Top 5 LAN gaming cafes in South Florida

By Roland Liwag
SouthFlorida.com

March 23 2005

Forget about quarters, Pong, Pac-Man, pin-ball machines and foosball tables -- today's next generation video arcade is built around high-end, custom-made PCs connected to the Internet on super-fast broadband networks.

The rise of consumer electronics have spurred communities of like-minded gamers to gather in sponsored events called "LAN parties" and play the latest sports and first-person shooter games. Players can either BYOC (bring your own computer) or rent a PC. Prizes usually include cash, games or sponsored trips to professional gaming tournaments.

LAN gaming cafes offer people who don't have broadband Internet or high-end gaming computers a chance to play fun, competitive games with other players inside the store or around the world. The following five locations are among the best in Miami-Dade and Broward County.

Zero Ping
5431 Sheridan St., Hollywood; 954-322-8504

Prices: $3 for 1 hour, $10 for 4 hours and $10 all day on weekdays and $15 on weekends.

Hours: 2:30 p.m. to midnight on weekdays; 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends.

Computers: 28 PCs with XP2500 Barton processors, 512MB DDR RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card, 19-inch Viewsonic flatscreen CRT monitor and 40-gigabyte hard drive.

Games: Zero Ping focuses on first-person shooter (FPS) and strategy games, including: Counter-Strike: Source and 1.6, Halo, Battlefield 1942, Unreal Tournament 2004, Call of Duty, Day of Defeat, Diablo, World of Warcraft, Warcraft 3, Starcraft and City of Heroes.

Internet connection: Dedicated T1.

Consoles: Only one Nintendo GameCube (free) with Super Smash Brothers hooked up to the store's 32" television. Patrons are allowed to bring in their own console, controllers and games.

Events: No officially sponsored gaming events, but management is willing to allow large parties to stay overnight in the store and play games.

Concession: Snack foods and soda.

Traffic: About 120-200 people per week; busiest day is Saturday.

Length of operation: About one year.


e2 Cafe

  • (Kendall branch) SW 88th St., Miami, FL 33186; 305-598-3402
  • (FIU branch) 1421 SW 107 Ave., Miami, FL 33174; 305-226-4522
  • (Coral Reef Plaza branch) 15451 SW 137th Ave., Miami, FL 33177; 786-242-3500

    Prices: Members $2.50/hour, non-members $3.75/hour; membership is free with registration. Weekday all-day pass: $10.70 (Sunday-Thursday); weekend all-day pass: $15 (Friday and Saturday).

    Hours: 9 a.m. to midnight (Sunday-Thursday) and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

    Computers: 45 PCs with Pentium 4 2.8GHz processors and 512 RAM. Each location's PC has different video cards, but the FIU branch has the Radeon 9600 Pro graphics card with 128MB. Flatscreen LCD and traditional CRT monitors are available.

    Patrons are allowed to BYOC (bring your own computer).

    Games: All popular first-person shooters (Counter-Strike; Unreal; Battlefield 1942, Road to Rome, Vietnam; Silent Strike, etc.) and World of Warcraft, Warcraft 3.

    Internet connection: Dedicated T1.

    Consoles: One Xbox each in the Kendall and FIU branches. They don't have games in stock except during tournaments, but patrons are allowed to bring their own games, consoles and controllers.

    Events: e2 cafe sponsored Counter-Strike tournaments about one year ago, awarding prizes that included cash and expense-paid trips.

    Concession: Sodas, various blended coffee drinks, muffins, cookies, cheeseburgers and bagels.

    Traffic: Owner Kelvin Ching said about 800 to 1,000 people visit e2 cafe locations each week.

    Length of operation: The Kendall branch has been open for about six years.


    Game Continuum
    6880 Dykes Road, Davie, FL 33028; 954-252-1551

    Prices: $8/hour for gaming, $4/hour for Internet and $5 for memberships.

    All-day passes include $15 for weekdays (Monday to Thursday) and $20 for weekends (Friday and Sunday).

    Members play free from 3-4 p.m. Monday to Thursday.

    Visit www.gamecontinuum.com for full pricing information.

    Hours: 3 p.m. to 11 p.m Monday to Thursday, 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday.

    Computers: 50 PC's with AMD Athlon-64 3000 processors, 512MB DDR-400 RAM, Nvidia GeForce-FX 5700-Ultra graphics cards, 21-inch flat-screen CRT monitors and ATA-133 hard drives.

    Games: Offers first-person shooters, strategy, sports, flight simulators and family friendly games.

    Consoles: Two Xbox consoles and one PlayStation 2 for $4/hour. Patrons can bring their own controllers and games.

    Events: LanTek hosts weekend-long LAN parties every other month.

    Concession: Candy, soda, coffee-flavored and other drinks.

    Length of operation: About one year.


    Lan Party Domain
    11401 NW 12 St., Miami, FL 33172; 305-436-1999

    Hours: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. on weekends.

    Computers: 33 PCs

    Internet connection: T1 and DSL

    Games: Counter-Strike, Battlefield 1942, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft and more.

    Consoles: Two Xbox consoles for $5/hour.

    Events: Management and store employees host monthly Halo, Super Smash Brothers and Madden 2005 tournaments.

    Concession: Candy, soda

    Length of operation: 2 years


    Scorpico
    5701 Sunset Drive Suite 212, South Miami, FL 33143; 305-669-4577

    Hours: 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. daily

    Computers: 70 PCs with AMD Athlon 64 processors, 512 DDR RAM and GeForce FX 5900 Ultra graphics cards.

    Internet connection: Dual T1.

    Games: Counter-Strike, Battlefield series, EA games, Final Fantasy 11, City of Heroes, Command and Conquer: Generals and more.

    Consoles: Two Xbox consoles hooked up to big-screen televisions. Xbox LIVE is available. Games include Halo 1 and 2, Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Ghost Recon and other sports, car simulation and fighting games.

    Events: LAN parties are scheduled on Friday nights and tournaments are held on Sundays.

    Concession: Candy and soda.

    Length of operation: 3 years.