Everything you need to start your own Arcade
A lot goes into starting an arcade or arcade bar. First let's look at some questions to ask yourself before you begin:
Do you want to serve alcohol?
Do you want to charge an admission or coins per game?
Is it going to be a family friendly place?
If you serve booze, you got to serve food - Do you want to run a restaurant?
What hours are you thinking about being open?
Who will fix the games when they go down?
How will you fill it with games?
Where are you planning on opening?
What are rent costs in your area?
Arcades are only becoming more and more popular and Gen X'ers are all wanting to own a piece of their past (even if for a few hours) Arcades can be a cash cow for owners and arcade bars are popping up all over and earn owners six figures in beer sales alone.
With all these spots opening, arcade games are becoming more and more difficult to come by. You have to hunt for months to put together a decent collection of titles. Or you can start an arcade by purchasing all the games you need from an arcade dealer like CLE Social. A one stop shop and you can find all the games you'll need to open an arcade.
Benefits of buying arcade games from a dealer like CLE Social:
- You can buy all your games from one place and save time and energy of traveling the country to find games.
- All the games will be in good working order
- Dealers can hunt down and find the games you're looking for and acquire them for you.
- Dealers have lots of friends in the market and know arcade repair techs and can offer sound advice to help you get started.
- You can push your opening date up 6 months to a year with their help.
For a complete list of arcade games for sale Click Here. Delivery can be arranged to any where in the US.
10 Games every arcade should have:
- Pac-Man
- Ms Pac-Man
- Galaga
- Donkey Kong
- Centipede
- Space Invaders
- Dig Dug
- Defender
- Asteroids
- Missile Command
Every arcade should have a couple shooters; Area 51, Site 4, CarnEvil, Buck Hunter, Rapid Fire. As well as some drivers; Cruisin' USA, Pole Position, Outrun, Off Road. The most popular games always seem to be shooting games and driving games at the arcade.
10 Games every arcade bar should have:
- TMNT
- NBA Jam
- Simpsons
- Off Road
- Donkey Kong
- Street Fighter II Championship Edition
- Mortal Kombat
- Tempest
- BurgerTime
- Dragon's Lair
Why are there 2 different game lists? Simple, barcades do well with 4 player games. Beer drinking buddies like play with each other and happy drinkers buy more beverages. Konami games are perfect for arcade bars; you can fit 4 people on one game (taking up one small piece of real estate) and the games are pretty simple (even when inebriated ) with just a 2 button layout of 1 attack and 1 jump button.
An arcade has it's own advantages over an arcade bar. It's a family friendly place where you can bring your kids and not have to hear a day drinker drop an "f-bomb". It's a return to the classic vintage arcade that were around in the 80's. It's a cool place to have a kid's birthday party or meet friends. It doesn't always have to be about drinking.
It's best to charge admission for if you're not serving booze. for a few reasons:
- Kids are terrible with putting quarters into machines and they get jammed
- You can make more money from admission prices as opposed to coins a lot more.
- Quarters jam like all the time
- It's easier to put a game on free play and not mess it