The revolution may not be televised. It might take place in a dimly lit, small room of 30 powerful, networked computers.

Inside eChannel PC Center, overhead lights partner with the glow of 19-inch ViewSonic computer monitors. Trance music plays through a large speaker beside the counter. A group of users sit in comfy black chairs collected near the door. Another person sits alone playing a strategy game. Two seats down, a woman looks around the online social networking service MySpace.

For a couple of dollars an hour, anyone can come to this cyber cafe at 2996 Freeport Blvd. to play video games over a high-speed local access network. Consumers, however, say that the draw isn’t the video game competition; it’s socializing with new and old friends.

An hour of Internet access at eChannel costs $3 for members (membership is $10 per year) and $4 for non-members. Internet browsing, chatting, email and networked play are offered.

“Counter-Strike,” “Battlefield Vietnam,” “Unreal Tournament 2004,” “Halo,” “Call of Duty” and “Half-Life 2” are some of more than 30 games offered, employee Michael Haydon said.

First-person shooters, where the player participates from the perspective of the video game protagonist, dominate the roster of games. The most basic competitive form in these games is to record the most virtual kills. However, most games of this genre offer other modes of competition, including a digital version of capture the flag.

“We have primarily popular games that are quite new, only the most popular games,” Haydon said. “There’s a lot of new games that come out all of the time. We don’t carry a lot of them because it’s not practical.”

Strategy games are also very popular with gamers. Michael Allen-Hoff is one of those players. The Sacramento City College student has regularly visited eChannel since owner Simon Lung started the business in April of 2003. He said he often comes directly from work to play the Blizzard Entertainment-developed games “World of WarCraft” and “WarCraft III.”

“I like something that kind of challenges the mind,” said Allen-Hoff, wearing slacks and a loosened tie on top of a white dress shirt. His sleeves are rolled to the elbows for maximum gaming maneuverability. “I like a puzzle as well as a strategic kind of thing.”

Not a first-person shooter?

“That requires quick reflexes,” Allen-Hoff said.

Kevin Magnus, a McClatchy High School student, doesn’t claim to have the requisite reflexes to operate an optical mouse with the best of them. Still, he’ll play DICE-developed “Battlefield II” occasionally.

He comes to eChannel every other day to hang out with friends, including Allen-Hoof.

“It’s a place to get away from home,” said Magnus, who said he’s been at eChannel since it opened. “People are social. It’s like I have all of these games at home, but I’m here when I get bored.”

In the ’80s and ’90s, flashy arcade centers combined competition with hip place to hang out. They were also often the focus of controversy because teenagers would spend countless dollars on one-on-one fighting games “Street Fighter II” and “Mortal Kombat.”

The industry is dwindling. According to an annual survey by trade magazine, Vending Times, released in September, arcade game revenue dropped from the 1994 total of $2.1 billion to $866 million last year. In addition, the number of machines dropped from 860,000 to 330,000. Social gamers are on the move.

Haydon said that when eChannel opened it was a popular place for McClatchy students to hang out after school. Now, he said, the average customer ranges from 18 to 24 years old.

“The thing is that (teenagers) just can’t support their habit,” said Haydon, who estimated that eChannel serves over 100 users per day. “They don’t have the money, because they’re kids. They don’t make that much money.”

Cyber cafes are criticized for many of the same reasons that arcades were a decade before. Games content is often violent and the nature of competition may cause hostility.

Here, friendships are built on shared game play. Allen-Hoff said he became good friends with Magnus, in spite of a five-year age difference, through co-operative gaming.

“He stays late, I give him a ride home, (and) make sure he goes home safe,” Allen-Hoff said. “It’s just a good place to have.”

The nVidia GeForce 4 TI and GeForce 6600 video cards support excellent in-game special effects. The T-1 high-speed Internet gives users the upper hand over competitors with slower connections. For an additional price, any game can even be played using a headset.

In spite of all these technological benefits, the gamers said they enjoy the companionship the most.

“You want to have people around so that you can say, ‘Hey, let’s go play this game,'” Allen-Hoff said. “It’s more of a community type of thing. You don’t want to be at home in your chair all day.”

Said Haydon: “We have 10 friends who come in here and just play in a row, in a line. That’s always more fulfilling than calling them up and going, ‘get on this server at this time.'”

Jason Ng, a part-time employee and Sacramento State business major, said “World of WarCraft” is his primary game. He said he isn’t a big fan of competition.

Before eChannel opened, Ng and his friends would hang out and take turns sharing two computers to play against each other.

“We all wanted to play on a game together but we never got the chance until (eChannel) opened,” Ng said. “We all came here, all got on the computer and all got on the same game. It was pretty convenient.”

So while these gamers don’t pretend to do anything earth shattering, they represent an evolution in social gaming entertainment. They’ll continue to play together and joke with each other.

Like Haydon said, “As long as they’ve got the money.”

Nate Miller can be reached at [email protected].