| rev:text
| - I'll start by saying, that my complaints are small all things considered. A 3 star rating should by no means turn you away from this place. It's really one of a kind for AZ, and a great place. Prices are reasonable, hours are... well 24/7 you can't beat that. Half the floor is dedicated to Xbox 360s, the other half to PCs. A good chunk of Xbox's are always dedicated to the latest CoD, so if that's your game you're in luck. They also have plenty of other games available, upon request, they may just be tucked away in a corner. The PCs are what I usually come for, you simply sign in after paying for your hours, and just click on whatever game you want to play. Easy. This setup is GREAT.
There are a few things to be weary of though. For one, if you plan to play Xbox *at all* bring your own remote. The controllers they provide you with for their 360s are in awful condition. It makes sense because hundreds of people abuse those remotes, but still it makes playing difficult. However if you absolutely need a controller, they do have them there so that's nice. The only other complaint I have about the 360 area if the noise level. If you are playing CoD, everyone is listening through the TV speakers. You can imagine how loud that gets. It's not so bad if you go play a less popular game in a corner, but that The middle rows are tremendously loud.
As far as the PC setup goes, it's hit and miss sometimes. Despite having something like 150 computers there, only 50 or so ever seemed to be turned on. I asked an employee on a Saturday night (which is decently busy) if he could get 5 in a row turned on for my friends and I, so we wouldn't have sit scattered through the rows, and he basically said "No, good luck finding 5." That said, there was an ENTIRE row that was off. I fail to see the problem with turning on more computers, for customers who need them. That said we were able to find a second where we could sit close enough to each other to play, so it worked out. Just be prepared for that. It's not a huge issue, but worth noting.
Which brings me to my last complaint. The staff there. They are friendly enough, but can't be bothered to help you much. PC froze? Go get another one. Turn on a PC? Nah I'm good. Xbox not turning on? Play a different game then. The service has reached a bare minimum. The employees will collect your free, sign you into games and give you food if you order it. Otherwise it's hard to get them to leave the counter to check on anything.
All in all, these are small complaints. I still go there fairly regularly, and I enjoy myself a lot. I wish they could take care of some of the smaller issues, especially the lack of PCs on at any given time. But all in all, it's a great place. If you get the chance, go.
EDIT: After posting this review, I went to Howie's again. Not five minutes after I got there I was approached by the manager who had saw my review and apologized for any past trouble and assured me that they don't want this to happen again. He made sure everything was going well (which it was) and so on. I really want to thank them for that. A business that takes the time to respond to complaints and interact one on one with customers like that certainly deserve some mention. It needs to be said, that despite everything I said above, this place is still tremendously fun. There is nothing else like it in AZ, and I go there all the time. I have been, and still am, a huge fan of Howie's. If they check this again, I appreciate the service very much, and thanks for running such a great operation.
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