by Daniel Huberman
Daily Lobo
Video game fanatics in Albuquerque have a new opportunity to get their fix.
The Dragon's Lair Ultimate Gaming Arena at 5000 Menaul Blvd. has been open for three weeks and is getting positive feedback from the gaming community, co-owner Kevin Nelson said.
"Players feel like it's more of a home field," Nelson said.
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In addition to its video and PC gaming rooms, the lair has a card room in a long hall with black velvet-topped tables that are suitable for Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons and other card game matches and tournaments.
"We try to mimic the great hall of a castle in the card room," Nelson said. "We have the PC room more cave-like to reduce the glare that gamers hate."
Co-owner Thomas King said the Dragon's Lair is different from other gaming facilities in a number of ways. The lair also includes a room with couches and a large flat-screen console, so all styles of gamers can feel at home, King said.
"We try to make it feel like you are not sitting on the couch at your mom's house playing video games," King said. "It's more like a dungeon without grandma's chandelier falling off the wall."
Keeping up to date with technology that fuels the gaming industry, the lair is equipped with Internet connections and networking. By next week, there will be a fully operational 46-port network room available for private parties or tournaments. King said it will increase the lair's hosting abilities, because it will allow it to provide services to a wider range of gamers.
The PC room has 50 high-end gaming machines loaded with today's popular games, and the couch room has a choice of Xbox, PlayStation 2 or Xbox 360. All the games are properly licensed, and Nelson and King are planning for the release of the PlayStation 3, Nelson said.
"We have a lot of first-person shooters," Nelson said. "We also have a lot of games like World of Warcraft, too."
The lair is priced at $4 per hour, but there is no charge to play in the card hall. There is also a snack bar for the gamers.
The lair will be hosting and organizing tournaments in the months to come. Its target customers range from 15 to 50 years old and the occasional 80-year-old, Nelson said.
King said anyone that wants to play Yu-Gi-Oh can stay at home.
"We are trying to cater to a more mature crowd," King said.
The lair offers the opportunity to game with others in person as well as over the Internet, adding a social aspect to the video game experience, Nelson said.
"When you play against the computer, it's predictable," he said. "When you play against another person, it completely changes the game-play aspect. It's random."
