Original retail of arcade machines?

Rich Warren

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I have an idea for a board game where buying arcade machines is involved in the year 1981. I've been doing a lot of googling but can't get any information on what machines originally retailed for back in the day. I'm not necessarily looking for an exact dollar amount but a believable figure. I also don't need an exact price for any specific machine but a range, that is, a top selling figure,a mid-range game price and finally a not so popular one. Defender, I would imagine, would cost more than buying Congorilla...as Defender was new and popular and made money where Congorilla was a Donkey Kong wanna be. (I would think anyway)

Anyone out there able to help me out?
 
I believe new games generally ran $2000 to $3000 during the classic era. Some flyers even have prices on them.
 
A twin Virtual On retailed for 8000. Crazy, but not as crazy as prices for new games these days...
 
I think I might totally retheme Martin Wallace's Automobile. Other than the prices being weird, everything else fits! XD
 
Here ya go. I got these prices from an ad in a Dec 1981 Play Meter magazine.

Sprint 2 $995
Crazy Climber(new) $1995
Phoenix(new) $2495
Space Panic(new) $1995
Stratovox $1595

Another ad Space Odyssey $2595 Another ad Sonic Cherry Bell(pinballs)
Defender $2575 Brand New in Carton $345 each
Battle Zone $1295 ($325 in lots of 5 or more)
Space Wars $695
 
Here ya go. I got these prices from an ad in a Dec 1981 Play Meter magazine.

Sprint 2 $995
Crazy Climber(new) $1995
Phoenix(new) $2495
Space Panic(new) $1995
Stratovox $1595

Another ad Space Odyssey $2595 Another ad Sonic Cherry Bell(pinballs)
Defender $2575 Brand New in Carton $345 each
Battle Zone $1295 ($325 in lots of 5 or more)
Space Wars $695


:eek: 2K for a Space Panic?? OUCH!
 
Anyone know how much the Neo Geo MVS sold for? I know the OP was asking about 80's games, but I'm very interested about this because I heard they sold 400,000 of them worldwide. I'm guessing they sold them basically at cost and made all their money on the games. A quote in Retro Gamer's history of Neo Geo stated that they cost "less than half that of a conventional cabinet" but I find that very hard to believe.
 
A quote in Retro Gamer's history of Neo Geo stated that they cost "less than half that of a conventional cabinet" but I find that very hard to believe.

That wouldn't surprise me, especially if you're talking a newer Neo Geo. The MVS hardware was using very inexpensive chips by the end of its run, i.e. it was still using a 68000 and a Z80 during a time when most everyone else was using the latest 3D PC- or console-based hardware. Plus the games themselves weren't necessarily included, so that's a chunk of IP and memory that you don't have to pay for. And arcade cabinets aren't exactly examples of fine cabinetry work; they are mass-produced from manufactured boards that are glued/screwed/stapled together (no precise joinery here). I could see selling one for say $1,500 at a time when a new e.g. Killer Instinct or Tekken might have cost twice that much (or more).
 
Good point, MaximRecoil. Although I know Killer Instinct had a rather expensive harddrive for the time so it was probably a good $4-5k even back then... but I could see the MVS selling for $2000-2500 or so.

What do games sell for today? After some googling, bmigaming.com (a coin-op distributor) has most of their prices on their site: Big Buck World ($4975), H2Overdrive ($7475), Pacman Battle Royale ($4275 for cocktail version, $11375 upright deluxe version), Fruit Ninja ($7875), Virtua Tennis 4 ($5675), Frightfearland ($8475), Sea Wolf The Next Mission ($4375 upright, $7375 sitdown), Terminator Salvation ($8575), Super Bikes 2 ($7875).

Very surprising price on the cocktail Pacman Battle Royale. No wonder it's only set to 25 cents at my local barcade.
 
Ack. Very little hope of ever recovering your investment on those.

Good point, MaximRecoil. Although I know Killer Instinct had a rather expensive harddrive for the time so it was probably a good $4-5k even back then... but I could see the MVS selling for $2000-2500 or so.

What do games sell for today? After some googling, bmigaming.com (a coin-op distributor) has most of their prices on their site: Big Buck World ($4975), H2Overdrive ($7475), Pacman Battle Royale ($4275 for cocktail version, $11375 upright deluxe version), Fruit Ninja ($7875), Virtua Tennis 4 ($5675), Frightfearland ($8475), Sea Wolf The Next Mission ($4375 upright, $7375 sitdown), Terminator Salvation ($8575), Super Bikes 2 ($7875).

Very surprising price on the cocktail Pacman Battle Royale. No wonder it's only set to 25 cents at my local barcade.
 
The first thing that comes to my mind would be a Monopoly game. I would call it (Golden Age of Arcades) :)

I have an idea for a board game where buying arcade machines is involved in the year 1981. I've been doing a lot of googling but can't get any information on what machines originally retailed for back in the day. I'm not necessarily looking for an exact dollar amount but a believable figure. I also don't need an exact price for any specific machine but a range, that is, a top selling figure,a mid-range game price and finally a not so popular one. Defender, I would imagine, would cost more than buying Congorilla...as Defender was new and popular and made money where Congorilla was a Donkey Kong wanna be. (I would think anyway)

Anyone out there able to help me out?
 
Ack. Very little hope of ever recovering your investment on those.

Fruit Ninja was doing really good business at Dave and Busters. Since it's a ticket spitter they can get away with charging over $1 to play it with only a 60 second playtime. Infinity Blade, however, was hidden away and really shouldn't have been a redemption game in my opinion. And of course racers and lightgun games always do pretty well, even if they're only so-so games.
 
Fruit Ninja was doing really good business at Dave and Busters. Since it's a ticket spitter they can get away with charging over $1 to play it with only a 60 second playtime. Infinity Blade, however, was hidden away and really shouldn't have been a redemption game in my opinion. And of course racers and lightgun games always do pretty well, even if they're only so-so games.

Infinity Blade was doing very well when I went to the one in Cleveland. I played it at least 25 times and usually had to wait in line. It was in the middle of the place and seemed to draw a crowd.
 
Infinity Blade was doing very well when I went to the one in Cleveland. I played it at least 25 times and usually had to wait in line. It was in the middle of the place and seemed to draw a crowd.

Must've been the placement then. They had 3 Fruit Ninjas right smack in the middle of the entrance, whereas Infinity Blade was literally facing a wall. I had to ask specifically for it in order to find it.
 
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