Skybox really doesn’t need that many changes to become a truly effective arcade on the west end.
First off I wouldn’t change the amount of money needed to play either CvS2 or MvC2. It’s obvious that both of those games bring in a regular amount of players regardless of whether it’s 50 cents or 25 cents. Dropping the price while already having an established revenue stream with no sign of decline is just burning potential profit.
As it concerns Tekken 5, that game is what I consider a losing project from a long term perseptive. With the exception of the established East Asian obsession with the card format (see ORBIT having multiple machines all being used continuously for a prime example) there is no other demo holding down a strong affiliation with this game. The massive investment needed just to play it is ridiculous considering the game is due for a late spring domestic release and any of the people holding out now that want to play it will get it in April. So arcades are left with a useless machine in the end. If arcades actually hold out and keep their machines after domestic release, you’ll see the drop in price (both for cards and each play) that were mentioned earlier because they quite simply won’t have a choice.
Bringing in 3rd Strike is an obvious choice and is almost a necessity as tournaments are always held around the big three (CvS2, MvC2, 3S) and will continue to do so until either CFJ gets a wide arcade release or Capcom comes up with something remarkably new and actually fun to play.
Alpha 3 and Super Turbo are both niche games at this stage and while I love both games more than just about anything else outside of CvS2, I would never spend the money to bring in games that five people would regularly play. It’s just bad business.
DDR is a constant cash cow and if anything I would bring in a second machine. BTW; to everyone complaining about the volume of the machine, that’s actually a great marketing tool. Has anyone ever noticed how often random couples and parents with small children walk by the arcade and stop because of the noise and the players dancing? That’s potential revenue from people who may walk in and play a game of something else or who’s kids are drawn to the arcade and want to play a game or two. Volume stays, I hate it as well but it’s a good marketing tool.
Pool is a waste of time in a place that’s on mall hours and uses it’s non arcade space for fooz ball.
Speaking of fooz ball, I’d scrap the air hockey table and add another table. I don’t know what it is about that game but it’s always played, has low overhead (maintenance/repairs in this case) and the tables are no more expensive than a mid tier arcade cabinet while bringing in far more revenue.
I’d scrap just about everything on the right side of Skybox and put Inital D (whatever the latest version is) in there and add another Inital D as well (think METRO setup along the wall).
That’s all I can think of right now.