Exactly! Many people simply don't know what they are putting in or even how to press the start button. A bummer to hear them being called thieves when most of the time people have no clue. And to wonder why the decline in the industry....

Agreed! Not overly tough to do. Hit the phone jack and go go go! I don't carry quarters at all. Weighs me down! At the very least needs a bill acceptor, but that seems to be highly uncommon as well.

You can definitely tell the successful ops though. They have clean games that work, bill collectors etc. And when you meet them you can tell as well

PArt of the issue I've seen with some arcades I go in is that the owner seems to have the mentality of "All I need to do is rent a building, put in some random games I think are cool and let them come!"

Although, the arcades don't look full, there is no flow to the arcade floor, the games are old and boring and uninteresting, they aren't bright enough, there is no cool paint or lighting in the building itself etc. There is soooo soooo much more these days to making a sweet arcade. Opinions could go on and on forever, but some of it is just pure fact. I take a look at the successful arcades in my area and they all have the same elements:
- Sweet games for everyone - pins, old arcades, new arcades, beer etc
- great paint to give an arcade feel
- EL wire on edges of arches for lighting, colored lights in the ceilings etc

The days of opening a building and filling it with your arcade collection are more than long gone. Creativity has to play a role now. Microsoft loses money on the sale of the Xbox, like many large companies they have a loss leader. Although, they make a killlling on games. So, maybe ops who hate redemption do need the barber shop games at the front to draw people and money in, but still offer the pins and other arcades they like.