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How much did original arcade machines cost?

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CheffoJeffo:

The deals that I have most often seen in current times are not leases, but rather revenue sharing -- the operator puts their machine on your premises and you split the revenue 50/50.

Not sure how they work out the licensing and insurance, although it wouldn't be unreasonable for the op to handle the licensing and the location owner to handle the insurance (that was how we did it when I managed the residence arcade in university ... but that was 20 years ago).

WhereEaglesDare:

Even a really good 90s era game in great shape today would cost $400-750, not including license and insurance, it will still take around 6 months til you make any money on it, this must be why you just dont see them as much as you use to.

nitz:


--- Quote from: CheffoJeffo on August 24, 2010, 08:58:13 pm ---The deals that I have most often seen in current times are not leases, but rather revenue sharing -- the operator puts their machine on your premises and you split the revenue 50/50.

--- End quote ---

Ah yeah, that makes sense. Still, I have a feeling the folks that have these in their shops are folks who have a love for the games - I mean, any profit they're making has gotta be pretty meager so if they didn't love the games, they probably wouldn't want to be bothered.

idsane:

I agree that almost anywhere you see games set up, there is almost no interest in playing them, especially by younger kids. The only exception I know of, is Dave and Busters. With the adult environment and alcohol, those games see a lot of use. But as far as the movie theaters and other odd places go, I can't see how they would make money unless they get it second hand on craigs for a couple hundred bucks. The impetus for my original question was seeing cabs on craigs (in search of an empty cab for my project) and thinking these listers were crazy for asking $500 for a game that was never very popular.  :dunno

nitz:


--- Quote from: idsane on August 24, 2010, 10:32:41 pm ---The impetus for my original question was seeing cabs on craigs (in search of an empty cab for my project) and thinking these listers were crazy for asking $500 for a game that was never very popular.  :dunno

--- End quote ---

Cab prices depend highly on the supply/demand situation of where you live. When people mention how they picked up a nice Ms Pacman or whatever for $200 at an auction, it makes me wanna cry. Where I live, a cab like that is going for $600-$800 if it's at all in decent shape. $200-$300 is the general asking price for a random not really popular game with a cab in decent shape.

So it all depends - but $500 does sound a little high for an unpopular game no matter where you are. I would wait to see if you could find something cheaper. OTOH, if the cab is nice and has a working monitor and CP you can use, and acceptable artwork (ie. you wouldn't have to put any work into it other than interfacing the monitor and controls to a PC) $500 could be worth it for the time, money, and work it would save you. I wouldn't pay that much though unless I was getting something that was basically "drop a PC in and play".

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