Putting machines back into service.

dethfactor

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So I had a long conversation with a local game store owner (think dungeons and dragons) about him needing some arcades in his shop. I've been sorta kicking around the idea of putting some of my newer/jamma games back into service, like the d&d:tod I have.
I figured a couple of you out there might've operated something before and I was wondering if you have any tips. Like what to expect, how should I license the machines, what's a good profit split, etc. I think any generally good info would be appreciated. I think I'd be happy if I can get the machines out of my room and bring me like $5/$10 a month, not looking for much.

Thanks!
 
Funny, I actually am working on getting a friend a Golden Tee and Big Buck Hunter for his brick and mortar shop. It would be cool if places started carrying old games for .25 a play. I bet people would play them. Sure they wouldn't RAKE in cash, but if you had bought a machine cheap and fixed it up, why not make some from it?
 
A good way to make locations happy about knowing you're not scarfing quarters is to put a lock bar on it and make them put a lock on it. That way neither of you can get to the cash without the other party there watching to make sure. Realistically, if you think a game is going to pull in $5/$10 a month than you are probably not going to have a game on location long. As the owner of a location my power bill is going to be hurting by more than that after running those huge CRTs and old power supplies. Games need to be pulling in at least $50 a month in my opinion to make it worth while for me to even go out and empty the coin box.
 
A good way to make locations happy about knowing you're not scarfing quarters is to put a lock bar on it and make them put a lock on it. That way neither of you can get to the cash without the other party there watching to make sure. Realistically, if you think a game is going to pull in $5/$10 a month than you are probably not going to have a game on location long. As the owner of a location my power bill is going to be hurting by more than that after running those huge CRTs and old power supplies. Games need to be pulling in at least $50 a month in my opinion to make it worth while for me to even go out and empty the coin box.

Most of the games I'd be putting up would be slightly newer with switching supplies but I'm sure the CRTs will draw some juice. Were thinking the arcades will be more of a novelty and something to keep customers there and buying more of his product. Does anyone have a recommendation on what to charge? In the current economy should I start off at .25 or .50?
 
The power cost is not big issue. Assuming the game draws 1.5 amps, at 120volts, then the game is running at 180Watts. Now, assuming you are at the top, most expensive, tier of electricity pricing in the neighbourhood of 40 cents a kWh. the cost per hour to operate the game is 7.2 cents. Assuming the game is on for 12 hours, that cost is about 86 cents per day.

If you have cheaper rates (more than likely), then it's less than that.

Cheers,
Mike

PS:

1.5X120=180Watts
180/1000 = .18kWatts
0.18X.40=0.072dollars
0.072X12=0.862dollars
 
Most of the games I'd be putting up would be slightly newer with switching supplies but I'm sure the CRTs will draw some juice. Were thinking the arcades will be more of a novelty and something to keep customers there and buying more of his product. Does anyone have a recommendation on what to charge? In the current economy should I start off at .25 or .50?


I have a few games on location in a local gaming store (classic console games) and there is a role-playing store nearby. The D&D game did get quite a bit of play early on, but after "beating" it the D&D guys lost interest. We priced all games at $0.25 except for the ones that would not allow us to set them this low. Most games (there are about 25 there) bring in $10 or less a month. Some of the real stinkers (Karate Champ, Galaxian, Rtype) bring in less than a dollar a month.
 
Most of the games I'd be putting up would be slightly newer with switching supplies but I'm sure the CRTs will draw some juice. Were thinking the arcades will be more of a novelty and something to keep customers there and buying more of his product. Does anyone have a recommendation on what to charge? In the current economy should I start off at .25 or .50?

If the objective is more to bring people in the door or keep them around than to make money on the machines, you probably want to set it at .25. That'll likely get you more traffic. In this case, if he's more into it for the traffic, rather than for making money on the machines, you might want to think about balancing the split in your favor, as he's getting the traffic.

If, on the other hand, you both want to make a buck or two off the machines, then you should probably start with .50. That'll give less plays, but a more even split will be easier to take, and you can always lower it later.

Be careful about local laws - if you are charging money for the games then there are probably local regulations and licensing that has to be followed. Since they are your machines, you are probably the one that has to take of all that.

If the objective is mostly to get traffic in the place, you might want to consider putting them on free play and having your friend give you a few bucks every month under the table. You'll probably have a lot less licensing & tax hassles, but your friend won't be making anything directly off the machines.
 
Go for the popular titles like Pac, Ms Pac, Galaga, Space Invaders, and so on. Kids now a days know who Pac Man is and their parents will of course too and likely stop and play.
 
I've done this recently, for a local pizza shop owner. I repaired / reconditioned 8 machines for him to place on location for casual foot traffic coming and going from the pizzeria.

The number 1 A numero UNO thing to keep in mind here is that NO ONE'S going to make any money on this. You will be placing these machines for nostalgic purposes only. Yes, you will take in some quarters. No, you will not take in enough to make it worth anyone's time.

I've had 7 machines on location for 4 months now (Cenipede, Ms Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers, Mortal Kombat, Tetris, and a Neo Geo 1 slot running League Bowling) and none of them are breaking even. Ms Pac Man and Donkey Kong are close. I've already done the math on the electricity they use (they're all on approx 12 hrs per day) and it's a losing battle for sure.

But the owner is continuing to get compliments every day from patrons who LOVE the fact that there classic games there. He mentions this to me all the time. It's for that fact alone that we continue to leave them there. It's good PR for his customers. Plus he and I both want to keep classic machines out there. I have my own dedictaed machines in my house and I STILL put quarters in his Ms Pac Man every time I visit. It's like paying homage.

The OMG Pizza thread


There used to be lots of concern about machines taking a beating when they were on location in the field. There may be some of that going on in bars and the like, but I can tell you that in my case the machines I have at the pizza shop have not seen any abuse at all. But then again I'm in a small town and it's doubtful that would be vandals would waste time wrecking these machines. Besides, they probably have some more meth to cook up or deer to poach. But I shouldn't say that, since it would be stereotypical, right? :D
 
Collector Games on Location

I have operated amusements games, as an LLC, for the last 3 years, but have collected & traded games for 35+ years. I will share some thoughts on small scale game placement. 50/50 is a normal split, but if earnings are low the game operator often sets a minimum required before the split kicks in. I have set games on free play at a Dr.'s office & office paid $2/day; not bad for a classic Pac Man or DK. I would advise you check with local governments for required permits or business property taxes. Many municipalities have no requirements, however, with others the cost may make game placement impractical & you do not want to get caught in violation. With many contracts, permit and tax costs are split with the location. I have found vandalism and abuse to be minimal, if games are clean, attractive and in plain site of customers and staff. When I was selling games for home use, the best arrangement was to place them at an antique store or flea market. Owner would get 10% of the sale and split any quarters collected when games were tried/played. Also, consider placing somewhat newer games that will cost more and earn more, pay for themselves, and become future classics for your collection. (That's the story I used on my wife for years!!!) Good luck & if you have other questions, I will try to answer them here.
 
I have operated amusements games, as an LLC, for the last 3 years, but have collected & traded games for 35+ years. I will share some thoughts on small scale game placement. 50/50 is a normal split, but if earnings are low the game operator often sets a minimum required before the split kicks in. I have set games on free play at a Dr.'s office & office paid $2/day; not bad for a classic Pac Man or DK. I would advise you check with local governments for required permits or business property taxes. Many municipalities have no requirements, however, with others the cost may make game placement impractical & you do not want to get caught in violation. With many contracts, permit and tax costs are split with the location. I have found vandalism and abuse to be minimal, if games are clean, attractive and in plain site of customers and staff. When I was selling games for home use, the best arrangement was to place them at an antique store or flea market. Owner would get 10% of the sale and split any quarters collected when games were tried/played. Also, consider placing somewhat newer games that will cost more and earn more, pay for themselves, and become future classics for your collection. (That's the story I used on my wife for years!!!) Good luck & if you have other questions, I will try to answer them here.

Thanks for the informative reply denny as well as everyone else. I've been awfully busy and haven't had the time/energy to look into the local government to get the info I need to make these arrangements. I'll post here once I do. Thanks again.
 
I actually want to professionally operate one day, and one big impression I get is that the coin-op industry as a whole needs to modernize. I could rant about inferior game hardware all day, but the relevant point here is: people don't carry quarters around anymore, and spending money is rarely carried in cash, so traditional change machines are out too. Think plastic -- credit cards.

Obviously, that's a daunting approach for one guy placing a couple machines at one location, but the technology is out there -- PepsiAmericas is already doing just that with their vending machines, using these cute little swipers that look like they'd fit nicely in a DBV slot. I think it's worth researching -- if people can pay with their Visas, they're a hell of a lot more likely to play.

-E- Denny -- where did you get your funding? Did you just amass a collection with a day job's wages, then start placing machines and buy newer machines with the proceeds? Or did you get a loan / investment somewhere?
 
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Here in Washington state the owner of the machine must pay state sales tax on the revenue from the machine each collection period. Some cities/counties have license requirements for the machines too. The state licenses anything redemption related because they consider redemption machines gambling devices.
 
Games On Location

I actually want to professionally operate one day, and one big impression I get is that the coin-op industry as a whole needs to modernize. I could rant about inferior game hardware all day, but the relevant point here is: people don't carry quarters around anymore, and spending money is rarely carried in cash, so traditional change machines are out too. Think plastic -- credit cards.

Obviously, that's a daunting approach for one guy placing a couple machines at one location, but the technology is out there -- PepsiAmericas is already doing just that with their vending machines, using these cute little swipers that look like they'd fit nicely in a DBV slot. I think it's worth researching -- if people can pay with their Visas, they're a hell of a lot more likely to play.

-E- Denny -- where did you get your funding? Did you just amass a collection with a day job's wages, then start placing machines and buy newer machines with the proceeds? Or did you get a loan / investment somewhere?

Credit card pay is common with some OEMs. Touctunes has credit card readers, requiring a minimum purchase of $5 worth of music. ITS offers credit card pay on their "Live" games, Golden Tee, Silver Strike, etc. All such arrangements require an internet connection and the OEM requires access to one of your bank accounts so they can automatically deposit the CC pay and take out the charges for the CC transactions. OK for high traffic equipment.

My game room/collection (dozen pins, shuffleboard & a few classic vids) is separate from business games on location. Games need to be selected to fit the location; a sports bar may have a pool table, on line juke, and a Megatouch on the bar. With that base, you can add a classic vid or multi-game, gun game, or sports game, like Golden Tee or darts. I shop for most games after picking up a new location. Careful shopping and great locations can repay your investment in 2 to 5 years. Not a get rich quick plan, like in the 80s, when a PacMan may fail due to coins overflowing and shorting power connections in the cabinet bottom!!
 
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