Would you rather bring friends to a classic arcade with 300 pinball machines or 300 classic video games?

Would you rather bring friends to a classic arcade w/ 300 pinball machines or 300 classic videogames


  • Total voters
    46
Yup... the question of one or another was specifically drafted to make the poll...and the follow-up thoughts interesting.

I'm loving the comments and discussion on these poll threads this week. I'm glad I have 'reply' turned on for these polls...

Besides the pin vs vid question, there are more and more comments and ancillary evidence that 90s games may be growing in popularity in general vs 80s games. I figure this is partly a generational shift... I'm sure an operator such as @DreamTR could expound.
It is. Most of the people from the 90s time period growing up are between 35-50. Peak earnings interest in their careers and they want to play 4 player NBA Jam, Turtles, Simpsons, MK games, Street Fighter, etc at locations with drinks. They don't have interest in the classics as much with the exception of the popular Ms Pac/Centipede/Dig Dug/Galaga/Donkey Kong/QBert top 30 type games.

I think it is cool to have scattered rare stuff (we do that) that rotate but the main focus these days to get everyone in would be 90s stuff and pinball.

Most of the people I would bet DO NOT frequent local arcades but have ideas of stuff they want to see. If you go to your local arcade less than once a month you are not the core audience they are looking for. The upkeep alone on the classics is illogical. Most places with classic museums (FunSpot) have other stuff to keep it afloat.

I go to a local here pretty often and support them. Easy $1500 spent there. I would say in the realm of 100x since they opened last October and I already have my own place which is a mega arcade like theirs. I think what people want other people to "have" and "see" but won't actually go there is a huge question mark IMO. For us we would have to ask everyone in Square. We tried asking people on our FB page and they ask for games that have been on the floor for many years already. Baffling.
 
Well I def fall right into that bracket you called out. But I can't stand TMNT or Simpsons games. That stuff is kinda well (insert politically INCORRECT slur here !) imo.

I stand by the "top 30 classics type games" as you put it, but for me its more like 50ish. Its all I need. TBH, I have tried most to all "rarer" games, and ehhhh, I don't have time for things that are not "that type of fun" for me. I have so much on my plate and I like running D&D campaigns too, playing deeper 4k consoles games, PC gaming +job, etc.. I have to streamline my fun and I love where I got it. I am sure I am not the only one like this. Right ? So with all due respect its just hard to justify hours of Pinball playing. lol Pinball to my crowd is indeed necessary BUT as I mentioned before, Pinball is the "breather" time from video games.

Like when you taking shots all day, you take a break to have a beer. Pinball is the beer to me. Arcade video games are the shots (the main drug).

I love what you said about supporting your local arcade. And absolutely commend you for doing yours so good ! Sadly where I am at, arcades all went away period long ago. My favorite one was The Cliff House underneath arcade area. That was DOPE !!! The next best was down on Fishermans Wharf.

But now - long gone, no replacements. And the arcades I can find within driving distance are just lame and too far. No one does it right anymore. These new-age *arcade* games suck. (IMO)
 
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It is. Most of the people from the 90s time period growing up are between 35-50. Peak earnings interest in their careers and they want to play 4 player NBA Jam, Turtles, Simpsons, MK games, Street Fighter, etc at locations with drinks. They don't have interest in the classics as much with the exception of the popular Ms Pac/Centipede/Dig Dug/Galaga/Donkey Kong/QBert top 30 type games.
I'd imagine being able to pick up a port of most arcade games to be played at home on any number of gaming consoles might sway arcades to be more popular than pins. Spend a few hours playing games at an arcade, hit up Blockbuster on the way home and play a ported version at home. Pretty fun times being able to play a game like Mortal Kombat across a dozen different platforms, too.
 
Blockbuster ? They went out of business 10+ years ago. So unless you also got the DeLorean up to 88mph to go there, you aint stopping by no blockbuster now-a-days. But damn, I do miss that place. Sadly they didn't rent porn, which is prob why they went out of business, as they were never risky enough. Mormon owned company I heard. To survive in this world you need to be raunchy and sexy. (I'm not supporting it, just speaking statistical truths).

But you know what - I took a side note thing to what you said. Think about this from the other direction. Pinball you can NOT port, ever. There is no console emulating a Pinball properly nor will there ever be, there will be no FPGA duplicating pinball either. Due to its mechanical nature and need of a physical ball rolling around over a huge area Pinball holds itself exclusive for eternity. I would say that this alone should have made it be a clear winner and the only reason a arcade could have should have stayed alive. Due to this Pinball actually should have been the savior of arcades and kept them alive.

But sadly, it was not enough. This is also proof that obviously Pinball just isn't as popular. Or it would have kept arcades alive.
 
Blockbuster ? They went out of business 10+ years ago. So unless you also got the DeLorean up to 88mph to go there, you aint stopping by no blockbuster now-a-days. But damn, I do miss that place. Sadly they didn't rent porn, which is prob why they went out of business, as they were never risky enough. Mormon owned company I heard. To survive in this world you need to be raunchy and sexy. (I'm not supporting it, just speaking statistical truths).

But you know what - I took a side note thing to what you said. Think about this from the other direction. Pinball you can NOT port, ever. There is no console emulating a Pinball properly nor will there ever be, there will be no FPGA duplicating pinball either. Due to its mechanical nature and need of a physical ball rolling around over a huge area Pinball holds itself exclusive for eternity. I would say that this alone should have made it be a clear winner and the only reason a arcade could have should have stayed alive. Due to this Pinball actually should have been the savior of arcades and kept them alive.

But sadly, it was not enough. This is also proof that obviously Pinball just isn't as popular. Or it would have kept arcades alive.
You are talking about 20+ years ago.

Arcades are alive and well. There are more arcades now than there were back then mainly because of the barcades, even with Covid shutting stuff down.

Honestly I think people don't pay attention to market values or anything related to arcade and pinball machines if they believe everything is dead and arcades aren't a thing anymore. They've been blowing up the past 10 years everywhere.

I mean christ, you just had Halloween sell out 1250 machines at $8000 a pop and Ultraman at 500 machines at same price. You have a multitude of pinball companies now and a shortage of machines with the crazy demand.

No offense but I don't think you are Mr. Current Affairs. LOL

Just because your area has issues (probably because you live in a place that makes it difficult for arcades to exist with archaic laws)

We have me (450 games), Game Terminal (300 games) Flashback Arcade (155 games), Up/Down, No Quarter, Pins Mechanical, Two Bits, Beercade HQ, and Kung Fu Saloon. I am the oldest at 13 years. Flashback is next at 7 or so. All of these are within 40 miles of where I live.
 
Yea, no, we don't here.. So in San Francisco (far from archaic) arcades do not exist. And have not sense they got chased out with the high prices back in about 1998'ish.

Here actually a lot of even popular big box stores don't exist either because to run that business here even with their profits is too high of rent per sq ft. In SF its all about $per square foot. Ironically written sf too ! haha. We do not have Walmarts like you guys do. Or any place of that size. Luckily on the adjacent towns we do have Home Depot and stuff like that though. Still, they all ran away from SF !

I'm jealous if what you say is true. And def no offense taken, but kinda back at you with a reverse twist... I think places outside of big cities (New York, SF, LA, etc..) are archaic. NOT here. BUT hear me out - Archaic is good ! Its the new age laws causing the problems. I prob could find 1 arcade 40min from here, but max 1 tiny one. lol And that's not my point anyway. If it aint here, then something is going on. The big box stores and arcades too I guess can survive much better in suburban areas or just where land/property is cheaper. We got a Dave and Busters and they got a arcade there but to me that is a food place that has a arcade in it, NOT a real arcade. We also got what you might call a arcade, its the Emporium something or other, but it is again, far from a real arcade. Its a bar mainly, fancy lame ass DJ's 2nd playing horrible music, and just the whole vibe is wrong. If you have to be 21 to enter a "arcade", then dude, that's not a arcade. Thats a bar/money pit masquerading as a arcade. ... I am talking about back in my day we used to have arcades and that's all they were. They could pay their entire staff and overhead and everything off the games alone. Thats a arcade. Show me those and then I'll say its still alive.

You sir are a god if you have 450 games that you own. Thats awesome ! You are the largest in the country probably ! lol Definitely you got more arcades than the entire California arcades combined ! Wow.
 
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Yea, no, we don't here.. So in San Francisco (far from archaic) arcades do not exist. And have not sense they got chased out with the high prices back in about 1998'ish.

Here actually a lot of even popular big box stores don't exist either because to run that business here even with their profits is too high of rent per sq ft. In SF its all about $per square foot. Ironically written sf too ! haha. We do not have Walmarts like you guys do. Or any place of that size. Luckily on the adjacent towns we do have Home Depot and stuff like that though. Still, they all ran away from SF !

I'm jealous if what you say is true. And def no offense taken, but kinda back at you with a reverse twist... I think places outside of big cities (New York, SF, LA, etc..) are archaic. NOT here. BUT hear me out - Archaic is good ! Its the new age laws causing the problems. I prob could find 1 arcade 40min from here, but max 1 tiny one. lol And that's not my point anyway. If it aint here, then something is going on. The big box stores and arcades too I guess can survive much better in suburban areas or just where land/property is cheaper. We got a Dave and Busters and they got a arcade there but to me that is a food place that has a arcade in it, NOT a real arcade. We also got what you might call a arcade, its the Emporium something or other, but it is again, far from a real arcade. Its a bar mainly, fancy lame ass DJ's 2nd playing horrible music, and just the whole vibe is wrong. If you have to be 21 to enter a "arcade", then dude, that's not a arcade. Thats a bar/money pit masquerading as a arcade. ... I am talking about back in my day we used to have arcades and that's all they were. They could pay their entire staff and overhead and everything off the games alone. Thats a arcade. Show me those and then I'll say its still alive.

You sir are a god if you have 450 games that you own. Thats awesome ! You are the largest in the country probably ! lol Definitely you got more arcades than the entire California arcades combined ! Wow.
The arcade I have is probably 3rd-4th in the country in terms of physical games to play. Funspot and Galloping Ghost have more to play than I do. I have another 250 games ready to go in storage but my location is not big enough to support it.

The laws you guys have restrict arcades and pinball machines as if they bring in riff raff.
There is a pinball place in San Fran called Gold Watch I thought...so you may just not be looking in the right places....
Barcades literally are the modern arcades these days.
25 cents from 1983 is not the same as 25 cents today, so what you look for it a classic arcade and those are basically barcades. You can't pay staff on 25 cents today. That is a business model that would never work. Those have not been alive since the early 80s in that fashion, but arcades in today's aspect with redemption modeled and survived. You maybe had 3 years like that in the USA before redemption or mall arcades in the 90s with Street Fighter and Midway games....
My location has no alcohol and we are doing fine. 13 years and counting.
 
Dang !! 250 more ?? You're a beast ! To have the 3rd/4th largest arcade in the freaking country, and here chatting with us..!?! Thats cool man. I am honored.

I never heard any law restricting arcades as riff raff. At least here. I mean, places have them. They are for kids. Everywhere there is a kid place there are games. So IDK. Never heard that but certain there is no law here about that.

Wow ! Thanks for the heads up on GoldWatch. LOL I'm born and raised San Francisco, all over, all the time. Never seen that place, never heard of it. Also, maybe because its name makes absolutely no sense, and looking them up now, they really are a print/graphics/t.shirt place. But they look like they have a cool size place ! wtf ? haha. Mainly pinball, but they do have some arcades too, just not much. THANKS ! Gonna go check them out. I like that they are not a bar. I honestly hate the smell of bars. Yeasty ass stale smell all the time. lol Not my style. Damn strip clubs smell better than bars. And I hate fish. :)LOL::ROFLMAO:)

I think having to be 21 to enter a arcade is unacceptable and a ridiculous concept. I get the barcade concept, but I could do it much better than the ones I've seen. Bars were allowed to have kids in them if they didn't sit *at* the bar and you serve other things than alcohol. **Register the business as a Arcade that serves food and some alcohol and not a bar that has arcade** and you can do it. Food and arcade goes ! I like that. And I am not saying it gotta be 25¢ a game. Inflation, I get it. Token games, cheapest game runs off whatever keeps you paying your staff ($1 tokens ?). Keep staff super small too. Thats the other problem with business' these days. At least here. They want to have a super huge staff right away, become huge and all this too fast. This causes unrealistic overhead they can never keep up hence needing to charge high prices. Start small and slow. If you hire real people and not modern unionized idiots you will be surprised what 1 person can do. I used to work 12hr shifts and expect no overtime. I could accomplish what 4-5 kids can't even do today as they take a smoke break every 2hrs.. lol

But I don't need to tell you !! You been doing it right obviously.

Oh tell you what - You can store your 250 other unused games with me ! lol I will help. No need to pay storage. I got you. Hell or lets start up a real arcade here ! What goes better than alcohol and video games ??? WEED and Video Games. That my friend, would be huge. Its legal here, so you could have a Cannabis Bar and Arcade. (patented by me !) - We then could sell a crapload of food too ! Also, stoned gamers cause less probs than drunk mf's. No smoke, cause its all about oil vape now. It makes way more than alcohol too.
 
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