Re-Post
Daaaaaamn well, snip MK9 tag straight from the list, that’s messed up. Kraig you picked up the controller for TEN minutes and started dealing out 40% + combos with Ermac. I think any 2 decent fighting game players will be able to produce similar devestating results together with minimal effort.
I hate all Makoto’s, screw that character. Let’s give a rushdown character a projectile…smart!
So I went to PWA last night and found out some good information you all should know. First and foremost if you haven’t taken the time to get to know Sarah, who owns the place, do it. Adam has enough work to do so being able to speak with Sarah one on one will serve everyone better in the long run. She is usually fixing the pinball machines or behind the counter. Tall, Blonde, glasses, hair usually in ponytail. before business picked up last night I got a chance to pick her brain about the fight nights how the arcade makes money and what their goals are for the arcade in general. Suffice it to say sarah has enormous and ambitious plans for the arcade not the least of which is that massive empty space for rent directly next door to PWA. She opened the doors to me and I got to look around inside the vacant space and I can tell you now the space is large enough to house another PWA and then some. There are plans to add Laser Tag, More Games (new and old), and some surprises she was not quite ready to speak about. The lease for the facility is 5 years with hopes of making enough money from PWA to eventually have her own building to move into, rather than giving away rent checks every month.
That leads me to PWA expenses and why it is important for us to get on those machines. Sarah was extremely open and frank about the business and the hard numbers associated with keeping the lights on the place. Their rent alone is a tick over 10k, plus insurance(necessity and VERY expensive due to liability of children), Gas, ELECTRICITY(more on this in a bit), and of course maintenance. There is more obviously but this alone adds up to a very healthy monthly bill for the facility. When asked though Sarah said business is “very good.” When I inquired about how they make money I was told it all comes from the machines. There are no secondary resources to rake in the money as I once assumed. It’s all about the machines period.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays attendance wise are their slowest days(“average” as Sarah described). Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday are the highest volume days. Sarah would ideally like to see that change and spread the wealth a bit more to those “average” days. I went ahead and mentioned the idea for a donation box and was promptly shut down. Instead she would like to see any money just go straight into the machines. It makes a bigger impact, and on Tuesdays we have an opportunity to make an impact with those fight nights. Not by charging venue fees or donation boxes, but by spending $1 on a machine while we wait for our matches makes all the difference. For those concerned with the few hours we have for Fight Nights, that too was addressed. Sarah has no problem staying open an extra hour if we need it and want it, but the love has to be spread to the arcade machines for part of that time…
Which brings me back to electricity. Sarah averaged out the total cost of electricity per hour for PWA to be around $25+. To stay open an extra hour means to expense them in the process. If we are gradually getting games in on the machines over the course of those few hours we essentially help offset the extra hour we want. With the attendance we have been gettign and will hopefully continue to get then .50 to 1$ per person isn’t a hell of a lot to ask. Sarah lowballed that number to $5-$10 over the course of the night, but we have numbers to surpass that figure. So bring some loose change from the coffees, subs, etc that you eat/drink/buy over the next two weeks and share some with the venue.
Lastly but certainly not least(ly?) we get to Tournaments. PWA supports our efforts 100% if not evidenced by what we have been provided thus far. Sarah will put any flyers etc under the “Events” section of the PWA website if we hand them to her or send via Adam in minutes. “The sooner, the better” according to her. The 18th looks good as well. We just need to talk it over and get the ok from Adam and we can start it up no problem. As for prizes and what the future may hold, just ask about what PWA is offering to participants in their upcoming Pinball Tournament. It’s literally a full package from T-shirts to Tokens and Local restaurant gift certificates. So all we need right now are the games, venue fee/tournament fee, and the date is all set. Any questions I may not have answered feel free to ask.
