tec9
Active member
I was hoping that Roy would go a bit more pyscho...nonetheless it was entertaining. I did get a kick out of Roy calling Paul Dean a douchebag...made me smile!
-Mark
-Mark
Arcade Web show hosted by your KLOV target of the week Richie Knucklez!!!
- Thread starter rknucklez
- Start date
OP
OP
rknucklez
Active member
That would be true if I jumped on the first deal offered.
I was offered a twelve episode deal for fucking $500 an episode by one of the top four channels.
I was pitched the "you'd be getting the same deal as the jersey shore guys and look at them now!" bs... " it's the second season where you would cash in" horse shit... That and I demand executive producer rights or no deal.
Between my wife and I we live a very comfortable life. The arcade was my retirement business after I sold my record label and my publishing royalty checks stopped magically appearing. I had no idea the arcade business in this economy would be so successful.
Sure, Bill Mitchell and I discovering we were twins separated at birth and starting a bromance/arcade business did not hurt in any way.
OP
OP
rknucklez
Active member
Shoot, I forgot my point.
The tv show cannot Chasing Ghosts us unless I give up my executive producer rights.
I promised my wife I would not take on a new career unless it upgraded our lifestyle on a considerable scale.
Translation; final say on every edit and what gets aired, a huge up front bonus so I can pay those who got us here. (you know who you are) and travel expenses on every location for ten. Bill and I both have wives and three kids.
The good news is an MTV production crew (a 10k value) shot me MCing the entire Kong Off
Even when I refused to sign anything. All handshake deals and full access to all the footage. I also had my own team film as well.
Been talkin to the "king of kong remake with Johnny Depp" crew about selling that footage.
That might help get my kids to Disney world.
The tv show cannot Chasing Ghosts us unless I give up my executive producer rights.
I promised my wife I would not take on a new career unless it upgraded our lifestyle on a considerable scale.
Translation; final say on every edit and what gets aired, a huge up front bonus so I can pay those who got us here. (you know who you are) and travel expenses on every location for ten. Bill and I both have wives and three kids.
The good news is an MTV production crew (a 10k value) shot me MCing the entire Kong Off
Even when I refused to sign anything. All handshake deals and full access to all the footage. I also had my own team film as well.
Been talkin to the "king of kong remake with Johnny Depp" crew about selling that footage.
That might help get my kids to Disney world.
jonathan1138
Active member
Hey Ritchie,
Hi - maybe it would help in your endeavor. You may have already thought it this, so if anything, reinforcement.
I grew up in Staten Island, Know Flemington really well. Had lots of good memories from the Spaceport over at Woodbridge (and that computer store outside of A&S - remember that one? Ah the memories). Someday i should stop over your shop and meet "Face to face".
Listen man - I am rooting for you on this show. I dont know all the details of what youve got going on, but if you are putting up a national show surrounding our hobby, i think you are onto something huge. I hope you dont mind my thoughts, but i feel strongly, and i hope you take some to heart.
Call me biased (my collection is SH cockpit, SW Cockpit, DL, CC, frontline, ea and some pins like TZ, SM, IM), but i think that its a diamond in the rough area that is not portrayed like it should be. The core group of watchers, primarily aged 30 + (with spending power i hope) are the focus. It works for you because you like the hobby, it works for the network cause they want ratings. You have a rare opportunity.
A VERY important statistic:
http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/07/17/survey:-average-u.s.-gamer-age-35;-40%-are-women.
The average age of a gamer is 35 (probably 37, like i am now). I was born in 75. I would guess you are around the same age. Why is this important? Well, the gaming industry is HUGE, bigger than the movie industry. Lots of money flowing there. So there is commercial value. All of those core gamers have roots - back to the 80's. Everyone relishes in their roots - theres no avoiding it. Look at antique sales / antique roadshow /etc. Very valuable franchises. This easily justifies the concept behind your show. Hopefully, you agree. The idea is to divert some of the massive interest in modern games (which i still play, not as much as the classics though) back to the classic stuff. Its being done, but again, no one has a forum like you are getting, so you can add to that fire.
If you can do one one thing - is to get us accepted! If you do that, you "won".
I guess the most disturbing thing about the hobby for me, and its far from a problem, more of a gripe - is the mystique / aura behind it. When i tell people i restore / have these games, you get the crazy look. Why? I just dont get it. Ive been trying to figure it out. I think most people abandon those roots, most people move on, while others hold on to something from their past.
So, i leave you with that thought. Dress it up, appeal to the hip crowd, make it fun (i think you are the man for the job), but keep in mind, to get it all accepted, it would take a way to convince people their roots are worth going back to. There is value there.
And tone down on the "crazies" for novelty value - it HURTS to get it all accepted since people dont want to be associated with it. Make it smarter than that. Yes, you need to oddballs here and there (Seinfeld had Kramer) but you cant portray us all like that.
Another thought - look at the success of shows Pawn stars and Warehouse wars (or whatever they call it). Add an element of surprise, intrigue, competition. Pawn stars has the whats it worth idea going for it (and, from a street smarts angle, and i getting jacked up on this deal) and Warehouse wars has the competition thing going. Our hobby is the PERFECT exhibition.
(Stepping off the soapbox now).
Hi - maybe it would help in your endeavor. You may have already thought it this, so if anything, reinforcement.
I grew up in Staten Island, Know Flemington really well. Had lots of good memories from the Spaceport over at Woodbridge (and that computer store outside of A&S - remember that one? Ah the memories). Someday i should stop over your shop and meet "Face to face".
Listen man - I am rooting for you on this show. I dont know all the details of what youve got going on, but if you are putting up a national show surrounding our hobby, i think you are onto something huge. I hope you dont mind my thoughts, but i feel strongly, and i hope you take some to heart.
Call me biased (my collection is SH cockpit, SW Cockpit, DL, CC, frontline, ea and some pins like TZ, SM, IM), but i think that its a diamond in the rough area that is not portrayed like it should be. The core group of watchers, primarily aged 30 + (with spending power i hope) are the focus. It works for you because you like the hobby, it works for the network cause they want ratings. You have a rare opportunity.
A VERY important statistic:
http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/07/17/survey:-average-u.s.-gamer-age-35;-40%-are-women.
The average age of a gamer is 35 (probably 37, like i am now). I was born in 75. I would guess you are around the same age. Why is this important? Well, the gaming industry is HUGE, bigger than the movie industry. Lots of money flowing there. So there is commercial value. All of those core gamers have roots - back to the 80's. Everyone relishes in their roots - theres no avoiding it. Look at antique sales / antique roadshow /etc. Very valuable franchises. This easily justifies the concept behind your show. Hopefully, you agree. The idea is to divert some of the massive interest in modern games (which i still play, not as much as the classics though) back to the classic stuff. Its being done, but again, no one has a forum like you are getting, so you can add to that fire.
If you can do one one thing - is to get us accepted! If you do that, you "won".
I guess the most disturbing thing about the hobby for me, and its far from a problem, more of a gripe - is the mystique / aura behind it. When i tell people i restore / have these games, you get the crazy look. Why? I just dont get it. Ive been trying to figure it out. I think most people abandon those roots, most people move on, while others hold on to something from their past.
So, i leave you with that thought. Dress it up, appeal to the hip crowd, make it fun (i think you are the man for the job), but keep in mind, to get it all accepted, it would take a way to convince people their roots are worth going back to. There is value there.
And tone down on the "crazies" for novelty value - it HURTS to get it all accepted since people dont want to be associated with it. Make it smarter than that. Yes, you need to oddballs here and there (Seinfeld had Kramer) but you cant portray us all like that.
Another thought - look at the success of shows Pawn stars and Warehouse wars (or whatever they call it). Add an element of surprise, intrigue, competition. Pawn stars has the whats it worth idea going for it (and, from a street smarts angle, and i getting jacked up on this deal) and Warehouse wars has the competition thing going. Our hobby is the PERFECT exhibition.
(Stepping off the soapbox now).
ChompingQuarters
Well-known member
Sure glad I wasn't drinking coffee!!! haa haa.
D_Harris
Well-known member
I'm not sure what your point was in all that, and I'm sure Ritchie has a plan, but you as far as your age, you might want to take a look at your birth certificate. The numbers don't add up.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
Richie,
When are you going to get a bunch of guys together to break the "Jack the Giantkiller" record? http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8217
Not sure what you'd call it though.
When are you going to get a bunch of guys together to break the "Jack the Giantkiller" record? http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8217
Not sure what you'd call it though.
jonathan1138
Active member
Darren - yes i forget how old i am sometime. Comes with this hobby. Thanks for flagging that.
In summary breakdown - Go Rich, good luck, rooting for you, this hobby needs mainstream exposure people want that, lots of opportunity there, offered some advice in between (you know, if it were me..., but what do i know, take it or leave it).
Just sounds cheaper in summary, so figured i'd dress it up.
In summary breakdown - Go Rich, good luck, rooting for you, this hobby needs mainstream exposure people want that, lots of opportunity there, offered some advice in between (you know, if it were me..., but what do i know, take it or leave it).
Just sounds cheaper in summary, so figured i'd dress it up.
gozer5454
Volunteer: Google SketchUp Guru
Bump. Richie is live right now chatting with Roy. Bill Carlton will be on the call in show shortly.
Some valid points in this. I can say from being in the television industry for about 15 years, editing reality and docs... the subject matter is only a small portion of what networks want. When I say networks, I'm not talking about the big boys although it might apply. The cable networks such as Discovery, History, Nat Geo are where this concept, may work.
In 2003 I began to write up a show idea about arcade gaming of the 80s but never fully developed it. Years later once KOK and CG showed up I saw some serious holes in the overall concept of doing a show about 80s arcade collecting. Currently, I know there are a small handful of other collectors who are also working on doc-type shows with the arcade collector themes so it'll be interesting to see where each project ends up.
My take on the arcade game type show.... is WE get it. We love our games, the thrill of the hunt, the rush of the score, the restoration, the frustration of troubleshooting, et al. That's the easy part because we understand it. Unfortunately, we don't make up a large demographic that would make a considerable impact on ratings. Networks want programming that will attract ratings....ratings means more advertising dollars. Not news, but in order for that to occur, it needs to appeal to a wide audience. That audience of the 30-40 somethings may relate but as it was stated before, they will want to fully embrace it in order to keep from changing channels.
I can't speak for web only content since my background is in television but I can say that the most recent trend is, it ain't about story as much as it is about the characters. Look at all the reality crap that's on Discovery, History, Geo.... Swamp People? Really?!!! What they do is not nearly as entertaining as the characters who make up the group. Same could be said for Ice Road Truckers, American Chopper, Deadliest Catch, or any other reality-esq type of show. Much of it is all character-driven, then story. And a contrived story at best.
You have characters in this hobby but you and I know that not everyone's story is interesting, and not everyone is interesting for television. Reality is often very dull and boring...that's why reality is 'tweaked' to make it playable for television. Yes, you can produce things to make them a better fit for viewers but in the end, ask yourself....why would any viewer that's not an arcade collector want to watch this show? This is not a bash on the concept, but a very real question.... The nostalgia is the common answer most of us would give immediately. Easy because we get it, we're in it. The people not in this hobby may see the things they loved and remembered. But once you see nostalgia once....how many more times can you see it before it loses its appeal and becomes boring. Again, some people, even in that age bracket dismiss and move on. That's fine, where you lose some, you may gain younger or older viewers. This is where the true challenge of building a proper show structure comes about.
Take for instance Storage Wars.... same thing happens every episode. The items they find in the storage units vary. The characters stay consistent and are reprised each episode. They risk investment with a potential payout or loss. What keeps us returning back to watch that show?
Same with American Pickers... it's the hunt, the discovery...the negotiation, and then an inane recap of what things are supposedly worth with no real supportive facts to validate the estimated sales value. I think the characters on AP are luke warm, kinda boring, but the allure to that show are the location raids. It's a simple formula. I look for that show to begin losing steam very soon...you can only come up with so many locations that offer the cool finds.
Deadliest Catch...repetitive but highly dramatic, full of characters, danger, and competition. Throwing a dozen cameras on a boat, shooting the snot out of each team as they battle waves to catch bundles of crabs will eventually provide some good drama. A boat almost sinking at night, or guys being thrown overboard...you can't lose with that kind of story.
What is in the mechanic of the arcade show that would make people want to return again to watch a second or third episode? Why would viewers care?
I think focusing on the uber eccentric characters will give you the freak factor. Having the technical or restoration examples will satisfy the boy-toy facts, the man cave examples. You have disparate elements that have merit but to be an episodic concept....it needs a consistent story thread and I feel characters that are solid, eccentric but real, and a story with either drama or a progress with payoff.
I can see a one-off (1 hour...which is usually 45 or 46 min of content) that focuses on the hobbyists...but you had better have a variety of characters, and story beats to sustain interest in the non-arcade demographic. Selling a concept to a network is no easy task and in order for them to plop down real money, it's got to fit within their programming set.
$500 an episode is less than a cameraman's wages in a day....and its a slap in the face for content buyout. You'd be better off selling stock footage at $60-$150/sec than an entire show for $500. EP rights are great to have but to truly make it something that has legs....flesh out the idea some more and approach with a pitch that covers all questions the networks might throw at you. The real money is out there but doesn't come easy in television.
What type of cameras are you shooting with now? For pitch and even some pilot concepts, you can get away with shooting on prosumer gear....that quickly changes when you have a show whose budget starts at $150k and goes up from there.
I hope you get to that point, Best of luck Knuckles.
LeeB99
Active member
I think that the best example of what Avidgeek was trying to portray is the way that "characters" drive the show. A PERFECT example of this is the guy "Dave" from storage wars. He has more money than everyone else on the show, and continues to play the "bad guy" every episode. He drives the prices up on the bidding and makes people over-pay for stuff (even stuff he knows is JUNK), just because "he can". It's a frustrating thing to watch, but it makes for GREAT TV. Because you KEEP waiting for it to backfire on him, and every once in a while (although NOT frequent enough) it happens. He will pass on a locker that he thinks is "Junk" and there ends up being something VERY valuable inside.
The point is that you really DO need people like Roy (AKA Mr. Awesome) to have a contrast in the characters. Pawn Stars is great because you have knowledgeable people who teach you about the history of some very interesting items. You will notice that they are starting to stage things MORE and MORE on the newer episodes to make the show more "sensational". Just this last week, they had the "Robosaurus" on the show, even though therre was no way that they would have EVER paid the $1,000,000 asking price. They also pretended that all of their computers went down so that "the old man" could fuss at them because they didn't know how to manually fill out a ticket by hand. TOTALLY staged, but i am sure that SOME viewers found humor in it. It really wasn't necessary, but this is a good example of how even successful "reality shows" have to do things to progress a storyline about their day-to-day operations.
I want to congratulate you on your success, and i hope that the show works out well. No matter how hard you work on developing ideas for the show, just remember that even the "Gold Rush: Alaska" show took a group of people who TOTALLY failed at what they do and made it one of the highest rated shows on TV. It's all about the people and drama. Think about it. This is why The King Of Kong did so well. Billy played the "bad guy" (not unlike the Dave guy from Storage Wars), Steve played the underdog who couldn't catch a break and Roy and a cast of "others" represented the "fringe" element that does exist within the hobby. Surely, you don't want it to be the focus of the show, but it can definitely spice up the show with a lot of flavor that will appeal to a wide number of people without making a spectacle of them. You need a local "Brian Kuh" type, if you know what i mean. You can surely also go to auctions and show the drama that occurs there as well. On MANY an occasion, KLOV members will go head-to-head against each other at auctions, and that would definitely make a good back story. Again, i wish you the best of luck, and hope that it turns out great for you and all who are involved.
Being 41 years old, i was 10 to 13 years old during the original "heyday" of the classics. I collect games because I desire to remember and re-live a part of my life that brings back specific memories and feelings. I also absolutely HATE how the world has turned out over the last 20 years or so. I think that the human race has FAILED, has become morally bankrupt (no thanks in small part to things such as the Internet, radical Islamists and Presidents who openly speak about how oral SEX isn't actually sex at all). When I get to escape the reality of modern life, I get to experience or re-live those feelings from my youth when the world was a much simpler place (and MUCH more innocent). I have a successful business that has been going for nearly 20 years now, but even with financial success, I look at the way things have turned out in our world and do NOT like what I see. Having these games as a hobby helps me to cope with the stress and reality of how things have become as I have grown into the responsibilities of running my business in this "new" world climate and raising a 15 year old son in this environment. He has the utmost respect for quality gameplay over flashy graphics, and has been raised to be respectful of other people and their property. He is in the minority among the new generation of children, and I feel bad about having to raise him in our modern world. So, I would suppose that it is safe to say that the number one reason for me being in this hobby is to escape the reality of what has become of our world and to remind my son of how sometimes things that are "simpler" are actually better than the latest/newest thing.
You are definitely going to need to have some characters on your show, whether by accident or design. It may be a good friend of yours, or a regular customer who is quirky. Preferably a person with a strange last name that can be abbreviated or rhymes with something silly. Its sad, but true. Let's take the "Jersey Shore" example you used earlier. Almost everyone knows who "The Situation" and "Snookie" are, and yet very few people can tell you their REAL names. I am not an expert on that show, as I do not watch it, but it is my understanding that they filmed later seasons in Miami? At this point it was NO LONGER really "Jersey Shore", and it became about taking people that are characters that people had become familiar with and placed them in a new/different environment that isn't even the "Jersey Shore" anymore. Best of luck with your show. I hope everything works out as you intend it to...
Lee
The point is that you really DO need people like Roy (AKA Mr. Awesome) to have a contrast in the characters. Pawn Stars is great because you have knowledgeable people who teach you about the history of some very interesting items. You will notice that they are starting to stage things MORE and MORE on the newer episodes to make the show more "sensational". Just this last week, they had the "Robosaurus" on the show, even though therre was no way that they would have EVER paid the $1,000,000 asking price. They also pretended that all of their computers went down so that "the old man" could fuss at them because they didn't know how to manually fill out a ticket by hand. TOTALLY staged, but i am sure that SOME viewers found humor in it. It really wasn't necessary, but this is a good example of how even successful "reality shows" have to do things to progress a storyline about their day-to-day operations.
I want to congratulate you on your success, and i hope that the show works out well. No matter how hard you work on developing ideas for the show, just remember that even the "Gold Rush: Alaska" show took a group of people who TOTALLY failed at what they do and made it one of the highest rated shows on TV. It's all about the people and drama. Think about it. This is why The King Of Kong did so well. Billy played the "bad guy" (not unlike the Dave guy from Storage Wars), Steve played the underdog who couldn't catch a break and Roy and a cast of "others" represented the "fringe" element that does exist within the hobby. Surely, you don't want it to be the focus of the show, but it can definitely spice up the show with a lot of flavor that will appeal to a wide number of people without making a spectacle of them. You need a local "Brian Kuh" type, if you know what i mean. You can surely also go to auctions and show the drama that occurs there as well. On MANY an occasion, KLOV members will go head-to-head against each other at auctions, and that would definitely make a good back story. Again, i wish you the best of luck, and hope that it turns out great for you and all who are involved.
Being 41 years old, i was 10 to 13 years old during the original "heyday" of the classics. I collect games because I desire to remember and re-live a part of my life that brings back specific memories and feelings. I also absolutely HATE how the world has turned out over the last 20 years or so. I think that the human race has FAILED, has become morally bankrupt (no thanks in small part to things such as the Internet, radical Islamists and Presidents who openly speak about how oral SEX isn't actually sex at all). When I get to escape the reality of modern life, I get to experience or re-live those feelings from my youth when the world was a much simpler place (and MUCH more innocent). I have a successful business that has been going for nearly 20 years now, but even with financial success, I look at the way things have turned out in our world and do NOT like what I see. Having these games as a hobby helps me to cope with the stress and reality of how things have become as I have grown into the responsibilities of running my business in this "new" world climate and raising a 15 year old son in this environment. He has the utmost respect for quality gameplay over flashy graphics, and has been raised to be respectful of other people and their property. He is in the minority among the new generation of children, and I feel bad about having to raise him in our modern world. So, I would suppose that it is safe to say that the number one reason for me being in this hobby is to escape the reality of what has become of our world and to remind my son of how sometimes things that are "simpler" are actually better than the latest/newest thing.
You are definitely going to need to have some characters on your show, whether by accident or design. It may be a good friend of yours, or a regular customer who is quirky. Preferably a person with a strange last name that can be abbreviated or rhymes with something silly. Its sad, but true. Let's take the "Jersey Shore" example you used earlier. Almost everyone knows who "The Situation" and "Snookie" are, and yet very few people can tell you their REAL names. I am not an expert on that show, as I do not watch it, but it is my understanding that they filmed later seasons in Miami? At this point it was NO LONGER really "Jersey Shore", and it became about taking people that are characters that people had become familiar with and placed them in a new/different environment that isn't even the "Jersey Shore" anymore. Best of luck with your show. I hope everything works out as you intend it to...
Lee
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gozer5454
Volunteer: Google SketchUp Guru
Richie is having the live call-in show right now from Michigan. Listen right now at:
http://www.justin.tv/richieknucklez?show_facebook_status=true#/w/1064342400
http://www.justin.tv/richieknucklez?show_facebook_status=true#/w/1064342400
gozer5454
Volunteer: Google SketchUp Guru
Walter Day is live right now talking to Richie
devils1982
New member
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digdoug2
New member
I just returned from a few year stint in Paris. Went to visit my old hangout, Richie Knucklez arcade and found he now has two locations in the same strip mall. Selling merch, tshirts,hot sauce, signed copies of KOK the movie, stickers, posters and more. Even saw his mug in an arcade coffee table book. Pissed I missed the kong off by a few weeks. RK was nowhere to be found and all the help was new faces. Like they say... You can never go back home.
Richie! Do you still frequent these forums?
Get in touch, I need some parts for some games I picked up before I left town. Also the EDOT you sold me has some lights out on it. Hit me up brother
DD
Richie! Do you still frequent these forums?
Get in touch, I need some parts for some games I picked up before I left town. Also the EDOT you sold me has some lights out on it. Hit me up brother
DD
Richie was in Michigan picking up his sit-down Pole Position this weekend. He is going for the record . He is at his arcade often.
He got banned from the forum for 2 months last week, lol. But his wife, Paige, checks these threads and will read your post for sure.
. He is at his arcade often.He got banned from the forum for 2 months last week, lol. But his wife, Paige, checks these threads and will read your post for sure.
CrazyKongFan
Well-known member
Richie was in Michigan picking up his sit-down Pole Position this weekend. He is going for the record
He got banned from the forum for 2 months last week, lol. But his wife, Paige, checks these threads and will read your post for sure.
Yep, I can confirm that, as I met up with them here in Michigan
I don't think either one can post though, so if you want to contact him, you'd probably have more luck via email [email protected] (that's the address posted on his website)
