The Internet Cafe is not dead. In fact, Taiwan-based PC maker Acer just opened a new one that’s centered on PC gaming last night, and it’s billed as the “biggest true gaming place” in the country. Launched in partnership with TheNet.com, Acer’s High Ground Cafe is the first and only fully-branded gaming cafe in the Philippines, and it’s set to overpower the competition in the local gaming PC market.
The High Grounds Cafe is kitted with Acer’s top-of-the-line Predator G1 and Predator G3 gaming PCs, which are equipped with NVIDIA GTX 1080 and NVIDIA GTX 1060 GPUs, respectively. That’s a couple of high-end, VR-ready desktop computers, and there’s a total of 110 of them ready for PC gaming.
Spec Specifics
The Acer Predator G1 features an Intel Core i7 6700 processor that can run up to 4GHz, and it packs 32GB of DDR4 RAM @ 2133MHz, a 3TB hard drive storage running at 7200 RPM, and a 256GB M.2 2280 SSD.
Meanwhile, the Acer Predator G3 comes with the same Intel Core i7 6700 processor, while also having 16GB DDR4 RAM @ 2133MHz, a 2TB hard drive, and a 128GB SSD.
Both PCs are paired with 24-inch Full HD Acer Predator XB241H monitors, for that “no-tear and less-stutter performance” that matters a great deal for all kinds of PC gamers.
eSports training ground
According to the official press release, Eric Rudulfin of TheNet.com boasted that the High Grounds Cafe will be the perfect breeding ground of future Filipino esports stars who can give players from other countries a run for their money. “The Philippines is a young entrant in the global esports arena,” he said.
“Compared to other gaming countries, I could say we’re behind but that was 2-5 years ago. Now, even if we started competing only last year in tournaments abroad, we gained much attention already with the recent triumph of the TNC Pro Team during WESG.”
The TNC Pro Team featured during last night’s launch event, to much fanfare. This team took home a rich total prize pot of $800,000 (roughly 40 Million Pesos) after beating Cloud9, an esports team from Denmark, in a DotA 2 finals match during last year’s WESG or World Electronic Sports Games.
The High Grounds Cafe surely looks like a good weekend destination, or perhaps even a weeknight hangout spot, for those looking to sharpen their skills and interact with fellow PC gamers. It’s located in Quezon City, near the corner of Tomas Morato Ave. and Sct. Rallos Street, and the PCs cost Php 80 per hour. We’ll head there this weekend if time permits, and give you a more detailed look and feel of it soon.