November 2004
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Archive for November 24th, 2004

$5 an hour? Sign me up!

Posted in Geekery on November 24th, 2004

This article discusses what Holo-Dek Gaming is doing for the gamers of New Hampshire.

Holo-Dek is using some existing (albeit high-end) technology to build a better gaming experience. Sure, you’ve played Half-Life at an Internet Cafe or other pay-per-play computer shop, but have you done it on a 13-foot screen?

Using some high-end projectors and Alienware gaming rigs, they are building some very interesting setups, including 180-degree screens and a 20-foot sphere with a flight simulator chair. The best part? They are smart enough to modularize the components to save on build cost and time – the whole system can be shipped by truck to the warehouse of your choice and installed in a minimum of time.

The really best part is so far they’re only charging $5 an hour for play on their 73″ screens. I would absolutely fork over 20 clams for four hour’s time on an Alienware rig with that kind of display factor – but only if they offer Mechwarrior.

Speaking of which, these guys aren’t the first to do something like this as a commercial venture. Virtual World did it first by building ‘pods’ that encase the player in what can only be called a cockpit. Once inside, it really enhanced the game experience, since it made you really feel like you were at the controls of a 60-ton BattleMech. While I never personally got the chance to play before they closed down the Las Vegas operation, I’m told it was great fun.

Looking at the website now though, it looks like they had to fork the game off of the Mechwarrior II code, since they just this year added the Madcat II to the lineup of ‘Mechs.

Bummer – that means they don’t have a Heavy Gauss rifle yet. Nothing says lovin’ like knocking a mech on it’s ass in one shot :)