best games for a new arcade

[Sectorseven]

There's no fun in that Plus, most modern operators really suck. Like, "it lights up and makes noise, GOOD ENOUGH" suck. If you get involved with a good op this'll work, but if he doesn't care about player experience you'll wind up just running a straight-up bar with a game or two in the corner.

I've never been in an arcade where the management was having fun

I'm sure finding a good op is just like any other service. Call around asking about rates, what they have in mind for the games that should be placed, ask for references, etc.

 

[tyranix95]

I've never been in an arcade where the management was having fun ....

Good point...

Most of the desk clerks at the 'cades I went loved the place--when it was nice and quite and they could just sit back and read the paper.

And they didn't seem to like the place too much when they were making change for everyone and cleaning the cabs. up--unless it was closing time.

 

[supercharged]

Then it was just a job for them

 

[the7k]

Good point...

Most of the desk clerks at the 'cades I went loved the place--when it was nice and quite and they could just sit back and read the paper.

And they didn't seem to like the place too much when they were making change for everyone and cleaning the cabs. up--unless it was closing time.

From what I heard (so, take it with a grain of salt), most of the folks who ran arcades back in the day were just coin-op operators. They weren't any more excited by an arcade machine than they were a vending machine. To them, sitting in an arcade was no better - or rather, worse - than sitting in a laundromat, because at least at a laundromat you wouldn't have to deal with tons of noisy kids, attract modes and ticket-trades 24/7.

 

[DreamTR]

Just some more food for thought where I am seeing some recommendations

(and keep in mind, my arcade has the latest fighting games and a really good selection of pins and classics)

Don't get Super Street Fighter IV unless you have a console setup.

The guy recommending that is unaware that it costs like $12,000 for that arcade setup.

Don't get Super Street Fighter II Turbo unless you have a known selection of players playing that game.

The guys recommending that are from areas where the game is still sort of popular and when I said sort of I mean pockets of players. Also,boards for that game run $200-250 alone. Why risk it on that when your area probably does not have 3-5 of the 30-40 or so hardcore players in the US that would still frequent that cabinet?


Keep in mind we have both of these games in my arcade. Heck I have 2 Super SFII Turbos in Nashville on location. They both don't earn well at all. And if people say "they don't know about it", we have at least a former top 10 in the US player at Super Turbo in our city and a couple of very good GGPO players who NEVER show up. *crickets*

It's all about the demographics currently and I do not recommend going for anything other than the popular stuff and "fillers" as classics that are cheap.

High Speed Pinball did very well for us when we had it but boy did it have problems every 2-3 weeks.

 

[rainman154]

You need to have a Theme to your arcade.
If you specialize in the Classics, then people will come from all around to play them. But they won't make money from the younger generations.

You could do a mix, but I would DEFINITELY suggest getting some classics in there.
Tempest
Asteroids
Sea Wolf
Centipede
Missile Command
Punch Out!!
Donkey Kong
Pac or Ms. Pac

and then maybe some unique games..
Black Widow
Dragon's Lair
Haunted Castle
House of the Dead
Rampage World Tour
Tron
Satan's Hollow

 

[R3LL1K]

The most popular games are as follows:

Toy Cranes
Driving Games
Shooting Games
Galaga / Ms. Pac

These are going to be your best earners. Once you have these you can fill in the empty spaces with pinball machines and other games. If you are going to have any fighting games you should post this on Shoryuken and try to see if you can set up tournaments on the classic fighting games like SF2HF, other than that I would suggest having a pedestal type setup running a game console version of SSFIV or MVC3 that's hooked up to a projector or other large screen TV.

 

[roothorick]

Just some more food for thought where I am seeing some recommendations

(and keep in mind, my arcade has the latest fighting games and a really good selection of pins and classics)

Don't get Super Street Fighter IV unless you have a console setup.

The guy recommending that is unaware that it costs like $12,000 for that arcade setup.

Agreed, new games are rarely if ever worth it, but

Don't get Super Street Fighter II Turbo unless you have a known selection of players playing that game.

The guys recommending that are from areas where the game is still sort of popular and when I said sort of I mean pockets of players. Also,boards for that game run $200-250 alone. Why risk it on that when your area probably does not have 3-5 of the 30-40 or so hardcore players in the US that would still frequent that cabinet?

You're forgetting that you can flip the game for just as much as you paid for it. This is what's nice about older games -- their value is somewhat stable, so if the game tanks, you can always get your money back, sans shipping.

And if SF2T does well in your area, SFIV will probably do REALLY well.

That reminds me: you will definitely want a selection of generic/universal cabinets, and stay on top of rotating the games in them. Anything that doesn't earn well, sell off the board/marquee/stickers and put some fresh meat in that cabinet.

 

[yzrider926]

Haven't read the whole thread so I'm sure some of this has already been posted.

I agree with others and figure out what your target audience is going to be. If it's going to be adults a couple of pins and some older games would be a good idea. The issue with pins I could see is that people will play them, but they require a lot more time and maintenance. You might get a little more traffic too, by advertising on the forums and such that you have pins and games to play.

If you have a decent fighting game scene around you, you could always get a few of the more popular fighters, and let people know. You could even have tourny's, and just charge and entry fee or something.

I don't really know how SHUMPS earn, but they are fun, I have heard they don't earn very well though. I think drivers and gun games would be a great idea as well.

If your primary attendees is going to be children I would probably get more crane, redemption type stuff. Maybe get a few other games for the parents so they can play a few games of something.

I wouldn't let what people on these boards, or hell even what you think you want to play, determine what you put in your arcade. If your trying to make money, get stuff that will make you money.

BTW I'm not an operator, this is just stuff I have read, and heard over the years from people that run or used to run arcades.

 

[gozer5454]

Haven't read the whole thread so I'm sure some of this has already been posted.

You might get a little more traffic too, by advertising on the forums and such that you have pins and games to play.

Bad idea. Any person from here would immediately expect a 50 cent game of pinball to be only 25 cents.

 

[sosage]

As someone that hypes ST, I agree with DreamTR. If you don't have a scene clamoring for it, it likely won't make you as much coin as newer Capcom fighters. Even out here where we have a pretty active ST scene, there is like...one place to gather and play...and IIRC they don't get whopping numbers for ranbats. Even *I* don't find the time to go out and play anymore.

Besides that, if the game attracts one person out of nostalgia, the A.I. is gonna piss them off big time and they may never return.

 

[yzrider926]

Bad idea. Any person from here would immediately expect a 50 cent game of pinball to be only 25 cents.

Well they better get the hell over it, haha.

Well I always see people asking on where to play games. If people can't get over the fact that games don't cost a quarter to play anymore, well then I don't know what to say.

 

[sosage]

Well they better get the hell over it, haha.

Well I always see people asking on where to play games. If people can't get over the fact that games don't cost a quarter to play anymore, well then I don't know what to say.

Out here pinball typically costs 50-75. The tactful routes go 50 cents 3-ball, 75 cents 5-ball or 75 cents for a brand spanking new game (since no one is going to complain about an extra quarter if they can try out, like, Transformers or Tron). It's considered more than fair by most of the player base in the bay.

Where people begin to grumble is when paying 75 center to play something like 3-Ball Addam's Family or even 3-Ball Spider-Man. Most people flat out won't pay at a buck a play.

I'd also highly recommend adding in a buy-in rate. Like if the game is set to 75 per play, also set it for 2 bucks earns 3 games. 50 cent per play could be set to 2 bucks for 5 games. The player saves a little and you're out a quarter/50 cents, but you don't know how many times I've gone up to a machine and been like, "I'm just going to play once or twice with this buck in quarters...oh...there's a buy in deal? Here's 2 bucks instead.".

 

[PrairieDillo]

I have a Ms Pacman w/ an arcade shop board and just kept the book keeping. The big winners are clearly Ms Pac and Galaga on it. They combine for 1/2 the plays on this machine.

I also rotate fighters in a SF2 cab and typically HF does the best. In my Neo cab Metal Slug does the best and I try to rotate different versions of it,

 

[Tighe]

I think you should have fighting game tournaments with the modern games like sf4 mvc3 and blazblue. It would be awesome if you had some candy cabinets too.

 

[PrairieDillo]

I think you should have fighting game tournaments with the modern games like sf4 mvc3 and blazblue. It would be awesome if you had some candy cabinets too.

Awesome but bad business. The startuup budget for thse kind of cabs is just too high. Try upwards to $1000 shipped for a nice USED cab with a good monitor. Try double that for something like my clone noir cab.

SF4 also is screwy on the Taito boards cause there is only VS in linked play.

 

[Tighe]

Awesome but bad business. The startuup budget for thse kind of cabs is just too high. Try upwards to $1000 shipped for a nice USED cab with ba good monitor. Try double that for something like my clone noir cab.

I meant using consoles with computer monitors for the modern game tournaments. Charge an entry fee. That is how they do it in these parts.

 

[PrairieDillo]

It would be awesome if you had some candy cabinets too.

I was talking about the candy cabs, not the tourney organizing...

 

[sosage]

I meant using consoles with computer monitors for the modern game tournaments. Charge an entry fee. That is how they do it in these parts.

There needs to be a scene there first. He should keep this in mind, but play it by ear.