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Irish Arcade Event/Expo - Discussion

dav09

Folks, an idea I long thought about was doing some sort of an arcade show/ event for a weekend here, I know for most of the past 2 years this wasn't really possible. I know it was mentioned on here before by a few different people in a few different shapes and forms over the years but it's never quite happened. I think now with things settling a little, it would be fun to hold something like this. I think a sort of format that would make sense to me is:

Hosting it at Level Up in Limerick would probably make sense, using the new function room for lots of additional games. Bringing in rare games and big rare DLX games like Afterburner DLX, Outrun DLX and other rare games like Tron, Tempest, Donkey Kong, Initial D, Track & Field, 2 or 3 newer Jap games (maybe like Chunithm or Sound Voltex) to have as many as possible for the event. Some extra pinballs? Maybe having aiming to bring in 30+ games just for this on top of the other 50 or so already there. What would you like to see game wise?
Having all games on free play in the whole venue. Set entry fee in.
Having tournaments/ competitions throughout the weekend. I.e. Street Fighter, Tekken 7, etc. Pinball competition? (League would be finished for the year by the time it would probably happen). Prizes for the winners.
High score challenges on certain games, i.e. prizes for the winners.
Have a retro console area setup for the likes of SNES, NES, 2600, Etc.
Maybe bringing in some special guests for it that could perform something interesting? I.e. speedrunners, etc.
Small number of stalls for traders

Would people be willing to travel to this/interested in attending this sort of thing? I would reckon it would cost a lot of money to run this, so to break even probably well over 100 tickets would have to be sold (if they were lets say somewhere around 20 quid each). Although a lower budget version might be possible to achieve if it was scaled back. It wouldn't be a big money spinner but it wouldn't really be about that, any additional money would probably be used to rent some more interesting cabinets for the event. I mentioned this in a previous thread but as @Inviere mentioned it probably deserved a separate thread.

It's something I always thought would be neat. I suppose this is just gauging interest for something like this rather than "this is definitely going to happen" sort of thing. It might be a non-runner as it wouldn't be just up to me too and would need a lot more thought. It would be 6 months+ away if it did happen probably, chances are it probably wont, but if there's enough interest it might. But would you be interested and have you any ideas for it?

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eddhorse

I would be willing to travel to this yes. +mate

As for ideas, what cabinets are you thinking you need to rent?

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119055641#Comment_119055641

I'm not sure what's the best criteria, I suppose:

Interesting games
Rare games (i.e. games you can't really play elsewhere in Ireland publicly)
Generally good games? A mix too I think is better than just x era games.

I personally thought after my last Arcade Club visit, that a lot of rare games are actually pretty rubbish or not worth 3x the price of other games or meet all the above criteria. I.e. Star Castle (sorry to the people who like it lol). I suppose you'd have to be mindful too that ticket prices would be low, so they'd have to be games that probably multiple people would like to play rather than just something for one person.

Afterburner DLX (Original 1987)
Outrun DLX (Original 1986)
Tron
Tempest
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong JR
Gorf
Street Fighter 1
Gauntlet Legends/ Dark Legacy
Initial D
Track & Field or Hyper Olympic
R-Type
Burgertime
Robotron
Phoenix
Asteroids
Centipede
Chunithm
Sound Voltex
Wacca
Konami 4P Game i.e. Turtles, Simpsons, Sunset Riders, Battletoads (I know it's not Konami but similar), Cowboys of Moo Mesa
Sega Rally 1
Double Dragon
Multi-slot Neo Geo

Apart from that Some Naomi Games, Some more pins?

I suppose, one thing to take into account is that I don't exactly know what games I can/can't get at this point. I know some companies around the UK/ Europe rent games out, but cost-wise it might start becoming a bit mental, but I'd be willing to cost it out and see how many tickets we'd have to sell to get some good games, if they will even rent to Ireland. The above games listed are games I either have myself or know I might be able convince some friends to give a lend of for some money, I think there's some decent games there. It's a really rough draft and I know some above I won't be able to get. I want this a community thing too though, so I'd like to hear other people's thoughts/ what they'd like to see.

eddhorse

Might be worth asking community to bring cabs or boards as well?

I agree with the rare crap games, sure they look good for the purist, but i would be going for fun moreso.

Inviere

The Boards "upgrade" has killed off so many it's communities, you can see here how noticeable the lack of uptake is already. You might be aswell also branching beyond boards to other places, as we're a bit of a dead duck nowadays compared to how it was just a year ago. It is improving site wide I think, but damage has definitely been done.

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119055907#Comment_119055907

Definitely, it's a big ask but if anyone wants to and has some interesting stuff I'd defiantly be willing to cover at least their costs.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119055912#Comment_119055912

Any suggestions where else I could post? I know there's a few other arcade forums but most of them are more UK/Europe based rather than here. But definitely the more the better as unless there's a serious amount of interest I can't really see it happening as the initial fixed costs would be quite big off the bat.

geotrig

I cant see this not doing well and seems to be the perfect time to do it i suppose .I have no idea how to market anything though and you don't want too much demand either !

Competitions are good and will draw people depending on who its targeted , consoles will draw people as well especially if there are a few stands selling retro inspired stuff, I'd hazard a guess even though here may not have big traffic of posters a good few people just browse without posting. you could post it on the other arcade forums as there are quiet a few irish poster on all even if not hugely active .

I wanna see Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon :P no idea if its any good and have yet to cross paths with starwars battlepod even if i know its naff rubbish

i suppose no harm at looking at how play expo grew and went about their setups as a sort of template to start with.

from you list

Afterburner DLX (Original 1987) hell yes good draw
Outrun DLX (Original 1986) again good draw even if i've always felt outrunners was better :)
Street Fighter 1 just get ss2fx or the tournament battle ,sf1 is never a draw !
Sega Rally 1 could be great for a bit of a comp !

geotrig

scrap all that just blow the budget on luigis mansion !

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119056039#Comment_119056039

Tbh you're prob better off starting small with this kinda thing, and look to grow it through marketing and word of mouth.

Give it a catchy name (if basing it from Level Up, then maybe something like "Lost Levels" or something.) Maybe Level Up could be leaned upon to initially help promote it (considering they'll benefit through footfall anyway.)

If they can help promote it, then you can step in by increasing awareness through various social media groups, Facebook, Amiga Ireland, boards, reddit retro gaming subreddit, twitter, etc. Plan for it not to be a smash hit for the first one or two times, it could even make a loss. If you see some growth though it'll be worth sticking out, and potentially eventually being able to stand on its own somewhere.

Problems like damage to equipment could be an issue, but for forum members here who let their equipment be used, there's a few of us here who are handy enough with repairs that might volunteer their time to make sure any equipment that's gotten a hard night can be looked after afterwards.

I'd say some prizes through a raffle could be nice, say common stuff like a snes, megadrive, etc...fiver a head etc.

eddhorse

@geotrig "I cant see this not doing well" , you had me all confused with your double negatives

Dublinandy3

I would be willing to travel if it fitted in with my availability. Would be quite cool though. Would try to steer away from just the avid collector though, specialised events do well (don't make a loss) when you can get enough casuals interested in buying a ticket on a whim.

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119056410#Comment_119056410

Yeah I agree with pretty much everything here. I suppose I don't really have the money to lose a fortune on something like this year after year in all honesty so probably the only way would be to start small and maybe ask for some favors from friends with cabinets/ any volunteers which is sort of the route I'm gong for. Trying to balance it in such a way that A. It's not too big where you could lose a lot of money and B: It's not too small for it not to drum up interest. I think 20-30 Cabs (or more if it sells well) is plenty for now, and maybe the ability to use the rest of the venue if possible/ if tickets sell well enough. Good idea for the raffle too. I will probably go for a ticket structure then where Basic Tickets might get you entry + 1 of the comps. And then do some higher tiers which includes a bit more like entry to all comps and raffles + some merch if people want that.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119056175#Comment_119056175

That's gonna be a lot of tickets... https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_machines/shooting_arcade_machines/luigis-mansion-arcade-machine/

Lol, I know I know, it's liberty games! But jokes aside it probably would be a good one, anything with Mario or Sonic seem to be a big draw with the families, if it's do-able (i.e. someone out there with one to rent) and sell enough tickets I can't see why not. Battlepod is probably another too. HOTD5 is a super cool one I think too but a non-runner most likely. Never played Mario & Sonic Tokyo 2020 but might be another. If not for this event maybe the next one. I suppose the only other thing to be conscious of with those is space.

There's been some other expos in Ireland too but none like this that I can thing of. Most of them are "Retro Games", "Stalls", and then 90% Fortnite. And I don't have a problem with that fair play to them, just want to do something different.

As for the games, I think SF1 broke my own criteria lol. It's a fairly crap game I just know of one I could maybe borrow and a lot of people prob haven't played. But yeah not a high priority. There's another 4 or 5 games on the list like Asteroids, Centipede, etc. that I have on the way from the US but it's anyone guess whether they'd arrive on time (even if it was next year).

deadl0ck

I'd be on for this too

dav09

So after speaking to a few people and looking on here, there does seem to be some interest, possibly not enough to do an all out event straight away, but maybe enough to give something a go a reasonable scale first, and scale it if it does get a lot of interest early on ticket wise. The first event would likely take place in January 2023, and may be a yearly thing depending on it's success.

Competition Wise, we could do some of the Street Fighters, possibly 3rd Skrike and USFIV. Have the option of doing 2, 1, etc too. Tekken 7FR would be a great one, and one of the MKs too, possible an older one like 2 or UMK3. Virtua Fighter 5 would be nice but not sure there'd be much interest. Might have a few Jamma setups if people want to bring their own boards for games or mini comps with friends. I would possibly make the main comps pre-register and run as many as possible/ as many that have more than lets say 6 or 8 entries. Then maybe Sega Rally 1 or Guitar Hero and a few other more fun comps/ high score challenges for the evenings while more serious comps would be on during the day.

Keeping it small initially and keeping costs down would be key, I reckon doing it without blowing a big budget on buying lots of games and renting games from the UK/ Europe would be wise, at least for the first year. Between myself and friends, I reckon 20+ games are possible for it. We probably have 400 tickets max to sell so I have to keep that in mind. Should we get to the point where 200 tickets are sold then maybe we could look at getting a few more games. But likely won't on year 1. Still, I reckon we can get some really cool games, Afterburner DLX, Outrun DLX, Tempest and probably up to 90% on the list above with keeping it low budget. I think you'd have to commit to getting these as there'd have to be enough of a draw to make it worth while for people. Happy to cover costs if anyone want's to bring their own games too.

Promo and planning would be a huge part of this. A lot of hurdles to get over too. So the next 3 months would be spent pre-prepping this if it does proceed.

Retr0gamer

I'd recommend not having so much focus on competitions. If you are starting of I'd have no more than 2. They are a pain in the arse to organise and if you are new to it can lead to it being dragged out and people losing interest. The majority of people at the event will just want to hang around, shoot the breeze and play a few games.

o1s1n

'Inviere versus everyone at Street Fighter 2' is the only competition it needs. :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RfORdSda7k

sonofamonk

I used to post here before the changeover but I saw this and wanted to say I'd be interested. Would likely get a few more to go too.

Because it might fit in a car with the legs off I could bring a Nintendo red tent, fairly unusual machine to see. The other few machines probably too much trouble for moving. Geansai load of game boards too.

I'm not sure if it'd be worth renting machines from Europe with the cost. Would need to be standout like a r360 I think.

Street fighter 2 competition would be a lot of fun. Alpha 3 is the best though. R360 as a main prize, babality for runner up.

You could also organize a swap meet style of thing at the event too.

Colonel Panic

Myself and a friend would be up for this.

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119075908#Comment_119075908

R360 for a prize, brilliant haha! I agree though with regards to trying to source games, if we have enough games to cover it, it would have to be something stand out to really justify the cost like a R360, Space Harrier DLX, Cycraft, etc which come with their own problems like 3 phase power, getting it into a building, etc. which probably aren't realistic in any shape or form. Unless there was something more realistic that a lot of people really want to see that I might not be able to get from my list of contacts like a Smash TV or a Spy Hunter or something then maybe something like that could be organized. But again, a lot of tickets would need to be sold first before that was decided and may end up being a year 2 type thing.

+1 for a Red tent definitely if possible, they are quite compact once you take the legs off usually. Vs. Super Mario Bros is a really cool game if you have it for it, it's definitely an interesting one as it's probably not something some people have played and has a good lot of differences to the original Super Mario Bros. Very cool machine in general though they didn't make much like them before or after. And a swap meet/barter or flea market type thing would also be do-able very easily if there was interest.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119075628#Comment_119075628

I'll start practicing now....

*cracks weary knuckles

eddhorse

The only R360 you might even see is

dav09

I suppose we could organize that as a prize? But you'd have to fish it out of the bog yourself.

o1s1n

Can't believe I could have actually had a go on one of those in Dun Laoghaire as a kid but I was too afraid to as it looked like it went upside down, which freaked me out Haha, **** numpty!

RedXIV

Have you looked into insurance costs for this?

Its the number one thing I see that tanks these things because the insurance market is like a cartel at the moment.

I'd be interested in it too, but a couple of things I thought of:

Not sure if the plan is to have coin mechs active or not but if you are, make sure you've LOADS of change on standby for people to use. Either that or hire someone to go around every half an hour to empty machines to restock your coin levels.
If people are bringing machines up, they probably don't want to be tied to them but that means having other people watching them, you'd probably need a few staff/security to ensure no-one takes the mick. I wish it wasn't necessary but all it takes is one or two dopes to run it for the rest of us.
Agree with Retro on the competition. I'd almost have casual competitions rather than big effort ones.

o1s1n

Having coin mechs on would be a colossal headache alright, far easier just to set everything to freeplay and have an entrance fee.

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119084328#Comment_119084328

I never knew they had one there, thought there was just 2 here, one in Dr. Quirkeys and one up north. I wonder is it still hidden away or is it bogged like the one in the north or scrapped like the Dr. Quirkeys one 7 or 8 years ago.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119084436#Comment_119084436

Insurance wise we might be okay if the venue has public liability insurance and insurance for this type of stuff already, I think it all depends on size and scale really. Definitely will need some people watching the place, if you have 200 people odds are you'd have the odd bad egg generally, but I do know from experience it's rare a machine gets damaged, most of which is usually a drink being accidentally spilt on which might happen once every 6 months. But definitely still need to keep an eye, and would have attendees machines closer to/visible by someone at all time. As for tokens, I think if you're charging entry Free Play is the only way to go. I think it would be more enjoyable too to be able to experience everything without having to worry about spending 50 quid to get to play everything.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119084576#Comment_119084576

I'm not sure if it was just a temporary thing or what, but in the early to mid 90s I was walking along Georges Street Upper in Dun Laoghaire and one of the venues across the road from the shopping centre had one in the front, you could see it from the street through the window/door.

Maybe it was one of the two you're talking about before it ended up in Quirkeys on the north? Who knows!

Did that one up north ever get saved actually?

dav09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119084626#Comment_119084626

Wow, it would be some job to move that for a temporary thing if so! I believe it weights over a tonne.

No the one in the north is still floating in a bog it seems, and apparently on last visit it's sunk even more into the bog, being reclaimed by the elements. I don't think it will ever be saved, it would be nice to save it and restore it aesthetically but it would never work again realistically, structurally unsafe more than likely and already rare electronics corroded. There is a guy in Netherlands with 5 of them and one or two still in the UK, only original public one playable in the world is at Galloping Ghost but one will be playable in the Netherlands soon apparently. It's a pity the Quirkey's one was scrapped not too long ago after being in storage for years.

eddhorse

I thought the farmer in the north sold it to someone in the UK, thought i heard that on UKVAC.

Where in the country are you thinking for this Expo?

dav09

It was apparently but couldn't collect/ agree with owner or something, maybe it's gone now but was definitely help up for years.

Anyway back on topic! No venue set for it yet, for the first one/few I want to keep it somewhat small and scale it. Might be able to use the function room in Level Up in Limerick + rest of the venue if enough tickets sell but would have to get a couple of people to agree to this but probably wouldn't be a problem. There's no way to really run it low-key near Dublin really as costs really scale astronomically once you go that route.