Arcade in Dublin

Reanimemmett

How frequently would you visit an arcade in Dublin?

It would have these games at least:

• Street Fighter IV
• Third Strike
• KOFXII
• BlazBlue
• Capcom Vs. SNK 2
• Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
• Hyper Street Fighter 2
• Tekken 6

Location: In the city or a within 15 minutes walking distance.

Price: Would be as reasonable as possible. 50c would be the aim.

Cunny-Funt

Does also depend on the price though, not been to an acrade in years but knowing this country, I doubt its 25c a go... prob a euro at least :mad:

Monkeyto

Well I'll happily go to an Acrade but the prices have to be reasonable too! I pay nothing more than a Euro at the most (considering I'd find a Euro expensive as it is!).

Dreddybajs

There's no possible way to make money out of this venture. :pac:

Red350

If it was close to trinners, and you managed 50c, I'd be there everyday :pac:

Dreddybajs

Trinity had (probably still have) a mame cabinet in the arts block or wherever the place with all the couches in it with some SF2 version on it...last time I tried it though, the 2P side was broken. :pac:

Xinkai

I'm still a regular goer to Dr.Quirkeys to play DDR & Tekken 6 I'd welcome a new arcade with fighters. 50C a game would be perfect. Just as long as this new arcade has DDR Xtreme

chopperbyrne

Not that often to be honest.

The gaming centre offers far better value for money.

Reanimemmett

Xinkai wrote: »

I'm still a regular goer to Dr.Quirkeys to play DDR & Tekken 6 I'd welcome a new arcade with fighters. 50C a game would be perfect. Just as long as this new arcade has DDR Xtreme

Forgot to mention T6 up there.

Xinkai

Reanimemmett wrote: »

Forgot to mention T6 up there.

Nope, just DDRX

K.O.Kiki

Make it 3 or 4 coins for €1, 1 coin/game.

And I'd move to city center to play.

I'm dead serious.

*edit*
Oh, and MAINTAIN the machines -- I'm talking regular replacement of buttons/sticks, BEFORE they're worn out. Maybe sell the 2nd-hand parts for cheap.
Hell, hire me & I'll do it for you!

ironictoaster

I'd go all the time if you could keep out scumbags hanging around outside it and around the cabinets.

Kirby

creggy wrote: »

I'd go all the time if you could keep out scumbags hanging around outside it and around the cabinets.

We live in Dublin....thats impossible .

Its not profitable anymore. Arcades are from an era where most people could only afford maybe one console and a couple of games....so it made sense to hang out there and play games you couldnt afford.

Nowadays, everone has their own consoles and internet connection. The market just isnt there.

Dreddybajs

Seriously agree with Kirby. This can only be a money losing venture if you are seriously thinking about it.

chopperbyrne

Unless you also get a gambling license and put in lots of gambling machines, an arcade is simply a money pit these days.

The cost of a few SF IV, T6, KOF XII and BlazBlue machines would be over €100,000 and there is no way you'll make that back off a few dedicated fighting game players.

Reanimemmett

chopperbyrne wrote: »

Unless you also get a gambling license and put in lots of gambling machines, an arcade is simply a money pit these days.

The cost of a few SF IV, T6, KOF XII and BlazBlue machines would be over €100,000 and there is no way you'll make that back off a few dedicated fighting game players.

I wouldn't be asking these questions if it was going to be that much.

Orim

I don't think that a fighting game only arcade would work. There isn't enough players out there to make the money, especially since some players live away from town and travelling wouldn't be viable all the time. Therefore you would need to have other games - light gun games, shmups, rhythm games.

Also I think that the list of fighters is too long. For example I wouldn't think KOF and CVS 2 would make money. Keep it simple and popular - SFIV, T6, Soul Caliber 4. MVC2 might work as people would recognise characters. BB/GG games might work because they are pretty and look insane but I wouldn't bank on them.

I don't think an arcade would replace the gaming centre for large scale casuals/tourneys because as chopper said it offers better value.
You need to go for the after-work crowd and people living in town. A key to this would be having a social feeling to the arcade so if I randomly decide to go down then I would be able to get a game/have a laugh. I'm not sure how you would go about this but the staff would be important as they would be there all the time. They would need to know the games and be able to get on with people. There is other things you could do - free/cheap drinks or refills after a person has been for a certain period of time, allow people to bring their own music to play if there would be a sound system.

That is my rambling 0.02 euros.

K.O.Kiki

You only need 3 fighters:
Street Fighter IV (huge playerbase in Ireland), Tekken 6: Battle Revolution (will be huge), and other (I say BlazBlue or Marvel). Third Strike would be cool, but its time is gone, and you wouldn't find any working PCBs anyway (CPSIII PCBs tend to die after about 10yrs once the battery fails).

Now, as to the "how to make money" bit -- advertise. Host regular tournaments. Have machines cheap, at all times (3rd Strike didn't get big in the US until machines were reduced to 25c/game). Create a COMMUNITY (this is important!).
Make your money from sweets & drinks.
And have some non-fighting machines for drawing people in - dance games work very well IMHO, and don't require as much space as dedicated racing cabs.

And whatever you do -- don't turn into Quirkey's!

*EDIT*
Oh yeah, and as for value: we pay €5 for 4hrs in XGC. 1 game of SFIV (3 rounds) is about 3-4mins, so I'm getting max 60 games in. Realistically, I'll only get half that, so 30 games.
Now, if you make each game in the arcade cost 25c, those 30 games cost €7.50 -- except they're on proper cabs.
Would I pay the extra money for this?
HELL YES.

Owwmykneecap

That's forgetting that the SFIV arcade machine is the inferior version.
Until dash comes out. and that will cost €€€

chopperbyrne

Reanimemmett wrote: »

I wouldn't be asking these questions if it was going to be that much.

Can I ask where you're getting the cabs from and how much they cost?

As far as I'm aware a standard SF IV cab costs about €13,000 and it doesn't even have single machine two player, only link-up. Which means you would have to buy at least two. I know that at first Capcom wouldn't even take an order unless you bought four or more, but I don't know if that policy has changed or not.

K.O.Kiki

Yeah, but I've seen SFIV & Tekken 6 run in regular Candy cabs -- I think it's €13k for the Taito Vewlix cabs + arcade board together.

Placebo

arcade > gaming centre

atmosphere/buzz wise.
price wise might be a pricey but a card system where u get x credit for x amount would be a feasible solution, [seen it in singapore]

dont have to carry stick and can also play PS3 players etc

Reanimemmett

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Yeah, but I've seen SFIV & Tekken 6 run in regular Candy cabs -- I think it's €13k for the Taito Vewlix cabs + arcade board together.

Yeah, they can be run in regular cabs, it doesn't have to be Vewlix. I've found Vewlix L cabs for $4000. Obviously, if it ends up being viable there would be regular tournaments and promotions, free play nights at a flat rate and such. But I need to get a better idea of numbers.

Reanimemmett

Placebo wrote: »

arcade > gaming centre

Totally.

Reanimemmett

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

You only need 3 fighters:
Street Fighter IV (huge playerbase in Ireland), Tekken 6: Battle Revolution (will be huge), and other (I say BlazBlue or Marvel). Third Strike would be cool, but its time is gone, and you wouldn't find any working PCBs anyway (CPSIII PCBs tend to die after about 10yrs once the battery fails).

Now, as to the "how to make money" bit -- advertise. Host regular tournaments. Have machines cheap, at all times (3rd Strike didn't get big in the US until machines were reduced to 25c/game). Create a COMMUNITY (this is important!).
Make your money from sweets & drinks.
And have some non-fighting machines for drawing people in - dance games work very well IMHO, and don't require as much space as dedicated racing cabs.

And whatever you do -- don't turn into Quirkey's!

*EDIT*
Oh yeah, and as for value: we pay €5 for 4hrs in XGC. 1 game of SFIV (3 rounds) is about 3-4mins, so I'm getting max 60 games in. Realistically, I'll only get half that, so 30 games.
Now, if you make each game in the arcade cost 25c, those 30 games cost €7.50 -- except they're on proper cabs.
Would I pay the extra money for this?
HELL YES.

Thanks for the input. The whole idea is to try create a community with this, once it's viable.

Placebo

well i think youre looking at alot of expenditure here.
from renting a place to maintenance and eletrical bills, specially in the time of recession !

L31mr0d

Placebo wrote: »

arcade > gaming centre

I'd also like to be able to stand while playing SFIV... playing with a stick while sitting just doesn't feel right.

Kiki, why don't you build a SFIV cab then we'll come over to your place and pay you 50c per game

Cunny-Funt

Placebo wrote: »

arcade > gaming centre

What about a combination of the two? Instead of a place that has arcade machines only, what about mix? The idea being to bring more money into the place, I dunno what would work better a net cafe/ arcade or a console centre/arcade.

Or maybe theres something else that could go with an arcade that might work well thats not been thought of. Could bring more people in, and when they see the buzz people are having with the arcade machines/fighting scene, they might join in.

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Third Strike would be cool, but its time is gone

:eek: :mad:

Yea gotta have a 3s machine

DARK-KNIGHT

think it would have to be more open than just fighting games tbh!

rules for any arcade worth their salt

1)no scumbags allowed.

2)sign up with management refuse the right of admission where they see fit.

3)no slots or poker machines.

4)just a suggestion here but what about 9 ballpool tables? the shortage of them here is ridiculous could be very profitable for you! 12 - 15 euro an hour!:eek: just a serious way to help you stay afloat! but ill defo give you my business as im sick of quirkeys magical scumbag emporium lol:p

Xinkai

raycaulwell wrote: »

im sick of quirkeys magical scumbag emporium lol:p

BUT DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION X!!!!

DARK-KNIGHT

Xinkai wrote: »

BUT DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION X!!!!

lol dance revolution my arse lol that was a jim royle moment