Arcades reopening or closed forever?

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VAPS


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Now that all but essential places have closed and a few are reopening, will arcades be back? There has been a down turn for a long, long time now. And with everyone stuck at home, the personal game systems have been busy as well as the old school home machines we all grew up with.
However, with the arcades that were forced to close, will they reopen? It's kind of hard to social distance in one (Pinball hall of fame in Vegas). 50% less games open? And for those who won't reopen, will the stock be squirrelled away in warehouses again, or left to rot, or auctioned off?
Should we be looking for killer deals anytime soon, or remember how it used to be. I didn't attend the Tacoma show this year since they closed the boarders and the organizers were smart in cancelling it this year.
I'd love to add a few more games to my stable, but money is tight right now for a lot of us and I don't want to see them thrown in the landfill or "modded" to make them into something that appeals to the home only player who doesn't appreciate what they have.

Is this some horrible nightmare that I can't wake up from?

What's your ideas on this and what do you see in the future regarding this hobby?
 
I'm just hoping that the riots don't get near the arcades, where they would be prone to be smashed and burned to the ground. It would be like a museum burning down with priceless artifacts in some cases. As some of the games are one of a kind.

I can see prices dropping again, and games being parted out because they are worth more in pieces than as a whole. If your family is starving and that Major Havoc can get you more food parted than sold complete... This happened in the late 90s. People were buying classics just to part them out because you can make more money than just restoring them. But that was people thinking ebay was a way to make a quick buck.

I think we need to do a better job at recording how these games were made so they can be recreated in the future. Corvettes restorations are graded all the way down to the factory chalk marks. We need similar documentation.
 
I'd worry more about restaurants closing forever before
I did arcades.
 
I don't think we'll see arcades closing forever. I had a couple pop up in my area over the last few years that were pretty successful. One of them is a Round 1 and one of them a mom-and-pop pinball place. Maybe the owners of the pinball place might not be able to weather the storm, but someone else with enough collateral will be able to fill that hole when the time comes. There's still a passion for this stuff. I'm (fairly) young and I plan on opening a cafe/arcade when the timing is right.

We will all see though...
 
The some of the ones currently open may not be able to survive, but I think that new ones will open up to take the place of the ones that have fallen. After all the COVID restrictions are lifted, there will still be a market for arcades, barcades, etc.

As for the hobbyist market, I would say I saw a lot more games for sale on KLOV and FB arcade groups near the beginning of the pandemic, but recently I think it's gone back to normal levels. I haven't really seen prices fluctuate that much either, or a flooding of rare and valuable titles into the market. I think the worst of the economic damage has been done (from the pandemic, not referring to the rioting), so I don't think this will change (unless like the OP stated, tons of arcades start liquidating).
 
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On the Good News Front:

RecBar 812, a restaurant/barcade here in New Albany, IN is currently open on the restaurant side, but will be open on the arcade side next Wednesday, June 17.

I'm happy for the owner. Tony is a great guy and already went through alot to get 812 open. He was open for a couple of months then Covid19 hit and was shut down. Looked VERY uncertain if he was going to make it through this or not. SO glad he's able to open back up. I'll be there when he does.
 
If some close, others MAY reopen down the road. Some of the current ones may not reopen. It's going to come down to how much cash they're sitting on and if they can pay the rent. The main (best) one here re-opened a couple of weeks ago. Another one opened in St. Pete back in Oct. They just reopened after being closed a couple of months. I was in there yesterday and they had plastic sheets hanging between each pinball machine. It was probably 50-60% full.
 
Renting & landlords are terrible in a scenario like this.
 
Personally I'll avoid any place with too man people or group for the next 2 years. (until that vaccine is proven working and what side effects we'll get from it)
 
VidyaGamez said:
The some of the ones currently open may not be able to survive, but I think that new ones will open up to take the place of the ones that have fallen. After all the COVID restrictions are lifted, there will still be a market for arcades, barcades, etc.
Click to expand...

I agree.

I think unless the second wave of the pandemic is worse there will be a continued progressive reopening of these types of businesses. As other threads on the pandemic have stated it will also depend on the comfort level of the customers. These machines get touched a lot and that's not for everyone.

I know that Mike at pinballmedics is hoping to reopen in the near future and is actively working on opening his pinball museum. But his machines and parts sales have kept him quite busy during the pandemic.

Funspot offered 50% off their token online during the pandemic. I was a little cheesed when I couldn't buy them because the company handling the sales couldn't process Canadian purchases. Still, that was another way of keeping the money coming in.
 
How are thins Covid wise in Ottawa Marty? All I hear from the national news is Toronto and Montreal but nothing about the Capital. Manitoba is pretty quiet with only 303 cases total and 7 active. But we are a sparsely populated province so that isn't a surprise. I haven't heard anything on Ottawa's specific numbers at all.
 
Honestly I haven't followed anything in the news locally since the onset. I just read what's going on provincially and get my news from reliable sources federally.

My wife works at a clinic and she doesn't seem on edge so that's all the info I can share.
 
I believe Canadians may tend to follow the tragic events happening more in the US than even in their own country or city.

I had a family emergency this weekend that caused me to travel to Toronto. I was astonished at how many people are not wearing masks or social distancing. Compare this to Ottawa where most people are still following recommended measures to keep safe.

I really believe - the bigger the city, the lower the avg IQ.
 
Reeeeeeeeee this better not turn into COVID-posting... we already have a thread for that down in General
 
Raxnahali said:
Nuff said! ;)
Click to expand...

Thank you lol

Well I really hope arcades and barcades, along with the rest of the small business can bounce back from this recession, and they can see a V-shaped recovery like some of the big corporations are right now. It seems like some of the places like Chuck E Cheese and Boomers, which were already not doing well, are closing down, though...
 
A few of my locations have opened up and so far the results are mixed.
One place where I have around 50 games, the games are earning around 85% of what they did last year. While the location owner is telling me that he is having some of his highest income days ever.

A couple of skating rinks I have, that opened the games are earning close to nothing. Probably not even covering the costs of the electricity to have them on.

I have spent a lot of time and money on repairs so far. Games that were on 7 by 24 for years and then shut off for three months don't fire up without some coaxing. (I am really starting to hate Fast and Furious and Tokyo Drifts for that behavior) A couple of power supplies, hard drive and several monitors so far. And oddly a counter top ticket eater developed a board issue while off.
 
My local chuck e cheese was selling to go pizza. Arcade gaming restrictions were lifted last week. I haven't been by to see if they are open or not. I almost bought some pizza because I'd hate to see it go.
 
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