Hi there,
I’m putting together a business plan / feasibility study for an arcade in the Lynnwood, WA area north of Seattle. I’m trying to get some ideas together for what games I should have in this arcade. I know what I would want, but that’s not always what the hardcore gamers want.
So, what games (or anything really) would you like to see at an arcade which caters to the hardcore and serious arcade players?
All just my opinion: Hopefully head 2 head cabs but at LEAST sit downs with japanese controls. ST, 3s, SF4… Anything else is just extra really but it would be important to be able to get the newest games.
I’ve only lived in Lynnwood area for like 8-9 months so I don’t really know shit about the scene up here or if you could pull foot traffic in on the regular but I did move from LA and I know what the arcades there are like… Location, hours and price are EVERYTHING. I think the most important thing is to charge 1 quarter for any game over a year old and be open LATE. Midnight minimum, later on weekends for sure.
Good Controls. I know that may not be the info your looking for, but that’s what I’m always looking for. :tup:
Have a Hybrid Arcade/Lan center:
1: Big Screen (minimum @ 32 inches) HDtvs for newer games - Hourly rates
2: SDtvs for older games - Hourly rates
3: PC gaming
4: For groups, maybe you can have a group rate where 4+ people share the same setup?
5: Food & Drinks
6: Redemption games
7: Memberships / rewards programs
8: Tournaments/Gaming leagues/Gatherings
9: Buy, Sell, and trade games/movies.
The classic arcade doesn’t cut it anymore unless you’re in a large shopping mall (Southcenter, Lloyd Center in Portland).
I don’t know about the lan thing? Personally I never go to PC-gaming establishments, but I guess there are a few of them around and they aren’t all going broke? I have no idea. It’s not of personal interest.
It seems as though if you tried to do everything, it would require an extreme investment of cash and require a very large facility (more cash).
That’s what I think the SRK crowd really wants. After that, you also of course have to try to make it appealing to the non-hardcore, and then try to make a profit off of it all.
Food & Drinks: Could require a lot of effort, but could potentially reward that effort with profit. At the very least, vending machines seem like a no-brainer. Serving alcohol might not be feasible, but could potentially be a big win. I suspect that GameWorks makes a significant portion of its profits from selling booze, but this is just a hunch.
Casual appeal. What do casual gamers want, anyway? A DDR machine is probably a good bet. Do people play crane games and stuff? I guess you’d want to have a little of everything… I dunno.
Thanks a bunch for the input so far. Please keep it coming.
I’m definitely a big fan of “working machines”. That’s actually one of the prominent reasons I’m thinking about putting an arcade up here is because of the absolute lack of a DECENT gaming scene anywhere above ACME bowl in Tukwila. I just hope there’s enough people willing to go to an arcade like this up near the I5/405 junction.
If you guys/gals would also give me some vague price-points I should be aiming for with these game suggestions I’d really appreciate it.
If this ever gets off the ground, contact me. I have a cabinet and many fighting game boards that I would love to see put in a real arcade.
You’re crazy.
For about $2000 you can have:
1: A 40 inch Samsung 1080p HDTV
2: Ps3
3: Xbox 360
4: SF4 for PS3 and 360
5: 5.1 Surround sound
6: A Madcatz TE stick or two
Let’s not forget that the PS3 and 360 play many other games.
4 people at $5/hour sharing the SF4 station sounds way better than 4 dudes dropping quarters into the “Insert favorite 2d fighter here” Cabinet.
Of all the Lan Cafe/Game centers I’ve been to, none have gotten it right, IMO.
I still believe a Hybrid arcade can be very profitable if done right.
Remember that people like to play on certain types of sticks as well. So they’ll bring their own if necessary.
Ray basically posted what I wanted to post, a hell of a lot more detailed and precise (ie better) than I was gonna do it. The main thing we’re missing in this day and age of gaming is that social atmosphere that you could get at arcades. I believe this can be done with consoles in a lan cafe style setting.
That way you can upload yo SF4 vids right after you’re done with your Ultra.
Am I doing it right?
Have a couple computers set up with connections to the TVs or machines to capture. Come tourney time (or anytime) you can get gamers paying extra to also be running a computer to record the matches, after which this might throw it through an editing program, or burn it onto a DVD which you would conveniently have ready to sell them.
This way, people would be able to get great tourney vids, casual play vids, or evendo things like create combo videos on site. All the while they’ll be paying for computer and TV/System. They can play at home, but many people don’t have the software/hardware to make good captures and edits at home.
… then those casuals, tourney vids, and combo videos go online and create more hype for the arcade/game center.
Even if you do not run a whole lan cafe, it’s always nice for the players when they have access to the net so they can go look up some info when they need it.
So, if I’m reading this correctly, you all would rather see console games and a LAN center-like setup over dedicated Japanese arcade cabinets playing these games.
So, SF IV (XBox 360) on a nice home setup > SF IV on a candy cab versus setup?
Not to be an ass, but have you really thought about this? Have you seen the prices for cabs, boards, rent, equipment, and all those other random ass costs? There is a reason arcades are dead and hardly any LAN centers exist anymore. The only way this is feasible is if you piggy back this shit on a sustainable business model. Like a Taco shop with cabs in the back. That is my idea though, so you can’t take it. Another good one would be a Teriyaki place with cabs.
I don’t think it would be too cost effective to have a cab for a game thats been out on console for a few months now anyways, so I would definitely go with the console setups.
However, there’s definitely some cabs you could get that would attract attention, like a BlazBlue cab (although it is coming to console june 30). The first one I can think of that hasn’t been announced yet but is a big arcade game is Tekken 6.
MVC2 though seems to be an exception to the console vs cab rule.
Well, that’s what I’m trying to do right now.
In my first post I wrote:
I enjoy a variety of arcade games, including fighters, but I’m not nearly as hardcore as any of you. This is why I’m here, is to get the perspective from this community. It has been very interesting so far…I always thought that the hardcore fighting crowd would want legitimate cabinets with their favorite fighting games, but it seems that a good number of you would prefer a really nice console setup in a public setting that offers video playback/capture abilities. This is something I was considering, but I honestly didn’t think hardcore players would like it as much.
Well if you have consoles keep in mind it limits your playerbase to groups coming in who know eachother already. Cuz ain’t no random dude comin in off the street to rent time on some shit while waiting for other solo people to show up? lol. It just makes no sense as far as having a competitive environment to have consoles. You might be able to pack people in with that on the weekends when everyone has time off, but weeknights you might as well not even open the doors.
It would really cheapen the whole thing and imo doom the business as well.
Cabs are cheap as hell anyway. 1 Head 2 head cab set is like what? 600-1000? Probably INCLUDING a game like 3rd strike. Other old game boards are a few hundred max. I don’t think the setup costs for an arcade are particularly intimidating but just making your business run tight enough that you can keep everything powered on 16-18 hours a day and pay your rent in the long run lol.
But honestly if everyone here is telling you one thing and you are quick to change your mind it sounds like you maybe haven’t thought about your business plans enough. If you are really serious I would contact Shogo who runs Denjin Arcade, he started his shit from scratch and could give you info on where he gets his cabs and boards and maybe what his business needs in terms of players coming in every day to keep profitable.
I would prefer a real arcade, but realistically I would prefer something like what people suggested because it’s the only thing with any chance of surviving. There’s nothing worse than watching arcades die. I miss arcades. :sad:
Honestly your best bet is prolly going to be a lan center set up, have real consoles and tv’s in the back, the computers up front, when SF4 pc comes out people can rent time on the PC’s to play basically anyone else who is doing the same cuz of online capabilities ( i dunno if theres a specific way to set it up through lan or something for that so they only play eachother, more of a real arcade experience)
atleast using PC’s you can emulate alot of older games (i dunno if GGPO is legal unless u pay for the games though…) and then people who arent particularly into fighters etc can play wtvr else you have on them like the basic counterstrike, battlefield 2, wow set ups
lan centers don’t survive. str8 arcades do not survive. Best bet would be a bar with a large selection of cabs. imo.