Center gives gamers high-tech fix It's not that Stuart Hidalgo played too many video games.
He would log maybe two or three hours of "World of Warcraft" every day. But that happened during his spare time, once dinner was out of the way and the kids were off to bed. Either way, Hidalgo's wife wanted answers.
"You know, that's where I spend a lot of time (on the computer)," he said, smiling. "And that's why my wife said, 'Well, why don't you try to make some money instead of wasting your time playing it? Why don't you do something about it?'"
So he did something about it: He opened PvP University Gaming Center at 115 Harvard Drive S.E. earlier this month.
The center is a place where gamers can get their fix. There are 15 cubicles, each with a computer, a 28-inch HD monitor, Internet access and more than 100 games to choose from. There's also an Xbox 360 and a projector.
Hidalgo said he always wanted to open a gaming center close to campus because it gives students another option. After all, he remembers the days when he had hours to spare between classes at UNM, back in the '90s. He could take a stroll around the Duck Pond. Maybe shoot some pool at the SUB. Read a book at Zimmerman.
The options were limited, he said.
"I mean, of course I could go to the library and study and things like that, but that got old quick," he said. "So I thought, 'Man, if I was in school, and there was something like this, I'd go there for an hour and just kill time.'"
Since the center is near a university, he said he wants to keep his prices low. This month, customers can pay $15 for an all-day pass.
Hidalgo has been a lifelong gamer. He started playing "Space Invaders" on the Atari. Then he moved on to "Mario Bros." on Nintendo. And he eventually got to "World of Warcraft."
Because he loves video games, he knows what gamers need, so he spent about $75,000 on equipment. Each computer is equipped with a 3.2-gigahertz, dual-core processor, four gigs of ram and a 512-megabyte NVIDIA video card.
To put it simply, his computers are top of the line.
"A simple analogy would be these computers are a lot like a Ducati motorcycle compared with a regular dirt bike," he said. "The speed you get on these is just phenomenal - the experience, everything."
Hidalgo said he wanted the center to feel like a lounge, somewhere to hang out and relax. Gamers can buy chips, sodas or energy drinks. The hand-built cubicles line the walls, and there are a few sofas scattered here and there.
"That's the place I'd want to go," he said. "If I was going to spend my hard-earned money on a place, I'd want it to be open and inviting and a place where I could kick back in."
Taylor Johnson, a 17-year-old CNM student, likes to hang out at the center when he's not in class. He said he could play the games at home, but the center has top-of-the-line equipment.
"I live two blocks over, so it's just a quick walk," he said, while playing "Left 4 Dead" on the Xbox 360. "You know, me and my roommates will just be sitting around (and we'll say), 'We got like three hours - we don't have to do anything for three hours. Well, I got an idea. Let's go play some video games.'"
Hidalgo said the center is his home away from home, even if he doesn't get to play as often as he would like.
"You'd think I can sit here all day and play," he said. "But unfortunately, that's not the way it works."