By Jared Gomes
Gaming has become such a big pastime, and it is continuing to grow, especially now. Playing with friends on PC has so many options from a first-person shooter like Overwatch, to a strategy game like Civilization, being able to have a shared experience with friends is what makes gaming so unique. But many people don’t have hi-end gaming PCs at their disposal which is where a local business, Overklocked gaming, is offering their services.
They give people the opportunity to come together and play games on PC’s, people refer to what they do in many ways from a pc bong to Lan centre to many referring to it as a pc gaming café.
The President and Owner Tim Cooper was originally from Fort McMurray and grew up with a centre like this in his hometown. He spent a lot of time there and when he came to Edmonton later in life, he realized that there wasn’t anything like Overklocked so he created one.
“I did a bunch of research around North America to see if that was a viable thing. Were there places that have figured out how to make this work, and there was some centres in California, Chicago, some in Montreal, some in Vancouver, that have existed for a very long period of time. So, upon learning that and doing more research and about a year and a half later Overklocked was born,” Cooper Says
With it being Cooper’s first business there were many trials and tribulations with management marketing and making it successful, but he has managed to do it with Overclocked gaming celebrating 10 years this year. The name was thought up by Cooper, with Overclocking being the process of forcing your computer to run faster than it’s intended to go, he took this idea as his name and changed the C to a K.
“I want to create an experience that’s not just an internet café where you’ve got old Microsoft keyboard and a Microsoft mouse and just very base peripherals, but I want you to have the best possible experience you can have which in computer terms would be an overclocked experience,” Cooper says.
They have amenities such as washrooms and a snack bar housing everything you would see at your local convenience store. In their library they currently have over 400 games and give player the opportunity to use their own account or use a “ready to go” account so that they can jump right into the game.
“The thing that makes Overklocked special is really the people so if you come together with a group of friends discord is awesome, its great! but its not the same thing as playing with your friends right next to you,” Cooper says.
Overklocked is welcome to walk-ins and events. They can be found at 11618 119 St NW, on their website overklockedgaming.com, and social media at Okgaming or Overklocked gaming.
