GAMELORDS
4893 Voltaire St.
Ocean Beach, Calif.
619/223-GAME (4263)
www.gamelords.net
GAMELORDS LAUNCHES STATE-OF-THE-ART
GAMING CENTER IN OCEAN BEACH, CALIF.
GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION FEATURES HALO (XBOX) TOURNAMENT
GameLords, the West Coast's only state-of-the-art big-screen video gaming lounge, held its Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, August 2, 2003, at its 3,500-sq. ft. facility, located at 4893 Voltaire St., Ocean Beach, Calif. To commemorate the event, GameLords hosted a Halo (XBox) Tournament.
"We're all about the kids," said GameLords proprietor Marchita Masters (see sidebar). "Good, clean fun in a safe environment attracts young people, and their parents are supportive."
Tournament Grand Prize Winner and Champion from among 100-plus contestants at the daylong event was Shane Buysse, 19, of San Diego, Calif. Second-place winner was Eric Kikkert, 18, of Ocean Beach, Calif.
"What an experience, to be in a room with 75 guys and know I was the best," said Buysse. "GameLords has a very nice set-up with friendly people and a fun gaming atmosphere."
First Prize included:
1) One "Steel Battalion" game ($200 value-this game can no longer be purchased).
2) XBox DVD controller.
3) $50 worth of free gaming time at GameLords
4) GameLords T-shirt.
Second Prize included:
1) Xbox DVD controller
2) $50 worth of free gaming time at GameLords.
3) GameLords T-shirt.
At the Grand Opening Celebration, GameLords was joined by radio station Jammin' Z90's remote broadcast team. An on-air radio personality competed in the Halo Tournament. Also in attendance were food and beverage vendors providing free samples of their products.
The GameLords venue is situated on a bustling commercial street corner in the heart of Ocean Beach just a few minutes from the shore. The lounge is a cavernous, high-ceiling room (capacity 150 persons) with black painted walls decorated in game art. Gamers can choose from among more than 200 video games and can relax on leather couches and giant bean bags or sit perched on tall barstool chairs while playing XBox, PlayStation2 and GameCube console systems on 10 65-inch Mitsubishi HDTVs. Gamers can play against others in the same room via the LAN (local area network) or against other gamers from around the world, via the super-fast T1 Internet line. GameLords also offers iMac computers available for surfing the Internet, report writing, etc.
The charge for game playing is $7.50 per person per hour; Internet-$4 per person per hour.
Masters said that the GameLords lounge will be promoting other events in upcoming months. Reach GameLords at 619/223-GAME (4263). Visit www.gamelords.net for details.
* * *
GAMELORDS GIANT SCREEN OCEAN BEACH
GAMING CENTER A PLACE FOR PLAY
PSYCHOLOGIST PROPRIETOR FOCUSES ON YOUTH
As a young entrepreneurial black woman, Marchita Masters stands out in the predominantly white, male world of video games.
But as a practicing psychologist, Masters, 39, is right at home among the young people who flock to GameLords, the west coast's only state-of-the-art big-screen video gaming lounge, located at 4893 Voltaire St., Ocean Beach, Calif.
On Saturday, August 2, 2003, Dr. Masters and her partner Rose Marie Munno, hosted a Grand Opening Celebration at their 3,500 sq. ft. GameLords facility. To commemorate the event, GameLords held a Halo (XBox) Tournament. (see above)
GameLords is a home-away-from-home for young people. The GameLords lounge is a cavernous, high-ceiling room with black painted walls decorated in game art. Gamers can choose from among more than 200 video games and can relax on leather couches and giant bean bags or sit perched on tall barstool chairs while playing XBox, PlayStation2 and GameCube console systems on 10 65-inch Mitsubishi HDTVs. Gamers can play against others in the same room via the LAN (local area network) or against other gamers from around the world, via the super-fast T1 Internet line. GameLords also offers iMac computers available for surfing the Internet, report writing, etc.
"GameLords is the only state-of-the-art big screen video gaming center on the West Coast," Masters said. "And we're just four blocks from the San Diego beach."
Marchita Masters, an Oklahoma native, earned her doctorate degree in psychology in San Diego in 1992. Since that time she has devoted herself to the mental wellbeing of children, specifically disadvantaged adolescents. She has worked in mental hospitals, group homes, a juvenile prison, non-profit organizations and is currently employed as a psychologist at a juvenile probation honor camp for young male offenders.
"Working toward the overall health of our children is what I consider to be my true calling in life," she said, talking above the din of the kid-packed GameLords lounge.
How did a psychologist get into retail video gaming?
She waved toward the back of the room where a handsome, smiling black woman stood behind a table portioning out food to hungry customers.
"That's my mom," Marchita said proudly. "She came in from Oklahoma to help out."
Mom has always been her daughter's inspiration.
"When I was eight-years-old, my parents mortgaged the family home, moved into an apartment and turned the home into a day care center," Masters recalled. "I spent many hours learning about the family business and eventually helping to manage it. Those early experiences with entrepreneurship left a lasting impression. From a very young age I new I would eventually become an entrepreneur also."
All through her early adulthood, she kept her eye peeled for just the right opportunity. Her burning desire to be an entrepreneur finally led her to team up with Munno, and they started work on developing a business idea. Marchita and Rose considered many different ideas before focusing in on something very close to Marchita's heart-children.
"There are not enough positive activities for kids to be involved in, so we considered a traditional arcade," Marchita said. "Rose Marie did the research, which identified a downward trend for arcades due to the popularity of computer games."
More research led the two to decide upon creating a video gaming center utilizing computers instead of traditional arcade games. Further research showed the two that while hundreds of computer gaming centers operate nationwide, there are almost no big screen gaming centers.
"At that moment GameLords was born, in theory," Marchita said with a laugh. "It was actually born long after that, with a nine-month gestation period, just like a fetus."
Masters and Munno used this period to do more research, attend industry trade shows, create business plans, prepare finances, find the right locale. From the beginning of the research period up to the day the GameLords lounge doors actually opened in July 2003 covered a full 12 months.
She's particularly proud of her lounge's features: high definition TVs, couches and giant beanbags at every station. Each TV is connected to Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube and hundreds of game titles.
"You can link multiple systems together creating your own LAN," she explained. "You can go head-to-head with friends or play online with our super-fast T1 Internet connection. GameLords also specializes in private parties where customers can rent the whole facility. Bring forty friends and play, play, play."
In addition to working at GameLords during evenings and weekends, Marchita continues to work as a full-time psychologist in a probation honor camp during the day.
She said that she is "thrilled, to say the least, but far from satisfied."
As a psychologist, Marchita sees the tremendous needs of disadvantaged kids and believes their needs are not being adequately addressed.
"These kids are dying and being incarcerated at alarming rates, and I want to do what I can to help."
Toward that end, Marchita is now working with a group of professionals from a variety of disciplines, to create a new non-profit organization.
"This organization will work with the individual child, the individual parent and with both together in the context of the family system and community," she said. "I and my group will endeavor to assist children in navigating their way through life in 'the hood,' which in some cases is akin to a war zone."
The group will also work directly with parents to educate and empower them to make changes in themselves and enable them to assist their children to do the same. Finally, this non-profit organization will also provide educational assistance, arts education, job readiness training and college scholarships to all members who are eligible for college.
At GameLords, Marchita Masters works with one gameplaying kid at a time.
|
Email Friend
