MATTOON — Side by Side Gaming & More has debuted as a new venue where individuals and groups, including families, can play video games on high end consoles and personal computers.
Owners Dylan Mason and Julie Estay of Mattoon opened their new video and virtual gaming business last week in a renovated storefront at 1502A Lake Land Boulevard.
Mason said their family previously lived in an Iowa neighborhood with a popular unofficial video gaming venue. He said they are a family of gamers, with their children being Minecraft fans, so they decided to bring this gaming idea with them to Mattoon and develop it as a business.
Side by Side Gaming & More owners Julie Estay, at left, and Dylan Mason, at right, are shown with their children Stiles, Kinsey, Gwynn and Dutton on Aug. 29 at their new video game playing venue at 1502A Lake Land Blvd. in Mattoon.
“We are going to start this and see where it leads us from there,” Mason said of their 24-game station venue. He said they are already signed up to partner with the Sept. 15-16 CIL-Con convention at the Village Square Mall in Effingham and hope to partner with local esports teams.
Side by Side Gaming customers can sign up to use consoles and PCs for one hour at a time to play Rocket League Super Smash Brother and more than 300 other titles, including racing games at specialized stations. The Oculus Meta Quest 2 VR headset is available for a half hour.
Customers can utilize Side by Side Gaming’s controllers for its Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5 or Xbox Series 7 game consoles or bring their own. They can borrow a house account or use their personal game account.
Mason, a Beecher City native who works for Canadian National railroad, said Side by Side Gaming customers can download games on site with their game systems. He said this is an especially useful option if they live in a rural area that has slow internet service.
“We have super-fast internet, so they can download a game and still have 55 minutes left to play it,” Mason said. Customers can purchase chips and energy drinks at Side by Side to enjoy while they are playing.
Estay, a Kankakee native, said Side by Side Gaming also offers punch cards for earning free game play, plus individual and family memberships for regular gamers.
“It could be a fun option for a family game night,” Estay said. “This is a very family friendly place. We just want it to be a fun place, something different for the community.”
Side by Side Gaming is currently open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4 p.m.-midnight Saturdays, noon-9 p.m. Sundays and 5-9:30 p.m. on weekdays but is closed on Wednesday for cleaning. Party rentals are available at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. The hours could change over time.
More information about the venue, including its inaugural Super Smash Brothers Ultimate Tournament on Saturday, is available on the Side by Side Gaming & More LLC page on Facebook.
Video game fans around the world flocked to shops on Friday to get their hands on the new edition of “Zelda,” one of the most successful franchises in history and now central to the success of Japanese giant Nintendo.
Contact Rob Stroud at (217) 238-6861.