Ground Zero Entertainment on Main Street Steinbach

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This article was published 14/07/2023 (664 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new video gaming lounge in Steinbach is offering something that up until now was only spoken of wistfully by earlier generations of gamers: a place to compete face-to-face and build relationships based on the love of the game.

Ground Zero Entertainment on Main Street was packed on a Tuesday evening, showing the demand for something some may have thought disappeared with the rise of online gaming. Its owner believes it is the only offering of its type from Saskatchewan to Northern Ontario.

Lok Mak opened the gaming lounge June 15 after starting renovations just one month earlier. It hosts gamers using its high-end computers from 12 p.m. to 1 a.m. (or later) every day.

Snacks and drinks – chicken fingers and juice are the top sellers — are there to keep the gamers fueled as delectable aromas waft in from the neighbouring Lee’s Village Restaurant, which Mak also owns along with computer-building and accessory store PC Studio.

Mak moved to Canada from Hong Kong, where gaming lounges were hugely popular.

“Me and my friend, we would spend days in a place like this,” reminisced Mak.

“I remember just before we came over, we spent three days straight right there. And how that worked is when time’s up, parents say OK supper is ready, I say OK I’ll see you guys later. I’ll be back in two hours.”

So Mak knows the draw for this type of business, which is why he made the investment. He also saw the popularity of gaming leagues that meet in temporary locations.

And plans are in the works for expansion, including gaming consoles and possibly tabletop games.

And the draw is not just the access to great hardware to play your favourite game; it is mostly about the people not made of bits and bytes.

“This is a place not just about gaming; this is a place about meeting new people, socializing. You won’t be able to get that at home. I understand you can sit at your computers, maybe even a better computer than here, but meeting online you have a headset. Interaction, you want to have that with others,” explained Mak.

That interaction can get rowdy with a crowd that is often made up of a bunch of teenagers.

“Sometimes it’s quite funny,” laughed Mak.

“And for me, I’m quite happy. I also get to meet new people. I’m having some new friends.”

Tia Reimer works at Ground Zero and agrees with Mak on what makes a physical gathering place to game so important.

“You’ll have multiple people in here who don’t know each other. And then all of a sudden it’s like ‘hey, are you playing Valorant? OK, let’s play.’ And then they’re best friends by the time they walk out,” said Reimer.

It is also an option open every evening for teenagers that might have trouble finding things to do that match up with their interests.

“Alcohol, drugs, street racing, the numbers are going up. They need to have something for teenagers to do,” said Mak.

He added that options like the skatepark, movie theatre and bowling are good, but said he wanted to bring more entertainment options like video games that are hugely popular to them, and has a chalkboard in the entranceway for requests on his future expansions.

Mak said the opening was a success with plenty of foot traffic from people checking the lounge out, but it took a few weeks for those relationships to build up where new friends now meet regularly.

People from all around the region including Winnipeg are now making the trip to Steinbach, but the cars they seek are on screens.

Booking individual and party times are available on Ground Zero Entertainment’s website, which describes featured games. Everyone is invited to log onto their own gaming accounts to play whichever games they like.