A buddy of mine and his girlfriend come over each week to have some drinks and BS. One day I made them play my Tempest against each other, but they didn't quite "get it". So I made them play more. It was fun because they were competing against each other, so the score didn't matter as long as they beat each other. As they learned how to play though, I found them playing it more and more. Now when they come over, the first thing they want to do it play Tempest, either against each other, or just by themselves. The girl is really hooked. I use quarters in my arcade and have them for the games, but I was joking around with her and said I was out of quarters. So she went to her purse and got her own quarter. Cha-Ching!
I would say KEEP this classic Atari Color Vector in your arcade, and have a free giveaway each week to the highest score on Tempest. Each week a new winner.
I know that I would have never played an Armor Attack cocktail with my buddy back in the day as much as we did if there wasn't a contest on it. Yeah, we won the Doubles Compitition and took home $10 ($5 each!). They were smart to give us kids cold hard cash, in the form of quarters no less, than something real like a hotdog and a coke. They knew would just put them back into the machines. Which we did.
Create some excitement around Tempest and get people to play it. Tell them how lucky they are to be playing a real color vector. Make sure they can see the side art as well. Once they're hooked, they will pay and play it alot. Maybe put 10 free credits on it everyday for a week. Or just put it on free play for a whole day.
There is a reason Tempest was a money maker for OP's back in the day, even though only a select few were even playing it. Because they were hooked.
Another reason Tempest may not be as "popular" is because alot of the time they were "out of order".
Every real arcade needs a Tempest.
