Licensing new games/cabinets: USA / Australia

[jhobbs]

If I were to put my own games inside of a cabinet I made myself, what kind of licensing or whatnot would I require to sell them to businesses? To individuals?

I live in the US and Australia.

Anyone have any experience with this?

[ark_ader]

You go to businesses like Sega and pitch your product/idea to them and let them make the cabinets and distribution.  Odds are you would be more suited to companies like IGT, Universal and Konami who make casino gaming machines.  Your "game" could be adapted to the casino market where there is more money to be made.

[jhobbs]

I'm not sure I could make something that would put a twinkle in Sega's eye enough to make them sniff me.

I wouldn't mind the gambling side of things either.

But I really want to build things myself, at a rate fast enough that I can sell such arcades for just enough to make a 4-6 dollar profit so I can chomp down a hamburger.

The reason I'd want to make it myself is SDL (http://www.libsdl.org/) is now supporting the Raspberry Pi, which I love, my love of arcades and my slowly almost working CNC router.

I work in SDL quite a bit and can put something arcade-tastic together.

The hardware and encoder being taken care of with a $25 price tag is lovely. (Minus wires/buttons/joystick/$10 TV or LCD/coin mech/MDF/glue/screws)

Is it just cost prohibitive to get whatever fancy permit to produce it yourself?

I'm not expecting to see it at real arcades, most likely at a bar, or an abortion clinic waiting room

[SavannahLion]

Am I misunderstanding something here? Once you have the initial setup and investment, do you really feel that a profit of $4-6 per cab is really worth it?

The support logistics alone..... Just saying....

[jhobbs]

I'd enjoy knowing my work was out there more than anything, and if I'm at least breaking even it's easier to explain to the wife.

If it's something that turned out great, I'd love to make money.

But I have doubts people will pay "normal" prices for, "Dr. PocMon".

Not saying I'd make a Pac-Man clone.

So I know you have to have licensing for running an arcade or a place where amusement machines may be, but how about the machine itself?

[kayser2008]

If the game is yor creation i donīt think you need  any licence to sell them and to sell the cabinets neather .
Here if you make a machine and a game that are new and want to put them in public places   the only thing you have to do is send a copy to a organism (I.G.J)
and if is not a gambling machine (poker etc ) they give you the ok to go and put them on public places.

[JDFan]

The licenses and permits required vary by state and by the type of things you plan on doing ( ie. just selling machines, also offering Repair services, placing machines on location for others, placing machines in locations owned\operated by yourself, etc., etc.) - so your best bet is to talk to an attorney, Small Business Agency, or state Licensing Agency Rep. and find out the details for your specific state and specific plans ! 

[Well Fed Games]

I assume in the US it should be like any other small sales/manufacturing business.

But just to be sure, how about you send me one so I can give more experienced advice? 

[kayser2008]

I assume in the US it should be like any other small sales/manufacturing business.

But just to be sure, how about you send me one so I can give more experienced advice? 

      

[macattack]

If you are thinking about selling these yourself in for a retail environment, best to check all the regulations you will need to Stick to. Also thing like grounding of anything metal, choice of fasteners so parts cannot be removed or types of fasteners that could cause injury etc (hence why most retail units either have hidden fasteners or use security torx). Nothing worse than accepting you are not going to make a lot of money on a venture only to get sued for something silly.


WWW.Xtremepinball.com

[ark_ader]

I assume in the US it should be like any other small sales/manufacturing business.

But just to be sure, how about you send me one so I can give more experienced advice? 

  

That is not such a bad idea.  If you could make two prototypes and submit them to a gaming publication and an entertainment site like Engadget, you would be able to keep your costs down by making them JIT instead of JIC.  Make them small enough for a bartop with off the shelf parts and you will have a basis of a cost effective model.  You only need a business plan and concept for the game to make it cheap enough to clear a profit.

I'm sure if you ask Harman, he could provide information for the manufacturing of the custom case.

The game would have to be entertaining enough for a drunk to be able to play it.  It would have to be adult orientated, but not lewd.