South Korean cinema halls renting theaters to gamers

Marees

[H]ard|Gawd
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Cinemas in S.Korea have begun a service where gamers can rent the screen for two hours for around $90, or $135 in the evening. (Users have to bring their consoles, games and controllers with them. )

https://t.co/rH1EM9L3X4

Eui Jeong Lee and three of her friends sit in an otherwise empty 200-seat cinema auditorium and play a video game on the giant screen.

As Ms Lee blasts her gaming opponents with her wireless controller, the sound whips loudly around the dark room from the numerous cinema speakers.

"The sound quality is particularly amazing. The sound of the gunshots is just so vivid, and when something flew directly at me from the screen I even screamed."
~says the 25-year-old student.

_116882764_cinema1.jpg
 
But why keep it empty?
I'd love to see this happen, but with a crowd as well.
The next big thing is to put the gamer in a big throne in the middle of the theater, and have an audience watch.

Oh yes, it most certainly does begin to spell the end of technological civilization, but still, it'd be cool while it lasted.
 
uh, you might want to sit down for this. So something happened in 2020....

Oh, I was referring more to the future AFTER the plague! =D
I am just trying to stay happy and not constantly refer to this horrific event that has destroyed every natural human connection by forcing us to don masks and become impoverished by expensive graphics cards.
 
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Not really surprising at all, but nice to see especially in Korea which has a thriving gaming culture.

In the US, one of the best theater chains I've found, Alamo Drafthouse, adapted to the pandemic very quickly - partially through stuff like this. They not only built "drive in" movie setups close to their main theaters in some locations, they also retooled their indoor theaters and allowed people to rent them out for private groups at relatively low fees. For $150 (plus a promise to spend about the same amount on tickets/food for your group) you can get a private theater with whatever (first run or other) movie showing you want. If you want to game you'll need to let them know in advance (not sure if there's a surplus charge) to be able to hook up your own hardware, but its possible.
 
A lot of theaters in the US are currently offering private screenings, and for a lot less than you might expect. On a weekday afternoon there's a United Artists near me that rents for as little as $36. That's cheaper than *three* movie tickets.

Maybe we need to ask them what their console policies are. This would be huge here.
 
Oh, I was referring more to the future AFTER the plague! =D
I am just trying to stay happy and not constantly refer to this horrific event that has destroyed every natural human connection by forcing us to don masks and become impoverished by expensive graphics cards.
I think you underestimate how long this is going to be a problem world wide...

Also i think there are already theaters doing this in the US. I believe one was doing Among us
 
I think you underestimate how long this is going to be a problem world wide...

Also i think there are already theaters doing this in the US. I believe one was doing Among us
Underestimate?

I doubt that I do, but even so, I empathize with you.
It's just a dark future for us all.
 
A lot of theaters in the US are currently offering private screenings, and for a lot less than you might expect. On a weekday afternoon there's a United Artists near me that rents for as little as $36. That's cheaper than *three* movie tickets.

Maybe we need to ask them what their console policies are. This would be huge here.
Only one theater near me does it and you need a minimum of 50 people. Every movie I've gone to there in the past 6 months has been a private screening, anyway. I would like for there to be a way to offer more support to the theater, though. I would happily rent out a theater to play video games in.
 
I run a 1080p Projector with a 110" screen and particularly when you play 3rd person shooters the world is getting close to like 1:2....not quite but close enough. Driving games with cockpits are bigger than life size, its pretty neet.........but when you go too big you wind up having a crappy game experience because your eyes now have to get your neck to move to look at things you previously "just glanced at with your eyes"......
 
US theaters have experimented with this ever since projectors went digital.

The idea sounds cool, but it's not nearly as fun as you think it would be.
The projectors aren't made for gaming, there's probably bad input lag.
 
Underestimate?

I doubt that I do, but even so, I empathize with you.
It's just a dark future for us all.
I think you underestimate how long this is going to be a problem world wide...

Also i think there are already theaters doing this in the US. I believe one was doing Among us
More people need to take the Tanzanian approach, but that's off-topic.

On topic - great way of 'getting by' for South Korea. Screen golf is also big in the winter (and other times) so this is kind of a natural fall-out.
 
Probably bring my own "gamer" seat as well. The cinema should also offer food and drink services on top to make a little more.
 
But why keep it empty?
I'd love to see this happen, but with a crowd as well.
The next big thing is to put the gamer in a big throne in the middle of the theater, and have an audience watch.

Oh yes, it most certainly does begin to spell the end of technological civilization, but still, it'd be cool while it lasted.
Wait till you hear about Twitch.
 
You're deluding yourself if you think just the floors are the problem. I worked in a theater, you don't want to know what's on every square inch of every surface in the theater.

Anything less than a hazmat suit is not enough protection.
Oh, I know what goes on, I worked in the food and hospitality industry in my teens and twenties. I've seen things, terrible things...things that aren't fit for mortal eyes.

Would you like to hear the taco meat story?
 
Oh, I know what goes on, I worked in the food and hospitality industry in my teens and twenties. I've seen things, terrible things...things that aren't fit for mortal eyes.

Would you like to hear the taco meat story?

Would love to, I got some stories of my own as well lol.
 
Would love to, I got some stories of my own as well lol.
I used to work in food service. I was a waiter for many years. One time (of many), I was cleaning my guests table after they left. It was a man and wife with a baby. They weren't overly messy like some people and as I was finishing up, I discovered what I thought at the time was taco meat in the high chair. I looked like the taco meat we had on our buffet.
So I figured they were feeding the child and they got some in the high chair, no big deal. I didn't have the privacy to do a smell test. I took my rag out and began to wipe it up, then the smell hit me. "Wait a second, that ain't taco meat!".

At that moment the man came running back to the table, "Sir, I'm so sorry, we had to leave our child had some issues". Yes I noticed. I guess he was embarrassed as much as I was.
but he ended up giving me a fifty dollar bill.


When you worked in the movie theater, did you ever find feces in the light fixture on the ceiling?
 
When you worked in the movie theater, did you ever find feces in the light fixture on the ceiling?

All of the shit and piss fortunately either stayed in the trash or the bathrooms. There were a few cases of people blowing up the toilets with explosive projectile diarrhea, but thankfully I never had to clean that up. People throwing food and drinks at the screen and everywhere was common though. Theaters really attract the lowest garbage of society. College pukes, drunks, raging bubbas and their bimbo girlfriends, etc.

In addition to the food waste we normally had to clean up, there were frequent instances of people using theaters for love hotels. After awhile, you could just tell who was trying to come in and bang. It was almost always teenagers or really young couples that looked and acted super awkward. They'd buy tickets for the least popular movie either in the middle of the day when nobody was around, or the last showing for the night. And they'd obviously always sit in the back row, usually in a corner out of sight. When we caught them, they'd be thrown out. Normally I wouldn't care, but when they start leaving behind bloody tampons, used condoms and all matters of human juices everywhere, you quickly don't put up with their shit anymore.

I was a projectionist the first several years I worked there before I was an usher, and I got to see the same thing, but from above. Each theater had a port window that could be opened so you could poke your head in and check the sound was working. More than a few times I poked my head in and looked down only to have a half naked girl staring back up at me in horror as she bounced on her boyfriend. I just put my arm on the sill and stared at them to let them know they needed to gtfo and they would scamper off once they got their clothes back on.

Vomit was the other common thing. Either idiots would come to watch movies while they had colds/flu and puke their guts out all over, or they'd get motion sickness. Cloverfield was probably the worst movie, it made tons of people violently motion sick. 3D movies were another, some people just couldn't tolerate it.

We rarely had people come in and try to off themselves with razors, that shut the whole place down due to having police, ambulance and fire trucks.

Our GM described the place perfectly, another day in paradise.
 
Now this is an idea I can get behind.
They've been doing that here for months. Some friends streamed several football games. One place only used the shitty pre-movie projector for like 60/hour. Another was 100+/hour but it fired up the Barco for em.
 
All of the shit and piss fortunately either stayed in the trash or the bathrooms. There were a few cases of people blowing up the toilets with explosive projectile diarrhea, but thankfully I never had to clean that up. People throwing food and drinks at the screen and everywhere was common though. Theaters really attract the lowest garbage of society. College pukes, drunks, raging bubbas and their bimbo girlfriends, etc.

In addition to the food waste we normally had to clean up, there were frequent instances of people using theaters for love hotels. After awhile, you could just tell who was trying to come in and bang. It was almost always teenagers or really young couples that looked and acted super awkward. They'd buy tickets for the least popular movie either in the middle of the day when nobody was around, or the last showing for the night. And they'd obviously always sit in the back row, usually in a corner out of sight. When we caught them, they'd be thrown out. Normally I wouldn't care, but when they start leaving behind bloody tampons, used condoms and all matters of human juices everywhere, you quickly don't put up with their shit anymore.

I was a projectionist the first several years I worked there before I was an usher, and I got to see the same thing, but from above. Each theater had a port window that could be opened so you could poke your head in and check the sound was working. More than a few times I poked my head in and looked down only to have a half naked girl staring back up at me in horror as she bounced on her boyfriend. I just put my arm on the sill and stared at them to let them know they needed to gtfo and they would scamper off once they got their clothes back on.

Vomit was the other common thing. Either idiots would come to watch movies while they had colds/flu and puke their guts out all over, or they'd get motion sickness. Cloverfield was probably the worst movie, it made tons of people violently motion sick. 3D movies were another, some people just couldn't tolerate it.

We rarely had people come in and try to off themselves with razors, that shut the whole place down due to having police, ambulance and fire trucks.

Our GM described the place perfectly, another day in paradise.
Remember reading a story about an investigation that found an alarming amount of fecal material on the seats, and it being spread among every seat in the auditoriums. The fecal collection just adds to the theater going experience, is what I say.
 
All of the shit and piss fortunately either stayed in the trash or the bathrooms. There were a few cases of people blowing up the toilets with explosive projectile diarrhea, but thankfully I never had to clean that up. People throwing food and drinks at the screen and everywhere was common though. Theaters really attract the lowest garbage of society. College pukes, drunks, raging bubbas and their bimbo girlfriends, etc.

In addition to the food waste we normally had to clean up, there were frequent instances of people using theaters for love hotels. After awhile, you could just tell who was trying to come in and bang. It was almost always teenagers or really young couples that looked and acted super awkward. They'd buy tickets for the least popular movie either in the middle of the day when nobody was around, or the last showing for the night. And they'd obviously always sit in the back row, usually in a corner out of sight. When we caught them, they'd be thrown out. Normally I wouldn't care, but when they start leaving behind bloody tampons, used condoms and all matters of human juices everywhere, you quickly don't put up with their shit anymore.

I was a projectionist the first several years I worked there before I was an usher, and I got to see the same thing, but from above. Each theater had a port window that could be opened so you could poke your head in and check the sound was working. More than a few times I poked my head in and looked down only to have a half naked girl staring back up at me in horror as she bounced on her boyfriend. I just put my arm on the sill and stared at them to let them know they needed to gtfo and they would scamper off once they got their clothes back on.

Vomit was the other common thing. Either idiots would come to watch movies while they had colds/flu and puke their guts out all over, or they'd get motion sickness. Cloverfield was probably the worst movie, it made tons of people violently motion sick. 3D movies were another, some people just couldn't tolerate it.

We rarely had people come in and try to off themselves with razors, that shut the whole place down due to having police, ambulance and fire trucks.

Our GM described the place perfectly, another day in paradise.
Humans are a disgusting creature. I don't understand why people can't just take their trash with them and throw it in the bin outside. I literally seen people just dump half full buckets of popcorn onto the floor otw out. I love the experience of going to a movie with friends hell even alone as long as it is not packed.
 
Humans are a disgusting creature. I don't understand why people can't just take their trash with them and throw it in the bin outside. I literally seen people just dump half full buckets of popcorn onto the floor otw out. I love the experience of going to a movie with friends hell even alone as long as it is not packed.
The attitude is that there are people being paid to clean up after them, so they don't have to clean up after themselves or try to not make a mess.
 
The attitude is that there are people being paid to clean up after them, so they don't have to clean up after themselves or try to not make a mess.
I get that but I personally never felt that way. I always cleaned upped after myself if I made a mess. I blew up a toilet one day at work and I sat there and cleaned it up. I didn't leave it for the janitor to do. Then again I had people that sprayed up the wall somehow and left it there. Had a guy shitting himself as he was running to the bathroom leaving a huge trail behind him. Of course the man child didn't go back and cleaned it up either. Had people take dumps right in the middle of the floor. In the urinals. These are workers in a manufacturing plant lol.
 
Humans are a disgusting creature. I don't understand why people can't just take their trash with them and throw it in the bin outside. I literally seen people just dump half full buckets of popcorn onto the floor otw out. I love the experience of going to a movie with friends hell even alone as long as it is not packed.
Why i don't go to theaters, and i'll clap the day they all go out of business. We're almost there with HBO max this year.
 
Why i don't go to theaters, and i'll clap the day they all go out of business. We're almost there with HBO max this year.

Yep, the only advantage theaters have over a good home setup is available content.

For a couple grand you can get a TV with vastly superior image quality, a better sound system calibrated for your exact seating position, more comfortable seating, etc.
 
Yep, the only advantage theaters have over a good home setup is available content.
A bit like a live comedian versus watching one at home, Crowd reaction as well (that obviously subjective and change human to human), for some genre (comedy, horror) on some audience the effect is large.
 
But why keep it empty?
I'd love to see this happen, but with a crowd as well.
The next big thing is to put the gamer in a big throne in the middle of the theater, and have an audience watch.

Oh yes, it most certainly does begin to spell the end of technological civilization, but still, it'd be cool while it lasted.

Ah, so you mean something like pewdiepie does a live performance in surround sound at the local IMAX? Watch him play video games and eat popcorn? I guess you charge the tickets as if it were a concert, lol. $50 per seat, $500 if want to sit closer to Pewdiepie.
 
But why keep it empty?
I'd love to see this happen, but with a crowd as well.
The next big thing is to put the gamer in a big throne in the middle of the theater, and have an audience watch.
AGDQ (and all of its variants) used to do this, did rather well, and almost entirely for charity. They're still doing well, even having moved to digital since last year.

I've also seen live speedruns myself at MAGfest and there's a band that i'm quite fond of, Bit Brigade, that not only speedruns live on stage, the band, in unison with the speedrunner, plays rock covers of the game they're speedrunning.

It's so fucking cool.


I've seen them play Metroid and Megaman 2 live, I've also seen them do Contra.

More on topic, back when I was super young, I remember renting out a local movie theater to play Goldeneye on the big screen...
 
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They've been doing that here for months. Some friends streamed several football games. One place only used the shitty pre-movie projector for like 60/hour. Another was 100+/hour but it fired up the Barco for em.

Digital projectors are a lot more expensive than old 35mm projectors to keep running. The first digital projector we got was a 4k Barco. While it was nice, it was super fragile and prone to breaking down. The lens assembly alone was $30,000 and frequently broke down. The silver doped screen required for 3D movies was another 10-20k depending on the size. The bulbs were slightly less expensive than the 4 kW long arc lamps used in the 35mm projectors, but it was still in the thousand dollar range and had to be changed multiple times a year due to all of the hours put on them.

Even at 80-100 an hour, they're still losing money.

The attitude is that there are people being paid to clean up after them, so they don't have to clean up after themselves or try to not make a mess.

The reason people are generally pissed off and don't care is because the high cost of concession stand items and that they're not allowed to bring their own food in. They don't understand that concessions are so expensive because it's literally the only way for the theater to survive. When a ticket for a movie is bought, generally 90% of the ticket price goes directly to the movie industry. There's a complex sliding profit scale based on the movie popularity and the number of weeks it plays, where more of the ticket price goes to the theater and less to the movie industry, but obviously the movie industry decides what this is.

So there's this mentality that "well if I paid $60 for concessions, people better clean up after me". Ushers are usually getting minimum wage, or near it. We saw none of that money. The best we could hope for was people to not make a mess and clean up after themselves. The only tip I ever got in 7 years of working there was $5 for cleaning up a drink spill for an older woman, her husband gave it to me after I cleaned the area up.
 
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