hey, i'm opening an arcade bar!!!

[Fragems]

Sounds like an awesome idea I hope it works out well. Only thing that worries me is the free play.

While awesome and as a customer I would love it free play could hurt you in a lot of ways. For instance there is the added cost of electricity/repairs, space, people coming just to play the games, and people camping a game all night. The free play games will draw a crowd however will the added bump make up for the expenses of keeping them running and will there be enough room to accommodate enough people for the bar to be profitable.


Some random questions:

Are there any other sources of revenue outside of the beverages planned? Say for instance renting the place out for private parties, selling arcade cabs on the side, food, gambling(not a big fan but draws in a lot of money:P), and etc.?

Would this be a full time job or just something you do after your day job?

Anyone in your group have experience running or working in a arcade/bar and does anyone have experience running a business. Also have you figured out a management system(aka whose in charge) once things get rolling?

Will you cycle cabs in and out of the bar to save space or try to keep as many as reasonably possible out in the bar?

If things don't work out with the free to play system is there a back up plan? For instance cover fee to get in the bar, tokens, membership system, limited free play(free play but only on certain days), or etc.

How big a place are you looking for in terms of capacity? Do you want more of a small bar where you know everyone or something bigger where you can fit plenty of cabs and say 100+ people on a busy night?

Anyways good luck and I hope you all are successful in your endeavor the world needs more places where people can get some good old arcade action .

[dsheinem]

this sounds awesome, aaron. best of luck. I'd love to stop by there the next time I am in Indy.

[Hobie-wan]

Fragems has a good point. Since most arcade stuff is more than 25 cents these days, what about making them all 25 cents... but there is 1 machine that you put on free play that rotates each week as a hook?

[bryan_65]

Fragems has a good point. Since most arcade stuff is more than 25 cents these days, what about making them all 25 cents... but there is 1 machine that you put on free play that rotates each week as a hook?

You could do Nickle Night and just switch the coin mechs once a month.

[marurun]

We have a video-game-y bar here in Ohio: http://16-bitbar.com/

I do love the idea. I also agree that totally free play might have a drawback, especially when you get people trying to spill beer and food on your machines. There's a bar near here that has good bear and mead (but the food is only so-so), but they also have a small live music stage and a pinball area. The pinball doesn't get a lot of play, but it certainly gets some. The focus, however, is on the good bear and mead.

So I guess, if you want true success, you have to make sure the drinks (at least) are worth coming to get, and the games are just a nice bonus.

Assuming you'll have more patrons than just gamers (I hope, if you want to survive), what kinds of customers do you want? I'm assuming you don't want to just be a dive bar, but rather something nicer. What's your plan for attracting the kind of customers you want beyond the games and craft beer?

[J T]

AWESOME DOOD!

But where is the bar's namesake?

[JoeAwesome]

Great idea, and I hope it works out better than expected! My only minor suggestion, comparatively speaking: give those multiplayer games some space. When the place is hopping, I doubt people will want to crunch together to play Simpsons or Blitz in an already tight space.

[Fragems]

Hell in my dreams of owning a arcade I always thought a dime play setup would be awesome. Dimes are like the pennies of the 21st century. You can literally buy next to nothing for a dime and they are the smallest coin currency in the U.S. and while nobody admits it sometimes size does matter .

Can a coin op even be set to accept dimes though? Don't have a ton of experience with them seeing as the arcade scene has been pretty thoroughly dead every where I have lived .

[Nyukki]

Awesome dude, living the dream, all the best!

I'd love to open like a noodle bar with some candy cabs. There's a little milk tea cafe with a Bubble Bobble candy cab and a famiclone near my place. Not something that will make me a millionaire, just like if you're retired to give you something to do.

[retrosportsgamer]

Really interested in following along with your project. thanks for sharing the links (and twitter stuff).