Boise entrepreneurs aim for serious video gamers

Sixteen computers linked on a LAN network at Rampage Gaming offer the latest in graphics card performance for those seeking a high-powered, multiplayer gaming experience.

Some kids play sports. Andrew Meacham plays computer games.

And his expertise at strategies and keyboarding could ultimately finance his college education.

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040603/NEWS02/406030327/1029

It’s called gaming — as in computer games — and a new business in Meridian has tapped into a growing trend of gaming centers around the country.

Rampage Gaming http://www.rampagegaming.com , which will open a Boise location later this month, brings together area youth and adults who enjoy playing computer games.

The center has attracted such diverse groups as the U.S. Army, the Idaho Steelheads and high school students.

Meacham, 18, is a member of a local team called Lethal Perfection that recently reached the professional level — and will travel to a tournament in Texas later this year to compete for a $100,000 prize.

"If I win any decent amount of money, it will go toward college," said Meacham, who just graduated from Timberline High School and will attend Boise State University in the fall.

Rampage Gaming opened at 39 E. Fairview Ave. in Meridian in January after businessman and computer gamer Scott Dike saw an opportunity to bring the first gaming center to the Treasure Valley.

"There are gaming centers in the 49 other states," said Dike, 33, who owns Rampage with partners Ryan and Jared Riley.

A gaming center is a location that provides high-end computer systems, a fast Internet connection, and numerous computer games. Rampage, like centers in other cities, helps coordinate leagues and sells memberships, which provide discounted access fees.

Gaming centers are similar to video arcades, except that video arcades offer arcade games and gaming centers offer computer games. What makes gaming centers so popular is the interactive nature of the games, which can be played online against players from around the world.

Professional players are a small percentage of users of the center. Most are hobbyists, looking for high-speed Internet connections and top level graphics cards that allow them to play the games they enjoy in an optimal setting.

Rampage, with 16 computer stations, charges $7 an hour for non-members and $4 per hour for members. Memberships cost $20 for three months and include some free hours and reserved seating.

Dike said the reserved seating comes in handy during peak hours.

"We’ll have a waiting list on Friday and Saturday nights," said Dike.

Meacham and his seven other team members — which includes his 17-year-old brother Derek — have computer systems at home, but prefer playing at Rampage, which is now sponsoring the team.

"Not all of our guys have top-of-the-line machines or a top Internet connection," said Meacham, adding that his team mainly plays a game called "Call of Duty." "Going to the center allows us to communicate with each other and sort of be on the same page."

In Call of Duty, a World War II action game, teams can play together, with each team member having the perspective of a different character in the game. Their opponents are other teams, often from other countries, said Meacham, who has played competitively since he was 10 years old.

Dike said the success of his center, and gaming centers nationwide, has come because of the wider range of people who have grown up with computers. While the typical customer is between the ages of 17 and 20, Rampage sees gamers in their mid-20s and 30s as well, he said.

"When you think about it, sometime in the next 15 years we’ll have a president who played Mario Brothers as a kid," said Dike, referring to the hugely popular Mario Brothers games.

"More and more of the population has grown up on video games."

The new Boise location will open June 15 at the corner of Broadway and Boise avenues.

It wasn’t such a huge jump for the U.S. Army, which has long used simulators for training, to contact Dike about using the facility from time to time for training new recruits.

Sgt. David Blake, station commander for U.S. Army recruiters in Boise, said he takes 25 recruits over at a time to play the U.S. Army-created game called America’s Army http://www.americasarmy.com .

"We use the game to help recruits understand the basic fundamentals," said Blake, who also belongs to a group that plays military computer games online. "It’s a learning tool."

Blake said the game, which can be downloaded free at http://www.americasarmy.com, was developed to illustrate what being in the Army is like.

"You go through a weapons qualifications range with an M-16 and learn about different weapons," he said. "You go through airborne training, where you jump off a tower and learn to land right. You can also do some special forces training and medical training."

The gaming center also has been a hit among a large number of students at Meridian Charter High School, which is geared for students interested in careers in computers and high technology, and for team-building among the Idaho Steelheads hockey team.

"Eight members of the Steelheads came in for some team building — to break their losing streak before the playoffs," said Dike. "We bought NHL Hockey for that, but they mostly played Call of Duty."