Gaming Finds a home

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There may be an age stipulation at bars, and coffee just isn’t their cup of tea, so youngsters and teens prefer swarming to gaming lounges like Amoeba, Blu-O and Federation of Gamers (F.o.G) that combine the pleasure of both physical activity and video games. These, combined with pool arcades are steadily gaining popularity in the city.

Blu-O at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon is a haven for bowling freaks, who love to splurge on exciting games, food and entertainment options in the vicinity. And Amoeba is popular for games like air-hockey. Deepak Khanna, a trainee engineer, who frequents Amoeba when he is in Delhi, says, “It’s fun to visit gaming lounges with friends to play pool and air-hockey and also earn tickets that can later be reimbursed for toys and goodies.”
The USP for these lounges is the killer combination of a hangout place for youngsters where they can play games and munch, all under the same roof. And talking about the concept, Harsh Gupta of F.o.G., avers, “During my college days my friends and I used to look for places to hangout, play games and have fun. While cinemas and bowing alleys were kind of run-of-the-mill and didn’t have good eating options; cyber cafes were well, cyber cafes. So, my friends, Vinay Goyal, Simrita Sethi and me, came up with the idea for F.o.G. — a place that offers games, food and lots of fun.”
Even parents don’t mind their kids going there as these boast of promoting social gaming, facilitate interaction among those in the same age-group and keeps kids away from TV and laptops. In some cases, parents even drop their kids here and go shopping, while their children have a great time.
Garima Wadhwani, resident of DLF Gurgaon, says, “Whenever I go to the mall I leave my 12-year-old son at Blu-O and go shopping. And he tells me that it is fun.” Garv Sareen, a pool parlour owner, summarises the growth of gaming lounges in city, saying, “College-goers and older schoolchildren get a place to spend time in groups and do fun activities together. And gaming lounges, billiard parlours provide that option. The upmarket ones have cafes in the premises and are even more popular.”
Talking about the varied age groups who are hooked on to gaming lounges, Harsh adds, “The age variations we receive is amazing. We have schoolkids, birthday party crowd, couples coming together and even senior citizens drop in to try their hand at games. Once we had a 60-year-old gentleman, who came in and played on a console against a 10-year-old and totally enjoyed it.”