Well I keep on pondering what would it take to make a successful business.
I keep thinking opening a arcade?..
Ideas, Pros, Cons,Help etc…
where would your arcade be located?
opening an arcade in this day and age is a very danerous business unless you are in japan, but unless you can find cvs2 marvel 2 street fighter 3rd strike and super turbo at the minimum it would be even harder i suggest opening near some kind of mall where it isn’t the highest end area that way kids can’t just go home and play ya know what i mean?
edit: also sometimes it’s best to keep things secret until the final day ^^
I’ve also looked into this but so far the amount of money needed to start one up is staggering, there’s a reason arcades are dying in the US. Maybe; with a good, RICH, sponsor, a good loan from a good bank, and a prime location, with support from all the local community this might work, but keeping an income coming in in the long run is the biggest problem.
Card game shops have the same problem. Why would people play in a shop when they can play online? The solution: your business model should be based on concessions. Sell food and drink (popcorn, candy, soda, etc). This is the model many european and asian LAN centers use. Hell, it’s the model that movie theaters use!
Yes, Julien is very, very, right! You can also make even more by selling “asian” food items such as Pocari Sweat and Ramune at what would normally be considered severely inflated prices. But you can’t go to far above the local store prices or else people will just shop there and bring it over even with a no outside food sign! From my experience, those quirky delicious asian foods sell no matter where you are, in high school I sold Ramune bottles at 2 dollars a piece when I got them for about 50 cents each!
also the most important part about running an arcade is you sacrifice your love for games in general and you put in 70+ hours a week! so make sure it’s what you want to do before you do it =D
Taco shop + arcade machines = profit
It would work, but I don’t feel like doing it.
Pablo + Tacos + Arcade machine he doesn’t own = Pablo paying for said arcade machine, LOL 
Yes, INPUT!! BTW, Thanks everyone!
Im going to also keep that in mind! :tup:
Hehe! Good points on everything.
I would have food for this ideal place.
Plus a smoking area.
Thinking about doing the whole LAN thing.
Tacos rule.
I’ve always dreamt of an arcade/teriyaki place. Make my dreams come true!
I can teach Kenny how to make Teriyaki, although it would be a mighty sticky arcade… Well, it’s not like there are any non-sticky arcades are there? LOL
Taco’s Rule.
Dann Rules!
Your av is sick! UW status!
Deezo, You came at the right time, If you ever need a job! or if anyone would be intrested for that matter. You guys know what to do.
Mt Vernon Teriyaki FTW! That would be bomb. You do share a good point with the stickyness and like most people…I want my equipment to last!
But food has been thrown around so of course I have to do that.
I got the dopest name possible for your arcade + taco shop (which i think it would do bomb!)
GWOP$KINGDOM$
Get at me!
That name is sick. What you really need though is awesome service, cheap food, and a hot chick working the front desk. Like a blonde one. With a body.
And watch out for the minorities, they’ll mess everything up. Arcades getting shut down due to gun violence and all stuff, you don’t want that.
If I were you, I would use the PC business model. Just make it really cheap, get the newest gear, and make sure you have Starcraft for us Koreans. If you had the computer specs to run Crysis on all your machines, I’m sure a lot of people would come play just for that. Charging $1.50 for the Asian cup ramen, cheap hotdogs, corndogs, chips, junk food, drinks, you can make a bunch of money off people buying food. As long as you charge something reasonable, say $4/hour, I think it would work pretty well. You’re probably going to have to close super late, at around 4AM or so.
I went to a lot of PC internet places over in Korea during the summer, and it’s a successful business model over there. Now you just have to convince Americans that it’s fun to play games over the internet in the same room.
And you have to throw in a Marvel cab in there. And hot chicks. You must be loaded, becvause it takes crazy money to set up a business.
HAHAHAHA, you and blonde chicks man.
As for the topic at hand, cheap (but not shitty) food, a decent set of arcade machines (something for everybody) and like 10-12 PC’s for your obligatory FPS, RTS, MMO’s, etc are what you need. However, having it being serviced by hot chicks would be legend though.
There was totally 1 or 2 hot chicks who worked at lanwerx… GOOD SHIT.
I ran into Dan today with that shit.
Had me crackin up!
Edit: Can’t stop thinking about this whole thing.
then do it.
make it happen.
see about taking out a small business loan to get started.
my personal opinion, try to get some import arcade games to appeal to the “OMG HAIZ IS THIS A JAPANESE IMPORT GAME!?! DESU!!1” crowd.
also if/when you get an arcade opened up, gut some multi-layered stencils to throw down some awesome video game inspired street art on the walls.
good luck dood.
I wish you the best, but there are a lot of pitfalls.
First one that comes to mind…all of your friends show up and expect to play for free. Maybe not right off the bat but if they are low on cash…well, hell! We support your ass, hook us up! And you want to.
Once free is given, it’s expected. Human nature and all that.
Still…lemme know if you need any limited advice (7 years experience in the biz, 24 years experience in gaming) that I can give.
Peace.