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Meet Van Latimore III and Rashaud Garner of Platinum City Gaming in Taunton

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Van Latimore III and Rashaud Garner.

Van and Rashaud, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a husband and father of four. My kids range from 15, 13, 7 and 5. My youngest was fully adopted to our family in 2016 of December but has always been a part of our family since she was four months. I started Platinum City Gaming in 2014. What made me start PCG was the passion I had for the gaming community. Video games being a huge pastime of mine I always have seen it much more than that. I always enjoyed gaming not only with myself but with friends and family. I wanted to create a place that not only you could go just to play games but to experience it with those who are close to you.

When I started PCG, I was already working a full-time job at Mansfield Public Schools as a computer technician for the Tech support team. When PCG started, I already was working there for seven years. It being my full-time job and working from 6 am to 2 pm, I would always go straight from work to run the lounge. With saying that, I was also trying to spread time within my family. It was a very hard journey for there were many times I couldn’t go to family gatherings and missed a lot of personal time. What kept me motivated were the gamers that came every day to the lounge. The passion the gamers had and how thankful they all were just by having somewhere to go kept me going. I would sometimes get emails and messages from parents thanking me for the work that was put into the venue and giving their kids a place to go.

The experiences I have had running PCG made me quickly realize that PCG and what it stood for is much bigger than myself. Early 2017, there was a break in and there were over $2,000 of equipment stolen. My heart was broken and I felt defeated. Taking the day off and closing the shop for the day, the next day, I woke up and not only did people donate money but also replaced most of the equipment that was stolen. From Playstation 4s, WiiUs and more. Seeing the community reach out to the lounge the way they did that is when I knew to not give up. Not too long after the break-in, I met Rashuad Garner from Entertainment One Stop Shop for an event that we worked on together. We both had the same visions of where we wanted our businesses to grow and what we wanted to do for our local communities. We came together and worked on an agreement that allowed us to form a new partnership and take PCG to the next level. Thanks to this new partnership, we are where we are today.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Can you list out some of the struggles you’ve faced along your journey?
Some of the struggles:
Finding funds at the start.
Maintaining the right amount of business in the smaller venue to help cover overhead costs.
Keeping up with the game list as well as the hardware with the ever-changing trends in gaming.
Working with other businesses to understand the impact of gaming.
Sharing time with family, work and the business.
Being parents and husbands.
Break-in.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Platinum City Gaming is in Taunton, Massachusetts. Beginning with only four total systems at once that ranged from two PlayStation 4s, 2 Xbox Ones, and a Nintendo Wii U, it was a very small start. Before it’s full one year of business, it already had to grow from the 400 sq ft space to double the size of 800 sq ft. Hosting Smash 4 and Melee tournaments on Fridays, Street Fighter and other fighting games on Tuesdays and other tournaments on Saturdays, it started to really begin to grow. Knowing how important it was to help grow the local gaming community PCG started setting our roots into as much local gaming events throughout the New England area. Trying to use gaming as a motivational tool to help youth and young adults move forward to live, became a key focus and foundation of what PCG wanted to create. Not only is there an importance of working with youth but also reaching out to adults of all ages as well. There is an understanding that being an adult gamer can sometimes be overwhelming with everyday life. Video games have always been a gateway to relieving stress in many ways.

In 2017, myself and Rashaud Garner (owner of Entertainment One Stop Shop) worked on an event together called the Battledome and just from this event, the relationship hit right away. Having very similar thoughts and goals decided to partner up. Making the partnership official and opening the new and upgraded Platinum City Gaming, the gaming center has hit a whole new level. With its new location still in Taunton, the video game center is now 7,300 sq ft in total size, contains over 14 gaming setups ranging from all the Playstations, all the Xboxes, all the Nintendo consoles, Sega Genesis, Dreamcast, Atari, ten Gaming desktops, 23 arcade machines, two pool tables, bumper cars and a bouncy house. From hosting weekly tournaments, birthday parties, private events, fundraisers and other special events, PCG’s growth has been huge. Known for our tournaments, with PCG being open for four years that is what helped grow us to where we are today. Our tournaments range from Super Smash Brothers for the WiiU, Melee, Street Fighter V, Dragonball Fighters Z, Fortnite, NBA 2k, Madden and more.

Touching the bases of all the genres of different gamers is a key focus of ours. We want to provide a place where everyone can feel safe and meet new friends. A misconception of gamers is we are all locked in our rooms all day and don’t want to interact with the world. In most cases, that is not the situation. There are no activities that interest those who are into gaming most commonly with the hobbies they are into. PCG allows these hobbies to now be a great hang out pass time. It allows many to interact with others to grow their friendship grows in physical person and not only online. We are also working closely with the city of Taunton to help deploy a brand new after-school program, school clubs as well as an eSports league. This growth has brought on brand new partnerships with other companies and is making huge strides.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was involved with as much as I possibly could. I was very much into sports, video games, and anything else that allowed me to interact with others. When I started gaming, I was around the age of three. I started with gaming on the Colecovision. My parents told me that I would want to play it all the time. The neighborhood kids would come over and play as well. From the beginning of playing video games, I realized how much I enjoyed not just the gaming aspect but the joining of the community. It wasn’t until I was older when I first attended my first PAX East event how strong the community and large it truly was. When that happened, I knew to put PCG together was my path and the vision of bringing gamers together was huge. For me, playing, working and joining with others is what truly makes me happy and what I want to do.

Pricing:

  • Gaming Consoles and PC Area: $7/hr, $15 for 3 hours, $25 unlimited all day
  • Bumper Cars: $6 for 3 minutes, $25 unlimited all day
  • Bouncy House: $3 for 4 minutes, $10 unlimited all day
  • Unlimited all Day everything (Except Arcade): $40 includes a slice of pizza and soda
  • Arcade ranges from $0.50 to $1.25
  • Pool Table: $1 per game
  • Birthday Parties: $350 for 4 hours Unlimited Gaming consoles, PCs, Bumper Cars, Bouncy House, 4 large pizzas, 4 Pitchers of Soda, Juice, Water includes 15 children, $25 for every child after.

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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