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Arcade-orientated new business - it's happening BUT NEED NAMES. Probably ;)
Ginsu Victim:
--- Quote from: drawfull on January 07, 2009, 04:19:48 pm ---I knid of envisaged the games and the something else both being the hook. You get people in for the games that partake insomething else, and those that come for the something else partaking in the games.
--- End quote ---
mscromer:
There is a place by where I live that has arcade's, pinball and a few pool tables that seems to do well. What he does is its $12.50 to get in and all the games are free, you just push player one and play. He does allot of birthday parties and group events like little league baseball and football team parties He also has his own snack bar (no outside food or drinks aloud). During the week he seems slow but on Friday and Saturday nights his parking lot is packed. Here is a link to his web site so you can get a better idea. Hope this helps!
http://www.tornadoterrys.com/
Ginsu Victim:
I'm in Oklahoma and have almost drove to Tornado Terry's many times. (Mainly due to his eBay auctions) I'd like to check it out sometime.
SavannahLion:
--- Quote from: saint on January 07, 2009, 04:01:48 pm ---Dave and Busters, Jillians, and the like are the only venues I know of that are successful long term, and there you have to have redemption games to draw the crowds.
--- End quote ---
That is exactly what John's Incredible Pizza does. They have all you can eat pizza, pasta and salad, a pay-per-drink bar, and all types of gaming based on a debit-like card system. They even have a couple of small rides there. The big attraction is their "friendly" birthday environment. I like the debit-like card system so much, I'm looking into adding it to my cabinets :applaud: .... once I get my garage cleaned out. :(
In any case, pure arcades are dead. I haven't seen one in the last ten years and I don't know of any in the city. The closest (and best) I've seen are in the casino's around Lake Tahoe and Reno areas. Not even the casinos in California have arcades yet*
In any case, don't over estimate how much a true arcade actually pulls in. The last operator I talked to has to hold another job in order to make ends meet (this is before the economic fallout). His arcade route makes just enough money to sustain itself and pay travel expenses, but not enough to support his family. With the economic fallout, I'm seeing some pretty familiar cabs on Craigs I suspect are coming from his collection.
Damn shame really. :(
* Haven't been to Red Hawk yet.
Jack Burton:
It's all about building a sense of community. People can play all the games they want for free at home.
An arcade is a hangout, a meet up place, a place to kill time, a place to compete.
You will have to do the research to keep a constant supply of games that random people will drop quarters into, games that the respective competitive communities will play, and classics that old school arcade gamers will come to play on dedicated machines.
You will have to do all that while doing everything you can to cut overhead. That means learning everything you can from this site to do your own repairs and also restoring a lot of old cheap cabinets. Probably better get used to working 6 days a week.
Also you will need to build a few cabinets from scratch. Don't spend $10,000 on Dance Dance Revolution when you can build your own cab for $1,500.
You will need to have a side business. Namely, concessions. Let people eat and drink in the arcade. Yes, it will mess up the cabinets. Yes, it will damage them occasionally. It sucks, but it will let people be comfortable.
Be cheap. At most charge 50 cents to play on the big games, and 25 cents and 15 for everything else. I am a firm believer that people will end up spending more money in the long run if you let them play a few games for cheap to let actually begin to enjoy the game.
And again, most of all, you have to become a member of the community. Host parties, have tournaments and high score competitions, get companies involved for contests, have free game nights once a month.
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