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Are old shooters worth it?


Zeusophobia

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I was thinking of getting some old shooters like Maximum Force and Police Trainer and putting them in pizza and ice cream places.

 

I was doing some research on this forum and people seem to say shooters and drivers are the way to go for arcade, but they don't make what they used to.

 

I'm wondering if this venture is worth it.

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To preface this, I have no "practical" experience with arcade machines. Heed any seasoned ops' advice more mind.

 

I very rarely see arcade games anywhere anymore. Most places have switched either to redemption (claw/crane/prize/etc.) or cut their arcade gear out entirely. The only shooters I see anymore are Buck Hunters in a couple bars south of my main route where I've got triples in, and both are set up for free-play for the patrons.

 

If you are getting equipment like this, know what it's worth in terms of money, but also in time and repair investments. For example, if you buy a Police Trainer for $250 used, and then the monitor goes out- you've got a pretty large investment in parts there in a machine that is not going to make nearly the money it did back in it's heyday. multiply that by the number of parts that can go wrong in a single year, and you could see a considerable financial risk taking on an older game like this. Now, there are some better and more robust arcade games out there (shooters included) but the initial investment is considerably higher, and the return is going to be largely the same in most cases.

 

For me, the only way I would buy a "traditional" arcade game would be if a location specifically requested it, or if I had a spot that would absolutely make such a thing worthwhile. However, I can think of very, very few places where a traditional arcade game would outpace more common vending machines, or crane/claw/redemption machines. Just my perspective on this one- good luck to you, whatever you choose to do! ^_^

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