient amount of your life writing said plan, which seems to mean you’re dedicated enough to actually run a store, it may give you a loan. It may also simply step on your dignity and walk away.

I might have missed a few steps, but that’s roughly how it goes. Worse, we’re currently right in the middle of this procedure, and only the Fates themselves know when and if we are ever going to be approved. I hope this sheds at least some light on the delays we’re experiencing in regards to opening Game On!