18 replies to this topic

[Chris_010292]

Hi all, I would just like to hear other peoples views on Amusement Arcades, is it just me or is it that these places are always always empty? Wherever I go, whether it be Southend or Yarmouth hardly anyone is in the Amusements, it is obviously that it is because they steal your money but what about the Amusements where you live? Do they get a lot of customers and attention etc? Personally, I love Amusements as they are a nice little place to go and chill out (to me you don't need to play fruit machines, I would be happy to play the 2p machines etc).

[ady]

I really agree with you here Chris.

I used to be totally addicted (say 4 years ago) and just gave up after Machines Just wern't fun to play anymore as you said.

About 3 weeks ago I went into Two 'adult' arcades in Brighton, One of them had no more than 7-8 people in (whereas it used to be packed) and the 2nd arrgggghhhhh Nobles--which always used to be too --------- was now only full of Babes wanting to use the Sunbeds walking to and fro.


Hmmmmm think I actually got to like Nobles lol

[ForYouToEnvy]

blame the halfwits that changed the gameing laws, ppl liked playing the s16 machines(£2 stake) the b3's(£1 stake) are boring to play. i see lots of ppl who used to use arcades now play the fobt in bookies, now they realy are robbing bastards!

[stu55554]

nobels is usually really packed especially the b3s there popular with the old people, see them que outside at 9am to play thease cant understand why in on word they are crap, also the offer of free face painting for kids to draw them in

[ForYouToEnvy]

nobels is usually really packed especially the b3s there popular with the old people, see them que outside at 9am to play thease cant understand why in on word they are crap, also the offer of free face painting for kids to draw them in

the nobles in dover gets packed at lunchtimes, got bugger all to do with playing fruities tho... all the oldies sit in front of 10p bar-x's with 10p credit in it waiting for the soup/sarnies/pies to be offered around n play the free rainbow bingo hoping to win super tokens... any punters wanting a seat have no chance as the free loaders hog them all

[Bencrest]

I only used to frequent a couple of arcades, but heres my summary.

I didn't find seaside arcades 'fun to be in' anymore because more often than not they were full of the same school-dodgers sharking me and the few other punters, just so they could jump on my / our machine, put something daft like 10p in, and then start sharking someone else.

As for adult arcades, the only one I used to visit in Spalding is about as busy as ever (New Horizons on Market Place / Hall Place), that being that theres normally about 2 or 3 people in during the day, and probably about 5 to 8 people 'after work'

I tried the Nobles in Southport first time I came up here, couldn't believe my eyes. I was expecting banks of recent £25/£35 hi-tech AWPs. Nope, there must have been something like 20 £4/£5 Bar X and clones, and 3 hi-techs hidden in the corner. Just a Golden Game as a multiplayer.

Are they fooking stupid, surely anyone can tell them that's not the way to run an arcade?

On the other hand, I went to Leisure Time amusements for a bit, also in Southport, run (from what I can figure) by 2 ladies, VERY pleasant, VERY tidy, free drinks and sarnies, decent selection of machines for a small site, and once I'd found it I didn't bother with Nobles again.

Not that I've been in either for a month or so, but I DEFINATELY miss the Leisure Time one. Felt truly welcome in there, even when I managed an IM on the DOND (£70 from MS) for a couple of quid in just after £90 out of the Party Time for £2 in they joked about it, just nice friendly people.

I'd go in again if I could trust myself not to empty my bank account in there!!

They also had a Red Aftershock in there, which brought back quite a few memories. Must confess to playing it for a good hour or so solid, and being 25p spin and quite a 'fast' game, it was a bit tiring. Managed to only be £15 down at the end, but it was worth it

[DnM]

My local (Wigan) is fairly quiet, there's rarely more than 2/3 people in if any, but it's a very nice place with a good selection of machines, a few multi-players, 3 B3's, Lo-techs and hi-techs from £5-35 JP's! I can honestly say even though it's only a small site it's the best i've ever been in.

The owners are very nice, i even got congratulated when i dropped £500 from Cashino last week from my first £20!! The Free drinks, snacks and sarnies always go down well too!

I would be happy to go in and play for a full afternoon and lose £20 or so.

It's only been open for 3 weeks so it could all change once they have the regulars back in but they're promising high standards.

[cardie]

Me too, these days you can walk into an arcade in blackpool and you could do a drag race from one end to another without hitting anyone. Its all down to money problems these days eg,. petrol prices, morgages, etc .. people these days just cannot afford to spend a weekend down on the prom ....

[Bencrest]

Me too, these days you can walk into an arcade in blackpool and you could do a drag race from one end to another without hitting anyone. Its all down to money problems these days eg,. petrol prices, morgages, etc .. people these days just cannot afford to spend a weekend down on the prom ....

That's why god invented Debt Consolidation, and of course, the Credit Card

What with multi-game £35 machines out (the Triple 7 machines on test at work being an example), I can see the days when arcade become a lot smaller, saving a fortune on rent (after all, some of the arcade locations must cost a fortune in rent - the one I used to play in was about 3 doors down from Currys where I worked, and that was £60000 a year rent!).

Imagine going into an arcade where they only have 8 machines in total, but you can play pretty much anything you want on them, in a much smaller space surroundings. I reckon that's the future.

I'm not 100% sure, but I also assume that you'd only pay the AMLD on the single video machine (£770 a year or so still I believe), no matter how many games it had on it - so you'd have savings there too.

More player choice, less machines sitting unplayed, cheaper rent... whether or not you agree with the idea, all the reasons would be there for people to jump at the chance.

[Chris_010292]

Has anyone ever heard of a group named as "Cains Amusements"? I have been in two of these pllaces, one at Leysdown and one at Herne Bay and well, they are crap! The one in Herne bay is stacked up with the most boring machines ever, platinum genesis Global pieces of shit where the cash ladder starts of at 10p etc and blocks at 30p which seem to cost £3 for a board! They have around 2 Barcrests which are the ony ones I like (Dosh N Pecks and Austin Powers) but you can't make from these machines as it seems that they take £3 or more for a £2 block board, thats the only thing with Barcrest's in my opinion but for the likes of the ones where Barcrest made where you had to get 3 symbols in view, I thought were the best barcrests out, for example "Neptunes Treasure", also Psycho Cash Beast is a nice machine for me LOL. The one in Leysdown is far better because it is more cleaner and cared for, 2 Red's and tons of B3's in an huge over 18's section (which I wont touch) and a few Bellfruits which can be good when caught right. When going in to an arcade to see a pile of Globals which are impossible to win from, I think how on earth can this arcade make money with such boring machines, nobody is going to play them, get some Horizons!!!

[Magz]

I work in Newbury (Berkshire) and one arcade has already closed. The other has about 5-8 people in max on a Saturday, and has been empty every weekday I've popped in.

Reading is not much better. Even the big Arcades (Quicksilver / Shipleys etc) are under 10 people when I've been in and the atmosphere is one of boredom. Far cry from the heady days of the late 90's when these places were packed out.

[todd1970]

Ye think amusement arcades are really doing that badly when they have all these offers to tempt you into staying longer and parting with your cash.

The Quicksilvers near me sent me out a booklet of free plays like..spend £10 get £10 free spend £8 get £8 free etc..loads of them..havent used any of them yet though..but the last time i was in there the dude was asking me if i wanted a tea or a coffee.

I said no thanks..hes like what about a can of juice ? packet of crisps..a mars bar..sandwiches ?..If ye change yer mind just come up and help yourself from the trolley..there was this trolley packed full of goodies.

Jeezz..it was breakfast..lunch..dinner and supper all in one..you wouldnt need to go out the place to get summat to eat..think thats the intention though..Although you have heard the saying "quit while your ahead" just about every machine i played that day payed out an avarage of £35-40 for £5 max stake..walked out an hour later with £217..thats the most ive ever won in a day at the puggys in my life.

[cliffc]

Hi

I think the biggest thing to hit the numbers of punters going in arcades is not the fact that the machines are crap or the fact that money is tight allthough both are factors, the biggest thing to hit them is the smoking ban.

In shopping center where my wife works there are 2 arcades one Quicksilver and one Masons Amusements (small local chain based in Sunderland).

I some times have a little flutter in there when i am waiting for her to finish work the Masons one is the closest to her shop, before the ban there would often be up to 15 people in there (only small arcades may be 30 machines at most) most nights now if i go in your lucky if theres 2 and often i am in there on my own. The quicksilver arcade is some times busyer but has the advantage of having a rear exit door so the smokers can go outside, this was put there so that it could open longer than the shopping center by having its own entrance, but even in there you dont get the numbers you used to.

I can see many arcades closing down shortly because thay are not taking the money, mainly the smaller ones the bigger chains can possiblt keep some open buy using the popular ones to subsidise the less popular ones.

Cliff C

[CrAzYbAr]

OK I frewuent a few arcades so there's a wide range of people...
In Worthing there are 3 arcades. Lido, Pier and Nickels and Dimes.
The Lido only really has lo techs, but we don't mind. THere's at least 3 or 4 other people in there , and lots of 2p pushers, and some old racnig games, so there are a few kiddies with pots full of 2ps. About 10 to 15 people in normally, throughout the day.

Then there's the Pier. GOod range of machines, HI tech, low tech multiplayer...Unlessyou get in 10 minutes after opening time, the place is always busy. At peak time, say 2PM there must be at least 50 or so people playing machines.

Nickels and Dimes is quieter really, it has all the Hitechs, and all the sharks really. It's got good machines, but they are all low-ish and we didn't have a good run of things making money wise, or having fun wise so we won't be back. WHen we were there there were about 5 other people, if that but then "It's early times" according to the change people. Probably gets busy around 3PM but I went past it at 7 and it was empty!

THen there's Symonds Yat West...HUGE arcade, I think it depends on the tourist industry. People coming down in the holidays and staying in the caravan parks etc. It's near Symonds Yat Rock, the Gwillim Grave enclosure(My distant ancestors believe it or not!) And there's the hedge puzzle, butterfly garden etc
The arcade itself is massive and normally it's me and 5 others in there at one time. BUt if anyone has seen "Arcade Tour 2" video on my channel it gives you a good idea on what the place has to offer.
That said last year on Easter Monday it was absolutely Packed...SO that's how they probably stay running well, on these little days where everyone starts arriving.

[Princess Mutley]

Where i work we're lucky if we get more then 10 people through our doors a day.
Do you have any idea how boring it gets when your working 13 hours and you only get 8 customers!

[Bencrest]

Where i work we're lucky if we get more then 10 people through our doors a day.
Do you have any idea how boring it gets when your working 13 hours and you only get 8 customers!

I guess I should be thankful for working in an arcade on a holiday camp then!

Nearest arcade for the guests would be either a 10 minute walk followed by 10 minutes on the train, or about 10 minutes by car...

May as well use the one on site then

Quiet weeks it is VERY boring, but then it's a good time to give things a decent clean, get a bit of maintenance done, consider rearranging the arcade, e.t.c.

We had a week with 300 guests on (probably about 100 of those were kids) and to be honest, they weren't really interested in arcade stuff anyway.

Flip side of the coin, we just had a bunch of kids football teams staying with us over the weekend. The arcade took a stupid amount of money. I wouldn't say how much but it was huge. Only thing is keeping all the machines running during such a period. Ticket jackpots left, right and centre so redemption machines needed refilling throughout the night, among plenty of coin jams, slush spilled on the air hockey tables... So, it's swings and roundabouts

[stu55554]

the last 2 daysa the arcades have been packed, couldnt move in las vegas probs the same everywhere tho i guess with the nice weather and bank holliday

[GaryChandler]

Where do you work bencrest?

[cashcards]

used to play in quicksilver in sunderland,full of 25 quid magic 7s and okey kokey things.no feature machines,which is what i think is killing these places.not even allowed to go in the place now cos i pulled a bird who works there.my future wife to be exact.