Sound Off #139 - IAAPA Expo London debrief, Meta misses, Retro supply & more!

Well, you know, after the contention of, uh, last time, I think we'll keep it nice and easy this way, and, uh, just touch upon a bloody obvious matter-

Mm

... which is we're [laughs] running out of retro arcade machines.

Yeah, I'm sure there's a couple of m- uh, venue operators, especially in the competitive socializing barcade market that are salivating over that picture.

Uh, un- the undiscovered country.

Well, with Star Trek in the background.

But fundamentally, there is only a finite supply of classic arcade machines out there, and we've seen an explosion in openings of retro arcade facilities or facilities that have to have, as part of their makeup, a bit of a retro classic.

You know, you're, you're going to get stoned to death if you don't have a Pac-Man or a Space Invaders, uh, in your facility.

And now you're gonna get stoned to death if you don't have a Street Fighter II or, uh-

Mm

... an OutRun in your facility.

And those are not even retros.

Those are classics, though count to 10 and those will be retros, and then we're gonna have to come up with a new term, a retro retro machine.

Either way, it is very difficult to keep these museum piece, because they're over 40 years old in many cases, going.

They don't make certain of the components anymore.

You know, it's very hard to get your hands on CRTs, though that is changing.

Certain Chinese companies have seen the need within the West for CRTs, and they're starting to make them, uh, again, uh, though I'm sure they're gonna come at a premium.

And it may be cheaper to go down the path that I am suggesting, uh, where I'm here to change your mind, Brandon.

Do we really need to have retro original classic, antique, highly expensive, uh, amusement pieces being covered in Coca-Cola and Bud Light and being broken by, uh, drunken teenagers, uh, and adults? Or should we now be developing a new retro platform, a machine that kinda sits between where our friends at Alan Wan are and where our friends at, uh, Bandai Namco are with their, uh, Pac-Man bla- uh, Bash machines?

I feel like we're at that threshold already, right? I mean, I think this is where we need to be.

I mean, obviously Alan Wan has tried to leverage the, the nostalgia and the desire for those retro games, but bringing them into the modern era with the Recharge series.

But people still wanna play the originals.

Uh, they wanna play, you know, the Galaga.

They wanna play the original Asteroids.

They wanna play the, uh, original, uh, Centipede, and yet they really, it's hard to find an operating...

Well, you know, after the contention of, uh, last time, I think we'll keep it nice and easy this way, and, uh, just touch upon a bloody obvious matter-

Mm

... which is we're [laughs] running out of retro arcade machines.

Yeah, I'm sure there's a couple of m- uh, venue operators, especially in the competitive socializing barcade market that are salivating over that picture.

Uh, un- the undiscovered country.

Well, with Star Trek in the background.

But fundamentally, there is only a finite supply of classic arcade machines out there, and we've seen an explosion in openings of retro arcade facilities or facilities that have to have, as part of their makeup, a bit of a retro classic.

You know, you're, you're going to get stoned to death if you don't have a Pac-Man or a Space Invaders, uh, in your facility.

And now you're gonna get stoned to death if you don't have a Street Fighter II or, uh-

Mm

... an OutRun in your facility.

And those are not even retros.

Those are classics, though count to 10 and those will be retros, and then we're gonna have to come up with a new term, a retro retro machine.

Either way, it is very difficult to keep these museum piece, because they're over 40 years old in many cases, going.

They don't make certain of the components anymore.

You know, it's very hard to get your hands on CRTs, though that is changing.

Certain Chinese companies have seen the need within the West for CRTs, and they're starting to make them, uh, again, uh, though I'm sure they're gonna come at a premium.

And it may be cheaper to go down the path that I am suggesting, uh, where I'm here to change your mind, Brandon.

Do we really need to have retro original classic, antique, highly expensive, uh, amusement pieces being covered in Coca-Cola and Bud Light and being broken by, uh, drunken teenagers, uh, and adults? Or should we now be developing a new retro platform, a machine that kinda sits between where our friends at Alan Wan are and where our friends at, uh, Bandai Namco are with their, uh, Pac-Man bla- uh, Bash machines?

I feel like we're at that threshold already, right? I mean, I think this is where we need to be.

I mean, obviously Alan Wan has tried to leverage the, the nostalgia and the desire for those retro games, but bringing them into the modern era with the Recharge series.

But people still wanna play the originals.

Uh, they wanna play, you know, the Galaga.

They wanna play the original Asteroids.

They wanna play the, uh, original, uh, Centipede, and yet they really, it's hard to find an operating...