irixith wrote: I'd love a 0.25c arcade, or a door cover charge with free play machines, but it's not a viable business model unless (as Flake notes) you serve alcohol or have something similar making up the balance.
Actually there's an arcade by me that charges $15 dollars (iirc) at the door to play all the games for free. They don't serve alcohol, but they do host events, etc. to draw in crowds and have an insane amount of cabinets. They're apparently doing quite well and have been growing. They were planning on adding some sort of game-related merchandise store to the arcade but afaik it hasn't been done yet.
Czernobog wrote:Actually there's an arcade by me that charges $15 dollars (iirc) at the door to play all the games for free. They don't serve alcohol, but they do host events, etc. to draw in crowds and have an insane amount of cabinets. They're apparently doing quite well and have been growing. They were planning on adding some sort of game-related merchandise store to the arcade but afaik it hasn't been done yet.
I'm not saying it's viable in all situations or anything, but this place seems to be proving that it can be done.
Deng...I just moved out of the Chicago area recently. Why have I never heard of this place? I just kept going to this Nickel City instead.
I used to go with my buddy to Nickel City all the time when I was younger, but it was pretty far from me. Five cent credits and all the older cabs were lined up and free to play iirc. That was still a pretty great arcade to go to even though I remember it being really small. It's been years since I went there, but Nickel City has been around a lot longer than the Galloping Ghost. I think they just opened within the last couple years.
I agree that I'd rather pay a flat cover charge and get free play. I think fifteen dollars sounds like a reasonable cover to me, but I'd definitely pay more at a place that serves alcohol. If there are other entertainment options at this venue, that might make it more valuable to me. Live bands, independent movies, cool music, video poker, and a bar all together in one arcade would be worth a twenty-five or thirty dollar admission to me.
What do you guys think of a combo entertainment venue like that?
