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Zombie Arcades launches first machine in the UK. Opinions welcome.
surface tension:
--- Quote from: ark_ader on May 28, 2008, 05:27:16 pm ---Ok. You ask, I will expand.
Everything you included on your site minus the screen and the amount of games (customer supplies this) = £500 build + £200 profit. Do your market research, locate international vendors and aim realistically at your pricing structure and you will succeed, otherwise it will be a monkey for your back and a cash blackhole.
I tried making a business plan based on your similar ideals. Cost was minor, it was the market that was the stumbling block. Stick to your design, and try not decide the outcome of the cabinet or product as how you would expect it, but how the customer expects it. I.E. do not go overboard on design.
Lower your price and have patience and down the road you will do better.
If it was me and I wanted to start up again, I would focus on very small cabs which I could get better build pricing for. Look how smaller cabs make more of an impact and the general selling prices on Ebay.
I'm sure you will disagree, after all its your business, and you have your dreams and expectations of being a quality arcade cabinet maker. Just don't bite off too much than you can chew in an already saturated market.
You asked for my opinion, so I hope you will listen to it.
Good Luck! :cheers:
--- End quote ---
One word replies get on my goat, so good of you to expand. Some good points in there and certainly the voice of some experience in these matters.
I don't want to go messing this thread up, but I have to say that economies of scale come into it and there are many people willing to pay more so they have to do less... or even nothing.
Back to the thread...
TPB:
--- Quote from: FrizzleFried on May 28, 2008, 05:26:04 pm ---
Games that aren't meant for wide screen look like ass on a wide screen. Anyone with any sense of aspect ratio will immediately be annoyed by the stretching. I know I'd be extremely pissed off if I purchased a cab for $5K and when I got it home, all the games played stretched.
--- End quote ---
LOL, have to agree. :laugh2:
That applies to all video displayed on these screens, not just games. There's nothing worse than viewing a picture with an artificially distorted aspect ratio. I can't stand seeing a Widescreen playing a 4:3 TV broadcast or other media, and having the picture stretched to reach the edges. It makes everyone in the picture looked like bloated, with melon-like heads and broad, stocky bodies.
ark_ader:
--- Quote from: TPB on May 29, 2008, 03:53:29 am ---
--- Quote from: FrizzleFried on May 28, 2008, 05:26:04 pm ---
Games that aren't meant for wide screen look like ass on a wide screen. Anyone with any sense of aspect ratio will immediately be annoyed by the stretching. I know I'd be extremely pissed off if I purchased a cab for $5K and when I got it home, all the games played stretched.
--- End quote ---
LOL, have to agree. :laugh2:
That applies to all video displayed on these screens, not just games. There's nothing worse than viewing a picture with an artificially distorted aspect ratio. I can't stand seeing a Widescreen playing a 4:3 TV broadcast or other media, and having the picture stretched to reach the edges. It makes everyone in the picture looked like bloated, with melon-like heads and broad, stocky bodies.
--- End quote ---
Its classic "what I want cab" instead of "what it should be cab". I'm not going to reiterate what I have posted before, but I would just love getting into the market again with faithful recreations. Like cabaret cabs like Asteroids or Pac Man. Perfect for the UK or US home market (you can put it away somewhere easier in a 3 bedroom semi). Also the customer can relate to the cab, during his or her childhood than a mega bling bling ding dong cab.
And what a perfect arena to voice these questions. I have yet seen such replicas come out. Any cab maker out there worth his salt would like to venture an opinion?
What is wrong with new single game cabs anyway?
Do we need to play gazillions of games?
TPB:
Zombie,
That's a great looking cab. It was real Wow factor, and would be a nice piece of furniture to grace any living room. Probably the most "Wife Friendly" cab on the market, if such a thing exists. :D
You've got a lot of fat built into your price. Perhaps ark_ader's pricing suggestion was a tad aggressive, but you've got a huge margin built into your price at 2,850 pounds, which is about $5,500 USD.
Case in point ... you can pick up that Acer screen for 204 pounds, which is only about 7% of your asking price. And that's the retail cost for "Joe Average" who purchases a single unit. They could be purchased even cheaper by a business at Wholesale prices, and/or in Bulk quantities :
http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/product/Acer-AL2416W-Silver-Black-24-in-LCD-Television/28515123.html
Of course, you're entitled to define your own business model, and set your own prices.
Let's be frank. You're not striving to be the lowest cost producer. You're marketing to the image and style conscious (yuppies, metrosexuals ?), those to whom money is no object. And hopefully you'll also pick up business from newbies who are scarcely aware of cheaper alternatives, or who are unwilling or unable, or simply don't have the time, to investigate alternatives.
I don't know if you'll pick up a ton of customers from this forum. The average BYOAC'er doesn't fit this profile. Many of your target customers would have never heard of BYOAC, or if they have, think we're a geeky bunch of fanatical tech-head's. And maybe they're right, it's all a matter of one's perspective. ::)
--- Quote from: zombie_arcades on May 28, 2008, 01:35:44 pm ---
... you are thinking from an arcade purist point of view. My target market do not care ...
--- End quote ---
... you'll tend to find a few of those types around these traps. ;)
Arcade purists are unlikely to shell out that sort of serious dosh for a cab. with no spinner, no trackball, limited options for expandability (the CP is quite narrow), and a Widescreen LCD screen that distorts & stretches all of the games.
Your market is out there, albeit not in great numbers on this forum. Your challenge is to effectively seek out & pinpoint this market, to enable your business to thrive and prosper. :cheers:
Blanka:
The big trouble is that 24 inch full HD widescreen sounds way more sexy and expensive than 24 inch CRT or 21 inch LCD (biggest 4:3). I really follow that marketing technique.
On the other hand, if Acer is mentioned, you have some dikshrimping brand in your catalog that might scare your metroman. If you really wan't it to be a good arcade, consider the Samsung 214T to be included. That one is an awesome 4:3 LCD with real viewing angles, the option to pivot it for Pac-Man and Galaga (if it is a motorized auto pivot than that is also sexy) and real blacks (for those old space and pacman games). 24 inch TN screens like the acer are the cheapest to get big-size, yet they do not have very fine picture quality. But, with S-PVA you might have some extra lag, but that is definitely not a problem for your market. If you really want to score with widescreen, go for the Samsung 275T. That 27 inch beast is way beyond anyones dreams. Acer looks poop next to it.
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