Ever thought of starting your own arcade?

[MitchSchaft]

I double-checked today. He's been into it since 1997. Not quite 20 years .

[VectorGamer]

Never been to Knucklez place. It's about a 40 min drive for me.

 

 

 

You should check it out...I drive two hours to get to his place

[HatefulGravey]

I don't know that I would want to own an arcade. If I was going to do it I would have to win the lotto or something because I don't see it as profitable here, atleast not as I would want to run it.

 

We have a large college in town. A BIG ONE! So there are customers, and there is very little else to do. Problem is college kids (an age bracket I'm not too far out of yet I hope) have no respect for these games. They may have respect for them, but in a large group they are all idiots. Customer abuse would be a HUGE problem.

 

I don't like driving games. They are big, ugly, and over all useless to me. So I wouldn't want to have many there. Nothing NASCAR or any of that crap.

 

There have to be a pile of classics. The problem there that so many have clued in on is repair. Keeping a game made in 79 running had to be hard at times. And I would want them set to .25 per play. Not something seen anymore. I understand why, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

 

If I were to open one though I think it would be super bad ass to have a shop in a corner of the place. One of those deals where you walk up to a half wall and there is an office where you can deal with people. In this shop I would like to build customer control decks for home systems and PCs. Stuff like that. I have had some luck selling custom hardware to people at the college. Hacked PS3 controllers made into Street Fighter 4 fight sticks are selling for $300 easy right now.

 

If I was to do this is would be post big lotto win because I would be doing it as a hobby, it making a pile of money would in theory never be the goal.

 

I would settle for an arcade within an hour drive. I would spend money there for sure as often as possible. Maybe a part time job in someone else's arcade to let me deal with it without having to run it.... that might be nice. There are 2 "Tilt" arcades inside an hour or so, but they are broken games and ticket games, little more.

[yuppicide]

If I won the lottery, I'd open an "Arcade Museum". I want to make the place seem "space" like and futuristic (well futuristic like those Time Tunnel arcades were in the 80's). I was going to organize my games by year. I was going to have an 80's living room setup behind a glass display where I'd have a crapload of consoles hooked up. Guests couldn't play them, though, only myself and friends, but they can view a timeline of games and view rareties.

 

I was toying with the idea of quarters. On the one hand, I like quarters for that authentic feel, or tokens possibly. On the other hand I like one price gets you free play.

[HatefulGravey]

My uncle that got me into gaming and I were talking about this a year or so ago. I think the best you could do with an arcade is to have it pay-per-play, but have more there then just games.

 

Have a Gamestop in the building. Like as part of the arcade. Sell TVs, and sounds systems as well. If you could get a BestBuy (just the gaming related stuff) inside the arcade you might just have it made. Sell games, consoles, accessories, and all the related stuffs. In this way the other sales would draw people that are interested in gaming to the arcade, and the sales would support the arcade.

 

The reason for the arcade being pay-per-play is exactly the same as it was in the start. I want people to be able to walk in to buy the new Halo game and say "Hey, I want to play Street Fighter" and instead of asking them for $10 to play for an hour I could get that out of then in half that if they get hooked on other games too. Could be great.

 

The arcade isn't the main attraction, but it would be helped greatly by this model.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

The problem with running a GameStop-like operation is...GameStop. Or huge Walmart/Best Buy/Target stores. I see so few "mom-and-pop" video game stores last very long. It's just going to become tougher as the move to digital downloads becomes more prominent and we see efforts to curtail used game sales increase. Perhaps it will work with an arcade there too but personally I see digital downloads as the sword hanging over that business. things will probably be fine for a few more years though.

 

As for a few other things you mentioned HatefulGravy, like them or not (I'm not a huge fan either), racers bring in the money. Just look at these location test earnings reports for the brand new Super Bikes 2.

 

http://coinoptoday.com/jtest/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2943:check-out-the-test-reports&catid=1:latest&Itemid=1

 

One racing game will earn more money than an entire room of classics combined. At my own arcade, I have a pair of Tokyo Drifts that were converted from a Crusin' USA cab. So they don't look the best but they still outearn all of my classics combined. The fact that older games are prone to breaking down is only a part of the problem, the larger part is they just don't make a lot of money anymore. You might get lucky with something like Street Fighter II but you're lucky if that still brings in anywhere near $50 a week.

 

And what you see in that location test report above is fairly typical these days for a new release, Terminator Salvation wasn't too far off that either. If you want an arcade that will make money, you need several new titles in addition to a fantastic location. Or just load up on redemption/merchandisers which out earn everything else. Like the Big Bass Wheel, which made up to $5800/wk at larger locations. If anyone ever wonders why most arcades are more redemption than video, Big Bass Wheel should answer that question easily. Now if we could get some video games that made as much money once again...

[SoulBlazer]

Some redemption style games are fun to play, though. There's one at my local D&B, SubHunt, that I really enjoy. The fact it gives tickets is just a bonus. It's a really fun 'shooting torps at ships' game. And if you get lucky enough to nail a fast streaking PT boat you get the jackpot.

 

Skeeball, Deal or No Deal, and a trivia game are othe redemption games I really enjoy.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Some redemption style games are fun to play, though. There's one at my local D&B, SubHunt, that I really enjoy. The fact it gives tickets is just a bonus. It's a really fun 'shooting torps at ships' game. And if you get lucky enough to nail a fast streaking PT boat you get the jackpot.

 

Skeeball, Deal or No Deal, and a trivia game are othe redemption games I really enjoy.

 

There are an increasing number of video redemption games being produced - the Sea Wolf one you mention is a lot of fun and I would one day like to get a non-ticket version for my arcade. Galactix is quite interesting too - it's a six player space game where inserting a coin launches a missle at a target towards the center of the screen. Tippin' Bloks is fun too - I'm sure that soon you'll see more video redemption than the regular machine based ones.

[SoulBlazer]

Some redemption style games are fun to play, though. There's one at my local D&B, SubHunt, that I really enjoy. The fact it gives tickets is just a bonus. It's a really fun 'shooting torps at ships' game. And if you get lucky enough to nail a fast streaking PT boat you get the jackpot.

 

Skeeball, Deal or No Deal, and a trivia game are othe redemption games I really enjoy.

 

There are an increasing number of video redemption games being produced - the Sea Wolf one you mention is a lot of fun and I would one day like to get a non-ticket version for my arcade. Galactix is quite interesting too - it's a six player space game where inserting a coin launches a missle at a target towards the center of the screen. Tippin' Bloks is fun too - I'm sure that soon you'll see more video redemption than the regular machine based ones.

 

I saw Tippin' Bloks last time I was at my D&B and watched some girls playing it. It looks fun but WAY too hard.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Some redemption style games are fun to play, though. There's one at my local D&B, SubHunt, that I really enjoy. The fact it gives tickets is just a bonus. It's a really fun 'shooting torps at ships' game. And if you get lucky enough to nail a fast streaking PT boat you get the jackpot.

 

Skeeball, Deal or No Deal, and a trivia game are othe redemption games I really enjoy.

 

There are an increasing number of video redemption games being produced - the Sea Wolf one you mention is a lot of fun and I would one day like to get a non-ticket version for my arcade. Galactix is quite interesting too - it's a six player space game where inserting a coin launches a missle at a target towards the center of the screen. Tippin' Bloks is fun too - I'm sure that soon you'll see more video redemption than the regular machine based ones.

 

I saw Tippin' Bloks last time I was at my D&B and watched some girls playing it. It looks fun but WAY too hard.

 

Yeah it's not an easy game, I've only played it once at a trade show. The interesting thing about these new video redemption titles is they are basically creating classic games with new graphics, providing simple but fun gameplay that other arcade titles are sometimes lacking.

[Silntdoogood]

I've been looking recently. There are a few hidden brick walls I've discovered. My mall used to have a Namco arcade, If closed a few years ago, but it was always full. I've been following why they would have closed shuck a successful looking arcade.

 

First problem, people tend to make less treks to go to an arcade, epically one composed of only coin ops. (When I was in third grade, the last true solely coin-op-cab arcade I know of, closed) To be a successful arcade now, you almost NEED a ski-ball machine and other ticket dispensing style machines to cycle a ticket exchange system for other prizes. Fun fact, from what I have seen, two lanes of Ski-ball can cost $10,000. If you're going to have a large enough crowd to support your arcade, you need more than two lanes . If you want some claw machines, crane games. Well, there are various prices, but to keep it brief, every time you play one of those, and you see the claw assembly drop to grab your prize, you're watching $100-$200 dangle on a string in front of you. The small blue stackers run about $3,000, the big red ones go for $7,000.

 

I was thinking of sitting on the idea, collecting broken machines cheap, and repairing them to a home-arcade style, then when I get a decent amount move to a commercial space. This is a slow, but plausible way. I know where seven cabnets, and three pinball machines are within a mile of my house, all in a state of disrepair, easy fixes, and they would be rather cheap. It seems they are rather easy to come by broken.

 

Now, unless you're going to go all out and open a Chucky-Cheese competitor, you probably aren't going to have people making a devoted trip. A mall seems like an ideal place, to an extent it is. (There's a static, "For every 15 minutes you keep someone in a store once they find everything they need, they spend $5" I have no citation for this, so feel free to disregard it. This paragraph comes down to location scouting in areas where people are going to spend money, but will be leaving with spendable money and time.

 

You need to consider insurance. At a near by mall, an UNMANNED kiosk between stores sitting on the floor measuring 4'X4'x8' (LXWXH) requires AT LEAST a one million dollar insurance policy. This isn't anything you can enter, nor is it easy to tip over. The only thing I could see happening is someone running in to it point blank. I don't have an idea what would be required, insurance wise, for a storefront. I wouldn't think it would be pretty, since you are now putting a dozen or so kids in a confined place, working up adrenaline, and in some cases (skiball) giving them projectiles...mhm...

 

The other conflict I found with malls is in specific areas, malls are permitted to repartition out electricity, charging basically whatever they want. To an extent, you can conserve power. I was considering powering off the machines nightly, and keeping a physical highscore table by the front desk. Displaying it proud. More insensitive to be ranked, more time in the store, more quarters in your pocket. (because, anyone who owns a cabinet, tripped on a power cord, or watches Seinfeld knows when you unplug a cab, it resets the table. Lower lighting to get the stereotype "arcade" feeling can lower electricity bills, but then again be troublesome with injury insurance.

 

You might want to consider food too. Even if you just put a vending machine for snackies, and drinks in the back. It'll keep a few people from leaving to the food court. Then you get the insurance for food poisoning, allergies, and that kid that gets his arm stuck when he tries to reach in the bottom and steal a pack of gum, etc. Keep in mind, how many people (I'm guilty) have used/are going to use that almost flat surface on the Galaga machine as a table for their open Mt. Dew. If your selling drinks, expect some clean up. Some cleanup may not be pretty with less sealed machines.

 

You're also going to want to cycle through your cabinets. Hide a few in the back, invest in some new ones.

 

Initial machine investments aside, you'd want to look at how much you are going to make. The most I have herd of a well established small arcade making is $10,000 a week. Personally, I'd expect maybe $1,000 a week, judging by stats I have seen. I'd estimate the rental on the spot in the mall we used to have a Namco arcade in was $3,000 a mo.

 

There's also a good bit of nit-pick things that need decided, such as, quarters or tokens. Quarters invite walkins, while you can do 5 for $1 type deals with tokens, inviting more exchanges.

 

 

http://arcadeheroes.com/2008/04/06/starting-an-arcade-part-1/

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5049760_start-arcade-business.html

[MitchSchaft]

Where do you live? The arcade in our mall closed recently, too. No idea why. It was replaced by an 80's style airbrush t-shirt shop, lol. Everything 80s is coming back these days except for the arcade. So strange...

Anyway, I made my first plunge. I bought a Galaga PCB and have a control panel on the way, lol. I'm gonna start my arcade in my dining room with a few machines and see if I can't open a real one in 10 years if I'm lucky. I don't need no stinkin' dining room table!

[jd_1138]

a membership-based club might work in larger cities. have like 100 enthusiasts kick in 50/month. That's $5,000 a month for rent, game purchase/maintenance, utilities, and to keep the snack bar nicely stocked with draft soda, popcorn machine, red vines, hot dogs. Um, let's do it!

 

Could even have it open to the public on the weekends to generate some money to ease our monthly dues. That is, if we want the public touching our beloved games.

[MitchSchaft]

That sounds fantastic actually.

[jd_1138]

That sounds fantastic actually.

 

I know, doesn't it? :-) The club could purchase about 5 games a month, assuming a $500 per game average. That would be 60 games after a year. if there's still room left, could have a foosball table, a pool table, skee ball perhaps. And the games that aren't popular could be sold off and more popular games purchased. Voting could decide all game purchases.

 

Gotta have the classics: pac-man, ms. pac-man, centipede, donkey kong, galaga, asteroids, space invaders, street fighter 2, mortal kombat, nba jam, etc..

[Brian O]

I too have always wanted to run an arcade. If you knew how to repair them, that would help business. Richie Knucklez (was in a band Knuckle Sandwich) was collecting games. When his collection got too big he opened an arcade/repair place. Friday nights it's one price all you want to play. He only opens to the public like that on Friday nights.

 

I think a better business model would be to start another business, but also have arcade games there. For example, hot dogs are a huge markup. Make some unique chili sauce or something, put a bunch of different dogs on the menu, some fresh cut french fries, make some special sauces, offer drinks, and you're good to go.

 

This one guy I knew ran a hot dog cart.. he would do a few hundred dogs a day! He was so popular the car dealership hired him to come down on Saturday and give out free dogs. So, he'd tell everyone to come have a free hotdog.

 

Another idea is something like Barcade. It's a bar and arcade in Brooklyn. But liquor licenses are expensive here.

 

I think SCORE is pretty good to check out. They have mentors that can help you out.

 

Another idea is if you have friends and family that will help you out, try and start a project on Kickstarter website. People donate money in exchange for something in return. For example, someone donates $25 you give them a free shirt, donate $50 and have a free party at your arcade when it opens for you and up to 20 friends, donate $5 and get your name on the wall as thanks, etc.

 

 

Hey, yuppicide, Richie Knucklez is in Flemington, NJ, right? I've been wanting to take a drive there and beta their Ms. Pac-Man high score

 

Are you in Jersey too?

 

-B

[psquare75]

Old post, but I feel I can contribute.

 

Was at the local D&B over the weekend. I noticed that most of the games, well, stunk. Lots of shooter games, a few driving games Almost ALL of the games were at least 10 years old (and I don't mean that in a cool retro way, I mean it in a "oh boy, that Nascar driving game from '94" or "Yay, Time Crisis 3".. yawn.) It seemed more like they just have no interest in rotating their hardware.

 

They did have a Donkey Kong hidden in the corner (Billy Mitchell I am not, unfortunuately). Got my girlfriend and I thinking........ We can't even recall the last NEW arcade game we saw anywhere. Newest I saw at D&B was Terminator Salvation? (Some shooting game).

[MitchSchaft]

This thread will never be old . Memphis doesn't even have a D&B or Jillians anymore.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Old post, but I feel I can contribute.

 

Was at the local D&B over the weekend. I noticed that most of the games, well, stunk. Lots of shooter games, a few driving games Almost ALL of the games were at least 10 years old (and I don't mean that in a cool retro way, I mean it in a "oh boy, that Nascar driving game from '94" or "Yay, Time Crisis 3".. yawn.) It seemed more like they just have no interest in rotating their hardware.

 

They did have a Donkey Kong hidden in the corner (Billy Mitchell I am not, unfortunuately). Got my girlfriend and I thinking........ We can't even recall the last NEW arcade game we saw anywhere. Newest I saw at D&B was Terminator Salvation? (Some shooting game).

 

Terminator Salvation is new, came out last year around May. It's been the most popular arcade title in recent memory.

[VectorGamer]

Old post, but I feel I can contribute.

 

Was at the local D&B over the weekend. I noticed that most of the games, well, stunk. Lots of shooter games, a few driving games Almost ALL of the games were at least 10 years old (and I don't mean that in a cool retro way, I mean it in a "oh boy, that Nascar driving game from '94" or "Yay, Time Crisis 3".. yawn.) It seemed more like they just have no interest in rotating their hardware.

 

They did have a Donkey Kong hidden in the corner (Billy Mitchell I am not, unfortunuately). Got my girlfriend and I thinking........ We can't even recall the last NEW arcade game we saw anywhere. Newest I saw at D&B was Terminator Salvation? (Some shooting game).

 

Terminator Salvation is new, came out last year around May. It's been the most popular arcade title in recent memory.

 

The latest version of Sea Wolf looks really cool...

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Old post, but I feel I can contribute.

 

Was at the local D&B over the weekend. I noticed that most of the games, well, stunk. Lots of shooter games, a few driving games Almost ALL of the games were at least 10 years old (and I don't mean that in a cool retro way, I mean it in a "oh boy, that Nascar driving game from '94" or "Yay, Time Crisis 3".. yawn.) It seemed more like they just have no interest in rotating their hardware.

 

They did have a Donkey Kong hidden in the corner (Billy Mitchell I am not, unfortunuately). Got my girlfriend and I thinking........ We can't even recall the last NEW arcade game we saw anywhere. Newest I saw at D&B was Terminator Salvation? (Some shooting game).

 

Terminator Salvation is new, came out last year around May. It's been the most popular arcade title in recent memory.

 

The latest version of Sea Wolf looks really cool...

 

It is a lot of fun - I wouldn't mind one for my own arcade one day - but it doesn't seem to be a terribly high earning game. :/ That does mean it will become cheaper at a faster pace though

[keilbaca]

I've always wanted to open and run an arcade, but I definitely can't afford it.

 

If I could, I would go the route of collecting the arcades, then once I had enough then I would open a spot. This way I would own all the arcades.

 

I always had the mentality that I wouldn't open one if I needed it to make my money. It would be a side project to keep running, that even if it failed, I'd keep the place and have it as a getaway place.

 

I always wanted to have a "Wall of Fame," the arcades that I felt that should be in the hall of fame if there was one. All the big ones so to speak.

 

Then I would have a couple racers, a DDR Machine, some new games, and it would also be rentable to people for parties and stuff.

 

EDIT: Shaggy, NICE, A Warlords, right up in front too! *drools* If I was there, that would be the only game I'd play all night. I love that game.

[Brian Deuel]

Hmm... have two accounts. Oops. Any way this one can be deleted?

Edited February 24, 2011 by Brian Deuel

[Brian D. Deuel]

I was an operator and a collector/seller ten years ago, and bought a pool hall/arcade in the small town I lived in (Greenville, MI). The problem that I had keeping it open was that I had to rely on kids for business. As you all know, kids don't have any money I attempted to get a tavern license so that I could serve beer, but the township wasn't having it (even though the county was happy to take my $350). I ran it for two years, making no money but sustaining it with weekend business, until the end of summer came and the recent graduates all left town. For some reason, the next group of kids decided not to visit the place, even though I advertised and did giveaways. Not even my weekends could sustain it anymore and I shut it down. Luckily, my game sales and route kept me alive during this time, and I didn't have to put any of my own personal cash into it.

 

It was always my dream to own a classic arcade, and I was able to live that dream (even though my arcade had a mix of classics and modern games), so that's worth something.

[Player 3]

Not exactly intending to bump this topic, but yeah, I do have some plans to open up an arcade.

With this indie scene popping up, I thought I could be able to let people make the games for my arcade. Sorry, retro arcade fans, there will be no Ms. Pac Man. Just stuff people make.

 

I have some concepts with this arcade of mine:

• High score contests. Within designated times, I may run a contest for the highest score for a certain game. Those that come in a range will win something, those who come within a higher ranger get something better, and the highest score gets the best prize.
• The Ubuntu Linux OS. I save on licensing costs when I use Ubuntu Linux instead of Micro-Soft Windows. Heck, lots of European organizations did! This will also make it somewhat easier.
• Networked High Scores. The machines (using said OS) will be able to send data of the scores and who scored them to a central database. Assisting the high score contests. One could also go to a kiosk in the arcade to check the top one hundred scores to any title.
• Food. An arcade can't be profitable without it. Heck, Flynn's didn't make it without a snack stand.
• New games every-so-often. This is an indie arcade for a reason. Anybody can make a game for it if it's good enough. Copyright laws still go in effect here.

 

The biggest question is: Will it make it in the twenty-first century with features such as this?