Chris & Sam's Mobile Con Arcade
Donation protected
Hello, Everyone,
My name is Chris Abraham, and many of you may know me as the 'Video Game Guy' or 'Hair Guy' from various conventions around the Indianapolis area, and perhaps even some further away. Samantha Wathen and I have been running a mobile game arcade for conventions for many years now and we have reached a point of tough decisions.
Our Situation
Quite simply, with the costs of games and electronics continuing to rise and the reluctance of various conventions and shows to adequately compensate us for the work we do for them, we may have to stop providing this service for most of our conventions. Up until now, we have been paying for our equipment, games, and damages from our own pockets and, occasionally, pay from the conventions we staff. As the costs of living rise, as well as our hardware and maintenance costs, we cannot afford to keep doing this.
This is not, necessarily, the fault of the conventions. They have budgetary considerations that they have to take into account, but some could afford to pay more or pay us at all and simply do not. We want to continue providing this service for the con-goers: the people actually making use of our presence.
What We Need and How This Money Will Be Used
There are various things that we need for things to continue, but I've narrowed things to the essentials that the business needs in order to continue providing this service to conventions at minimal cost to both the conventions and the convention attendees that make use of our services.
Our main computers boast an impressive library of between 30 and 300 games installed on them at any given time, but their graphics cards are reaching the end of their lifespan, while they still work, as new games bring newer features these cards cannot take advantage of, players do not receive the gameplay experience that I would like to provide them. Some games cannot be run at all, requiring resources beyond the limitations of my current hardware they possess.
Our library consists of over 3000 pc titles and up to 70 titles for our various consoles, but invariably, someone always asks if I've got the latest and greatest games. Paying out of pocket, I have to prioritize what I can and cannot afford to add to the library. As much as I'd like to say 'Yes, I have that right over here,' the reality is I have to pass up many titles in favour of bundle deals and less expensive titles. This can lead to a dissatisfactory experience for some con-goers.
Additionally, I would like to boost the number of educational, childrens, casual, and thought-provoking titles that my arcade can provide, so that parents that would like to expand the views of their children, or just people who are interested in those sorts of things can enjoy themselves.
There is a lot of inconsistency in the sizes of the screens I provide, and even a few of them are so old that they don't support HDMI. This, of course, is not a necessity, but adding HDMI-capable monitors would expand the amount of consoles and computers that I can provide and reduce the amount of time that some players have to wait to access a system or console.
Lastly, and this is one of the most important things, the money will be used to fairly compensate my volunteers and workers at the convention. Many of the people that help me are taking time out of their work-week in order to help, or are unemployed and working with me is the only way that they can even get into the conventions and events. These people work hard and I would like to be able to say 'Thank you for your time' and give them a bit of money for their effort and support.
As an additional benefit, supporting in this way allows the conventions to continue paying us what they have been, giving them the ability to spend their money to maintain the quality of their other events and efforts throughout the convention without having to worry about paying us too little for being there.
Should the money we raise exceed what we are asking, we plan on expanding the library and systems even more to provide a better experience to con-goers at our venues, reinvesting the money into the business as necessary.
When Do We Need This By?
We, unfortunately, were not able to hit our March 12 goal, but those who have donated have given us hope that there are those out there who are willing to support us. I know some are holding out until the game is closer to being done, or we've posted the fan art, which is fine. We'll hopefully have those images up soon once the weather is more stable and Samantha and I can dedicate more time to them.
We run conventions throughout the year, so we are still hopeful that we can reach our goal for this fundraiser and accomplish our goals for updating and expanding the arcade.
A Word of Thanks
Even if you do not contribute to this fundraiser, we are thankful and appreciative that you've taken the time to read this far and have heard our situation. It makes a difference, no matter how little it may be. Mine is not the only arcade service that is having to make these sorts of decisions, and I doubt it will be the last, but with your support, we can ensure that convention goers will continue to enjoy the fun and games that we provide to them. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need to ask for this kind of support, but here we are.
We want to continue providing this service for you. We take pleasure in allowing gamers to feel comfort and welcomed at conventions of all kinds, that they have a place where they can relax and unwind from the rest of the convention, or just spend time between their panels and events.
Thank you in advance for your time, consideration, support, and contributions, whatever they may be.
- Chris Abraham and Samantha Wathen
My name is Chris Abraham, and many of you may know me as the 'Video Game Guy' or 'Hair Guy' from various conventions around the Indianapolis area, and perhaps even some further away. Samantha Wathen and I have been running a mobile game arcade for conventions for many years now and we have reached a point of tough decisions.
Our Situation
Quite simply, with the costs of games and electronics continuing to rise and the reluctance of various conventions and shows to adequately compensate us for the work we do for them, we may have to stop providing this service for most of our conventions. Up until now, we have been paying for our equipment, games, and damages from our own pockets and, occasionally, pay from the conventions we staff. As the costs of living rise, as well as our hardware and maintenance costs, we cannot afford to keep doing this.
This is not, necessarily, the fault of the conventions. They have budgetary considerations that they have to take into account, but some could afford to pay more or pay us at all and simply do not. We want to continue providing this service for the con-goers: the people actually making use of our presence.
What We Need and How This Money Will Be Used
There are various things that we need for things to continue, but I've narrowed things to the essentials that the business needs in order to continue providing this service to conventions at minimal cost to both the conventions and the convention attendees that make use of our services.
Our main computers boast an impressive library of between 30 and 300 games installed on them at any given time, but their graphics cards are reaching the end of their lifespan, while they still work, as new games bring newer features these cards cannot take advantage of, players do not receive the gameplay experience that I would like to provide them. Some games cannot be run at all, requiring resources beyond the limitations of my current hardware they possess.
Our library consists of over 3000 pc titles and up to 70 titles for our various consoles, but invariably, someone always asks if I've got the latest and greatest games. Paying out of pocket, I have to prioritize what I can and cannot afford to add to the library. As much as I'd like to say 'Yes, I have that right over here,' the reality is I have to pass up many titles in favour of bundle deals and less expensive titles. This can lead to a dissatisfactory experience for some con-goers.
Additionally, I would like to boost the number of educational, childrens, casual, and thought-provoking titles that my arcade can provide, so that parents that would like to expand the views of their children, or just people who are interested in those sorts of things can enjoy themselves.
There is a lot of inconsistency in the sizes of the screens I provide, and even a few of them are so old that they don't support HDMI. This, of course, is not a necessity, but adding HDMI-capable monitors would expand the amount of consoles and computers that I can provide and reduce the amount of time that some players have to wait to access a system or console.
Lastly, and this is one of the most important things, the money will be used to fairly compensate my volunteers and workers at the convention. Many of the people that help me are taking time out of their work-week in order to help, or are unemployed and working with me is the only way that they can even get into the conventions and events. These people work hard and I would like to be able to say 'Thank you for your time' and give them a bit of money for their effort and support.
As an additional benefit, supporting in this way allows the conventions to continue paying us what they have been, giving them the ability to spend their money to maintain the quality of their other events and efforts throughout the convention without having to worry about paying us too little for being there.
Should the money we raise exceed what we are asking, we plan on expanding the library and systems even more to provide a better experience to con-goers at our venues, reinvesting the money into the business as necessary.
When Do We Need This By?
We, unfortunately, were not able to hit our March 12 goal, but those who have donated have given us hope that there are those out there who are willing to support us. I know some are holding out until the game is closer to being done, or we've posted the fan art, which is fine. We'll hopefully have those images up soon once the weather is more stable and Samantha and I can dedicate more time to them.
We run conventions throughout the year, so we are still hopeful that we can reach our goal for this fundraiser and accomplish our goals for updating and expanding the arcade.
A Word of Thanks
Even if you do not contribute to this fundraiser, we are thankful and appreciative that you've taken the time to read this far and have heard our situation. It makes a difference, no matter how little it may be. Mine is not the only arcade service that is having to make these sorts of decisions, and I doubt it will be the last, but with your support, we can ensure that convention goers will continue to enjoy the fun and games that we provide to them. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need to ask for this kind of support, but here we are.
We want to continue providing this service for you. We take pleasure in allowing gamers to feel comfort and welcomed at conventions of all kinds, that they have a place where they can relax and unwind from the rest of the convention, or just spend time between their panels and events.
Thank you in advance for your time, consideration, support, and contributions, whatever they may be.
- Chris Abraham and Samantha Wathen
Organizer
Samantha M. Wathen-Olson
Organizer
Indianapolis, IN
