VOTE BOB-OMB! | Challenge Four | Soup to Nuts

I decided to go with video games although the types of service provided are still in the air and need to be researched. The first two stores that come to mind are Dave & Busters (Chucky Cheese for adults!) and Gamestop. D&B has food & beer and more of an arcade style setting emphasizing consumer interaction at the store. Gamestop is a traditional vendor of computer & video games with less emphasis on people coming in to play and more on people coming to buy (to then go home and play). I also hope to investigate using AutoCAD 3-D or Sketchup's "podium" plugin for 3-D renderings. I'd like to blow people's socks off with this one, big time.

On another note...

Many people are misinformed about video games. It always bugs me when groups of people (moms, politicians, etc) try to get behind a common flag of pointing the finger at something whenever some kid goes ape-crazy killing people with guns at a school. They are so quick to blame video games and exposure to violence in society. I grew up playing violent video games and watching violent movies but you don't see me running around trying to kill people (just like millions of others). True, I might be desensitized to that material but I also know that kind of behavior is unacceptable in our society (just like millions of others). Don't blame the games, blame the parents or the circumstances of a person's situation.

The following facts are provided by the Entertainment Software Association. They more than support my reasoning for placing this type of store in the Shops at Buffalo Bridge considering there isn't one already there. I'd also like to look into the demographics of the immediate 1-2 mile radius around revolution mills. I'm confident that that information will be supportive of the statisitics found by the Entertainment Software Association.

1. U.S. computer and video game software sales grew six percent in 2007 to $9.5 billion - more than tripling industry software sales since 1996.

2. Sixty-five percent of American households play computer or video games.

3. Thirty-eight percent of homes in America have a video game console.

4. The average game player is 35 years old and has been playing games for 13 year.

5. The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 40 years old.

6. Forty percent of all game players are women. Women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys 17 or younger (18 percent).

7. Fifty-six percent of online game players are male and 44 percent are female.

8. In 2007 the industry sold 267.8 million units equating to $9.5 billion in revenue: 153.9 million game console software units @ $6.6 billion, 36.4 million computer game units @ $910.7 million, and 77.5 million portable software units @ $2 billion.

9. On average, 9 games were sold every second of every day of 2007.

10. Halo 3, the best selling title of 2007, took in more revenue in its first day of sales than the biggest opening weekend ever for a movie (Spider-Man 3) and the final Harry Potter book's first day sales.

11. The entertainment industry also sold over 13.4 million portable game units in 2007, as compared to Apple's Iphone which only sold 4 million units that year.

12. Ninety-four percent of the time, parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented.

Some examples of the products: