Is it a good idea to buy an arcade machine?

I was thinking of saving up to buy an arcade machine, specifically DDR SuperNOVA (2). I just wanted to hear your opinions as to whether it's actually worth it or not. I know it's about $14,000, but this is what I'm truly into. If I end up going through with this, what things should I be aware about in terms of the buying process and maintaining it? It would be great if someone who knows about this could answer! Thanks.

---

Um...buying it for personal use probably isn't a very good idea, unless you have a lot of money to throw around.

If you're getting SN2, you better get be ready to pay for e-Amuse. That's presuming that there will be no offline unlock system for America though.

If you can get it in a place where people will see it often, and you can get a nice little fanbase going, it's probably a good idea. At $1.00 a pop, it'll take 1,400 plays before you start making a profit.

Quote: piepiepie75

Um...buying it for personal use probably isn't a very good idea, unless you have a lot of money to throw around. If you're getting SN2, you better get be ready to pay for e-Amuse. That's presuming that there will be no offline unlock system for America though. If you can get it in a place where people will see it often, and you can get a nice little fanbase going, it's probably a good idea. At $1.00 a pop, it'll take 1,400 plays before you start making a profit.

My only fear is that I would get bored of it after a year or two, and then I wouldn't be able to sell it for more than $8,000 by then.

You have to admit it though. Just the thought of having it in your house is as exciting as it gets. I don't really care about the social aspect of it. In fact, I hate it when I start drawing a crowd of over 4 people. I sometimes "picture" it in my mind in a certain part of my house.

---

Well, upgrade kits are cheaper than machines themselves, so you can probably just upgrade when you get bored of it.

If you want it to be personal, you could probably still make some money of it. Maybe you could put it in your garage and on certain nights, let people come in and play it as much as they want for a cover charge. A lot of arcades do things like this, and it's always pretty popular.

Quote: piepiepie75
Well, upgrade kits are cheaper than machines themselves, so you can probably just upgrade when you get bored of it. If you want it to be personal, you could probably still make some money of it. Maybe you could put it in your garage and on certain nights, let people come in and play it as much as they want for a cover charge. A lot of arcades do things like this, and it's always pretty popular.

But do you honestly think it would be a good idea if I could technically stretch financially to buy it? I just want some feedback as to how rediculous this sounds. lol

---

It's not that ridiculous really, there's a few people in the bemani community that have their own personal machines.

Quote: piepiepie75
It's not that ridiculous really, there's a few people in the bemani community that have their own personal machines.

Underline "in the DDR community". Any normal person would think this is rediculous, but honestly, fuck them! I've never seen a person in the DDR community have a SuperNOVA machine though.

---

or you could just make a stepmania cabinet and download simfiles and buy metal mats and make it as simalar to an actuall machine as possable. i did i just bought a ddr 4th mix ddr machine, got rid of all parts inside of it and put a high def tv and a computer in it hooked the computer to it then put a key board and mouse on the outside and hide it. then just hook up the mats (usb) and the speakers. trust me i only paid 3,790$ (ACTUALL PRICE TOTAL) plus you can go online and deownload and delete simfiles and get any ddr theme so you could make an ddr extreme look alike and then the next week switch everything to ddr supernova style.

Quote: ddrmax

or you could just make a stepmania cabinet and download simfiles and buy metal mats and make it as simalar to an actuall machine as possable. i did i just bought a ddr 4th mix ddr machine, got rid of all parts inside of it and put a high def tv and a computer in it hooked the computer to it then put a key board and mouse on the outside and hide it. then just hook up the mats (usb) and the speakers. trust me i only paid 3,790$ (ACTUALL PRICE TOTAL) plus you can go online and deownload and delete simfiles and get any ddr theme so you could make an ddr extreme look alike and then the next week switch everything to ddr supernova style.

Yeah, but you don't get that "official", "high quality" feeling that official arcade machines/games have.

---

i modified it with ddr supernova cabinet parts ( speakers, header, mats, screen, body, etc. )

Quote: ddrmax

or you could just make a stepmania cabinet and download simfiles and buy metal mats and make it as simalar to an actuall machine as possable. i did i just bought a ddr 4th mix ddr machine, got rid of all parts inside of it and put a high def tv and a computer in it hooked the computer to it then put a key board and mouse on the outside and hide it. then just hook up the mats (usb) and the speakers. trust me i only paid 3,790$ (ACTUALL PRICE TOTAL) plus you can go online and deownload and delete simfiles and get any ddr theme so you could make an ddr extreme look alike and then the next week switch everything to ddr supernova style.

It sounds nice, but it does lack that wonderful element called "background videos", "visualizations", and "animated characters."

Not to slander your ideas, I would like a Stepmania setup too, but the lack of things going on in the background makes a game seem unprofessional.

Quote: MadDogBV

Quote: ddrmax or you could just make a stepmania cabinet and download simfiles and buy metal mats and make it as simalar to an actuall machine as possable. i did i just bought a ddr 4th mix ddr machine, got rid of all parts inside of it and put a high def tv and a computer in it hooked the computer to it then put a key board and mouse on the outside and hide it. then just hook up the mats (usb) and the speakers. trust me i only paid 3,790$ (ACTUALL PRICE TOTAL) plus you can go online and deownload and delete simfiles and get any ddr theme so you could make an ddr extreme look alike and then the next week switch everything to ddr supernova style. It sounds nice, but it does lack that wonderful element called "background videos", "visualizations", and "animated characters." Not to slander your ideas, I would like a Stepmania setup too, but the lack of things going on in the background makes a game seem unprofessional.

Then get some background videos, Like the ITG BG videos. ;)

---

I find it amazing how some stupid kid ride like a small merry-go-round is about $20,000. I feel they really over-price public amusement products. They don't sell that many of them, so they probably have to over-price them.

---

I brought a Extreme machine a while back. Was fun (and was saving money) for a while but then I started to miss the fun/fell of playing in an arcade in public, with friends and people watching.

Mind you I sold it for more than I brought it for, so hey.

Only machine I'd buy now If I found a big bago money would be ITG2.

Quote: DJ Taka
I brought a Extreme machine a while back. Was fun (and was saving money) for a while but then I started to miss the fun/fell of playing in an arcade in public, with friends and people watching. Mind you I sold it for more than I brought it for, so hey. Only machine I'd buy now If I found a big bago money would be ITG2.

That's cool. I probably wouldn't have an issue with "but then I started to miss the fun/fell of playing in an arcade in public, with friends and people watching." because I'm the type of person that would take advantage that there's nobody waiting to use the machine or looking at me to really go nuts with all the features. It would get boring after a while, but it will never get THAT boring. The thought alone that you have an arcade machine is enough for it not to be boring.

---

I dunno. I dream of owning my own machine and all, but I might miss the publicity and stuff. Here's the thing I am feeling about DDR machines (I plan on saving money once I get a job)...

PRO:
- Practice all you want. Play doubles more times than ever. Update your recall or score tracker scores whenever and you can manage your own machine, get inside and do all the things you weren't allowed to in the arcade.
- Bring friends over for DDR parties without worrying about your homepad getting destroyed or paying lots of money.
- You can start charging, making you earn more money if you're clever enough.
- Like I said, do whatever you want to it without worrying about getting yelled at by a manager.
- Get family members who stopped DDRing to get back into the scene. Like my brothers who showed me the game, but happened to fall out of interest when I got more interested.

CON:
- Might get too boring
- You got all perfects for everything, even the oni courses. Now what?
- Management might get hard
- The bad public doing stuff to your machine that might cause permanent damage.
- You lose your social life


I dunno, I would probably make myself pay, just for the real arcade feeling. Then take out the quarters later, dump them into the change machine, take out the dollar bills that I paid the machine recently, then start the whole process over again.

Quote: RandomUser_Trigger_H

I dunno. I dream of owning my own machine and all, but I might miss the publicity and stuff. Here's the thing I am feeling about DDR machines (I plan on saving money once I get a job)... PRO: - Practice all you want. Play doubles more times than ever. Update your recall or score tracker scores whenever and you can manage your own machine, get inside and do all the things you weren't allowed to in the arcade. - Bring friends over for DDR parties without worrying about your homepad getting destroyed or paying lots of money. - You can start charging, making you earn more money if you're clever enough. - Like I said, do whatever you want to it without worrying about getting yelled at by a manager. - Get family members who stopped DDRing to get back into the scene. Like my brothers who showed me the game, but happened to fall out of interest when I got more interested. CON: - Might get too boring - You got all perfects for everything, even the oni courses. Now what? - Management might get hard - The bad public doing stuff to your machine that might cause permanent damage. - You lose your social life I dunno, I would probably make myself pay, just for the real arcade feeling. Then take out the quarters later, dump them into the change machine, take out the dollar bills that I paid the machine recently, then start the whole process over again.

That's a good chart. And plus, going to an arcade is basically the only reason I get out of the house for entertainment purposes anymore.

---