Arcade Collecting > Miscellaneous Arcade Talk

Opening an arcade

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JoeyJoeJo:
I've always wanted to own and operate my own arcade.

paigeoliver:
They buy new machines from distributors, the same ones also sell pins, jukeboxes and usually most vending machines as well.

Classic games DON'T make money on location, with perhaps the exception of Ms. Pac-Man, and even that doesn't make much.

Every year the number of arcades shrinks noticably, and the number of new arcade games shrinks even further. I believe last year saw less than ten new titles at distributors, and there will be even less coming out this year.

There could not be a worse business to get into right now. The guys who have their machines bought and paid for STILL can't turn a profit from them.

It isn't unusual for an operator to come around and take a monthly collection for a game and pull out $20, half of which goes to the location owner, the other half goes to him, leaving him with $10, and that machine needs a $100 tax stamp every year, plus maintenance.

Chris:
If you look around at what arcades are left, they're all full of redemption games and the giant DDR or dual driving cockpit type games that are huge and expensive.  Games that, for reasons of winning prizes or unusual controllers or giant screens, can't be played at home on a Playstation.  They're also rarely stand-alone; they're in a mall or in a place with some other non-arcade attraction like Chuck E. Cheese.

Where there's an opportunity is to place games where people are forced to wait around, like a pick-up only Pizza Hut or a laundromat.  There's a Ms Pac/Galaga reunion machine in the waiting area of a local Mexican restaurant and it's always got people playing it.  If you can get your hands on a Golden Tee machine, it'll make money.

So a full arcade is probably out of the question, but if you want to be a small-scale operator, cherry-picking these sorts of locations could work.

--Chris

Ken Layton:
So you want to open your own arcade? Are you crazy?

You'd be throwing your money away.

LPZ:
I'd have to agree with these guys on this one.  With consoles taking down the arcade market, this is a business that I would stay away from.  I dreamt about it myself, but it's just a bad business decision.  The best way to own an arcade is to collect your own machines for a personal collection and make a gameroom.  Then you have your own arcade. 

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