Money Maker?

saturnkk

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What game holds the record for most units sold?

Is there any research or estimate on which arcade game has made the most money (not including licensing and adjusted for inflation)? I would guess Ms Pac Man or Galaga since they have seemed to stay relevent the longest..?

Adjusted for inflation, what single upright arcade game cost the most to make?

...just curious if anyone happends to know any of this...

Thanks
 
I would say Pac man easily - i recently read that Back then (83) it was a billion dollar franchise. I think by 83 they had sold 100,000 units (at 3k per pop?) which alone is 300 million, then you have the merchandising, tv shows, and spin offs (as you mentioned Ms Pac!). Easily billion dollars + (before 84 - who knows how its held up since then).
 
I would say Pac man easily - i recently read that Back then (83) it was a billion dollar franchise. I think by 83 they had sold 100,000 units (at 3k per pop?) which alone is 300 million, then you have the merchandising, tv shows, and spin offs (as you mentioned Ms Pac!). Easily billion dollars + (before 84 - who knows how its held up since then).

I wasn't counting licensing and spin-off games otherwise you are probably right on that.
 
I remember reading an article a while back stating Golden Tee took the crown from Pacman.
 
I remember reading an article a while back stating Golden Tee took the crown from Pacman.

Maybe Golden Tee as a franchise, but one specific edition Golden Tee selling more than Pacman? I would bet on no.
 
What game holds the record for most units sold?

Is there any research or estimate on which arcade game has made the most money (not including licensing and adjusted for inflation)? I would guess Ms Pac Man or Galaga since they have seemed to stay relevent the longest..?

Adjusted for inflation, what single upright arcade game cost the most to make?

...just curious if anyone happends to know any of this...

Thanks

Money made for the manufacturer, or for the operators? I don't know either one, but I'm guessing they aren't identical.
 
Boomshackalacka!

That production number page seems to have omitted the rest of the Donkey Kong numbers (only lists Red), which I have read is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80,000 total units between Sr. and Jr. 60,000 of which were originally dedicated Donkey Kong (Sr.) Although Pac and MsPac handily take the production number crown regardless (I'd also note that PCB numbers do not equal cabinet numbers, as this page seems to imply by stating that bootlegs would double the numbers on Pac and MsPac - I know 50% of the Ms/Pac's I've seen sure weren't bootleg CABINETS, lol).

On the topic of earnings, this little quote from a developer interview has always stuck in my mind :
"NBA Jam is the crown jewel of coin-op,
still holding the world record for most money earned
at one location in a single week ($2,468)."
 
I could easily believe that Golden Tee surpassed Pac Man. In the early to mid 2000s, you could hardly find a bar that didn't have at least one or two.
 
I could easily believe that Golden Tee surpassed Pac Man. In the early to mid 2000s, you could hardly find a bar that didn't have at least one or two.

You forget that not only was there a Pacman in every bar back in the early 80's, but there was one in every pizza joint, grocery store, corner store, mini market, arcade, etc......

I do agree that Golden Tee was big and still is. But it is like saying "Madden" has sold a billion copies......there was a new Golden Tee that came out every year. Not one of them by themselves ever came close to 100,000 units sold.

http://www.goldentee.com/gt/GT/TheGame/WhatIsGT/
 
I heard a while back (not sure where from) that Pac-Man (and Ms. Pac) were the top-earners until Street Fighter II came out. And apparently, SFII only made more money because it was one of the first commonly available game to charge $.50 per play (where Pac was only $.25). Seemed to make sense to me, not sure if it's valid information.
 
I could easily believe that Golden Tee surpassed Pac Man. In the early to mid 2000s, you could hardly find a bar that didn't have at least one or two.

Pac-Man cost 25 cents to play one game. GT costs $3 to complete a game. Do the math.

This is like those who say Avatar made the most domestic money of all movies. And it did. But Gone With The Wind sold more tickets, and adjusted for inflation blows Avatar out of the water.

Always makes me mad when people say something like "highest grossing" song or movie. Duh. Other more popular ones only cost half as much back then.... :rolleyes:
 
I heard a while back (not sure where from) that Pac-Man (and Ms. Pac) were the top-earners until Street Fighter II came out. And apparently, SFII only made more money because it was one of the first commonly available game to charge $.50 per play (where Pac was only $.25). Seemed to make sense to me, not sure if it's valid information.

But now your talking highest grossing, and that is Daytona USA by a long shot.

OP was talking about most units sold.
 
Does anyone have numbers for the more modern games like the Mortal Kombat series and Neo-Geo (cabinets).
 
Pac-Man cost 25 cents to play one game. GT costs $3 to complete a game. Do the math.

This is like those who say Avatar made the most domestic money of all movies. And it did. But Gone With The Wind sold more tickets, and adjusted for inflation blows Avatar out of the water.

Always makes me mad when people say something like "highest grossing" song or movie. Duh. Other more popular ones only cost half as much back then.... :rolleyes:

You got me thinking about what gone with the wind earned worldwide. GWW earned $198m domestic, $201m foreign. adjusted for inflation, thats $3.259 billion! avatar made $2.782 billion worldwide.

as for video games, Its hard to beat pac series. 30 years of $.25 and people still operate it..
 
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Judging by series or licensing isn't a fair comparison (unless you want overall license value in which Mario rights may be the top). I was strictly askin on a single unit (e.g. Pac Man vs. Donkey Kong or Galaga vs. SF II or even Pac Man vs Ms Pac Man...)
 
I'd probably say Ms. Pac would be close, since they made over 100,000 units. Don't know of many that did more than that...
 
I seem to recall an article that listed the top arcade video games by number of cabinets sold. IIRC, the top 2 were Ms Pacman at 172,000 units and Pac Man at 156,000 units. It dropped off pretty rapidly after that. Those were US sales. A rather suspect list is available on Wikipedia that shows some very skewed numbers because of sales in Japan:

Space Invaders was huge in Japan before it was exported to the US. There was a report that the Japanese mint had to go to 24 hour production of the 100 yen coin because so many were being used to play Space Invaders.

ken

Edit: The reason I think the list is suspect is that Joust, Robotron and Stargate each sold over 20,000 units and are not listed.
 
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