Play Meter

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY Optimistic, nervous, and waiting for a miracle w Valerie Cognevich PLAY METER e 'd like to extend a special thanks to all of you who took the time to fill out the survey form. We could not put together a look at the industry if we did not have the input from our loyal and faithful readers . Please know how much your concern means to us and the rest of the industry. Since we depend solely on the responses we get from our readers, there will always be those who disagree with the findings. Of course, it's the one who couldn't find the time to add his input. While there may possibly be some figures that seem questionable , too low, or too high, they are the numbers that surface from the returned surveys. Here's how we tabulate the results: when the surveys are returned they are numbered and recorded by hand. Under the question, "What is your average weekly gross on video games?", for example, there were nearly 200 who gave us a number. All of those numbers were added and an average was taken from the results. Please note that any extraordinary numbers are eliminated to avoid totally unrealistic figures. For example, in the number of locations category, there were several surveys from people who registered thousands of locations. While I'm certain that there are some who have that many, it is not indicative of the rest of the industry. Therefore, that one response was eliminated from the total. The expanded numbers are 8 arrived at by using a t otal of 4,500 operators. The number of operators this year is the number that the Amusement and Music Operators Association CAMOA) is circulating. We have decided to use it. The figure that is most sought after in our survey is the annual gross income figure. This year that number is $8 billion. This covers strictly coin-op amusement games and does not include any vending figures or gaming numbers. General business We designed this section of the survey to get a profile of the typical operator in the coin-op business. We found out that 39% have been in the industry 20 years or more ; 15% have been in it 5 years or less; and the majority (46%) have been in 6 to 20 years. About 13 % operate arcades only and have an average of about 5 locations. Just over 39% operate street locations only and average 75 of them. While that is the overall average it is interesting to note that 11 % of those surveyed indicated that they operate over 200 locations; 56% have under the 75 average number of locations. Another 48% operate both street and arcade locations. The total number of arcades we estimate to be is 13,725; there's 292 ,500 street locations; and a bout 2,700FECs. It's refreshing to see the large percent of operators who are using location contracts: 65% compared to 52% last year. Commission is always a hot 1995 DIRECTORY