Operating an arcade within your laser tag center is critical to your long-term success. The arcade can be a significant and highly profitable revenue generator. We have been operating our own arcade for over 10 years. It may seem like a big undertaking, but it is worth the extra effort.

The arcade industry has gone through many ups and downs over the years. Over the last 10 years the overall industry has been shrinking in many areas. The main downward trend has been in the video arcade side of the business.

The home video game market has significantly hurt the video arcade business. New video games are released into the home market at the same time they are released into the arcade. And many new video games are released exclusively into the home market.

The only video games that tend to perform well in the arcade are driving games and shooting games. Good "head-to-head" driving games are a must for any entertainment center. Motorcycle "head-to-head" driving games also perform well.

The highest earning shooting games tend to be very violent. This may be an area you want to avoid for your laser tag center. We have made a conscious choice not to place violent video games in our center.

Another strong earning video game is Dance Dance Revolution. It is an interactive dancing game that is extremely popular with teenagers.

The biggest bright spot in the arcade business is redemption games. Redemption games are skill games that vend tickets that can be turned in for prizes at a redemption counter.

An example of a classic redemption game is Skeeball. This game still earns extremely well and has been around for decades. It has been updated with progressive jackpots and has many new high tech bells and whistles.

Another long-term earning game that is now set up for redemption is basketball. Coin operated basketball games can also be set up to play "head-to-head".

There are many other high earning redemption games such as Cyclone, Wheel of Fortune, Wheel Deal, and Wonder Wheel to name a few. These games can generate significant amounts of revenue in a very short period of time.

If you are interested in receiving assistance to help develop an arcade for your laser tag center, please contact Jim Kessler for more information.