EAGLE, Idaho — A new business in the Treasure Valley is bringing the gaming industry right to your door.
"Longoria Game Truck is the first mobile video game trailer in the Treasure Valley area," said co-owner Joey Longoria.
Featuring six different video game consoles, plenty of controllers, and the ability to go almost anywhere, Longoria Game Truck has been bringing new high scores to parties and events all over the area for the past five months.
"We've got two trailers. We've got a bigger one, which is our premium, and that one has six TVs as well and then has a virtual reality racing simulator, and then our smaller trailer has the four TVs and two TVs on the outside and then the virtual reality wands, the Oculus," said Longoria.
As you might expect, most of the business they've seen so far has been geared towards children. but did you know the average age of your typical gamer worldwide is 34?
Longoria Game truck has games for those generations, too.
"I have a lot of the old NES games downloaded to our Nintendo Switches so those people just have a blast with that. Had a Mike Tyson Punchout tournament the other day. Had a Tecmo Bowl tournament the other day. We can even do tailgating. We can do football games on the outside. Any party pretty much works for us. We've even done a wedding before so it's a wide range of parties," said Longoria.
Joey and his family have lived in the Treasure Valley area on and off for the last 20 years but were looking to start something unique to bring to Idaho.
That idea came while working in Texas.
"I saw one of these trailers driving by and I called and asked some questions about it, and after visiting with the guy for a little bit, it just seemed like a perfect fit for the Treasure Valley and so that was kind of where the idea blossomed," said Longoria.
But of course, it had to be approved by certain family members.
"The idea stuck as soon as I sold it to my nephews, and they were just more like, 'Oh, you gotta do this Uncle Joe! It will be fantastic!'" said Longoria.
Another happy family member is Joey's eight-year-old daughter Clara, who has big plans for the truck in the future.
Unfortunately, the pandemic isn't over yet, and they take as many precautions as possible.
Joey says the thing he's enjoyed the most since opening is people getting together again for a good time.
"Getting around our fellow human being and laughing and joking and it's like I said, it's so hard for people not to get excited to be in the game trailer so everybody is super happy. It's not like I'm the taxman or anything. I show up in the video game trailer and everybody is happy so I get all the rewards and benefits of that," laughed Longoria.
And the people behind this Made in Idaho business say they are beyond happy to see those smiles on the faces of his Treasure Valley friends and neighbors.
"For them just to take us in and love it, love the idea, is just been, I don't even know the word for it. But the Treasure Valley area, anybody that's lived here or has been around here at least for a little while understands just what the great people are around here," smiled Longoria.
Joey's daughter Clara has spina bifida and is wheelchair-bound. That inspired the Longorias to make sure their gaming trucks are all-inclusive so Clara and anyone with a disability can enjoy the game trailers.
If you'd like more information on Longoria Game Truck, or to book them for an event, check them out on Facebook or Instagram.
