I thought I took a picture but apparently not as it's not in my photos.
A few weeks ago I went to a barcade to kill some time before an evening with family. They usually have a solid lineup and I was very surprised to see that they had JJPOTC, Hobbit, and DI among a few modern sterns and some popular B/W.
On top of Hobbit I saw something I've never seen before - a lit numeric display topper featuring a countdown price that seemed to be linked to the game's audits. The topper both featured the logos of JJP and the establishment so it didn't seem "homebrew". The display basically said something along the lines of "the more the game is played, the more the price decreases. Buy it now, or play it and watch the 'Buy it Now' price go down."
As someone who would love a JJP but can't stomach their prices (NIB or used), I thought it was a fantastic idea. I buy project or routed games more often than not, so I wouldn't be opposed to a routed JJP if that's the only way it's going to happen. The only issues that turned me off about this certain Hobbit were the following...
1) Hobbit is my least favorite JJP title.
2) I've seen good examples in the mid-to-low $6K range in the region.
3) Between when I went there, played a few games, saw others play it, and then came back a few hours later on a half-busy Thursday night, the price hadn't decreased. Obviously it can't be a $1-for-$1 decrease in price, and perhaps it only goes down in larger increments (aka last digit always remains zero and price goes down by some multiple of $10) but I was hoping to see the decrease in action.
and most importantly...
4) The price on the "Buy it Now" Topper was somewhere in the $6900 range I believe, and this Hobbit wasn't flipping the best. Controlled drops weren't scrolling for that particular skill shot, kickback was misfiring, one of the pop up monsters wouldn't come up...etc.
So I wonder if this is a trial thing, something unique to this establishment, or if it's becoming commonplace out there. I think if implemented correctly, it's a fantastic idea. If it were a game I wanted, the price was enticing for me, and gave the operator full ROI plus acceptable profit, I could see myself returning to the location multiple times to check in on it, maybe drop some bucks to watch the price drop, and consider what needed to be moved in my collection if/when I was ready to pounce. However, I don't think many are going to drool at a $6900 Hobbit that needs work so there's probably a balance that needs to be struck if this could work on a larger scale.
If you have pics from out in the wild showing the topper, share them as well.