Coin Operated Games

The creation of an inviting atmosphere through lighting and theming inside the new style arcades or entertainment centres is significantly helping a resurgence in coin operated games.The new machines work best in these lighter / brighter areas and attract a far wider audience who find the atmosphere more comfortable for playing games. They feel less threatened and have more fun as a family. Redemption machines are the big winner in this and are an excellent addition to other family friendly enetertainment such as bowling, cinemas and ice skating to name a few. Redemption though to be truly succesful needs a lot of work from the operators - running a ticket redempton counter, collecting tickets and giving the family a prize thay they perceive as great value. It definitely works though and operators are starting to look at the redemption machine as not just an addition to their mix of coin operated games but a great opportunity to win the family business.

The distributor still holds influence in the marketing of coin operated games; it is a much more individual market with many small operators, arcades and street locations buying games, novelties and kiddie rides in small numbers of single items. Distributors have the multiplicity of customers to enable them to survive and the incidence of 'house accounts' is almost not there. The supply of second hand games is also a major part of the job of distributors. They almost always take older games in part-exchange and have major sections of their businesses devoted to rehabilitation of old games. These are re-sold or very often exported. This opens up a new type of business for distributors, sending games to emerging countries in the Indian sub-continent, South America or Africa. The day of the distributor may not have ended, but it has been reduced and radically altered. Those who survive will be those who pinpoint where the remaining markets are.