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Opening up arcade? Ideas?

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Negativecreep0:
Wow you guys really discouraged me, hah. I was also toying with the idea of opening up a Poker Club, me (the house) would host tournaments weekly not taking any money from the pot. Rather we would make money on charging at the door and from alcohol sales. I spoke with my lawyer on this and in PA this is a legal practice as long as house can't win in any of the games going on in the establishment. But as far as arcade\food\lan idea I have been really doing research and it does seem like more and more places close down within a year of opening. It is a shame really. It is due mostly to home consoles, pcs etc.... Any other suggestions for small business? little off topic i know

pointdablame:
I stopped myself from posting about this because I would just be reiterating what most have said, but I will say this.

I am a second year business student, 20 years old.  I actually did a group project last semester about opening up an arcade/pool hall.  We did research on 12 different establishments similar to our idea, and found that 10 of the 12 didn't survive 18 months.  The start up costs for this type of business are very high (more so b/c of the pool tables in my case, but the games aren't cheap either).

We also found through a survey that almost 70% of 20-40 year old male professionals (our largest target group) liked the idea of being able to play pool and especially play older classic games.  However, talking to the businesses and owners, we found that very few of these people actually go to the establishments.  We found it to be a psychological thing.  People who played old games love the idea of a place to play them again, but don't actually use the facility when it's available.

It seems that starting strictly an arcade (as most of our examples were, ie no pool involved) is an uphill battle.  Most will fail quickly and owners are left with either a very large amount of debt or with equipment that wind up selling for an obscenely low amount.

If I were in your shoes, I would not risk my money on a venture like this.  It is far too risky, and unfortunately has a track record for breaking people.  I LOVE the idea... if I could find a way to make it viable business-wise, I'd do it myself, but it seems very likely these days.

APFelon:
I left the video game repair world in 1999. The business was dying. Now I'd say it is quite dead. The only successful business model for video games/etc is Chuck E. Cheeses IMHO... and 80% of the machines I see there are redemption.

All I can say is don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. You will get soaked, burned, and screwed 80 ways to Sunday.

Most new games have either a gun, a steering wheel, or a dance pad attached to it and they are the same variation of the same theme. Old games will not yield revenue. New games cost a small fortune. Old games cost a small fortune to repair. Hell, I had to beg, borrow and steal parts for one of my Ms. Pacman games back in 1993. Want to get an ORIGINAL Ms. Pac  joy now? Bling bling.

Fun idea, but nostalgists won't pay the bills.

APf

CthulhuLuke:
Opening up a pure arcade in today's world is definitely an uphill battle.  Even the Wizards of the Coast arcade closed in seattle because business is just not good enough.  However, the lan cafe/arcade idea has already hit the western washington era, www.lanwerx.com in Bellevue, WA has I think something like 10 fighting game arcades along with its 40 computers, and its the best place to go play the best western washington players.  My brother's childhood friend Ryan also opened a store, http://www.gameclucks.com/  and he kept it going all this time.  Basically though he lives at the store, he's there at least 60 hours a week, I think he only has one or two other workers besides himself keep things running, and I don't believe he makes very much profit.  He doesn't have any arcade machines, but he runs a lan cafe/ halo cafe sorta, you pay 4 bucks an hour to play with some of the top northwest Halo players.
  It's definitely possible to open an arcade with other attractions, but the arcade is just too dead business wise to keep a solid crowd.

daywane:

--- Quote from: StarChild on October 05, 2004, 08:16:42 pm ---I tried it a couple of times and spent about 3 bucks trying to learn it.  I promptly stopped.  It was prob the equiv of not making it up the first ladder in donkey kong.  :lol:

-*

--- End quote ---
I hear you  ;)

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