it may sound long because im saying about the skeletal work of the system
just imagine walking into the place, a huge crowd of people watching and cheering, you think “huh…whats this all about?” someone says “theres a new tournament here, the winner gets blah blah blah, this little kid looks like he’s gonna become the winner” and you think to urself watching the begginer play “…? hmph if i was in this i would win it easy”
would you…
A: shrug and walk away from the prize
B: beat that little kid and win some money or whatever
?
basically the least u can win is double your money
the only thing thats gonna get lazy people into the arcade is some sort of free play like i suggested before or free credits when you hand over a note.
and if new management wants to make money, downsize the arcade by …90%
yeah free credits when you hand over a note only for (SD) members, it will makes sure people wont just subscribe to get free cash, it will make them want to get in (SD), but only once per tourny because people will just keep handing in notes and become rich overnight, once theyve recieved their free coins it gets put on the system
well I think that those lazy technicians should get fired for a start and get some decent technicians that wont sit on the job.
other than that chunkis we had that talk on msn but ill like to share my thoughts with the community aswell:-
they should move the cabinets back to the main arcade in troc where most of the people go and where people will see us play and may attract more players.
get another 3s in the vs. cabinets prefrebly a jap one.
take out all the games that are not getting played and put in the ones that people want to play, especially that damn football game nobody plays that shite what is it doing there?
put T5 on the vs. cab and make it 50p.
have a seating area near the machines where we can sit have a chat and wait for our go.
have SC3 on a ps2 inside a vs. cab…lol but doesnt hurt to ask them now does it?
they should be willing to organise a main tournament once or twice a year with big prizes.
well thats all i can think of right now but I would just like to say that there should be 2 3s cabs next to each other and maybe a ST aswell but that game is getting on a bit so maybe some more upto date games should be there instead like GGXX, NeoGeo Battle Coluseum, Rumble Fish 2… etc I dont know what people want maybe you can make a list from what you get here and go with the majority then give it to the management if they are willing to listen.
anyways thats my 2 cents im out, laters and good luck with the meeting.
that would never happen in a “Big” arcade,as its not exactly legal and can lead to all kinds if trouble, although I do know of a few smaller places that have done this. The devices to allow a console to be used inside a cabinet are easily accessible from Hong Kong based suppliers
I dont agree with thisgetting more machines is a good idea, however neglecting the other games isnt. The 3s players arent going anywhere!. Having 1 extra machine for the most popular games is good I agree, But different games in the arcade is the key to getting new players to come to the arcades. Not getting new games will only see the same old faces and thats not what people want. One of the main reasons people don`t come down is because the arcade doesnt have what people are interested in playing.
Again valid point about the extra machine for the most popular games. I think that 2 of any one game is more than enough.(I think we struggle to get people for the games that are popular) except at peak times. so 2 machines isn`t really a necessity.
For anybody thats emailed me am sorry if I have not replied, Ive been very busy over the last few days and will reply to everybody asap.
I would just like to thank everybody so far for taking the time out to make contributions to this thread and bringing alot of key issues to the table.
Megalo: What’s this about a guy getting some cabs in Leeds? I’m REALLY starting to wish I’d got into uni this year now :sad:
I don’t have much to input, but I think it’s important to consider that buying in all the new big games can be a problem. Those games are pretty expensive, and you have to turn a profit. Say it’s 50p a play on a new game and the kit costs you 1000, that’s 2000 plays you need just to break even. And if you combine that with buying in a lot of new games, you’re probably gonna be spreading profits way too thin across all of them. Big arcades can manage it because of the number of different people they have going there, but I think for an arcade that’s still trying to regain an audience, serious thought needs to be put into each cab purchased. Of course, this really depends on how much they’re willing to spend before they start seeing a profit.
^^ Good point. If they were to get some new popular cabs in they should definitely rearrange the layout. Like people have said before me having virtua soccer next to a fighting game next to a slot machine… That will never attract a big enough crowd. I was always drawn to crowds in arcades to go see what was happening. I never really stood over a slot machine to watch somebody The correct games need to be grouped together so that people with the same interests can easier get competition going on the games they like. Other machines can be sold, they can earn money selling a shitload of the games that Chunkis and others could recommend. Which could then go towards refurb and cabs that people will actually spend money on. It sounds like the place definitely needs to be rearranged tho.
If thing happen in the right order Im sure it will be a bright plan and will see some success. It sounds like whoever did own it didnt have any interest in their business whatsoever. You regulars did well to stick it out and carry on gaming. Chunkis will smack the meeting, let them know what the players want and how to start attracting people through their doors again :tup:
Some arcade center in japan use a poll system.
I remember one proud to say they’ve got at least one PCB of each arcade game ever released. There, you can just ask for a game. And if you are lucky, next week, you will play it
Of course, my meaning isn’t that trocadero should buy zillion of pcbs lol.
But having a little corner where games are changed each week should make people come often.
Also, many arcade center buy new crappy games which is a waste of money and space. A little poll each month asking something like “what game next?” would be a good idea no?
I think it’s worth reading this and bringing up some of the points raised there, especially the advertising part. Advertise the arcade itself with flyers or something, and if you do some kind of “x tickets for x”, put that on them as well, as well as a list of the popular games. When you get new games in (especially big releases such as, say, VF5 and Tekken5:DR), advertise them specifically.
Since I’ve never been to Troc. (but it most likely that I will in the near future. I hope.) And I might give you some advice.
I wouldn’t recommend you buying some silly Fighting Mania. (the thingy where you punch certain plastic punch bags as it pop up) since we have chavs who using it as “Man points” and bash it hard and fast as they can, and cause the machine to break.
Rather than buying more machine, use all the machine as possible, you could save a lot of money and time.(Time can be vital in arcade business.)
If you are moving the machine around, best if you plan it on paper to save grief.
Lastly, make troc as a no smoking area. There are some people who have asthma or people who become very wary about passive smoking. (Despending how big is Troc is.)
There is my first post and I hope this will be a great comeback to the Arcade industry. We really need more Brits getting involed.
The Virtua Soccer cab is in a stupid position because not only is it stuck between fighting games (yeah, great idea) but say there is someone who wants to play it and they see it sandwiched between the 3S and VF crowd, of course they’re not going to play on it. It’s a wasted game in a useful position.
But there are problems with the layout everywhere. Like someone else said, air hockey is in a stupid place. You could put another Versus 3S cab there which would mean not only will more games get played but given the complete lack of enthusiasm by technicians to fix machines, with two cabinets there’s at least double the chance of there being a working machine there for when someone makes the long journey down.
Although hiring helpful technicians who know what they’re doing is a no-brainer.
I’d say that’s the most important thing. I know it’s what keeps me from going to the Troc - the risk that I’ve wasted a 60 train ticket to play on a broken machine. Like on the morning of Neo Empire, for example, the roundhouse button on the 3S cab was actually missing from one side. Good work lads. Really tempts me to come back.
AND GET VF: FINAL TUNED, FOR FUCK’S SAKE. I swear, I’d be down the Troc every week if they had that game in.
Good stuff coming from everyone in here, but I am glad manz cant smoke in troc already, plz dont ask that to be allowed its not about manz stinking the place up with that unhealty shit.
First thing they got sort out is to get som air conditioning because it becomes mad hot in their and really stuffy to breath.
Second getting 2 3S cabs would be much better becoz u got wait 20-30 mins to play agen if u lose.
Third is that their is alot of pad players in this country, friend told me that when he went japan the arcades had ps2 ports so you could use ur pads this would be great, but also theirs been loads people thats cam to troc and complained about the layout of the sticks (busted buttons aswell) so i think it would incourage people to com if they know they can bring their own sticks and play som s3 (this would stop the b1tchin about different layouts).
just my thoughts :tup:
I want to suggest having a stack wet wipes to clean the controls down with before you play like they have in Japan (as often the controls in the troc are well greasy), but some chavs would probably nick them all.
The correct games need to be grouped together so that people with the same interests can easier get competition going on the games they like. Other machines can be sold, they can earn money selling a shitload of the games that Chunkis and others could recommend. Which could then go towards refurb and cabs that people will actually spend money on. It sounds like the place definitely needs to be rearranged tho.