/vr/ - Retro Games

>>3255803
They'd definitely have to lean towards newer generations and casual just-passing-by players who maybe aren't even that into video games to have a fighting chance. Even then, in a world with mobile phones, it's questionable. Maybe a net cafe could work. There's no way these things are gonna be packed with 20-40+ year old gamers all the time. Would you even commit to going to one routinely many times a week as a person who loves these things yourself? Think about that.

If I had to place a bet, it's that these work as gimmicks for a few years and then die off.

>>3255803
I love em man we have a few in my city. As a kid I always dreamed of being able to just cram $5 bill after $5 bill into those coin machines, cause you know back then that seemed like a million bucks worth of quarters. Now I can still do that, and have a few cold ones. Anyway that's my thoughts. The Barcades here are very mixed crowd, not just 1 social group, also males/females. Girls get drunk and go nuts on that that Pacman 4 person Battle royal thing. I'm sure it all just depends on location man. I personally also find myself playing pinball, as opposed to the classics I grew up on like MK, X Men, etc...

>>3255865
Well I assume they operate similar to your local comic / game stores. They probably hold weekly events to make ends meet. MTG, pokemon, fighting tournaments, etc.

I don't have any in my area, so I wouldn't know. But I am most curious about the entry point for the casual consumer. What makes someone off the street look at the establishment and decide that's where they want to go? As a bar, it seems very niche and probably not the atmosphere most bar-goers are looking for. As a gaming establishment, it won't keep your doors open by just offering cabinets alone.

>>3255883
Hype, location, age demographics, game selection, drink selection/prices etc..the two barcades here are called 1up. They hold monthly pin tournies that's it I believe. These are dive bars, not some weaboo tier gamestore with cabinets. The games and pins are well kept, the drinks are strong, you can order goddamn 40 Oz beers. But yah, they are alot of fun for pretty much anyone, I saw parents being their kids in early in the morning before it got wild for a bday once so props to them

>>3255803
>>3255865
Video games literally fucking started in bars.

I have a barcade close to me.

Not a lot of games on their list that catch my interest. Wish they had a lightgun game or something.

>>3255803
We have a bunch of barcades in the city but my favorite is still the one with pool tables that serves $5 whiskey backs and plays the Simpsons all day every day on one of the TVs. It's cool to have the arcade games but pool and darts are the quintessential drinking games imo. Video games won't keep me coming back

>>3256171
>alcohol and the simpsons

Sounds like my personal version of hell.

>>3255803
I think that they are important for /vr/.

One, they keep gaming relevant for people over 21 years of age.

and two, someone has to maintain the machines, which has become something of a niche art. More demand for cabinet repair skills can't be a bad thing. Not to mention the increased likelihood of people making replacement parts as the ability to cannibalize older machines wanes.

>>3255803
I don't like to drink when I play so they aren't really interesting for me. I'd probably go to one with decent food where the emphasis wasn't so much on drinking. From what I've seen barcades seem to be popular for a while when they open and go bust after a while when people get bored of the novelty.

>>3256181
>>3258047
People who don't drink are literally niggers.

I can't wait until you get thrown in prison for felony narcotics possession.

I've been to two, Barcade in Manhattan and The Baxter in Chapel Hill NC, both catered primarily towards retro fans and had pretty good signature drinks.

The Baxter though has a filthy selection of retro games, all of the must-haves and then some. Also, their signature drink the She-Hulk will knock you on your ass.

>>3256181
How do you know if someone doesn't drink? They'll tell you!

>>3258057
You do know that Hitler didn't drink, right? Does that make him a nigger?

I'm pretty sure 98% of this board would disagree with you, IDIOT.

There was one in Vegas but the actual cabinets were neglected and depressing. More people played console games at the bar or just came to drink or watch DJs. The arcade cabinets completely existed as a novelty stop for tourists who wanted to have le nostalgic experience by playing a dilapidated cabinet for fifteen minutes. It's closed down at this point.

There's a smaller one in my hometown which is a bit cooler. Still caters to the suchanerd nostalgia scene a little bit but that's just comes with the territory. Pinball machines are a bigger draw for bar regulars and there's definitely clientele who go there just because they genuinely enjoy the machines. Smaller collection of cabinets but they're rented and all kept up nice.

>>3258076

>hitler
>not a giant nigger

>>3258096
Your forced gook meme is stale, you dumb libcuck faggot.

>>3258096

>hurrdurr libcuck

Lmao fuck your ass off back to your hugbox containment board. Stay triggered :^)

>>3258104
>maybe if I post it again it will be funny and people will like it!
Liberal insanity in action folks.

>>3258098

Yo seriously though, /pol/ fags are fucking pathetic. I bet you're some fat dumb loser who gets his ass beat on the reg.

>>3258107

>Implying liberal

wew lad

>>3258096
>>3258104
>hating hitler
>using tumblr memes
bluepilled as fuck

>>3258112
You're obsessed with a chink boyband guy and you called Hitler a nigger.

Not doing a good job convincing me otherwise there champ.

>>3258116

>called your boyfriend a nigger

FTFY

Shut the fuck up you fucking autists, holy shit

I have a barcade about 20 minutes from me. It's a nice place with a decent selection of games but it has two things going against it that I absolutely hate. It's located downtown and it's full of fucking hipsters. That's why I'm building my own little barcade oasis in my basement. All the fun minus having to deal with the general public and not having to drive home after a few beers.

>>3258121
Underrated

>>3258057
People who can't into reading comprehension are literally retarded.
Literally.
I never said I don't drink I said I don't like to drink when I play. Just like I don't like to drink when I work, drive, or do anything else that requires concentration and coordination.
Maybe you're so casual that nothing can make your game play worse. In that case feel free to blaze up and get hammered. But some of us have skill and enjoy beating games, which is often impossible if you're plastered.

>>3258850
Holy shit you autistic fuck, lamo

If it has more than just the generic "Pac man, Ms Pac man, Galaga" and actually had something cool like the old Konami beatemups, shmups, fightan games, racin games, and Neo Geo games, then it's good

If it's the same generic raw thrills and ticket bullshit, than fuck that shit

>>3258850
Are you the guy from /pin/ general that freaked out when someone recommended someone to drink a beer?

>>3258871
I went to one this past weekend and it had all that plus more. Double Dragon, SF2: Hyper Fighting, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, TMNTIV, Shinobi, Soul Edge, Last Blade 2, and more.

I'm definitely going back.

>>3255803
I quit drinking 4 years ago so I wish we had a normal arcade around here. We have a barcade but it's pretty uninteresting outside of the good prices.

>>3258895
Oh get off your high horse you fucking faggot and have a drink.

Jesus christ you people are fucking annoying

>>3258889
Sounds awesome

Not really retro, but I'd love to see one have an Initial D game, that game can get really intense

>>3258850
>which is often impossible if you're plastered.

lmao

>>3255803
They probably can make money currently due to geek culture not being very niche and having alcohol available to make it a hangout spot for people.
I continue to say they are shit though but that is probably me being spoiler by having an arcade with candy cabs nearby and that the owner takes care of. Meanwhile the closest barcade had barely functioning standup cabs for fighters. DDR and Initial D is nice though I suppose.

>>3258905
Well I kind of can't, I'm sober and if I drink again I'll probably end up with another DUI, so best I don't.

Sorry I upset you.

>>3258905
Some people just don't like the taste of alcohol. I hate it. Nothing to do with morals. I have trouble understanding how anyone can enjoy it.

>>3258931
>Some people just don't like the taste of alcohol.
Yeah, they're called "autists".

>>3258935
It tastes like garbage dude.

>>3258937
>It tastes like garbage dude.
Yeah if you have autism or you're a nigger. Whites created alcohol anyway.

>>3258931
What a lil bitch.
Drink sum

>>3258850
I'm like 3 times better at arcade games a little drunk, not too much but just a bit buzzed. It helps kick a sort of muscle memory in drive

There's a place I hang out at every Tuesday that gets it right, imo. They have free to play snes, n64 and an arcade cabinet of various retro arcade games (one of those emulator deals that bundles things like time pilot and super cobra with a bunch of other retro hits) along with modern consoles. But the main pull is their selection of board games. I think being just a barcade is destined for failure, but if you offer it along with something else, it'll work okay.

>>3258986
Is that in Washington DC? I remember seeing a place like that when I visited 2 years ago. Not too keen on that emulator cabinet, seems like it would always be occupied and you'd have to wait a while, as opposed to just playing a different machine.

>>3258851
>>3258885
Reading comprehension kids

>>3258958
I know people like that. Not me though.

>>3255803
I might go to one, that said it will probably be a long time before one opens up where I live if ever happened. Depends on the clientele and the games they had.

If it sells booze, it's not likely to close. And the game angle is surprisingly popular. The one closest to me in Sac sometimes has a line to get in on weekends. If I had the money I'd open a pizza barcade in a second.

So, do these barcade things have good maintenance? Because I really hate how arcades tend sit on their ass and watch everything break down, whether it's having shit be uncalibrated, or worse, make it where the machines will just eat money/tokens without giving credit

>>3258958
I'm this way but with smash bros, give me a beer and I lose all fear of fucking up and just go crazy.

Columbus has a fantastic barcade scene. There's 16-bit on 4th Street which does great upkeep on their stuff, and is packed on weekends in my experience. Big part of its appeal is that they play 80s music and movies all the time, so if you need a break you can kick back and watch Top Gun or something while you wait to get your energy up again. Likewise they sell more than just alcohol for those who aren't into drinking and playing or just drinking in general.

There's also great north arcade (?) on high street which is a more console-oriented affair. Has N64 and Gamecube with all the best multi games, though they're hard to play given their choice of laggy wall-mounted LCDs though. Arcade games as well, not as many as 16-bit though.

Finally there's gatcha gachapon, a weeaboo hole in the wall on east 5th. Sketchy area but your courage is rewarded with a dungeon full of rhythm games, fighters, and bizarre random stuff like the table flipping game. Also they have PS3s and stacks of imports so you can play gundam extreme vs. if you want to.

Best part of all three is that they're all free to play. Gatcha has a price of admission whereas the other two operate off of alcohol sales. I recommend all three (16 bit and gatcha the most though) to anyone who's in the university district.

I also recommend avoiding ethyl and tank. They advertise a game selection but it's terrible. Small selection, badly maintained, cramped space, not a good setup at all. I went once and won't go back.

>>3259536
The ones in my city do. Good drinks, one has food, and they keep their shit pretty upkept. Just wouldn't wanna shit there, since they are kinda divey

I like alcohol, but I also like 1ccs and high scores, and you can't have both at the same time.

>>3259573

The barcade is really the only way to have a sustainable arcade now a days.

Arcades are just too damn expensive for the players. You feel ripped off going to them, and console games basically destroyed the market. Atari had arcade ports, nes had arcade ports, snes had arcade ports, and eventually it just stopped being relevant.

Arcade games were always superior technology but as the gap closed, the prices went up, which meant it took longer to get return on the machine.

Basically, Arcade machines will always have a place in things like shitty laundromats, a couple of games or pinball machines in a bar has always been fairly standard but an arcade in north america isn't really sustainable.

I own a Neo-Geo and I like it quite a bit. but I'm not going to delude myself into thinking there is ever going to be an arcade culture in america again.

>>3256091

I'd go to one that had Time Crisis 2 and Police Trainer.

Some shmups, too.

>>3259598
"Pay once for free play" arcades can do well without a bar, though. I live near one, it's been open for about a year and a half now. Always busy on Saturdays, and even on weekdays there are always a few people there.

>>3259598
Pretty much, and there's also the fact that many arcades have shitty maintenance.

I recently went to one in Harvee's casino and hotel in Lake Tahoe, and while it had a good selection like Initial D 3 and Scud race motion cabinets, none of them were linked, despite having multiples of those cabinets. Initial D 3 worked fine, but wasn't linked, which is pretty shit considering that Initial D is pretty much the best competitive racer out there, and Scud race was uncalibrated like all hell, which made it absolute torture to play. And the sad thing is, the maintenance staff was there, and couldn't give a shit, they were too busy fixing ticket games, yet never bothered to check up scud race, or HotD 3 (Gun 2 was uncalibrated as all hell, and reloading barely worked, pump would also get stuck), or Time Crisis 3 (Gun 2 only worked if you held it close to the screen). It's like no one ever gives a shit about this stuff anymore, they just let these things break and ignore any problems, and they never even bother to check up on them. It's not like you really have a definitive way to tell them either, and most of the time, they won't know their shit and just give you tokens back and say "Sorry it's broken", while leaving it on and not bothering to fix it. It really shouldn't be hard to re-calibrated Light guns and Wheels, I mean the former is literally easy as fuck, just go into the test menu and shoot targets, and it's done. Do these people ever get trained or read the owners manual for this stuff?

>>3259608
I used to live close to one of them. There were a handfull of neckbeards who basically lived there parked at the popular machines failing in their attempts to git gud. Managers didn't give a fuck because it was regular business of them. But not enough to pay the bills so they went bust.

we've got one fairly near here that doesn't really have anything good. i don't drink so not a whole lot of interest in general.

there's galloping ghost up by chicago but that's a few hours away. huge selection though, and all on freeplay.

>>3259829
here's a picture of galloping ghost btw, it's some crazy shit. biggest in america iirc. wanna go over there one of these days but it's a bit of a haul.

>>3259832
>Galloping Ghost
As if the games weren't enough, they have the best name ever.

>>3259654
Keep in mind, but all accounts the younger generation doesn't care anymore either.

I heard the argument that Arcades were good for things that were I dunno, a unique experience? For awhile you couldnt do the driving games or lightgun games at home in any real capacity so those were cool.

But now a days I know kids who are 12 who have full on Forza setups (mostly cause their dads are into it), and you've got things like motion controls so that argument doesn't hold the same water that it's used to.

People always talk the classics like Donkey Kong and Pacman, but really do people even give a shit about those? You've got that shit on your phone, you're not going to go to a dedicated arcade and play, and if you are like one of those King of Kong guys, you've no doubt got your own machine. Graphically they aren't impressive so I find it hard to believe that kids would give a shit when we've got PS4's that look amazing.

Arcades are a relic of the past. It's an unfortunate reality, but there it is.

I can definitely sympathize with the broken games and not giving a shit though. Kids used to wrench on the Sega racing game wheels and break them constantly when I played

>>3259837
it's a crazy ass place, and they've got a lot of the stuff that i wanna play but don't wanna deal with in MAME. lucky and wild, initial d, f-zero AX... lots of light-gun/racing chair stuff that just doesn't really work without a cabinet or a complicated setup. they even got that japan-exclusive left 4 dead arcade game in recently.

http://www.gallopingghostarcade.com/games-list/

literally over 500 games, for a once-per-day $15 fee, open until 2 in the morning. goddamn i need to get a road trip going.

>>3259839
i'm kinda hoping that VR gives them a comeback just because it's so goddamn expensive.

>>3259850
I highly doubt it.

Remember that outbreak of Pink Eye at I think Pax because everyone was sharing the Oculus Rift? That's no doubt going to become a thing if that happens.

>>3259850
>i kind of hope people will pay big bucks for cardboard.

>>3259839
>Arcades are a relic of the past
The lack of arcades in the US is a result of American video game culture changing for the worse. In Japan, console and even mobile phone games are just as popular as in the US, but they still have an active arcade industry with several places to play both new and old games.

>>3260135
>but they still have an active arcade industry
lolololo no
even cave dropped out of that industry 4 years ago

>>3260135
>The lack of arcades in the US is a result of American video game culture changing for the worse.

Arcades were awesome but they went the way of blockbuster for a reason. We should all be happy barcades are a thing and enjoy it while it last.

>>3259848
If ya'll didn't scare the crap out of me, I would suggest a meet up. I've got friends that live in Shoenburg I could hang with as well.

>>3259862
Nothing basic sanitation procedures couldn't fix.

Also, if you have pink eye and use one of those, you should be suspended by your scrotum and beaten about the head until your brain candy hits the floor.

>>3260185
Hear hear, this is true anon. I'm just grateful that for now, at this point in my life, I can go to bars that combine my younger years with my adult years.
>>3260135
Yup right around the beginning of the 2000s when everyone realllly got into online gaming, CS especially

>>3260140
At least it's more of a thing in Japan, you have more companies into it instead of having Raw Thrills have a monopoly and choke hold on everything.

That and I'd rather play Initial D than some game based on a movie that gets too many sequels any day

>>3260307
Problem is, like I said millions of times, Maintenance guys don't give a shit, or at least they don't have any basis to give a shit. If the average arcade these days has to have that one light gun game uncalibrated, you just know that a full on strap on VR game will be an utter legal nightmare.

>>3260669
Yeah. It makes me think I should go into business doing travel repairs. I'd include basic maintenance training as part of the service. It's sad when good machines aren't maintained. And yeah, there's always going to be stuff beyond the ken of most maintenance guys. Really most machines in the US are spot located, and unless the owner has some serious skills, they don't see a lot of repair.

Just look for the sticker on the lower screen near the bezel. you'll see how few places with games even own them. Most likely, the manager of the place can't be arsed to call it in for servicing. And unless you tell someone that's something is wrong, the owner's not going to do more than pull the coin bin.

>>3255803
We have one in Tulsa called The Max. They do have quite a few games inside but that's not really the main gimmick. They're more of an 80s retro bar so they are playing nothing but classic 80s tunes and they have a bunch of old box type tvs behind the bar that have shitty picture and are playing tv shows and movies from the decade.

There's one in town that's been doing well for years. All games are a quarter, they have a decent selection of games (and drinks) and it's in a popular area of town for college kids. I think it's great to tie in the social aspect of a bar with an arcade, otherwise I don't think arcades are viable in the West nowadays.

My only complaint is the one in my town seems to have a hard time keeping the games in good working order. Joysticks/guns/buttons are regularly fucked up, coin-slots are jammed or simply broken, etc., and they replace/repair games regularly. I think the presence of drinks and drunks puts the games at a higher risk than if they were at a traditional arcade.

>>3260794
If it gets business and they actually know their shit about arcades (which describes a couple good barcades), they are more likely to repair and maintain their shit.

Usually the shitty ones are in kiddy places, and the owners can't give less of a shit, and just sit back as their machines fuck up and do nothing about it. Not to mention they usually select the shittiest games since all they think about arcades is "Place with games in them for kids and just for kids"

>>3260135
This.

I really wish we had an arcade scene without the stupid bar angle. Not to mention it reeks of hipsters. I'd rather just buy a personal cabinet than that stupid shit.

>>3261771
Oh look another teetotaler virgin faggot shoving his mormon shit down everyone's throats. i bet if it were up to you faggot, every girl wud be in a burka and you'd ban pork you fucking asshole

>>3261773
Oh look another hipster who can't git gud and wants to get drunk with his skank and suck even more playing games
>inb4 it brags about how his skank sucked him off after he spent $50 to beat altered beast

>>3261771
>I'd rather just buy a personal cabinet than that stupid shit.
You should. One less autismo making cool bars less awkward.

Faggot.

When I was in highschool it was my dream to open an arcade/internet cafe.

I actually had a business plan all worked out, but then an internet cafe opened up in the location I had picked and proceeded to go under within a month.

My dream died there.

Rent's too expensive.
Cabs and maintenance are too expensive.
People can and will fuck up the machines (either by accident, and occaisonally on purpose)
Your customer base is either little kids, aging gamers, or you make it a bar and have hipsters (and the bar has it's own slew of problems, and if you're going to open a bar, you're better off just having it be a fucking bar with a handful of games in a corner somewhere)

>>3261967
I've heard a story from an internet friend (or former friend as I fucked shit up, I tend to do that) that his town once got together and suggested an arcade, and it just closed after as little as a month or so.

I sorta wish I could open an arcade in a specific spot, but the problem is, I hate children, and it can't be a barcade because there's a bourbon place nearby.

>>3261913
Thank you. Jesus fuck, no one over the age of fucking 24 or so should even set foot in a fucking bar. It's a place full of pathetic losers and idiots that think drinking to excess is a good thing (drinking is fine, drinking to excess is fucking stupid).

>>3261979
>I've never been inside a bar much less outside of my autism caontainment cage, please kill me.

>>3261979
>I've never been inside a bar much less outside of my autism containment cage, please kill me.

>>3261979
I don't know how you handle going outside at all since the world is filled with stupid people. deal with it

>>3261986
>>3261992
Awwwww, look, little fucking children that just gained legal alcohol privileges that are crying over reality hitting them in the fucking face.

Honestly, the way this modern generation is, we should raise the age of adulthood to 30 at the very least. Apparently you're all too goddamn immature when you hit 18/21 to do anything.

>>3261974
Alcoholic?
Tell us the story...

>>3261771
You have to realize, the bar-aspect of the idea comes into play because profit margins are ridiculously high on liquor in bars. You need the food / drinks to help you break even or even turn out a profit. It's not that an arcade alone can't be successful, but your figuratively tying one hand behind your back on purpose.

We live in an age where the most successful companies offer a multitude of goods and services to their consumers. Specialty shops are becoming less viable in the physical market place thanks to the ease of opening up a modern online storefront. Also location, location, location still applies even today, so you better open up your arcade in a large enough market, otherwise it will fail from lack of consumers alone.

>>3261967
>>3261974
I've seen this kind of thing since I was young. I don't understand why people don't make a more viable business model to at least keep the doors open for the first year or two to even give the business a chance to grow. I'd find some partners who'd be willing to back the business with not only my personnel income, but theirs in the event that the company wasn't turning a profit.

Lay out a 2 year business model and reevaluate it quarterly before you decide to close the doors.

Sometimes I feel the reason most of these establishment go belly up is just from simple lack of planning. More money also wouldn't hurt, but that's often easier said than done.

>>3262003
Kill yourself you autistic genetic defect.

Seriously.

Making euthanasia illegal coddling retards like you instead of aborting/executing has hurt as a white society.

>>3262003
And look at the guy that cries when people does stuff he doesn't like? I don't give a shit about alcohol, weakest drug ever. I was more of a illegal drug guy myself.

>>3262004
There really is no story other than "People want arcade to open, it opens, it closes in short time", and I have about 3 months until I'm 21 (And the bourban place is a restaurant that sells bourban and burgers).

>>3262012
I don't really know how you could get anyone to back an arcade, considering most of them are just financial black holes

>>3262027
>I was more of a illegal drug guy myself.
Fuck off literal nigger.

thinking about picking up pic related from my local craigslist. he's got 300 on it, figure i can talk him down to 200-250. seems to be in really good condition. gonna try to scrape up the money selling off some old junk i've got lying around (pachinko machine, n64, m.u.s.c.l.e. figures...) and grab one of those multigame jamma boards off of aliexpress, get an arcade collection going.

>>3262030
You know how expensive some drugs can be? Niggers are too poor for that shit.

>>3262028

People back all sorts of other terrible ideas everyday.

Financially, a barcade isn't much different from opening up any other bar or restaurant. Initial capital is where you're going to spend the majority of your cash, after that it's just working on keeping your overhead expenses down while doing what you can to get people in the door. Offer drink specials, monthly memberships, food / gaming combos, tournaments and gatherings during the week (smash brothers, pokemon, FGC, etc.).

If you can get a decent crowd in your place just to drink, the money you earn off of your machines is just icing on the cake.

It make take some time to recoup your initial investment, even if you are successful. But really, no one should go into opening this type of business with the outlook that they will make money. On the other side of the coin, you shouldn't open up an establishment thinking it will fail. It has to be run by passionate people who are doing what they love, not just trying to earn a dollar.

I guarantee you there are gamers out there right now (myself included) who have graduated and have decent careers and loose change who would love to partner up with some like minded gamers and see their dream become a reality.

Don't let your dreams become memes.

>>3262037
>implying real white men let narcotics anywhere near their body

Fuck off Schlomo.

>>3262047
because its okay to waste your life with video games, but drugs are bad mmkay?

>>3262052
Take all the narcotics you want nigger, your semen count is going to be so low you'll never breed so it's a win-win.

Just stay the fuck away from me and my white friends if you know what's good for you Harambe.

How can any of you actually care what anyone else takes or likes? This is such a pointless argument.

>>3262061
apparently white people suck at reading comprehension. notice what i said "i was", indicating past tense. i don't do them anymore.

>>3262045
Unless the cabs are operating 100% of the time your return on them is actually pretty dogshit.

The counter on my MVS is at like 67,000ish which at a quarter a credit is like what, 16.5 grand?

That's over the course of this thing being in a movie theater from like 1993ish to 2010 when they got rid of the arcade section, or at least got rid of most of the obsolete games where I got it.

So 16.5 grand minus initial cost of the machine, and 4 games, and any maintenance fees associated with it.

It's not horrendous return if you're looking at it in a vacuum, but it's slow as fuck, and probably didn't even pay itself off every year.

So that's another thing wrong with arcades.

>>3262074
Well a more popular business model that is poping up is to offer day passes and free-play options. Not all your gaming selection needs to be cabinets either; you can always use console or emulation alternatives.

Hell, I'd even argue that offering a venue fee over quarter-based machines would be a lot less hassle legally as well. by charging people to get into your venue instead of per play, you may not have to fulfill all the requirements that a business running coin-operated machines for profit has to go through. But I'm not well versed enough in that area to give you a certain answer.

All I'm saying is there are several ways to do it. If you follow the in the footsteps of failed business (IE old arcades), your destined to fail yourself. But there are inovative companies out there making money. It's not all doom and gloom.

>>3262064
I think so too anon. It's disappointing there's so many bigots in society.

>>3262097
>Day passes

People have tried it here. There was a Playdium at Metrotown iirc that was awesome as fuck as an arcade, but it was bloody expensive, like 30 bucks a person for like an 8 hour thing.

It died after like 5 years or something, it just wasn't sustainable, even something with that model.

When you could pay 60 for a game, or a slew of 5-10 dollar games why would you pay 30 bucks to play games for a day? It just doesn't make sense anymore, no matter how you monetize it.

The -only- way it's going to work as a supplementary thing. Throw a couple of cabs in a laundromat, throw a few in a bar. But now a days people have games on their phone, so it's probably even less lucrative.

>>3262151

30 dollars for a day is unreasonable considering your target consumer and existing market prices. I don't know how the company stayed open 5 years with that kind of pricing.

>>3258937
thats why you drink mixed fucking drinks and not shots.

>>3260135
The lack of arcades is due to Americans being insulted in paying more than 50 cents a play and going crazy if a game is more than $2 a play. The newer arcade cabs just cost too much money to purchase and maintain when the cost per play is so low.

>>3262224
I'd say it's more because of post 9/11 fear of leaving the house and home consoles/PCs dominating, not to mention America is more vast and open, and not as sociable as say Japan, which is densely populated yet tiny, and lots of people are generally on the move. Operators pretty much had to over charge in order to get any money out of these machines, and in the end, it really makes it less worth it. Right now, the American arcade Market is literally only redemption bullshit and Raw Thrills, which is literally just repackaged midway titles with more dumb gimmicks.

>>3261979
I wouldn't deny underage faggots the right to get drunk with their hoes and struggle to beat altered beast in a barcade catering for that type of person. The market will though. Because that business model has proven time and time again to be an absolute failure. I certainly wouldn't go to one of those dives during the short period it's open
Sounds like you live in an area with shitty night life. I used to and it's one of the reasons I moved. It's totally different when you drink in a place that isn't full of pathetic losers and idiots. I've met great people from all over the world who have become life long friends by drinking in places that cater to a different type of person..

Anyone know of any good ones in New England?

>>3262269
>I'm so ass-blasted because some mod deleted my Sega thread I now post with a trip.

Yeah, fuck off.

>>3262269
No, but I heard that one is opening in New Haven soon, and seems to have a nice selection of games with no generic, raw thrills or ticket shit on the list

This is In Denver, lotta fun

I sorta feel like we should make a "So you want to open an arcade" paste or something like that, as in something on management tips and what games to put in your arcade

One in yuppie Atlanta has a schooled and season head bar tender and has god tier drinks. Hire someone

>>3258871
Why are Raw Thrills games so shit?

How do they keep making so many?

>>3262351
I keep seeing this, what is Raw Thrills?
Are they the ones making all those arcade versions of cellphone games?

>>3262351
It's Eugene Jarvis literally just rehashing Cruisen' again and again, and any other Midway game. They're not making anything new, they just forever rehash their 90's arcade games but with new gimmicks and what not.

>>3262405
Not really sure, but fuck those guys too

>>3262405
>RawThrills
It's when you blow it inside of a pussy[/spoiler ] or a manboi after only knowing them for a few hours

>>3262325
A page with the word don't in a large font?

Went to a local Chuck e cheese yesterday with my wife and her kid. What a shitshow. I mean, he liked it but he's 2. Other than skiball and the basketball games the place was trash for anyone over 10. I recall this location at least having a Vitua fighter and the konami tmnt beat em' up last time I went(probably 5 years ago or so). Was Showbiz this bad? I tend to have fond memories of it before they changed the name.

>>3263000
>my wife and her kid
hoooooooo boy

>>3262268
Yeah. Dave and Buster's has been floundering for... wait, never. Gaming and drinking goes together just fine. You just have to make sure there's other shit going on. TVs with sports, decent food, and make sure you can handle events like bachelor parties and wedding showers.

>>3263016

>>3263184
Goddamnit I posted the wrong one, I can't even meme correctly

>>3263090
Many other non-barcades have been non-floundering for a long time as well.
I've got a great idea. I'll make a fortune opening a place where people can come in and use the toilet. It'll do great. As long as I have other shit going on. Just look at all the successful places that let people use the toilet.
Not sure if you're just trying to argue or were dropped on your head as a baby.

>>3263298
The point was that though a straight arcade will not survive anymore, unless it has a huge claim to fame, like Galloping Ghost has. By adding dining, alcohol, and creating a fun atmosphere, these places are perfectly viable long term. They're actually more sustainable than a basic bar these days. Bars are always trying to add things to attract customers, whether it be live music, or games of various types. It might be Karaoke, Trivia night, Cornhole (around here anyways), or video games. It's all perfectly viable if you create a nice atmosphere and keep prices reasonable for the people you are trying to attract.

But at least in the Midwest, the basic arcade is a complete rarity. In toledo for instance, the only arcade we've had in ages was a Nickelworld. The mall arcades all died 15 years ago. Even the truck stop arcade that seemed to do well couldn't last.

Unless you provide something that is going to attract social groups, you won't make it. Beercades do that.

>>3263298
Are you implying that Dave and Buster's isn't a beercade? It's an arcade with a bar and a dining area.

>>3255803
Been to Barcade in NYC. It's absolutely stupid. Bunch of drunk loud idiots pretending to be nerds, usually the type who used to openly hate vidya in high school for no reason other than to be annoying.

Free Play Arcade just opened near Dallas not long ago, finally went there a couple weeks ago. They've got a bar/food, but didn't try it out. I just hope it does alright, it's in kind of a weird location away from the main city.

>>3263186
Gee, no wonder why you're taking care of another man's son.

>>3263389
Dave and Busters is pretty much just "Chuck E. Cheese without animatronics and with beer" at this point, also packed as hell.

I remember my father taking me to one 12 years ago, and it was pretty spacious, with not as many people and most of them being adults, also I think they had a battle tech arena. Now when I go to one, it's a bunch of kids running around and the place is packed. Sadly Dave and Busters seems to be the only chain of arcades that do well these days (I really don't count Chuck E. Cheese anymore because lots of them have become overrun with ticket shit).

>>3263691
>only chain of arcades that do well these days
I'm pretty much shilling them every time this thread comes up, but if there's one near you, go to Round 1. It's a Japan-owned chain that absolutely rapes Dave and Busters. New rhythm and fighting games, Initial D 8, rare stuff like Silent Hill arcade, a whole bunch of /vr/ fighting games (Garou, MSHvSF, KOF98, Super Turbo), and more good shit. My local store in City of Industry even has fucking Gunslinger Stratos right now.

>>3263724
I've heard of it, I seriously want Round 1 to come to Connecticut right now.

My family owned a 2 story barcade in western north Carolina several years back. We had a pretty great selection (including Lucky and Wild, which I've yet to see anywhere else). Unforunatley, drunks and cabs don't mix and shit broke alot. Since profits mostly came from the drinks, not alot of time went into repairs. Still, we were pretty successful untill we moved and left our business partner to run things; he opened a fucking hookah bar upstairs and eventually ran it into the ground. I still have pretty great memories of taking my buddies there after school with the cabinet skeleton key and getting max leveled in Gauntlet Dark Legacy.

Thanks for reading my blog

Arcade just opened in my city. York, PA. Timeline arcade.

I plan to go, worried about them going out of business.

Here is their list of games

Mortal Kombat
CarnEvil
Star Wars Trilogy
Rampage
Police Trainer
Cowboys Of Moo Messa
Pigskin
Time Killers
Tetris
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Revolution X

Strength Tester

Zaxxon

Donkey Kong Jr.

Alien VS Predator

Xmen Children Of Atom

Street Fighter Vs Xmen

Marvel Super Heros

Pole Position 2

Outrun

Skeeball

Magic Sword

NBA Jam

The Simpsons

NFL Blitz

Golden Tee

Dig Dug

Choplifter

Double Dragon

Shinobi

Stargate

APB

Centipede

Millipede

Time Pilot

Asteroids

Drumscape

Rush – duel racer

Rush – duel racer

Crazy Taxi

Pacman

Ms Pacman

Galaxian

Galaga

Space Invaders

Pool Table

WWF Wrestlefest (coming June)

Gauntlet Legends (coming June)

Air Hockey (coming soon)

>>3263753
I'm this guy>>3263753
Fun fact about CarnEvil; in the system settings, you can change the color of blood and you can model swap the giant baby fight with a giant teddy bear instead.

>>3263359
Barcades might do that for you. They don't for a lot of people. You can stretch the definition of what a barcade is until it works but that doesn't mean that your just made up definition is valid anywhere except your head.

>>3263389
I'm not implying that I'm saying it's a known fact. They don't call themselves a barcade and no one else does except you. They're an adult friendly chuck e cheese. inb4 you claim chuck e cheese is a barcade.

>>3263774
You in York? There's also one in Hanover, same company.

I have played CarnEvil once and it was a shittly set up machine. Hope this one is better.

How do I get to the system settings?

>>3263775
My definition is essentially a place with a large number of arcade titles that serves beer.

It's not terribly complicated and the definition works just fine. Does it need to be more specific?

>>3263779
I'm just outside of Philly.

It's been nearly 5 years since I've actually accessed it, but IIRC it was done by flipping an internal switch so the cab would boot into system settings instead of the game

>>3263870
>>3263779
>>3263774
Oh whoops, meant to say I'm this >>3263746 guy

>>3263417
When did you go? It's been packed to the walls on the few weekends I've been

>>3263949
It was at opening on a Saturday; it was pretty busy, but reasonably so. I haven't had a chance to swing by it much (which is ironic because I work north of there) - it's a bit off of 75 and in an older shopping center, so I was mainly hoping it was doing well. Any place that helps spread the message of Lucky and Wild is a-ok in my book.

They brought a lot of games to the Let's Play convention last year, and I think they're doing the same.

>>3259848
>f-zero AX
mah nigga.jpeg

>>3258850
Maybe you're a 90lb faggot but most people only get relaxed after a couple of drinks, pretty different from shitfaced.

>>3255865
It's a bar first, arcade second. Dingus. A huge majority will go to drink alcohol. They will mindlessly put some quarters into the machine to play a game or two. This is how bars work... You either have dancing bars, pool halls, sports bars, restaurants. Have you never notice all bars have gimmicks?

>>3262253
I think the foot traffic is the more damning notion than either a cultural shift in games or a fear for one's safety in public spaces. With Japan, you're talking about super-dense populations that do a ton of foot traffic. In the US, you're talking about a vast country with only small areas of dense population, and most of those are dominated further by sprawl which makes transportation by anything but car into an unrealistic approach for most people. It's a world of difference and it means a world of difference in arcade survival as well.

>>3263359
>Toledo

I'm jealous of the used game stores up there, you fuckers have no idea how good you have it

>>3256054
And now they're literally fucking free in your pocket. It sucks, I know.

>>3258851
>autism meme instead of refutation

Try harder

>no CAVE shmups

>>3258850
S A V A G E
A
V
A
G
E G A V A S
G
A
V
A
S A V A G E

They're for faggots I assume. Probably have all sorts of fruity cock-tails. Best thing about them would have to be the arcade machines I guess, maybe the un-dilluted drinks.
>>3258850
Maybe you're bad at video games, and can only avoid screwing up by being sober?

>>3263753
>Cowboys of Moo Mesa
Damn, that's a nice surprise. It's not too often you see "Sunset Riders but With Cows" anywhere.

Speaking of PA, I went to Hersheypark in 2006 and they had a giant arcade with lots of classic video and a wall of about 20 or so pinball machines, anyone know if it's still there?

>>3262405
h2 overdrive is good

>>3263814
So your definition is something only you accept as reality. Got it.

>>3264506
It's still literally just Hydro Thunder with better graphics though, and that's my main issue with them. They pretty much have a monopoly and chokehold on the American Arcade industry, and all of their games are essentially just rehashed Midway titles with a few gimmicks sprinkled in.

>>3264382
Man I haven't been to Hershey in about the same time. Really not sure

It's cool and all, but rarely do I run into any people who genuinely like games at mine. It's just a bunch of hipster millennials cashing in ironic nerd cred.

>>3264553

>implying that's a bad thing

>>3260305
I bet there's tons of Illinois bros on vr

Just found out there is one in my city. I think it would be fun with the right group, and the right night, because a Friday or Saturday in the South Side in Pittsburgh is a disaster of drunks. Lot of machines and consoles it looks like. And the $10 unlimited play they have covers a decent amount of good games.

>>3265186
But what if I want to play something in an arcade that isn't a Midway game for once and isn't Ms. Pacman and Galaga?

What about other game?

are there any good barcades in phoenix? do i have to drink something or can i just play and leave? I actually have to drive home you know.

>>3265207
Building on this, is there anyone else from Pittsburgh on here? Who might be interested in a meet up of some kind there? I'll be honest, if it is only one other person I wouldn't do it, because meeting one-on-one with someone from 4chan seems like a horrible idea.

>>3255803
I live in Las Vegas and I noticed a barcade closed down almost a year ago. It was called Insert Coins and it was in the popular tourist spot in the whole city. If this one couldn't make it, then most of them couldn't either.

>>3265278
I remember that 100 yen documentary (A documentary on Japanese arcades) talking about a new (at the time of producing) arcade in Las Vegas or something, and they said "Japan, we're coming for you!" as if to say they were going to be like a Japanese Game Center. I really hope they didn't end up closing their doors, because that would be depressing.

Why are arcade games my only anti depressant /vr/?

>>3265254
Arcade's a limited medium, those are the only things that manages to pull a profit these days.
There's always CAVE if you're a pedophile.

>>3265314
sup kraut-kun

>>3265314
If I could find a CAVE game, I'd play it

>>3265314
Go back to Crimzon Clover, retard.

What's with the manchild getting angry over the fact that some people don't drink or prefer not to when playing? Jesus, I remember when /vr/ was more civil.

>>3266060
Probably spillover from /v/. Stop doing things I don't like etc.

>>3264276
Oh, we know. I love doing drives around the area and hitting the better ones.

So any barcades in Connecticock I should know about?