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Marc Giauque reportingA Bluffdale company right now is riding the crest of the video game wave, even though their product has nothing to do with controllers, consoles, or software.
At his Murray store, KC Allred doesn't mind at all being called a video game enthusiast, right down to the belt around his waist. Allred's belt buckle is an original Nintendo controller from the early eighties. The music Allred listens to is an MP3 mix of a list of video games.
As you might have guessed, he likes to enhance his game experience. Allred home system contains digital surround sound to improve his gaming experience. Allred prefers a couch in front of his screen but, says that many are more hardcore and prefer to be sitting in a specific position while playing certain games.
A good example of this would be racing games, where you want to feel like you are in the seat of a car. Those apparently are the kind of people buying a chair designed by Bluffdale's AK Designs.
The company says that the product has really taken off. One of the company's offerings is a relatively low-cost, low to the floor, race-car themed chair that Operations VP Luke Drake says was aimed at the masses, not just gamers.
All of their products are low tech and their goal is to be accessible to everyone.
The masses seem to like it, so do retailers. Drake says he gets e-mails from lots of gamers who say they've spent 12 hours at a time in the chairs. Allred for one has not, but he understands the need. He sees the importance of being comfortable while playing your favorite game. Drake says simplicity and innovation is the key, and it goes beyond gaming chairs. He attributes their success so far to the gaming industry.
