Why Every Arcade NEEDS A TECHNICIAN

By Rob Zigmont

Arcade games are a great money maker for any location, but it’s important to remember that they are complex machines with computers, fans, wires, and other components that can affect the performance of a game or break. A key recommendation from the Betson Technical Team is to hire an arcade technician as part of your staff. This article will review the critical reasons for having a technician on-site at your location.

Keep Profits Coming In

The game room can be the most profitable portion of your business. On average, a single game can earn about $200 a week in today’s FECs, but some games can make over $1,000, so it’s essential that they stay up and running. The weekend is where 80%-90% of revenue comes from for most locations; having a game go down on a Friday afternoon and waiting until Monday (or longer) for a repair or receiving parts will hurt your business. Even simple problems like header lights being out can make players think the game is out of order and ruin their visit. You don’t want a bad weekend to create bad reviews that live on after. A technician on-site with the right expertise and parts can pay for themselves over a busy weekend.

Various things can come up daily, but you don’t want to hire someone who is just reactionary. A question that might arise is, ‘What will the technician do when the games are working properly?’ Answer: ‘Preventative maintenance!’ Your technician should do several things daily, weekly, and monthly to keep your games in perfect order and avoid any major issues down the line.

Parts Packages

Another essential aspect for your technician is managing your parts and consumables. When a game is down, you want it up and running as quickly as possible. Overnight freight charges can add up quickly. And if a game goes down on the weekend, parts may ship on Monday morning. That means games can be down for several days, which is lost revenue for your business and unhappy customers.

To keep your game room up and running, Betson offers different packages customized to the specific games at each location. They offer discounted freight and a six month return policy. Since your technician will be onsite every day, they’ll have a great understanding of the operations of the game room and what consumables or parts you might need frequently and can work with their parts rep to manage everything.

Wellness

Betson provides periodic reviews of your game room to analyze critical information to optimize profits and your location's customer experience. The Betson Wellness program can help identify games with setting problems that technicians may be unaware of. In addition, you can make sure your game mix reflects your customer base.

Technical Training

If you’ve just hired a technician or they need some refresher work, Betson offers Betson Technical University. Our skilled, experienced in-house technicians conduct the training, sharing their knowledge, experience, and best practices. Topics discussed include game system overview, digital multi-meter, basic soldering/splicing techniques, game maintenance, ‘Card Reader Issues 101’ class, troubleshooting, electric circuit theory, advanced troubleshooting, wiring schematics, computer repair, and basic LCD repair.

Making an investment in your arcade is a big decision and an even bigger challenge. With an arcade technician at the ready, you will have peace of mind that your investment is well cared for and doing its job of being profitable!•

Here Are Some For Your Top Tips

TECHNICIAN:

DAILY MAINTENANCE

• Wipe down the games. Cleaning the games is essential for keeping them running smoothly and creating a better customer atmosphere.

• Balance the balls in basketball arcade games, Skee-Ball, etc. If you have eight balls on one side and four on the other, the game isn’t going to work correctly.

• Check that the ticket machines are running properly.

WEEKLY MAINTENANCE

• Check gameplay. It may seem like having too much fun at work, but ensuring the games play through is essential to your maintenance plan.

• Create a punch list of any issues so that you can go back later and fix them. Trying to do multiple fixes at once is not only overwhelming but the job might not be carefully done if it’s rushed through and not given more attention which could cause even more issues.

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE

• Check power cords. Are they frayed? Is there a game sitting on them?

• Open the games’ back doors and make sure everything looks OK; blow out dust or vacuum if necessary.

• Clean filters or drain compressors where necessary.

• Clean dust traps, fans, etc.

• Maintain a cleaning schedule and stick to it.

Depending on the environment, your specific cleaning schedule will vary; for example, a desert location may have more dust, and machines will need to be vacuumed more. One thing to keep in mind is customer satisfaction; seeing cleaning procedures gives customers extra peace of mind.