idea for an arcade cooperative

kstillin

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How do you think this would fly?

I realize that I'll never have the space to have all the games that I'd like to play. I wouldn't want to pay for electricity, storage, acquisition, maintenance, etc.

I've already got several games that are cool to have, but don't get much play. Faced with finding more storage space where they can still be played, I'm thinking "why am I hoarding all this stuff?".

What if I could get some like-minded individuals from nearby and set up some kind of arcade cooperative? That is, for the mutual benefit of the 'members', have some place to keep our games up and running, or store broken games until they can be repaired, share workspace for testing, repair, woodworking, painting, etc.

I was thinking that if nobody is too set on making a buck out of the venture, it wouldn't take many people to fund something like this. Kind of like a hackerspace for games. You could even allow the public in (maybe) for a fee or temporary 'membership'.

It would be nice to have an arcade-type atmosphere where people who love games could keep them and not have to sell them when their garage fills up or their interests change.

It could also prevent the destruction of some and the MAMEing or multi-conversion of them.

I'm not even sure if there is enough interest around my area for something like this to fly. Curious about what some of you think and what kind of size scale would make it work. It would have to be set up somehow to avoid 'tax stickers' for operation. I don't think most guys would want a $250 tax just to have their machines playable in some non-profit or not-for-profit environment.

It would beat selling off games for space/lack of interest.

Kerry
 
I think it would work more as a membership club.. problem is finding a
space that would work for a reasonable amount of money and conviencing
people it souldnt just be a storage locker or filled with non workinbg junk
games. Most people want to keep they working games they enjoy in their
homes. I dont know a whole lot of people who hold onto games they are
no longer interested in for the benefit of others. Sure a couple visitor games.. but in general, no. I personally would rather redeploy those funds to other games I desire as my tastes change.

IMHO people would have to live nearby to make it worth it. If I gotta drive
45+ mins to a club it isnt going to happen.
 
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=263439

The Game Preserve is exactly that. We started off as a coop and decided to try marketing it using the health club model. Everybody gets a health club membership because nobody has the money to buy or room for a treadmill, stairmaster, elliptical, weights, dance room, etc. etc, etc. Same with games. We each only have a few because of money, time and space. Three of us pooled our resources and found an office/warehouse space to lease, filled it with games and we will be offereing memberships starting at the grand opening on Saturday. Interested in a franchise? ;)

ken
 
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=263439

The Game Preserve is exactly that. We started off as a coop and decided to try marketing it using the health club model. Everybody gets a health club membership because nobody has the money to buy or room for a treadmill, stairmaster, elliptical, weights, dance room, etc. etc, etc. Same with games. We each only have a few because of money, time and space. Three of us pooled our resources and found an office/warehouse space to lease, filled it with games and we will be offereing memberships starting at the grand opening on Saturday. Interested in a franchise? ;)

ken

Too bad people do not typically set their New Year's resolutions to "play more arcade games!"
 
Too bad people do not typically set their New Year's resolutions to "play more arcade games!"

Not true, i almost got outta this hobby last year cause of some personal issues so this year my resolution is to play more games, its my only resolution btw.
 
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=263439

The Game Preserve is exactly that. We started off as a coop and decided to try marketing it using the health club model. Everybody gets a health club membership because nobody has the money to buy or room for a treadmill, stairmaster, elliptical, weights, dance room, etc. etc, etc. Same with games. We each only have a few because of money, time and space. Three of us pooled our resources and found an office/warehouse space to lease, filled it with games and we will be offereing memberships starting at the grand opening on Saturday. Interested in a franchise? ;)

ken

Yep- this is the kind of thing I'm thinking about.

The only other guy with 10 or more games that I know of has moved away. I know of one friend with about 5 games, and a couple more that like games, but aren't too interested in owning them anymore. A couple more guys that live a little farther out, and a couple guys that own one or more games.
I don't want people to think that I'm only trying to fund my expenses- I want many people to benefit. Maybe I'll throw out a feeler on Craigslist.
 
Heh, I was talking about this same sorta thing with some friends a while ago. Basically, a hackerspace with arcade games. My friend was saying how awesome it'd be, so you could bring women back to your house and not have a basement full of arcade games. ;) And so the guys that are getting married don't have to sell off all their arcade games. :p

DogP
 
Kind of a Church? Non-Profit 501C!

1st Holy Church of the Divine Raster

So your a non-profit, you take donations for admittance. There is refreshments. You should have all the same tax protections.

The food Coop's require you to work a certain number of hours in order to purchase food, the same would work that you need to have at least one classic game in order to come play for free. You also need to work at the Coop a minimum number of hours per month in either repair, customer service, or marketing in order to stay a member.

I think if you focused on the Target Market heavily (30-50) adult males... it could be successful in the Houston area. How many churches are in the Houston area? Their should be room in the market for one church of the Arcade..

Just a thought.
 
We have discussed this in my area a few times. They problem has always been the one dreamer who thinks this is a money making scheme and kills the dream. I would love to move my games away from my current storage area to somewhere that I can group them with others.
 
Yeah, I donno about taking an ad out on Craigslist looking for partners in this. I think the only way it would work is if the people you go in with are really close to you and you completely understand each other.

Would suck to walk in the second week its up and running and Craigslist partner is rubbing his junk all over your NOS Tron Joystick, or some fucked up shit like that.

Just a simple misunderstanding or lack of respect for each other will make shit go down hill quickly.
 
You wouldn't need the tax stamp if the games were on free play and you charged a flat admission fee. But then you would have to pay an admissions tax. But that actually would come out much cheaper.
 
Heh, I was talking about this same sorta thing with some friends a while ago. Basically, a hackerspace with arcade games. My friend was saying how awesome it'd be, so you could bring women back to your house and not have a basement full of arcade games. ;) And so the guys that are getting married don't have to sell off all their arcade games. :p

DogP

If you are pressured to sell your games because you are getting married then you are marrying the wrong person.
 
my woman just accepts it,i only started collecting a few years and weve been together for 23 years.Its a hobby and it keeps me busy and happy so shes happy.
 
look for a location that is not in a bad area but is otherwise undesirable. like say a space where the only entrance is on the back side of a shopping center. Went to a gaming shop like this (think dungeons and dragons) that had a back room that could hold probably 400 games set up to play and still have space. I know this shop doesn't generate the kind of money to rent that large a space so they are clearly getting low rent due to being almost impossible to find. I'd imagine a small group could rent this type of place for a pretty reasonable cost to each person.
 
I collected for years and basically didn't date much that whole time.

Then I sold the collection, dated a few hot young things (somehow, I still don't know why fit 19 year old girls would ever date fat 30 year old guys, but there were 2 of them) before finally sealing the deal with a good woman my own age (well, 2 years younger).

Since I got married I have gone from the one cabinet I didn't sell 6 years ago to 23 in the gameroom, 3 in my sister's garage, 5 under a tarp under the carport, and 3 in the shed.

Really the only ones I hear any grief over are the carport tarp ones.
 
I am bumping this thread up because I am strongly considering doing something like this. I have too many games at others homes and space restrictions are keeping me from buying the few additional games I want. I have discussed this with local collectors and one is very enthusiastic about going in with me. Others were not very interested but I seriously think the two of us can make a great place to visit and work on games.

My game list is somewhat odd but his games are more common so that is a major plus.

Here is my current plan:

Fill much of the space with my games and the other participants' games. Working games will be arranged in rows and set up for play. Non-working games will go into a segregated corner to be worked on. There will be one designated work space for electrical and other "clean" work while I want woodworking, painting, and other dirty work to be performed in a separate area.

I currently have no real plan to make it open to the public, maybe for special events but certainly not daily. We'll decorate as we see fit. This will be a huge step up from my current location which is honestly pretty bad ass. The place I currently have in mind is in an industrial park well off the beaten path and far enough away from neighborhoods that I shouldn't have issues with vandalism.
 
I started this in Tallahassee a year ago. It's going really strong (in fact we're currently moving into a larger space). It's all about having good people involved and an interest to promote the hobby rather than lining your pockets.

In addition to the workshop and membership element, we hold two open houses every month that coincide with the art district we're located in. All working games are on freeplay and we let people come in and have fun and experience pinball and arcade gaming.

Check out our website at http://arcadeage.com
 
how is it even possible to cover rent? I'm not sure I could afford any membership prices that are high. I'd love something like this but there are only 5-6 other collectors that are only 15 minutes or less from my highly dense south bay area. Most of us with large collections probably also like the idea of having that gaming space part of our home.
 
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