New gaming center in N.P. gives teens a place to go

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers ENJOYING THEMSELVES—NEXTGEN-ERATION is a video gaming business at 1015 Broadbeck, Ste. D, in Newbury Park. Call (805)744-2409 for more information. It's open Sundays through Thursdays 11 a.m. t o 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Gaming, from left, are Sequoia Middle School students Jorge Gutierrez, 13, and his cousin, Brian Ortega; Adam Freund, 15, a sophomore at New Community Jewish High School; and Newbury Park High School junior Eddie Esparza, 16. A mother opens a business doing what she does best—providing a safe, fun place for teenagers—and Newbury Park teens get an answer to "What's there to do around here?"

When Syd Lafitte realized her 30-year career as a mortgage company account executive was coming to an end, she thought about what else she did well.

"I needed to reinvent myself. My job was gone, and it's never coming back," Lafitte said.

She soon realized her Newbury Park home was full of 20 teenagers hanging out with her children because she provided them with a safe place to land.

"I asked my son and daughter and their friends if they thought a video game business for teenagers would be successful, and they said yes," Lafitte recalled.

That was in July 2007. Her game center idea was not easy to bring to reality, but this month she opened her 2,400-square-foot NEXTGEN-ERATION gamer dream house at 1015 Broadbeck Drive, Ste. D, Newbury Park, across the street from Target.

Challenges along the way included finding a spot and licensing issues, she said.

"There are anchor stores in shopping areas that have in their lease that nothing that attracts teens can be added to that shopping center."

They also couldn't be too close to schools or churches or parks, Lafitte said.

When she found her location, the kids who'd been coming to her house helped her fix it up and get it ready for business.

Now she has two dozen 42inch TVs with "bone-rattling" gaming chairs lined up to create a bright, clean, neatly organized environment.

Guitar Hero is connected to an 8foot projection screen that creates the effect that the gamers are a rock band onstage, she said.

She also has Rock Band 2, Nascar '09, Madden '09, Wii Sports and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

There is also something the significance of which only gamers will best understand, Lafitte said: Call of Duty Forever with the beta key for Call of Duty 5. Last week eight Marines showed up and played the military game together for hours.

"Kids will know what that means. You need the beta key to play it, and I have the beta key," Lafitte.

She also has the Orange Box and more than 200 computer games, including ones with dancing mats and other special equipment.

Newbury Park High School football player Dara Majdi fits time at the gaming center in between school and practice. He comes in his spare time—mostly weekends—and plays games, meets new people and runs into old friends, he said.

"There are plenty of places to eat around here, too," Majdi said.

The center shares the shopping mall with Baja Fresh, the Habit Burger Grill, Daphne's Greek Cafe, Subway, and Nick and Willy's Pizza. Islands restaurant is nearby.

It costs $7.75 an hour per person to play at Lafitte's gaming center. It's open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

"Once they're here they can go from game to game and play whatever they want during their time," Lafitte said.

She opened at the beginning of the month, but the place is already catching on. Eventually, Lafitte said, she will probably have to take reservations, but now everyone is being accommodated. Maximum occupancy is 125 people.

Lafitte prefers that older adults who visit be parents who are accompanying their child, she said. Plans are in the works for Guitar Hero competitions with parents playing against the kids, Lafitte said.

"We're bringing families together."

It would cost a bundle for individual teens to keep up with video games at the level NEXGEN-ERATION provides, but another bonus is that young people are playing together in a clubhouse environment.

"They're not loners playing individually at home. When they play here, they meet people with their same interests who go to their high school. Friendships are made here," she said.