Detailed by Bloomberg Businessweek recently, a San Francisco based rental company called All You Can Arcade will deliver a massive arcade machine to your home for a rental period of one month. Starting at $75 per month, customers of the service can rent games like Tron, Galaga, Pole Position, Missile Command, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong and many others month after month. All of the coin slots on the machines have been disabled, thus anyone can play for free. There’s no delivery charge for receiving one of the machines, so users can swap out their game each month if they wish.
While the current generation of video game consoles dominate the home theater, All You Can Arcade likely attracts customers that grew up with these machines in arcades throughout the 1980's. In addition, it’s an attractive option for businesses that want to provide a bit of entertainment in the company breakroom.
According to company co-founder Seth Peterson, the company utilizes the Web to locate old machines that can be refurbished and rented out to customers. Regarding sources for the machines, Peterson said “It’s a lot of fun looking for the bargains, scoring them off Craigslist or eBay or through the Internet forums. Anywhere we can find them.” If the game stops working while rented, a technician is sent out to repair the machine. However, the customer is responsible for any abuse of machines and a $75 deposit is required before the machine can be delivered.
The company is usually able to purchase each arcade machine between $150 to $200, thus getting a return on their initial investment only requires a few monthly rentals. At the moment, All You Can Arcade currently operates all over California, but management is considering expanding to the East Coast at some point in the future. Residents of California can check the company site in order to view available arcade machines in their area.
By day, I'm the content manager for Steve's Digicams, High-Def Digest and Audio Video Revolution. During my free time, I love to write about home theater, digital photography, social media, mobile technology and innovative gadgets!
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