Does anyone here own a commercial arcade?

poj

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I've always been interested in having one, but people keep saying how they are rarely successful. It's really depressing. It would be nice to hear from someone who has had success with theirs.
 
There are several guys here with nice arcades.

Rknucklez

Vectorman

GameGalaxy...but I forget his name.
 
There was a thread quite a while ago where DreamTR shared the earnings for the classics on location at his commercial arcade, and they were really sad. As a business model, just a straight up arcade with only classics isn't viable anymore. It needs to be like 70/30 redemption and new-ish stuff vs Classics for you to even stand a chance.

edit: Here is it http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=156295
 
There was a thread quite a while ago where DreamTR shared the earnings for the classics on location at his commercial arcade, and they were really sad. As a business model, just a straight up arcade with only classics isn't viable anymore. It needs to be like 70/30 redemption and new-ish stuff vs Classics for you to even stand a chance.

edit: Here is it http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=156295

That is really sad, seeing as how much more fun the classics are compared to the junky new redemption games. Though it could be the area he's in as well. Up in Burlington, NJ (I'm in Philly) there's a small place called High Scores that's solely classics and does well for itself according to the owner, enough so to pay for the electricity and buy a new game every couple of months, though the couple that runs it only run it on the weekends and have regular day jobs, so I guess that doesn't really count.

I suppose as a business model it's not viable on it's own to run the classics because of the fact that aside from the really popular NAMCO games few have been ported to modern systems and due to the fact that the players who play these games can play for long periods of time on a dollar or so, they just aren't the money makers they used to be.

Sad day and ages for arcades when the games worth playing can't even be stocked profitably...
 
Dude, you really need to look up the DreamTR threads - he made basically nothing for weeks on end with some of his classics, that we'd pay good money for. To the majority our beloved games aren't even worth putting a quarter into. LOLOL It's just old shit to most people. WHYYYYYYYY GODD!!!!
 
I've always been interested in having one, but people keep saying how they are rarely successful. It's really depressing. It would be nice to hear from someone who has had success with theirs.

I'm one of the owners at Ground Kontrol in Portland, OR.

(pics)
https://picasaweb.google.com/claycowgill/GroundKontrol30Remodel?authuser=0&feat=directlink

(website)
http://www.groundkontrol.com

I think it would be hard to pull off a straight-up old school arcade now-a-days (at least in most markets). We're also a bar which makes it a viable business model for us.

Sadly, "classic" games are fondly remembered, but generally don't earn very well. We always tried to keep at least 20 of the VAPS most collected on the floor but more and more they've been pushed off due to poor earnings. (our list of 'retired' games is a who's who of collectibles-- Defender, Sinistar, Xevious, Phoenix, Crazy Climber, GORF, Missile Command, Star Trek, Stargate, Space Duel, Battlezone, Spy Hunter, etc.)

One thing to keep in mind too is that we children of the 80's are starting to transition out of the peak "go out multiple times a week" demographic. Our audience has never really changed and is heavily populated by 20-30 somethings-- but the "classic" games of 30-somethings today are more and more what I would have referred to as "JAMMA junk" in my early collecting days. ;-)

It helps a lot to have another job that pays your bills-- we literally didn't make any money for the first 5+ years we were in business, but since all us owners at GK have "real" jobs for income we could afford to operate on a shoestring and put in a lot of sweat equity to turn it in to something that does finally make money (albeit half a decade later). I think you need to own all your equipment, do all your own repairs, and be willing to sink a lot of time in to be successful. As soon as you start paying other people to do maintenance or splits you just bleed cash like crazy. You really need to get a good lease and make sure you have at least six months worth of operating capital (cash) on hand-- things can start pretty slow. NEVER carry any debt and make sure you can self finance if need be if business slows.

For most people they'd probably be better off buying a Yogurt franchise or something instead and then put a few games in the corner for fun. ;-)

-Clay
 
The Barcade in Asheville NC was popping the last time I was there. It almost seemed like the games were ambiance. There were some people in there playing but a lot of kids were there to dance and drink. And yeah, more people were on the jamma games at this place too. They had to be making a lot of money though. It was packed.
 
I think 1984 arcade in springfield MO does all right. I don't think it's a big money maker, but i think they come away with a little money after expenses at the end of the month. They are open from 4p to 11p Wednesday thru Saturday and can be reserved for parties at other times. There are 5 or 6 owners there and they take turns working the place. I doubt they take a salary. I'd guess any extra goes back into the arcade. They do have a snack bar that stays pretty busy. They also offer t-shirts, a few souvenirs and trinkets. They have a separate room with about 10 or 12 games that they have reserved if there is a party on an open night. It has some duplicates of the main area and not the more popular games. They stay pretty busy year round. On Saturday nights in the spring they often fill to max capacity and turn people away by 5:30. By 11:00 there are usually still quite a few people and they have to shut everything down and tell them to leave.

The place is kid friendly (though they don't like having unsupervised children.) Kids are usually the minority there. Maybe 5% but sometimes more if there is a birthday party. Most of the crowd seems to be split from 15-20 year olds, then late 40's to 50's. That split seems to be that a lot of older people bring their older children there as a family thing. It makes a nice family night thing to do.

But the big key to keeping people playing the old classics at 1984 (in my opinion) is they offer a low door price ($5 for all night) with all the video games set up with free credit buttons. They do have about 6 pins, which are a quarter per play to help with their high maintenance cost. A quarter a play is still a great deal. They stay busy and best of all there are no redemption games.

I think location is probably another big factor. Springfield is not a huge town by any means but they make it work. I know a relative of one of the owners tried their concept in a different town and did not make it. So maybe there is a bit of luck involved.

They are also a great bunch of guys and gal! We make the 90 mile trip quite often (though not as much since i have my own arcade now) My nephew who is 11 absolutely loves the place. I think he is a bit out of the norm though as he really enjoys the classic arcade games more then most kids his age. He's darn good at them too. He whips my butt at Mappy. I have to struggle to get in the 30,000 range and he has no problems posting in the 90's and has a few games in the 110,000 range.
 
I own The Game Grid Arcade in WVC Utah, we passed our three year mark this summer. I have one redemption game (which I actually am trying to sell to make room for more videos) - otherwise everything is a video game. I have a small network of PCs for internet and gaming but it's a supplement, not what makes the big money. With an air hockey, couple of pins, a few racers and light-gun games and some classics here and there we manage. But we would have had to close a long time ago if all I had were classic games.

Arcades have to compete with other forms of entertainment, just in terms of video games, home consoles, mobile phones, internet games, handheld, etc. We also have to compete with other things people go out for, movies, water/amusement parks and such. Yes you have arcades at those kinds of places most of the time but at the end, dollars to be spent on entertainment are going one place or another.

So as it is, you need to offer something different. That's why most places use redemption because it is unique. It wins you prizes (even though they usually suck). Video arcades on the other hand are there but they need to up their game as light-gun/racing does ok but I think they need to get back into providing more innovative and unique ideas to grow. There's so much that can be done with arcades but too often the "play it safe" route is the most reliable way to go.

Lately I've been most impressed with Taito pulling out the stops to bring innovative ideas to market. Yesterday they unveiled a new type of music game and a game that has a cannon w/recoil that fires plastic balls at the screen as you destroy castles and such. They also are bringing Darius Burst Another Chronicle to the US which is a downright amazing game by all accounts I've heard so far (the game was made to bring 30-40 yr old players back to the arcade).

Here's a video of that one being played in the UK:



I think if we saw more unique stuff like this we'd be in a better position. But either way, the best way for the arcade to survive is using new games, usually with some other attraction tied to it.
 
I'm one of the owners at Ground Kontrol in Portland, OR.

(pics)
https://picasaweb.google.com/claycowgill/GroundKontrol30Remodel?authuser=0&feat=directlink

(website)
http://www.groundkontrol.com

I think it would be hard to pull off a straight-up old school arcade now-a-days (at least in most markets). We're also a bar which makes it a viable business model for us.

Sadly, "classic" games are fondly remembered, but generally don't earn very well. We always tried to keep at least 20 of the VAPS most collected on the floor but more and more they've been pushed off due to poor earnings. (our list of 'retired' games is a who's who of collectibles-- Defender, Sinistar, Xevious, Phoenix, Crazy Climber, GORF, Missile Command, Star Trek, Stargate, Space Duel, Battlezone, Spy Hunter, etc.)

One thing to keep in mind too is that we children of the 80's are starting to transition out of the peak "go out multiple times a week" demographic. Our audience has never really changed and is heavily populated by 20-30 somethings-- but the "classic" games of 30-somethings today are more and more what I would have referred to as "JAMMA junk" in my early collecting days. ;-)

It helps a lot to have another job that pays your bills-- we literally didn't make any money for the first 5+ years we were in business, but since all us owners at GK have "real" jobs for income we could afford to operate on a shoestring and put in a lot of sweat equity to turn it in to something that does finally make money (albeit half a decade later). I think you need to own all your equipment, do all your own repairs, and be willing to sink a lot of time in to be successful. As soon as you start paying other people to do maintenance or splits you just bleed cash like crazy. You really need to get a good lease and make sure you have at least six months worth of operating capital (cash) on hand-- things can start pretty slow. NEVER carry any debt and make sure you can self finance if need be if business slows.

For most people they'd probably be better off buying a Yogurt franchise or something instead and then put a few games in the corner for fun. ;-)

-Clay

I'm doing a trip up to Portland at the end of this month with the sole purpose of going to Ground Kontrol. Hopefully there are still a few classics there for me to dump a few coins into? If not, there's always the bar I guess...
 
I'm doing a trip up to Portland at the end of this month with the sole purpose of going to Ground Kontrol. Hopefully there are still a few classics there for me to dump a few coins into? If not, there's always the bar I guess...

Hey, if you're up on the 5th, you'll see Keith Apicary and MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
 
Thanks guys. How is this?

60% redemption games (Blasphemy, I know.)
20% newer games
10% 90s games
10% 70s and 80s games

It's not my ideal arcade, but it would be successful, right? Assuming that I have a good location that is. Or would redemption games not even be needed as long as I have newer fighters/shooters/dancing/etc?
 
Thanks guys. How is this?

60% redemption games (Blasphemy, I know.)
20% newer games
10% 90s games
10% 70s and 80s games

It's not my ideal arcade, but it would be successful, right? Assuming that I have a good location that is. Or would redemption games not even be needed as long as I have newer fighters/shooters/dancing/etc?

I think that would work ok, although you could probably do fine with 15% 90s games, 25% new games, 55% redemption. Or you could supplement redemption with some other kind of attraction - some places use a bar or laser tag, batting cages or what's starting to really gain traction right now are 3D/4D/5D theater rides. Those make huge money from the numbers I've heard thrown around. But they are very pricey to begin with. Also "Instant Prize redemption" games like BarberCut Lite, KeyMaster, Stacker, Winners Cube, etc. have been growing in popularity as an alternative to straight ticket redemption. But you won't fill an arcade with them.

With classic games some of them can do ok - if they have a name attached to them that people still recognize. My TMNT does all-right every week as does the Street Fighter 2. Asteroids Deluxe draws some attention thanks to the vector monitor. And I just added a Pac-Man Battle Royale which has been doing pretty nicely so far, although it's new with the classic type play on it. For that same reason I'm interested in the new Sea Wolf game that's been out there for a couple of years. But I have a Crystal Castles which maybe makes $2 a week, same thing with my Warlords cocktail.

That Darius Burst game looks sweet.

I haven't had a chance to play it myself yet but it's piqued my interest in shmups again. I can't get into the bullet hell shooters out there but something like this I can get behind. Aside from the dual monitors one aspect reviews seem to rave about is the sound system. That and playing a game like this with 4 people is probably pretty cool.
 
PinballDirec owns a classic arcade with vids, pins and some redemption, plus an outdoor RC car track.
 
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