HMV To Open 360 Lan Centre in Edinburgh

hUK entertainment retailer HMV is opening a 2000 sq foot Xbox 360gaming centre in its Edinburgh store (I’ll have to go along and checkit out.)

With 27 Xbox 360 consoles and plans to run regular competitions onSamsung HD screens, the HMV gaming zone is not quite as ambitious asthe Omega Sektorwhich opened in Birmingham a couple of months ago. Combining as it doesa pay to play environment with a store which sells the games you’vebeen playing, the Edinburgh centre will be a test bed for the scheme,which if successful may see similar game zones rolling out across thelarger branches of the retailer.
Tim Ellis, head of games at HMV had this to say:

Quote:

“Games are now an integral part of the HMV offer, andwhether we’re selling them or, as in this case, also making themavailable on a pay-per-play basis, it’s about getting our customerscloser to the things they love, and giving them access to contenthowever they wish to consume it.”

With events for Guitar Hero III, Halo 3 and Project Gotham 4 alreadyplanned, the game zone seems set to generate quite a bit of interest ingaming and may go some way to improving its image and widespreadacceptance as a respectable pastime. If more of these kinds of centresstart appearing on our high-streets, proving that there is a socialaspect to gaming, beyond that of chatting with your friends via theinternet, it may dispel the myth of spotty teenagers playing gamesalone in their bedrooms.