It started in the fall of 2016, where AC-Frank and I were talking about his problems at work. You see, Frank is an operator of several amusement spaces around the Kansas City area. Frank is my neighbor, and we like to compete at darts, pinball, and unwind by my fire pit.

I come from a totally different background. I’m a mechanical engineer. Over the past several years have managed large-scale automotive manufacturing operations around the world. One thing we do very well in my industry is track data.

We know a lot about the vehicles we help produce. We know, who, what, when about the materials, the people, the characteristics all to ensure the safety of the public that buys the vehicles.

In Frank’s laments about stuck tokens, token shrink, ticket costs, trouble finding good help, and maintenance trouble with an automated redemption machine that he invested in a few years ago, I said, “Frank, why don’t we fix it?” I had heard it all many times before.

Several evenings he would have something troubling him in the amusement industry. We knew there were some options, but I never thought they really captured the “spirit of the gamer” who is loyal to the arcade.

Many of whom were lost to PC games, console games, and just plain growing up with families. Frank had even looked into some other card systems and redemption options for a couple of his locations but discovered quickly they were wildly expensive.

I’m a child of the ’80s and grew up in an arcade playing video and pinball machines with my lunch money (sorry Mom and Dad). I played primarily at the now-demolished Blue Ridge Mall and at the Space Port Arcade.

Occasionally I played at a great arcade attached to a putt-putt family fun center (still going strong) Cool Crest. Both had some great games. Donkey Kong, Dragon’s Lair, Space Shuttle Pinball, Afterburner, and Ghost’s and Goblins to name a few. I’m sure all of that hungry gaming is what has impressed on me how things should work, and a feeling about what gamers really enjoy.

Today’s arcades are filled with redemption machines, spewing tickets everywhere, tokens clacking against a quick coin game, or rolling all over when kids spill the cup of tokens. While I don’t get the redemption craze, my kids really seem to enjoy the redemption piece of the arcades. Maybe they are future slot machine junkies.

The difference for me is all of the incessant problems in today’s arcades. These problems were there 30 years ago, but today’s society has a higher expectation of quality and functionality. Kids today are used to their iPods/iPhones and tablets that just work. They just don’t get it when the paper tickets stop coming out and the game tells them to go and ….. “talk to an attendant.” What? Isn’t that like talking to strangers??

I digress. Back to the start, Frank and I over the course of the next few months worked outlining the operational problems of the traditional arcade. Frank from the operator / location owner, me from the gamer perspective. We talked to others within the industry and casual gamers at arcades of the pain points within the industry. We dreamed about what would make arcades cool again. What would bring the people back to the arcade and enjoy entertainment with arcades in public once again.

What is different now 30 years later, and what should operators and guests expect. The result is our Arcade Management System solution. We engineered solutions leveraging at times other industry-proven technology, and have found a way to deliver a better product at a lower price, because of that utilization and creativity.

While we are constantly working on new features and content. we have developed our baseline system which we and are continuing to improve features from there. I believe you will find our baseline system focused on the gamer in the arcade all the while removing the traditional pain points of an operator and allowing them to run more efficiently.

Being an operations guy in my adult life, I understand feelings and emotions don’t always point you to the right problem to fix. Problems and opportunities for improvement are more rapidly and better resolved with data. Our arcade management system gives you that.

Take a spin over on our website: www.acgameon.com and look at what we have to offer. Our Paystation kiosk – Gamer – Eliminates tokens and utilizes modern-day technology and accepted payment systems. Operator – Enables real-time revenue reporting within the arcade/entertainment space.

Our SmartMech – Gamer – Eliminates the token jams, the ticket jams, the ticket outs, and the need to seek an attendant. Operator – Eliminates the labor need for meter reading or dumping tokens back into a changer, and the cost and labor of filling of paper tickets.

Our Prizezilla Self Service Redemption Machine – Gamer – No need to shred tickets at the eater that is often down in need of maintenance. No need to wait in line. Step up, and do the industry trending self-service checkout. Enjoy the messaging on the large video screen cerebrating the day’s gaming performance.

Operator – Eliminates the need for labor behind a counter or a shared location to staff labor for the arcade part of their business. Eliminates the need for high-value items behind the counter that become obsolete or do not turn over. Inventory is tracked, and data are given to show you what turn’s over.

Our Manned Redemption Module for a Large space that wants to maintain a redemption counter, will still get the benefits of Prizezilla. Users – Get the same great messaging on the video screen. Operators – get inventory control, employee accountability, and data to show you what turns over, and the ability to email/drop-ship items of higher value.

Our Arcade Management Data System – User – Gives users the ability to brag about their performance, protects their account from loss of cards where tickets and loss of credits could be a problem. Allows the location/operator to know them better and cater special deals/promotions for the gamer. Operator – Data! Know what is getting played real-time, know revenue real-time, know if a game is down (no gameplay) real-time, know how many people are in your space – real-time. Use historical data to analyze trends, balance ticket payouts, etc. The limit is your imagination, though we have imagined quite a few reports for the operator. Take a deeper look, and give us a call or an email. See you in the arcade.