Arcades in SC are dying!

[Altan]

I had a family member that was around Spartanburg last weekend. They ended up at a mall with a Tilt! arcade. At least I think that was the name.

I was surprised to hear the arcade had 2 twin SuperGTs. Funny thing is I have one, so my son wasn't all that interested

... Altan

 

[gamefixer]

because you now have crap in arcades like "The Fast and the Furious", "Guitar Hero", etc. I won't be counting 90s arcade games as "crap", though, because the 90s games are great, in my opinion.

Ahem....

As an arcade operator myself I have to come here to tell you guys a little secret. I'm going to whisper as to not be heard outside of this thread though. "Old games dont make ANY money."

The "crap" as you mentioned is the only thing that makes money these days. While Pac reunion is fine and dandy as a filler its not the kind of game that can pay the light bill. Now Terminator on the other hand, that one can not only pay the light bill but the rent as well.

You guys love to piss an moan and bitch about old games not being out in the wild but you just dont seem to understand, its a BUSINESS that we HAVE to make money with.

I know that I'm in the minority here so go ahead and beat me over the head.

BTW, those beloved 90's games... Daytona, MK, Tekken. They suck too! I took over a location not too long ago that had those types of games in the game room. After we took it over the revenues are more then 5 TIMES what they were before. The OP that was in there before told me point blank "your going to lose money here" when he saw my new games. Low and behold almost 6 weeks into it and I'm close to having 25% of the games paid for already.

 

[paulsbuck5]

Sorry for a late response after now looking back at this again

I had a family member that was around Spartanburg last weekend. They ended up at a mall with a Tilt! arcade. At least I think that was the name.

I was surprised to hear the arcade had 2 twin SuperGTs. Funny thing is I have one, so my son wasn't all that interested

... Altan

As I said, sorry for responding late. I've been to that arcade before. I go there pretty often to play MvC2 (Marvel vs. Capcom 2) and "Sega Super GT". The problems with the two SSGT cabs there, is that they're not linked together. One twin cabinet is linked for 2 players, but the right screen is broken. :< The other cab had no link cable or something. Tilt might be worth visiting for the fighting games (which I love). I was there less than a month ago, and found the following games broken: "Time Crisis 3", "Area 51: Site 4", and DDR. The arcade is kind of busted.

 

[Clytor]

Ahem....

As an arcade operator myself I have to come here to tell you guys a little secret. I'm going to whisper as to not be heard outside of this thread though. "Old games dont make ANY money."

This gentleman is correct, relatively speaking. This is a good thing on most accounts. That allows the games to be affordable for us to buy and put in our homes or... operators to put in low end spots. Of course I wouldn't have any personal experience with the latter
Arcades have been mostly dead for years. It's sad but it's just the way it is. A Dave and Busters actually opened up here in Richmond, a couple of years ago. I am a little surprised that they are still open. I am glad they are even though there isn't much I care about playing there. That's why I have games I do like playing in my house!

 

[paulsbuck5]

I can see old games don't make enough money. The closest thing I see to an old game making money is something from the 90s made by Sega, Capcom, or Namco. Not sure if you guys like any of those games, though.

 

[supergwario]

I'm in Rock hill also and if anyone wanted to stop by and shoot the breeze and play some games let me know, I'm usually pretty easy to track down.

 

[gamefixer]

I can see old games don't make enough money. The closest thing I see to an old game making money is something from the 90s made by Sega, Capcom, or Namco. Not sure if you guys like any of those games, though.

Those games dont make any money either. I've seen revenues increase 6-7 times what they were making before simply by replacing old games (like Daytona, Cruisin, any fighting game) with something new.

 

[BIGMAC76]

Just ran across that Terminator Salvation you speak of but didn't play it. It looked too crazy and too expensive to mess with, kept telling my kids to leave those shotguns w/grenade launchers alone. guy was giving me the hairy eyeball ever since I stepped foot in there (probably the kids i had in tow) man you guys are creepy. game did look badass though, just nothing I should let my kids watch me play.

 

[gamefixer]

Just ran across that Terminator Salvation you speak of but didn't play it.

Those guns are a lot more durable then you might think. I see kids drop them all the time. I've had 50+ Terminators since the game came out and have replaced maybe 3 guns. I found out later that two of them had their internal cameras disconnected so they didn't need to be replaced after all... Lazy game techs!

 

[paulsbuck5]

Those games dont make any money either. I've seen revenues increase 6-7 times what they were making before simply by replacing old games (like Daytona, Cruisin, any fighting game) with something new.

Even some of the 90s games don't make any money anymore, unless it's of something like simulators, Sega's "WaveRunner" game is one example. Don't know if anyone here likes that game, though.

 

[gamefixer]

Even some of the 90s games don't make any money anymore, unless it's of something like simulators, Sega's "WaveRunner" game is one example. Don't know if anyone here likes that game, though.

Wave runner costs more to keep it operational then it makes.

 

[paulsbuck5]

Wave runner costs more to keep it operational then it makes.

Well, yeah, most arcades have that game for $1... ugh. But luckily enough, one arcade in my area has one with its coin setting on 50 cents. The Chuck E. Cheese restaurants have these games for only 1 token, and people play that game when they go there. But CEC is really no where to mess around for fighters, classics, etc.

 

[gamefixer]

Well, yeah, most arcades have that game for $1... ugh.

Yeah, the greed factor doesnt help at all. I was at one of the location we recently converted to in house talking to the operator that was leaving. When I pulled the Rolling Stones out of the box he commented on how he thought that Stern going to 75 cents per play was a good thing. I immediately told him that I STILL dont like 50 for 3 balls and would rather have the games at 25 for 5 balls. He didnt seem to like what I said. I get it, he only gets half the cash box so he has to charge 75 cents per play. I put the game at 50 for 3 balls and left it there.

I'm not a greedy operator. I'd rather that ALL of my game rooms were 50 cents per play but that doesnt work everywhere.

 

[paulsbuck5]

Yeah, the greed factor doesnt help at all. I was at one of the location we recently converted to in house talking to the operator that was leaving. When I pulled the Rolling Stones out of the box he commented on how he thought that Stern going to 75 cents per play was a good thing. I immediately told him that I STILL dont like 50 for 3 balls and would rather have the games at 25 for 5 balls. He didnt seem to like what I said. I get it, he only gets half the cash box so he has to charge 75 cents per play. I put the game at 50 for 3 balls and left it there.

I'm not a greedy operator. I'd rather that ALL of my game rooms were 50 cents per play but that doesnt work everywhere.

Well, 75 cents to play pinball isn't too good. I can handle 50 cents, if I had a lot of money. but certainly not $1 to play pinball. The few "arcades" that earn a lot of money are the Chuck E. Cheese restaurants, and those places are for little kids, so nothing too special there.

Imagine someone playing a game of pinball for 75 cents or $1, and someone starts to suck at the pinball game, and wastes $1. Not a good decision to make.

 

[the7k]

I'm an SC resident with some hopes of starting an arcade here. During my research, I believe the biggest thing killing small arcades in SC are the ass-backwards arcade laws.

$250 for each machine every two years. Now, if that's a top earning machine, no big deal. Drop in the bucket. However, if we are talking 'REAL' arcades (the ones we love), well, take a look at DreamTR's thread: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=156295&highlight=arcade+profit

The real games get no quarters these days. There's a very good chance that you'll be having a ton of machines that are earning $1 every week. In two years, that machine will have only made $100. But wait! $250 every two years! That machine will have only made you -$150. And that's not even taking into account electricity, repairs, lease, etc.

Basically, if you have nothing but the classics in your place, you're dooming yourself in SC. Blame the Department of Revenue.

There's only two solutions as I see it. One is to have nothing but the latest racing games, shooting games and redemption games. The other - and the one I hope will work - is to have a mix of the afforementioned, but also charge a modest admission fee and keep the non-earners on freeplay. By having them on freeplay, you avoid having to pay the $250 for those machines. By charging a cover fee, you are still making money - and hopefully enough people will be drawn to the prospect of "free" games that they'll be willing to pay to get in the door.

(At least, that's how I see it from where I'm sitting. Currently, I'm just the outsider looking in.)

 

[LyonsArcade]

Preach it brother.

BTW, as *I* read the law in SC, if you charge a cover fee, you don't need to buy ANY licenses.

Have a laywer check that out for you though.

 

[LyonsArcade]

Well, 75 cents to play pinball isn't too good. I can handle 50 cents, if I had a lot of money. but certainly not $1 to play pinball. The few "arcades" that earn a lot of money are the Chuck E. Cheese restaurants, and those places are for little kids, so nothing too special there.

Imagine someone playing a game of pinball for 75 cents or $1, and someone starts to suck at the pinball game, and wastes $1. Not a good decision to make.

The issue is, though, that the prices of games (pinball games as well) has steadily risen over the years; the price per game on some of them has not. The two biggest ones are Pinball (same price since the mid 80's, but game prices have doubled)... and Megatouch machines.

Nobody will play the machines though for 50 cents, much less 75 cents.

 

[gamefixer]

I'm an SC resident with some hopes of starting an arcade here. During my research, I believe the biggest thing killing small arcades in SC are the ass-backwards arcade laws.

$250 for each machine every two years.

I was wondering what those license fees were just today as a matter of fact. I've got a location on the horizon near Savannah (its in SC though) that I'm going to go setup in a few weeks. Gota get with the state and get that stuff worked out.

What part of SC are you in?

Matt

 

[the7k]

I'm in Florence, which is about an hour's drive away from either Myrtle Beach or Columbia, depending on which direction you go. We've got a pretty decent amount of arcade goes who will drive in either direction just to play at a Frankie's or what have you - I feel like I might be able to keep them here and maybe even snatch a few from there if my selection is strong enough.

I used to live in Rock Hill, though. (Went to school at Winthrop.) I never met the guys at LyonsArcade personally, but I do remember salivating over their arcade machines as I passed them at the flea market.

Oh yeah, and I'll definitely have to look into the cover fee overriding license fee deal. Could make things... interesting.

 

[Cpen5311]

Preach it brother.

BTW, as *I* read the law in SC, if you charge a cover fee, you don't need to buy ANY licenses.

Have a laywer check that out for you though.

where do you find information about arcades licenses?

...say in Pennsylvania?