I'm thinking of starting an aracde in my area. What do I need to know?

[Cmtz]

What can I do to make sure I have a sucessful arcade? Does anyone here have a experience in this? Any help would be great.

Thank you,
Cmtz

[TonyTheTiger]

While I can't say much about actually operating an arcade, I would probably recommend piggybacking it on some other business like a bar/arcade or restaurant/arcade combo. Basically something to bring people in who otherwise wouldn't necessarily be there just for the games alone. Normal arcades are pretty much gone for good but there are a decent number of these cross appeal businesses performing admirably lately.

[Compute]

While I can't say much about actually operating an arcade, I would probably recommend piggybacking it on some other business like a bar/arcade or restaurant/arcade combo. Basically something to bring people in who otherwise wouldn't necessarily be there just for the games alone. Normal arcades are pretty much gone for good but there are a decent number of these cross appeal businesses performing admirably lately.

This. The "successful" ventures I've seen open in the past decade have been combo deals. The one exception I've seen is Galloping Ghost in Brookfield, IL. They charge a flat rate for unlimited play. They have close to 300 games. I really like Ground Kontrol in Portland. You still play using quarters, but the place is located near a busy downtown area, so there is a ton of foot traffic. They bring in DJ's and have decent prices on drinks. It's easy to stop in for a drink, throw down some pinball, and move on with your night.

[Cmtz]

I have serveral booths at the local indoor flea market. I was thinking of setting up one there. I've added one arcade to my booth so far. It's ninja turtles the arcade game and it gets some good playing action. I think the foot traffic is okay, but I do wish it was a bit better.

[Compute]

That's a good idea. It would give you a good chance to do research on the viability of a more permanent location while still living the dream for cheap. If it doesn't work, all you do is bring your games back home.

[Genesaturn]

As much as I hate to say Arcades are dead....so far everyone is spot on...doing a cross venture - arcade paired with X is going to be your best bet. Stand alone arcades just don't do well. The location will have a big effect. Good luck in your venture, if you go ahead with it, please share your stories and let us know how it turned out.

[Compute]

As much as I hate to say Arcades are dead....

Just to be a dick I'll point out Galloping Ghost in Brookfield, IL. Last time I was there (on a Friday), it was busy as hell. There was some kid's birthday party, plus a ton of people of all ages from around the town. It really blew me away. $15 All-you-can-play is attractive, although I think the fact that it's in Chicagoland feeds many people who attend infrequently. It's a neat place, an anomaly for sure.

[Collector_Gaming]

Only way a straight up arcade can survive is if its the worlds largest.... Fun Spot in New Hampshire being it....
But i doubt you have the cash to fund a factory sized arcade right there and then (unless you are secretly a millionare and must share us your secrets!!! :D)

I have a idea of a cross platform i came up with a week ago.. I have yet to see one like it but i doubt i will try it out.

[Enmity]

What can I do to make sure I have a sucessful arcade? Does anyone here have a experience in this? Any help would be great.

Thank you,
Cmtz

I always felt that a successful arcade has to rely on its participation with the community.

You have to make it the spot for people in the area to go to wind down from a stressful day, and what not.

All the arcades that I've seen come in go in my life have always been ones that open up do some advertising and then cross their fingers. Where the ones that were able to stick around and survive always held events big and small for the locals and the out of towners. It was this participation that made it the place that people wanted to spend their money at.

To me in this day and age arcades aren't place to go play the latest and greatest. It's a place to go spend time with friends and locals while burning a little cash. It is a place to go just to get out of the house on those boring days.

[Gunstar Hero]

I've been to Pinball Parlour which is a local arcade in PA and from what I know it is important to:

- Start with a decent amount of machines BEFORE opening up
- Offer other services like maybe a bar or restaurant
- charge a flat rate for unlimited play
- combine classic and current machines for all ages to enjoy
- use machines such as driving machines, these seem to be popular

Hope this helps :)

[MonoTekETeA]

Flat rate for a rate of play time or flat rate with lower costs. I went to a place called "Nickle Arcade" in IN, and they charged you like $12 at the door, and gave your $2 worth of Nickles. Every game was on par with a quarter per credit rate you would normally find, but instead at a nickle to credit rate. That worked out well. It gets me to spend more money then I typically would just dropping into an arcade (~$5), and I have more fun because I don't feel restricted in my spending per-say.

I'd say only 10-15% of the public is interested in the arcade games we know and love. The rest are interested in primarily redemption and sport/skill games that produce tickets and can be exchanged for prizes.

Try and have a food bar with some one to man it. If your place is hop'n, a simple food selection will still find good sales, with out you getting too crazy in food stock.

Have birthday party packages from the get go.

Try and make your store front spacey. The more space you have the less seedy the place feels imho. Larger, nationally recognized places seem to reflect on another with this concept, (Dave and Busters, Chuckie Cheese's) compared to the old school ally-way arcades where groups my linger and cause unwanted contact when others walk by. It also allows others to sit back and watch to decide if they want to play, with out breathing down others backs.

Try and add modern games too. A couple systems set up with timers and internet access to them, so randoms can sit down and play a match or two of some FPS for $0.50 - $1.00. That is what interests most young gamers now, but this allows them to show boat in a public setting I guess the appeal would be.

Ultimately, it is a heavy start up cost unless you are DreamTR with everything sitting in his garage to begin with, lol. Good luck to you.
-Jeremy

[Collector_Gaming]

ehh i'll share my idea cause ultimately i am so lazy and lose inspiration so damn fast i just don't forsee myself doing it

So here we go

How about you take a restaurant. and add a simple arcade to it (just for starters)..... and to make it different then say Dave & Busters.

Name all the food items after famous video game icons.

So for instance someone orders a cheese pizza... call it pacman pizza or something like that (after all thats supposedly where pacman came from!)

and have the burger time burger (basically a burger with the works)....

Sonic's Chilli Dog surprise (if you watched the cartoons like i did you know sonic is a consumer of chilli dogs)

ect ect ect

only thing i would worry about is a company would come after a locally owned and ran joint that used its charecters names in the menu. If you live in a small town i doubt it unless you ended up on travel channel MvsF or something and nintendo got wind "Heyyyyyyyy dat guy is using our mario as a food item description...)

[Yago]

There is a Bar / Classic Arcade in Denver called 1UP. They have been so successful that they are opening a second location called 2UP also downtown Denver. http://the-1up.com/main/

Also a quick note. Steve Wiebe payed a visit and holds the Donkey Kong high score at the 1UP with a score of 882,700 set on 8/6/11

[Retrocade Fantasia]

Pro Tip- Golden Tee= money

[Milkhead]

Cmtz,

If you have the right location for a stand alone arcade it can make good money. I recently visited the galloping ghost arcade outside of Chicago. They charge $15 for admission, which covers one full day, so you can leave and come back. They have a small snack bar that serves pizza and drinks. They host tournaments which I assume requires an entry fee.

If I were going to start-up an arcade I would want it to be connected to a comic/nerd shop of some sort.

you gotta find a good location though, like in a college town.

good luck.

[Kirbz]

First Thing You Need To Do Is Learn How To Spell ARCADE
Second Get A Dig Dug Machine
3rd Epic WIN!

[Collector_Gaming]

hows the arcade adventure treating?

[Rickstilwell1]

Even Gameworks in downtown Seattle has a bar included.

[Words iManifest]

Galloping Ghost is fantastic, I live about 20 minutes aways and there usually is a decent crowd in there at any given time. A new place called The Emporium opened even closer to me in the city (Chicago we're talking about) that I believe is owned by the guys who do Barcade, could be wrong about the owners though, too lazy to Google. Place is slammed every time I go, they have a fantastic selection of beers which change out regularly as to never get stale, about 60 games and 5 pinball and you can bring you own food. Absolute winning combo.

[otoko]

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet. It is really important and I can't believe this is overlooked by this community.

Alright, I personally work in a Brunswick run arcade for the last three years. Our particular Brunswick Zone XL center is one the largest centers and includes a 40 lane bowling alley, a carnival ride area with five rides, a large 20 or so table pool hall, full bar, party rooms, full size event halls, laser tag, and a large game room with about 50 different titled games. More if you count repeated or linked games.

Now that large facility generates lots of foot traffic just for bowling alone. In fact, the game room I work in brings in 25% of our revenue weekly.

However, since I started working there I've noticed less people returning to the arcade. This is because of our game selection. Those who want an actual arcade experience refuse to use our arcade because we only have a handful of actual machines to ticket machines. We used to have more but corporate removed those games and never replaced them. Leaving large open spaces where they once stood.

Granted most of those games where not very popular and even the good ones where surrounded with lackluster titles, and people won't worry about open spaces if what remains are good games. We didn't have any amazing titles and even less now. This kills us in most respects.

The lesson I'm trying to teach:

You must have a selection of games people want or people won't come to play. You must attract them to something worth playing.

[MachineGex]

Unless you know how to repair the arcade machines yourself, you are gonna be at a huge dis-advantage. Most machines require a good amount of maintenance. If you don't know how to work on them, you are at the mercy of the repair you have to beg to come out and repair it. That means the machine is down for several days instead of several hours. It also means huge $$$ repair bills. Sometimes you have to bring the machine to them, requiring a trailer, time, help, basically another huge set of problems.

I would not run an arcade unless I was able to do most repairs myself. If not, you are gonna spend a good amount of money paying someone else, who may not be able to fix the arcades for several days, costing you even more money and making the arcade look sparse.

[Neb6]

As a number of people here mentioned, it really is a good idea to attach yourself to a bar or get the actual arcade licensed. Yes, serving alcohol does come with its own issues, but it's a definite source of financial stability. My cousin opened a pool hall and it ended up being a great place for tournaments. What finally put him out of business was the rent (very very high), the fact that he didn't have credit card support, and that he wasn't licensed. He firmly believes that if he had credit card support and the license to serve alcohol at the start, he'd still be in business.

A retro arcade is something that I really believe can be profitable if done right. The machines are relatively inexpensive nowadays and the clientele is not unlike classic car enthusiasts. That should make for a casual and fun crowd.

One thing though, if you purchase old arcade machines from an amusement vendor, maybe sit down with them and see if they have any stipulations about using the machines that you buy from them for generating revenue. I know this sounds a lot like the Rodney Dangerfield economics speech from the movie "Back to School", but it's one of those complexities of the real world.

Oh, and be sure to charge only 25 cents a game. You'll make the customers happier and will get a lot more games out of them. Pretty sure that's what the economists refer to as the Phillips curve.

Lastly, if you have trouble with coin box theft, an option is to switch to using tokens.

[Neb6]

You must have a selection of games people want or people won't come to play. You must attract them to something worth playing.

Very true. Open spaces and ticket machines will especially scare off retro gamers.

Ideally you want long rows of machines and a wide selection. And if you need to know which ones are the good ones, there are lots of 80s arcade veterans on here to give you their top 20 lists (and plenty of 80s video gaming magazines posted on this site to reference).

[Neb6]

Unless you know how to repair the arcade machines yourself, you are gonna be at a huge dis-advantage.

Yeah. This is very true.

Of course, if you're good at repairing old arcade machines or you have a friend that loves to do that sort of thing, then you're in good shape.

Also, if you check around, you can get spares of important things like controller interfaces and system boards (and X-Y monitors). Then you can swap out parts to keep the machine operational, buying yourself some time to have the components repaired. It's possible to get some great bargains on retro arcade hardware. You'll want to be very organized and label everything that you put into storage though.