Demetrius Curry has always been an avid gamer.

“I’ve been a gamer ever since Atari, and I have seen the progress in gaming over the years,” he said.

His love for video games coupled with his love for coffee led him to create a place where people can enjoy both.

Get Wired Internet Cafe will open in three weeks at South Campus Gateway next to The Happy Greek restaurant.

The cafe will have 20 stand-alone personal computer systems, four Xbox 360 systems connected to LCD TVs, as well as fax and copy machines and free wireless Internet access. It will also host monthly video game tournaments.

The cafe will rent all computer and game systems for $5 per hour, offer student discounts and accept BuckID.

The cafe will also have a full-service coffee bar with pastries and snacks.

Curry, along with partners Karen Ferguson and Lashawn Raney, said he chose to open the cafe in Columbus because of his ties to the area and the diversity offered by Ohio State.

Ferguson is a long-time Columbus resident and former OSU student, and Raney has lived in Columbus for about four years. Curry has moved around a lot with stops in Atlanta and Columbus, but he came back two years ago because of his love for the city.

“Ohio State is a test market for everything,” Ferguson said. “If (the cafe) doesn’t do well at Ohio State, it’s not going to do well anywhere.”

If Get Wired is successful in Columbus, Curry and his partners are planning to open franchise stores around the country.

However, they will always stick to campus locations.

“You will only see us on college campuses,” Curry said. “That’s our market.”

He also said they expect to attract a big gaming crowd, coffee drinkers from the campus area and students looking for a place to study.

“We want to be a place where you can come to do your work and come back later at night to hang out,” Curry said.

One focus of the cafe will be video game tournaments. Curry said Get Wired will be the only place in Ohio where people can come to register and qualify for the professional gaming circuit.

“The tournaments will attract gamers from all around the state,” Curry said.

Anuj Agrawal, who graduated from OSU last fall with a degree in computer science and engineering, is a gamer who organizes tournaments near OSU.

Agrawal said a lot of people will check out the cafe because of its location and originality.

Agrawal said he is is skeptical of the cafe’s chances for long-term success.

“There are a lot of people who are interested in gaming, but people are busy and lazy … and don’t like to pay money for what they can do at home for free,” he said.

The hours for the cafe will be from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., with extended hours during midterms and finals.

The cafe will offer rechargeable cards so students can purchase game or computer time by the month, quarter or year.

Curry said he expects the cafe to be successful because it offers amenities that college students use daily.

“Coffee, computers and games are three things that never go out of style,” he said.

Lindsay Betz can be reached at [email protected].