Highwind
If you go to the annual Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, you just might stumble into a room of 2,500 people gathered to see a speaker, event or panel all about video games. You might walk through halls pack with people sitting around, eager to meet, talk and play games with one another. Or the thousands of people who come to see all the newest games being shown off. PAX attendance has gone from 3,000 to 70,000 in 6 years, tickets sell out months in advance, people fly in over a dozen countries, all to be a part of a family, where a common passion can be celebrated in-person with others. But the other 362 days of the year, that doesn’t exist.

 

My name is Davey Wreden, and I want to give gamers a common physical, persistent home for the very first time. That home is Quarter Alley, a hub and social space for video gamers and friends to meet. You’ll be able to sit at a booth with friends and rent a game to play together. Local developers will come and put their games up on featured screen to show off to fans and get feedback. A big screen will bring everyone together for events, tournaments, movies. Tables will let people meet and chat about the latest games, maybe even new games they played just minutes ago! Patrons will buy appetizers and drinks, as well as a classy line of video game merchandise and apparel exclusive to the Quarter Alley. We’ll also solicit sponsorships from gaming journalism outlets and major publishers, as well as rent the place out for private parties and promotional events. Basically, this is PAX every day of the year. Think Starbucks meets Halo party.

 

In fact we’re already starting to see successful iterations of this idea. Mana Bar is an Australian video game themed cocktail lounge that opened up in April this year. Within 4 months, they were so successful they had announced plans to expand internationally. Impressive for a country with highly restrictive video-gaming laws. Two weeks ago, AFK Tavern, a bar and restaurant for gamers opened their doors to a crowd of over 500 people. They doubled their staff the first weekend. Barcade is a combination bar and arcade in Brooklyn that has thrived for 5 years and is now opening new locations across America. Gamers are spending over $10 billion every year on video games in a recession, last week Call of Duty set the record for highest grossing entertainment release ever. This community is speaking with their wallets, saying gaming is no longer just an amusement, it’s a cornerstone in the lives of modern Americans.