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boagman
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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 Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 5:24 am Post subject: No game is worth $5 per play. None. |
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So tonight I'm having dinner with a buddy at a regional shopping mall, and since he had to go home to the wife and kids (and I didn't), I decided to once again drop by the local Gameworks to see if they had anything new to play/experience. They did, in the form of both FatF: Super Bikes (a linked pair), and the one machine I've really been waiting for. That machine being, of course, Sega/AM2's After Burner Climax, and not just *any* ABC, but the big old deluxe version of the cabinet that moves in all directions. It's quite the impressive machine to look at, even before you ever stare at the beauty of the screen.
Now, I want to stop right here and note once again that I'm a fan of free enterprise, capitalism, and all that. I understand that nothing's free, and that premium entertainment will often command a premium price, period. I have no problem accepting this as not only realistic, but fair.
The price to play this game was the rough equivalent of $5US per play. I believe that my jaw not only hit the floor, but it darned near rolled away on me. This machine (which, while decent-sized, is far from the biggest, or most elaborate cabinet in the place) was the *single highest priced* game to play in the entire place, by a margin of about $2 *per play*.
They've done a heck of a nice job infusing lots of new equipment into this particular Gameworks lately (long overdue), with a healthy dose of new equipment over the last year or two, for sure. So I don't want to sound ungrateful, but FIVE DOLLARS A STINKING PLAY?
They have the Cycraft machines with full motion hydraulic movement (infused with Initial D 3rd Stage) at about $2.75-$3.00 a play. They have Time Crisis 4 at about $1.50 per play. They have Virtua Tennis 3 at about $2.00 a play. Their 3-story high Pirates game is $3.00 to play...and yet this machine somehow commands $5 per play.
That, my friends, is what happens when the moron bean-counters are allowed to price things. I was there for a solid hour and a half, and *no one* played this machine. They've priced it clean out of reach. The only conceivable way I can see to play this is:
1. Wait until Happy Hour, wherein all machines are 1/2 price to play, making ABC a still-gulp-inducing $2.50 per play.
2. Wait until Thursday night and go over, when you can buy a 7PM until close timed game card that lets you play any non-prize amusement machine you want as much as you want until they close. To me, this sounds like the only rational plan.
Five dollars a game. FIVE DOLLARS. Shoot...I'll play the stinking lottery first. Idiots. |
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boagman
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:39 am |
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| sethsez wrote: |
| But honestly, if I was looking for good value for the money I wouldn't be in an arcade in the first place. |
Well, there's "reasonable reaming," and then there's "We need to anally rape to play this machine." I'm not saying that arcades (what few are left) are the best place for the value-to-money ratio, but it's things like this that are absolutely beyond comprehension to me.
For crying out loud, when the freaking *Cycraft* (certainly a "destination piece" by any definition) is less expensive per play by two dollars, doesn't someone put down the crack pipe and realize how wickedly moronic they're being? |
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boagman
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:58 am |
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| Mister Toups wrote: |
| I'd pay $5 for a chance to play prop cycle again. |
Really? That's...odd. That particular machine was all *over* this area, and I can still find it to play with relative ease. Unfortunately, it usually has a control issue with the steering wheel, and it's never fun that way.
That game, even more so than all the DDRs in the world, could help a person lose *serious* weight. It was fun, but I was never able to do some of the tricks necessary to get all the balloons in the stages...but watching someone who could was, indeed, impressive. |
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boagman
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:06 pm |
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| Rucio wrote: |
The trouble started with the $.50 to play a game. That was Twice as much as we were paying before. I will not pay over a dollar to play arcade games.
You keep the prices cheap, people play them a lot, you get buissness, and when the thing gets paid off, you get free money.
I don't see how it's that hard. |
You don't see, frankly, because you don't really *know*. I do operate locally, and I can tell you that it's not *nearly* as simple as you make it out to be, at least, not in this day and age. That's why I don't blame Gameworks for having relatively high prices; the machines they purchase are, indeed, eye-buggingly expensive. But in this particular case of the ABC, there's absolutely no need for this kind of pricing...they're simply out of their collective minds.
I have several machines out on location right now: Big Buck Hunter, Soul Calibur, World Class Bowling, Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga combo, Monopoly pinball, Midway Touchmaster 5000, JVL Vortex, and a dollar bill changer. All machines are priced at $.50 per play, with the Touchmaster at $.25 per play, and the Vortex giving a premium for buying $1 or $5 of credits at one shot. These machines don't make *me* near the money you might think they would.
You have to remember that, as an operator, I have to give the location their part of the split, usually in the 50% range of the take. That's pretty significant, even if they are providing space, security, electricity, etc. The vast majority of expenses are mine and mine alone: the original cost of the machines (Not cheap! The Vortex alone was about $3500.), any repairs/parts for these machines, replacing/rotating machines, any local/state licenses necessary, insurance, et cetera.
All things told, I won't be making money for quite some time. This place gets me about $100 a week, if I'm lucky. Arcade games cost $.25 per play back in the late 70's and 80's...you mean to tell me that most things in life haven't *more than* doubled in price since then?
$.50 per play is more than fair to the player. However, even I stand slack-jawed at a place looking for $5 per play. |
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boagman
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:16 pm Post subject: Re: No game is worth $5 per play. None. |
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| luvcraft wrote: |
| boagman wrote: |
| Their 3-story high Pirates game is $3.00 to play |
what's that? |
Hmm. The best way to describe it is "A three-story tall wall of monitors that you're harnessed into a hydraulic chair in front of, and boosted up or down based on your shooting performance." Or something like that. If you go to www.gameworks.com and click on "Experience" and watch the slide show, you'll see some people strapped in chairs with joysticks directly in front of monitors...that's the game. There's also another picture much later on in the slideshow that shows the game from an extended perspective. You'll have to sit through a bunch of models smiling, having a fake good time (the kid's birthday party was especially snarl-worthy) to wait for that second pic, though.
Really, it's not that great of a game, but it's an *impressive* thing, and more has to be experienced to be understood than most other games. It's rather fun, movement-wise, but after playing it a couple of times, the novelty wears off rather fast.
It is, however, the Big Roller Coaster Draw machine for every Gameworks location, though. You can't miss it, really. |
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