The old Golden Tee 2003 I had $24,000 on the audits . The used pool table I have has 45,000+ plays on it and a broken counter. When my parents ran an arcade in the 1990s they told me their Daytona USA had made over $50,000 and had literally put me through college. (Note I'm not an operator).
What single game (pin or otherwise) has mad you the most money over the years through the coin/bill acceptor?
At Challenges Arcade, for the 3 years I was there, the Killer Instinct and Mortal Kombats were always highest vids. Smokin' Token was always the biggest redemption. Pinball, was Twilight Zone a couple years, then WCS.
At Tokens FFC for the 3 years I was there, the Skeeballs were #1, made more than any other games combined. BK2K was the highest pinball. Video was the Neo Geo 4-slot (games were switched out monthly, so hard to say there if one was abovt the other.)
At Mountasia FFC (about 5 years there, I believe), the biggest earnere for video varied - from Carnevil to Gauntlet Dark Legacy, to whatever the latest Mortal Kombat was back then, to the NFL Blitz '99. Pinball was always Addams Family. Redemption was a mix between Cyclone and one of the basket-ball shoot games.
Heh.
Quoted from Coyote:Neo Geo 4-slot (games were switched out monthly, so hard to say there if one was abovt the other.)
Those 4-slot MVS could be so flexible, have a samurai showdown/final fight- then a aero fighters or some SHUMP, then metal slug for some of that...then maybe a sports game, something for everyone and I knew arcades that operated their MVS's for more than 10 years.
Quoted from Whistles:Those 4-slot MVS could be so flexible, have a samurai showdown/final fight- then a aero fighters or some SHUMP, then metal slug for some of that...then maybe a sports game, something for everyone and I knew arcades that operated their MVS's for more than 10 years.
I had two of the six slot ones for years. They didn't get the recognition they deserved because SNK stuck to their system while other manufacturers had system games but went dedicated if they thought they had a hot title.
The SNK Neo Geo fighting games were as good as many from other manufacturers. And all their games, around $500 each. Even a lack luster game you made money.
LTG : )
in terms of overall take, The Addams Family. it's more than quadrupled what i paid for it ($4300) about eight years ago and still going strong.
in terms of cost-to-earnings ratio, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy has made more than 10x it's initial purchase price of $400.
oddly enough, someone recently found my TAF on location and posted it to a TAF owner's group on FB which i'm not part of, but happened to check out due to a suggested post. found this pic as i scrolled back a bit.
391652921_10160853171265619_4552488406312096150_n (resized).jpgQuoted from Coyote:At Challenges Arcade, for the 3 years I was there, the Killer Instinct and Mortal Kombats were always highest vids. Smokin' Token was always the biggest redemption. Pinball, was Twilight Zone a couple years, then WCS.
At Tokens FFC for the 3 years I was there, the Skeeballs were #1, made more than any other games combined. BK2K was the highest pinball. Video was the Neo Geo 4-slot (games were switched out monthly, so hard to say there if one was abovt the other.)
At Mountasia FFC (about 5 years there, I believe), the biggest earnere for video varied - from Carnevil to Gauntlet Dark Legacy, to whatever the latest Mortal Kombat was back then, to the NFL Blitz '99. Pinball was always Addams Family. Redemption was a mix between Cyclone and one of the basket-ball shoot games.
Heh.
O man... forgot about redemption.
Folks had Skee Balls on location for over a decade of non-stop play, but if you include all redemption I'm going to revise and say the Cyclone redemption machine was probably the biggest earner. Ran into issues with having to pull tokens from it out of rotation with other machiens because the coin box kept filling up.
Quoted from mc300baud:in terms of cost-to-earnings ratio, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy has made more than 10x it's initial purchase price of $400.
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy was/is a great game, and it brought in a LOT when it was new, too. 
Quoted from Whistles:Those 4-slot MVS could be so flexible, have a samurai showdown/final fight- then a aero fighters or some SHUMP, then metal slug for some of that...then maybe a sports game, something for everyone and I knew arcades that operated their MVS's for more than 10 years.
I agree completely - a puzzle game, sports game, fighting game, and some kinda of role-playing of fantasy or classic-like game, and you covered all bases.
We had a Nintendo Playchoice-10 in one of my arcades as well - and it did HORRIBLY. I mean, as much the Neo Geo brought in, Nintendo did NOT.
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:Cyclone redemption machine was probably the biggest earner. Ran into issues with having to pull tokens from it out of rotation with other machiens because the coin box kept filling up.
I know you said "single" game - and I went off on a tangent - however, if I had to pick a single game? Yeah - it's be Cyclone. Crap, I even want to land one for my own home gameroom. And yeah - we had to empty our almost every other day. Daily, if weather was bad and folks were staying inside (instead of gokarts and mini golf), or we had more than one birthday scheduled that day.
Quoted from Haymaker:I'm surprised more people aren't saying cranes
from the ops i've talked to who operate cranes and other redemption, this is true. i just choose not to operate those as for me it's a hobby business dedicated to the games i love (pins and video games) and not for making money.
Personally, I don't consider cranes to be 'games'. But that's just me. I hate those things - as an ex-operator and a 'player'.
Cranes and Crank It! have been consistently number one for a while.
We just got an Elaut low-boy crane and that thing kicks ass.
Skeeball is consistent.
Still, ball cranes rule them all. My best pinball only does about 1/30th what the best crane does.
I ran a route back at the turn of the 80's into the 90's and nothing came close to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I ended up with 3 of them. Brand new they were right around $2k. I made that back in one month and that was just my split. These games were absolute ATM's that 1st year.
Claw machine in the 80s at bowling alley. We put a betson triple crane in had to fill plush everyday. Emptied coins 2-3 times a week, $700 each cash pan. Pole position with 400,000 on coin meter. All the 5 gallon buckets of quarters.
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:The old Golden Tee 2003 I had $24,000 on the audits . The used pool table I have has 45,000+ plays on it and a broken counter. When my parents ran an arcade in the 1990s they told me their Daytona USA had made over $50,000 and had literally put me through college. (Note I'm not an operator).
What single game (pin or otherwise) has mad you the most money over the years through the coin/bill acceptor?
I had a pair of daytonas that earned over 100k by their coin count. That game must be legendary among operators.
Quoted from Kneissl:I had a pair of daytonas that earned over 100k by their coin count. That game must be legendary among operators.
If I hear that "Day - Tona!!" callout theme song one more time... holy hell, most annoying cr@p ever.
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Crofton, MD