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Arcade Business


Sub_Zero

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Looking to start a business venture, something I enjoy and that I'm passionate about. All you're talk about going to the casino to play Street Fighter got me thinking.

Do you think a small scale (to begin with) arcade business would be viable considering the dominance of home consoles?

Why would you goto an arcade instead of staying at home and playing the same games?

What kind of people mainly frequent arcades?

How much money would you be willing to spend? ie. on a per game and per visit basis.

How important is the location?

Discuss, even if you just answer one of the questions.

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TBH arcades are dead, you only have to look at places like trocerdo etc

Remember back in the day, Segapark, Segaworld, Namco Wonderpark Are these places still about ?

How can I still be seeing Daytona Racing in 2010, and how many blasted Time Crisis' are there lol

Granted SF4 is popular, but Arcades will never be like it was back in the day, the demand is not there.

Back in the day Arcades were groundbreking in terms of the games and graphics, aint like that anymore

Home Consoles > Arcades

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home consoles are good no doubt.

They way they were introduced and the goal for game developers and console makers was to bring that arcade sensation (graphics gameplay into the home) Now they have done it, and gone beyond that.

All them big arcade place shut down not viable business during the boom, as nobody wanted to come out there house andnternet speeds are getting faster and faster.

I still think Arcades can come back (just not as big as the glory days). I prefer Arcades for certain game types anyway

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I was hoping to start small, with quite a vibrant colour scheme hopefully attracting mainly young adults and teenagers. I would have a small older games section with classics such as Pac-Man and the like, I already know where to get these from dirt cheap.

The main bulk of my starting capital would be to the proper gaming machines with like Street Fighter, new racing car games and that kind of thing. My main income would probably come from the fruit machines and this money would be pumped straight into the business so I can keep up to date with the latest gaming machines. Depending on the money left available - I would also make like a comfort room, with a drinks and snack vendors, chairs and all that kind of stuff.

I've got all these amazing ideas but I really don't know if it would be viable. I would love the work though.

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I was hoping to start small, with quite a vibrant colour scheme hopefully attracting mainly young adults and teenagers. I would have a small older games section with classics such as Pac-Man and the like, I already know where to get these from dirt cheap.

The main bulk of my starting capital would be to the proper gaming machines with like Street Fighter, new racing car games and that kind of thing. My main income would probably come from the fruit machines and this money would be pumped straight into the business so I can keep up to date with the latest gaming machines. Depending on the money left available - I would also make like a comfort room, with a drinks and snack vendors, chairs and all that kind of stuff.

I've got all these amazing ideas but I really don't know if it would be viable. I would love the work though.

What are the new games though, like I said the major places still have games like Daytona, Sega Rally etc

You should have consoles hooked up to TVs, like they have in game shops

I think arcades died the time Dreamcast came out, games were coming out on consoles only and graphics were the same. I remember getting Crazy Taxi and I was like "no point going arcade to play this anymore"

Its easier to rent the game or play it at home for hours upon hours, consoles have the last-ability. Home gaming has matched and exceeded arcade quality visuals. Part from SF arcades just dont have that pulling power anymore, its sick having bare ppl watching you play SF. however with PSN and XBL you can have that kinda experience anyway, coop games, 1 on 1s,.

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time crisis in an arcade >>

doubt my little bro would be on arcade when he has fifa and sf4 at home. maybe

i'll ask him

see thats it right there. These new kids and youts, dont know about arcades and just conditioned into home/internet gaming. They need to experience that. Fifa ok not a arcade friendly type of game.

Plus parents having fears letting there kids go alone to acrades in the current climate of things.

(But I do remember hittin places like segaworld £1, £2 a pop for games. And certain heads used to get there pockets emptied before entering them venues. lol)

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I was hoping to start small, with quite a vibrant colour scheme hopefully attracting mainly young adults and teenagers. I would have a small older games section with classics such as Pac-Man and the like, I already know where to get these from dirt cheap.

The main bulk of my starting capital would be to the proper gaming machines with like Street Fighter, new racing car games and that kind of thing. My main income would probably come from the fruit machines and this money would be pumped straight into the business so I can keep up to date with the latest gaming machines. Depending on the money left available - I would also make like a comfort room, with a drinks and snack vendors, chairs and all that kind of stuff.

I've got all these amazing ideas but I really don't know if it would be viable. I would love the work though.

What are the new games though, like I said the major places still have games like Daytona, Sega Rally etc

You should have consoles hooked up to TVs, like they have in game shops

I think arcades died the time Dreamcast came out, games were coming out on consoles only and graphics were the same. I remember getting Crazy Taxi and I was like "no point going arcade to play this anymore"

Its easier to rent the game or play it at home for hours upon hours, consoles have the last-ability. Home gaming has matched and exceeded arcade quality visuals. Part from SF arcades just dont have that pulling power anymore, its sick having bare ppl watching you play SF. however with PSN and XBL you can have that kinda experience anyway, coop games, 1 on 1s,.

I get ya, brilliant idea. Instead of spending thousands upon thousands on the new latest arcade machines, buy a number of large H.D T.V’s and hook up some Xbox’s, Wii’s and PS3’s. I really like that actually and it would hugely save costs. I’d still have a few decent arcade machines dotted around, mainly the driving sim’s but I could make money off like a membership system where you pay to use the consoles for an hourly rate.

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I was hoping to start small, with quite a vibrant colour scheme hopefully attracting mainly young adults and teenagers. I would have a small older games section with classics such as Pac-Man and the like, I already know where to get these from dirt cheap.

The main bulk of my starting capital would be to the proper gaming machines with like Street Fighter, new racing car games and that kind of thing. My main income would probably come from the fruit machines and this money would be pumped straight into the business so I can keep up to date with the latest gaming machines. Depending on the money left available - I would also make like a comfort room, with a drinks and snack vendors, chairs and all that kind of stuff.

I've got all these amazing ideas but I really don't know if it would be viable. I would love the work though.

What are the new games though, like I said the major places still have games like Daytona, Sega Rally etc

You should have consoles hooked up to TVs, like they have in game shops

I think arcades died the time Dreamcast came out, games were coming out on consoles only and graphics were the same. I remember getting Crazy Taxi and I was like "no point going arcade to play this anymore"

Its easier to rent the game or play it at home for hours upon hours, consoles have the last-ability. Home gaming has matched and exceeded arcade quality visuals. Part from SF arcades just dont have that pulling power anymore, its sick having bare ppl watching you play SF. however with PSN and XBL you can have that kinda experience anyway, coop games, 1 on 1s,.

I get ya, brilliant idea. Instead of spending thousands upon thousands on the new latest arcade machines, buy a number of large H.D T.V’s and hook up some Xbox’s, Wii’s and PS3’s. I really like that actually and it would hugely save costs. I’d still have a few decent arcade machines dotted around, mainly the driving sim’s but I could make money off like a membership system where you pay to use the consoles for an hourly rate.

Yeah some arcades will always bring in money, racing games, shooting games etc, SF, im guessing the racing games are big money, you would need a few for link up

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time crisis in an arcade >>

doubt my little bro would be on arcade when he has fifa and sf4 at home. maybe

i'll ask him

see thats it right there. These new kids and youts, dont know about arcades and just conditioned into home/internet gaming. They need to experience that. Fifa ok not a arcade friendly type of game.

Plus parents having fears letting there kids go alone to acrades in the current climate of things.

(But I do remember hittin places like segaworld £1, £2 a pop for games. And certain heads used to get there pockets emptied before entering them venues. lol)

HAHAHA getting jacked in Trocerdero

All about finding those places where SF was 20p

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The only games that would probably bring people in are the fighting games like SF4 and Tekken and Marvel vs Capcom 2.

You would need stuff like consoles and TVs for games like Fifa and that sh*t to encourage people coming in for competition. If you were able to arrange regular mimi comps as well it would definitely bring more people in.

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Most of your money would be coming from competitive games.

Them other dead games would only make money in a tourist attraction.

SF cabs cost shitloads and Casino takes a considerable share of the fighting scene. You would have to offer something a lot better in order to get them going yours instead of theirs.

Casino is in a good location. However, it's not clean..

Gamerbase in Trocadero is kinda nice. But they don't emphasise on console competitive games too much. Mostly PC. Have a look in there and get an idea on how they're doing their business as its hourly rate based.

Trocadero itself is just poor value for money but they wil always make their P as they're in a central tourist attraction location.

And I also saw this in the SF thread.

http://www.myspace.com/gamescity

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Its impossible to open up an Arcade in this climate. You'll just end up losing money man. There's no money in this at all. Neo Empire was thinking of doing something and they were preparing to put big money in (30k) just to start up but realistically, they are not going to be making ANY money. Only game that makes money in London is them SF4 cabs which Casino has 6 of so realistically nothings going to change in that department. I know it sounds like a good idea and something fun to strive for and achieve but realistically there's no chance a new place opening and doing well. Casino was literally dead before SF4 came out. Troc is just a tourist attraction but even that is getting closed down for a Hotel.

In NYC they have an arcade called Chinatown Fair. They make their money of SF4 however, all their cabs have a 20 win limit. You win 20 games in a row and you're off. This is the only way they will be able to keep going otherwise people would just stay on for ages which results in them making money. Now that SSF4 is not coming out in arcades for a while its going to be very interesting what happens to these arcades 'cause no doubt they are going to be losing sh*t loads of money for that first month. If you look at these places books its not healthy dude!

Sorry to shoot down the idea but there's no chance of this happening and surviving in today's day and age.

Edit: DDR and them dancing games make SHITloads of money as well. Forgot about them

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Just so you all know I would be doing this outside of London, Coventry probably because there are loads of abadoned shops in the city centre due to the recession. The rent would be stupidly cheap so it's a pretty good time to jump in. This is all just speculation as of now but I'll be able to detemine is it'll work after about a months market research.

Keep those comments coming there really helping me shape my current idea into a reality.

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How easy is it to travel in Coventry? Is there any dedicated gamers that would continue to come to your arcade and not just for 1-3 weeks? What games will be bringing them over? Why should they go to your arcade when they have the game at home? etc

There are loads of things you have to consider.

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Yo thanks for this post LS, it was a real wake up call. There are really alot of things i need to think about when it comes to a tournament, having a well organized team is one of em! Venue isnt to much of a problem as i know the guy who owns the place and i know he would be happy enough to do such a thing (as long as it makes him cheddar!) TBH i wont be making any profit from doing this as im not really bothered about the money but more about having a place we could regularly go to play ANY fighter we wanted without always having to go casino. Which now makes me think really that i could just propose a "SF4 Night" where everyone can go down there for a one off payment (£3-5?) for casuals or even have a small tournament on the day if enough people come since they wont have to keep rinsing their precious £1 coins.

i remember seeing a post on NE that WGE was looking for a place where we could have regular meet ups that has a good internet connection, i might just suggest this first, see how it goes, then if it turns out good and get consistent visitors, then move on to a tournament.

Since not alot of people are willing to use thier yard (or their mums yard ) for casuals and would just rather play online where it can get laggy occasionally, i think this could be a good idea. Its not to far or in the middle of no where like Harrow so travel shouldnt be a problem (Victoria Line). I dont know if you saw a pic of the place in my earlier post so here it is again, www.myspace.com/gamescity (watch the slideshow on the right, these pics are quite old though). what you guys think?

Safe again for that LS, think this is a better idea rather then a tourny which im not quite ready for yet.

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How easy is it to travel in Coventry? Is there any dedicated gamers that would continue to come to your arcade and not just for 1-3 weeks? What games will be bringing them over? Why should they go to your arcade when they have the game at home? etc

There are loads of things you have to consider.

Travel in Coventry is really easy, there's trains and buses every 10 minutes in most areas.

I think the bulk of my money would come in the form of monthly memberships which would cost anything starting from £6 depending on what market research suggests and what people are willing to pay. These would be the dedicated guys that come to play competitively and generally just chill out. Other kinds of customers will be people who just have a spare half hour and will play a fruit machine or something. I would also sell food which will encourage people to stay and spend money and give geeks a place to eat instead of in there company toilet.

The membership would allow them on all consoles/PC's and into the comfort area, plus discounts on sweets/foods/drinks and that kind of thing. Maybe some other sort of special offers as well.

My first enquiries into the price/availability of arcade machines is making me lean towards renting the machines. For the fruit machines they install, service, repair and sort the money for you for 50% of the profits (meaning all they take is 50% and you don't pay a rental charge) and the rental price for the gaming machines is not as bad as you think. If I rent I also don't have to worry about selling them when they become outdated, plus I can keep changing the machines to keep things fresh. There are loads of suppliers so they'll be competitive pricing and due to my sales skills, I could get some great deals.

You're last question is the big one and the main thing I need to address. I think it boils down to some people just want to get out the house and I would want to create a social vibe, where these people can kill a few hours with a group of friends or meet people there. My main advantage is I'm really with a specific demographic which I know alot about because I'm in it. I'm not some hot-shot businessman who is hoping to make a quick buck, I'm really passionate about gaming and I can't think of anything better than chilling in an arcade all day playing games and talking with people. I reckon I could get a grant from the council if I push the fact I'm a young entrepeuner trying to get kids off the street because I know how boring it is and how much trouble it can produce blah blah blah.

All this talk is getting me excited mayne.

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