Behind the wheel of a van decorated with Fortnite characters sits Broughty Ferry man Ross Lemon, taking The Gaming Van to his next event.
From the outside the Mercedes Sprinter looks like any other decorated van, but step inside and it is a gamer’s paradise.
Five PlayStation 5s, five Xboxes and one Nintendo Switch connect to 10 television screens, providing hours worth of entertainment.
Ross takes his mobile gaming room almost anywhere, from birthday parties to corporate events.
“Children’s parties are my main business, they play their favourite games together rather than being separated, screaming at each other through headphones,” he says.
“They jump in the back of the van as soon as the doors open.
“You can see them hyping each other up and start screaming when you’re pulling in the driveway.”
Dundee gaming van first in Scotland
Ross got the idea from colleagues in his former career working offshore, as they had seen gaming vans in England – but he found nothing here.
After a friend in England created his own van, he took the leap and set up Scotland’s first mobile gaming van.
As Covid-19 hit, Ross was made redundant from his offshore job. But The Gaming Van was finished and ready for business.
He says: “When the schools started again in August, I started doing parties after the first lockdown.
“Since I set up, there’s been vans built by others in Glasgow and Aberdeen.
“So, I put a van in the Lothian area in April.”
Ross also has another driver taking the second van around Dundee, Edinburgh and the surrounding towns.
He’s noticed that word of mouth is the business’ most important marketing tool. Often he’ll see the same children at different birthday parties.
Curious parents will also stick their heads in the back of the van to have a look at what’s going on.
From Minecraft to FIFA
The most common age group to play in the van are seven to 12-year-olds. With two children himself, Ross had the perfect testers.
However, for Kobus, 12, and nine-year-old Roni, the novelty of having a gaming van parked in their driveway wore off quickly.
Ross adds: “For first couple weeks it was the best thing ever. Now it never gets looked at.
“Young kids around seven and eight often play Minecraft and Roblox. When they get to nine they’re all Fortnite daft.
“Now and again I’ll play kids in the van if someone wants a game of FIFA for example.
“Or if there’s a free screen in the van I’ll try a game out to check if it’s worth downloading for other parties.”
With one Dundee and one Lothian van, Ross plans to keep bringing fun and games to children and adults alike.
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