What it's like running an arcade in 2015
September 8, 2015 4:05 PM Subscribe
When arcade game manufacturers produced cabinets in the '80s, they made them to be placed in all sorts of arcades, malls and other areas of young-skewing entertainment. Fast forward to 2015, and while arcades aren't as prevalent — or as popular — as they once were, they're still hanging around.
And within these locations, new business models are developing. Many traditional arcades are changing their ways, moving away from the coin-based business model that has long been part of the arcade ecosystem.
Meanwhile, combination arcade bars are springing up across the country, bringing their own methods of monetizing games with them, along with other changes to pull the machines in line with more adult — and modern — usage.
Also the prices these machines are getting (Mortal Kombat II apparently went up double in price recently, based on the article) makes me feel a little better about the fate of arcades and arcade machines. The more people pay for these machines, they more they expect them to be in good condition, the more there's a market to maintain and repair them. The games are backed up to hell and there's basically nothing MAME doesn't run on, but the machines, with the marquees and the buttons and so on, are artifacts. You can build a replica that no one but the absolute pros could tell the difference, but it's still a replica, not an original, and there were only so many originals made and fewer still that weren't irreparably damaged over the course of their life.
posted by griphus at 4:22 PM on September 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by griphus at 4:22 PM on September 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm disappointed that they didn't include the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, which is an incredible place to go to. So many notable machines spanning decades, including a few rarities (the unreleased prototype of Pinball Circus is definitely a treat.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 4:23 PM on September 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 4:23 PM on September 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
The Pinball People and the Arcade People tend to be two very different crowds with very different cultures in my experience. I mean arcades usually had/have some pinball machines in them but what's happening around pinball is just so very different than what's happening around arcades.
posted by griphus at 4:25 PM on September 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by griphus at 4:25 PM on September 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
Wilson projects to bring in, across the three locations this year, approximately $155,000.
D&B has an average comparable store ... revenue of $10,793,000 for each location.
D&B has food and alcohol sales, but still -- that's one hell of a difference.
posted by Frayed Knot at 4:25 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
D&B has an average comparable store ... revenue of $10,793,000 for each location.
D&B has food and alcohol sales, but still -- that's one hell of a difference.
posted by Frayed Knot at 4:25 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Pinball People and the Arcade People tend to be two very different crowds with very different cultures in my experience.
In NY, there's a great bar/arcade on the LES called Two-Bits. When they first opened, they had 3 pinball machines and a whole bunch of arcade machines. Now, a few years later, the pinball machine/arcade machine ratio is roughly 50-50 - apparently the pinball machines just happened to be a whole lot more popular.
(Also, if you're in the area, it's well worth a visit. The arcade games cost a quarter! All the beers just so happen to cost 6.25. Brilliant, that.)
posted by Itaxpica at 4:30 PM on September 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
In NY, there's a great bar/arcade on the LES called Two-Bits. When they first opened, they had 3 pinball machines and a whole bunch of arcade machines. Now, a few years later, the pinball machine/arcade machine ratio is roughly 50-50 - apparently the pinball machines just happened to be a whole lot more popular.
(Also, if you're in the area, it's well worth a visit. The arcade games cost a quarter! All the beers just so happen to cost 6.25. Brilliant, that.)
posted by Itaxpica at 4:30 PM on September 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
In Japan in the early 2000s there were free play places where you could do whatever you wanted for 100 yen (about a dollar) for 15 minutes. They had pool, karaoke, batting cages, bowling and other activities, but also video games. The machines had unlimited continues as well, you could just keep playing until you got bored of the game. I finished Soul Calibur that way and it was great. You could get food and drink there as well, but relatively reasonably priced. The one I went to (Club JJ in Kyoto) wasn't there the last time I went (2014) so I'm not sure if the concept is dead or just that particular location. I hope its just that location.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:31 PM on September 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:31 PM on September 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
I am ancient. So I remember the arcade being all analog games. Then in 1971 I found a glorious wonder. It was an alien looking cabinet with a video game in it. It was Computer Space. And it changed my world forever.
Also in 1971, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney co-created a coin-operated
video arcade game version of Spacewar! and called it Computer Space.
Nutting Associates bought the game rights and manufactured over 1,500
Computer Space machines, with the release taking place in November 1971.
The game was unsuccessful due to its steep learning curve, but it was a
landmark in the industry formative years as being the first mass-produced
coin operated video arcade game, and the first offered for commercial sale.
Bushnell and Dabney then went on to found the storied Atari, Inc. in 1972
before releasing their next game that would change everything : Pong
I played this game and this game alone any time I had the money to go to the arcade. I thought about it and drew pictures of it in school. I was completely and totally, head over heels, in love with it.
I am pretty sure that this game was the spark that evolved into a love for the computer. It made me the IT/tech person that I am today.
The arcade will never die.
posted by Splunge at 4:45 PM on September 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
Also in 1971, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney co-created a coin-operated
video arcade game version of Spacewar! and called it Computer Space.
Nutting Associates bought the game rights and manufactured over 1,500
Computer Space machines, with the release taking place in November 1971.
The game was unsuccessful due to its steep learning curve, but it was a
landmark in the industry formative years as being the first mass-produced
coin operated video arcade game, and the first offered for commercial sale.
Bushnell and Dabney then went on to found the storied Atari, Inc. in 1972
before releasing their next game that would change everything : Pong
I played this game and this game alone any time I had the money to go to the arcade. I thought about it and drew pictures of it in school. I was completely and totally, head over heels, in love with it.
I am pretty sure that this game was the spark that evolved into a love for the computer. It made me the IT/tech person that I am today.
The arcade will never die.
posted by Splunge at 4:45 PM on September 8, 2015 [7 favorites]
On that note, it's been pointed out that the use of coins for denominations in Japan which are bills in the US helped arcades stay afloat longer there - it's easy to reconfigure a machine to accept a 100 yen coin than it is to accept a dollar bill.
posted by NoxAeternum at 4:48 PM on September 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 4:48 PM on September 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
As an aside, this 99% invisible episode explains the "for amusement use only" disclaimer that still shows up on pinball machines.
Spoiler: Pinball machines didn't have flippers until the 40's, so they were classified as games of chance, not skill, lending to their use in mob-controlled gambling dens.
posted by dr_dank at 5:41 PM on September 8, 2015
Spoiler: Pinball machines didn't have flippers until the 40's, so they were classified as games of chance, not skill, lending to their use in mob-controlled gambling dens.
posted by dr_dank at 5:41 PM on September 8, 2015
I've been an organizer at New Arcade granddaddy Babycastles since 2010. We moved into a spot on 14th St. in Manhattan just over a year ago, and we're in the black.
It's a good feeling.
With smartphones basically meaning that we have constant access to videogames in all places at all times, I think more people are realizing that some videogame experiences are best suited for arcades. So while arcade games may become more specialized, they will also have a better understood niche.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:58 PM on September 8, 2015 [5 favorites]
It's a good feeling.
With smartphones basically meaning that we have constant access to videogames in all places at all times, I think more people are realizing that some videogame experiences are best suited for arcades. So while arcade games may become more specialized, they will also have a better understood niche.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:58 PM on September 8, 2015 [5 favorites]
My friend, Brad, has an arcade he runs with a pizza joint in town called Rossi's Pizza and Arcade. Back in the day, we had his Pengo and Golden Axe and Shinobi arcade systems stored in my room (YAY!) Then he got his own place around 2001 to mid 2000s, then after not affording rent, I think, he took it all down. Then after renting machines out here and there, came up with the deal with Rossis...
Here's some pics, and a vid ...
So rad to have friends who carry the dream! :)
posted by symbioid at 7:54 PM on September 8, 2015
Here's some pics, and a vid ...
So rad to have friends who carry the dream! :)
posted by symbioid at 7:54 PM on September 8, 2015
Crabtowne USA. in Glen Burnie near Baltimore is the best. You can get a $8 pitcher of 8% local IPA. And play multiple pinballs. And they have two Asteroids.
The other best one is in Colorado Springs. Most of their games are kept outdoors.
It's a bitch, because CRTs are dying and no one but the insanely dedicated can fix a pinball machine.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:04 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The other best one is in Colorado Springs. Most of their games are kept outdoors.
It's a bitch, because CRTs are dying and no one but the insanely dedicated can fix a pinball machine.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:04 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
In Japan in the early 2000s there were free play places where you could do whatever you wanted for 100 yen (about a dollar) for 15 minutes. They had pool, karaoke, batting cages, bowling and other activities, but also video games. The machines had unlimited continues as well, you could just keep playing until you got bored of the game. I finished Soul Calibur that way and it was great. You could get food and drink there as well, but relatively reasonably priced. The one I went to (Club JJ in Kyoto) wasn't there the last time I went (2014) so I'm not sure if the concept is dead or just that particular location. I hope its just that location.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:31 on September 9
Yeah, that concept is basically dead nowadays. I remember there was a place in Hirakata, Osaka while I was doing a study abroad there in 2005, called Fujiyama Land, that did that sort of thing. The only real exception is the Round One Arena Spo-cha locations, which have a sort of everything-is-sort-of-old-and-sort-of-broken-but-on-free-play all-you-can-eat package for, like, ¥1,800 for three hours, or something like that, but that also usually includes stuff like archery and tiny bowling and roller skating. It is, in many ways, the exact opposite of Dave & Buster's.
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:02 PM on September 8, 2015
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:31 on September 9
Yeah, that concept is basically dead nowadays. I remember there was a place in Hirakata, Osaka while I was doing a study abroad there in 2005, called Fujiyama Land, that did that sort of thing. The only real exception is the Round One Arena Spo-cha locations, which have a sort of everything-is-sort-of-old-and-sort-of-broken-but-on-free-play all-you-can-eat package for, like, ¥1,800 for three hours, or something like that, but that also usually includes stuff like archery and tiny bowling and roller skating. It is, in many ways, the exact opposite of Dave & Buster's.
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:02 PM on September 8, 2015
(On the other hand, Kyoto is still home to the outstanding A-Cho, which is a secret mecca for fighting game fans, to the extent that the most recent Guilty Gear had location tests held in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto)
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:03 PM on September 8, 2015
posted by DoctorFedora at 10:03 PM on September 8, 2015
Just reading about arcades makes me smell Mall Arcade, and I didn't even spend a ton of time in them. (BRB, warrior needs food badly.)
posted by maxwelton at 11:27 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by maxwelton at 11:27 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Have I mentioned recently how insanely wonderful Lyons Classic Pinball in Lyons, Colorado is? Their 37 different games are amazingly good. They have that gorgeous new Wizard of Oz table by Jersey Jack, which just about made me cry it was so beautiful and lovingly crafted - a new pinball table that's actually good! And so many amazing old classics (Captain Fantastic! Wizard! Creature from the Black Lagoon! Medieval Madness!) and crazy novelties (the two-player Joust pinball table, one of my favorites! Atari's ridiculous Hercules table, where the ball is as big as a billiard ball! Baby Pac Man, a hybrid video game and pinball table where you hit the ball into the back glass to play Pac Man!) - it really is awesome. They're still coin-based, and they rent some tables and machines out to bars and pizza joints; there are even a few next door at Oskar Blues, one of the best breweries on earth.
posted by koeselitz at 11:27 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by koeselitz at 11:27 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Dave & Buster's business model is disturbing because it is so closely modeled on the casino business that it isn't even trying to hide it anymore: There are *literally* slot machines in there, marketed directly at kids.
And it's not really about the games, at the end of the experience - it's about the redemption and the tickets, and the motivating kids (and adults, yeah, I know) to "save up" tickets for cheap plastic imported junk. There's no behavioral difference between a 7-year-old saving up tickets on his D&B card for some squishy doll or plastic gun, and a 70-year-old retiree saving up points on their loyalty card for a "free" buffet.
It reminds me of the casino experience in another way, I suppose: It's fun while you're there, but as soon as you walk out, you regret the time and money you just spent. On the other hand, I don't regret a single quarter I ever spent in a real arcade as a kid.
posted by jbickers at 4:23 AM on September 9, 2015 [5 favorites]
And it's not really about the games, at the end of the experience - it's about the redemption and the tickets, and the motivating kids (and adults, yeah, I know) to "save up" tickets for cheap plastic imported junk. There's no behavioral difference between a 7-year-old saving up tickets on his D&B card for some squishy doll or plastic gun, and a 70-year-old retiree saving up points on their loyalty card for a "free" buffet.
It reminds me of the casino experience in another way, I suppose: It's fun while you're there, but as soon as you walk out, you regret the time and money you just spent. On the other hand, I don't regret a single quarter I ever spent in a real arcade as a kid.
posted by jbickers at 4:23 AM on September 9, 2015 [5 favorites]
I visited Barcade when I was in New York a few years ago; I could see myself going there regularly if I lived in NYC.
I was wondering about whether such places could exist in Europe. I imagine London's unlikely due to the stratospheric property prices, unless it opened as a 2-week pop-up promotional campaign for Red Bull or Nike or some other deep-pocketed sponsor. Perhaps Berlin could work, though the fact that due to the change to the Euro, vintage coin boxes wouldn't work, might change the viability of it.
posted by acb at 4:24 AM on September 9, 2015
I was wondering about whether such places could exist in Europe. I imagine London's unlikely due to the stratospheric property prices, unless it opened as a 2-week pop-up promotional campaign for Red Bull or Nike or some other deep-pocketed sponsor. Perhaps Berlin could work, though the fact that due to the change to the Euro, vintage coin boxes wouldn't work, might change the viability of it.
posted by acb at 4:24 AM on September 9, 2015
We had a couple revival arcades in my town but they all died.
There's a restaurant here with a TV set discreetly hidden at each table. For a dollar, they'll bring you an old home console (NES, Atari, even C64) and the game of your choice. This seems like a much more sustainable long term business model to me.
posted by miyabo at 5:19 AM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
There's a restaurant here with a TV set discreetly hidden at each table. For a dollar, they'll bring you an old home console (NES, Atari, even C64) and the game of your choice. This seems like a much more sustainable long term business model to me.
posted by miyabo at 5:19 AM on September 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
There's a Barcade in Hadley, MA called Quarters. Seems like a nice enough place. I'm in the process of restoring a Joust and talked to the owner about selling it to them.
I used to have a pinball machine (Swords of Fury) and the settings were very extensive. If I recall correctly all the machines had the capability of controlling how often free games were given (if ever) as well as controlling add-on machines to shit out redemption tickets for places that wanted that.
posted by plinth at 6:13 AM on September 9, 2015
I used to have a pinball machine (Swords of Fury) and the settings were very extensive. If I recall correctly all the machines had the capability of controlling how often free games were given (if ever) as well as controlling add-on machines to shit out redemption tickets for places that wanted that.
posted by plinth at 6:13 AM on September 9, 2015
I like how the article illuminate the financial side of the modern arcades. There are many ways to scramble to play the bills, but it is often that the operators are doing whatever they can to share their great collections.
posted by Theta States at 7:10 AM on September 9, 2015
posted by Theta States at 7:10 AM on September 9, 2015
no one but the insanely dedicated can fix a pinball machine.
This is one of the things that the Pinball Hall of Fame is trying to change, by the way. As part of their educational mission (seriously - they're structured as an non-profit with a mission of restoring and maintaining pinball machines of various eras), they sell videos detailing how to maintain machines.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:36 AM on September 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is one of the things that the Pinball Hall of Fame is trying to change, by the way. As part of their educational mission (seriously - they're structured as an non-profit with a mission of restoring and maintaining pinball machines of various eras), they sell videos detailing how to maintain machines.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:36 AM on September 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
and no one but the insanely dedicated can fix a pinball machine.
*ahem* (self link)
It's super intimidating at first, but not as hard as it looks!
posted by Theta States at 8:21 AM on September 9, 2015 [9 favorites]
*ahem* (self link)
It's super intimidating at first, but not as hard as it looks!
posted by Theta States at 8:21 AM on September 9, 2015 [9 favorites]
I remember there was a place in Hirakata, Osaka while I was doing a study abroad there in 2005, called Fujiyama Land, that did that sort of thing.
I remember Fujiyama Land. Right across from the station. They also had a net cafe in Shinkyogoku-dori in Kyoto that I used all the time before I had internet installed at my place.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:42 PM on September 9, 2015
I remember Fujiyama Land. Right across from the station. They also had a net cafe in Shinkyogoku-dori in Kyoto that I used all the time before I had internet installed at my place.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:42 PM on September 9, 2015
Is it just me or is the font on this article totally strange? I couldn't get through more than two sentences because of the font.
posted by ethidda at 1:46 PM on September 9, 2015
posted by ethidda at 1:46 PM on September 9, 2015
Valkyrie is about to die.
posted by ostranenie at 7:41 AM on September 10, 2015
posted by ostranenie at 7:41 AM on September 10, 2015
jbickers: "The Dave & Buster's business model is disturbing because it is so closely modeled on the casino business that it isn't even trying to hide it anymore: There are *literally* slot machines in there, marketed directly at kids.
And it's not really about the games, at the end of the experience - it's about the redemption and the tickets, and the motivating kids (and adults, yeah, I know) to "save up" tickets for cheap plastic imported junk."
Which is basically the Chuck E. Cheese business model, which was founded by - cheap irony alert - Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:09 AM on September 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
And it's not really about the games, at the end of the experience - it's about the redemption and the tickets, and the motivating kids (and adults, yeah, I know) to "save up" tickets for cheap plastic imported junk."
Which is basically the Chuck E. Cheese business model, which was founded by - cheap irony alert - Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:09 AM on September 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
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It's nice to know that Dave and Buster's is doing well, I guess, but the last time I was in there it reminded me of what the Coney Island arcades of my youth turned into: a couple of Galaga machines maybe and then just redemption and simulations. I mean it's a model that works, clearly, so godspeed.
Earlier this summer I was in a luxury apartment building in Brooklyn that had some pretty amazing amenities including a free play arcade. I don't think the people who got the machines either cared or knew much as a number of them were broken, misaligned, etc. It was still nice to step into a dark little room while the sun shone outside and play Street Fighter II though.
posted by griphus at 4:16 PM on September 8, 2015 [8 favorites]