Electronic dart machines are a staple of the coin-op amusement industry. Unaffected by legislation and red tape, the game of darts is a simple and effective way of drawing customers into a location, as Helen Fletcher finds out

The game of darts appeals to people at an international level - whether playing with friends in a local bar, competing regularly in a local team or taking it one step further and entering a tournament.

Its appeal is its simplicity, although a game of skill that requires accuracy and practice to achieve tournament worthy status, it can be picked up easily and can be enjoyed in a social atmosphere among friends.

Its popularity is further evident in the number of associations and tournaments supporting the sport and our UK readers will struggle to forget the extremely popular quiz show Bullseye, which used the darts as a basis for the show and was extremely successful (despite the awful prizes) in the 80s. More recently the world of home console gaming has tapped into the popularity of the game and PDC World Championships is now available on the Nintendo Wii.

For the coin-op amusement industry darts provide operators with an easily accessible route to lure paying customers into locations. Generally found in bars and pubs, a local darts tournament has the capability to increase traffic through the venue, if marketed correctly.

"Electronic darts do require consistent promotion, support and commitment and this is the difficulty many operators face - it must be a priority," said Mida Medalist’s Lee Peppard. "Tournaments are one of the keys to establishing successful electronic dart programmes and leagues leading to tournaments are critical for sustaining said programmes."

The traditional format in which darts is played sees the scores marked on a chalk board attached to the side of the dart board - this set up has worked for many years so why would an operator choose to spend money on an electronic darts machine that needs maintenance?

For Sam Zammuto of Arachnid in the US, which has been manufacturing and promoting darts since the late 70s, it is all about the player. He told InterGame: "Electronic darts is definitely easier because you don’t have to do any work - the game automatically scores and delivers a winner with the results showing automatically on the dart machine. This helps the psyche of the player to see how they have done and to see their name in lights with all the bells and whistles.

"Using the traditional chalkboard a player has to keep track of all the darts thrown and has to hope they don’t make a mistake on the board in front of the other players."

The very first darts league was run in Illinois, US, in 1978 and for Zammuto this was a test for leagues all over the world - the idea of creating the desire to go into a location and have a good time with a new style of game. "Improved technology in the late 80s saw the first Galaxy I dart machine become automated to send data and stats from the game to the operator’s computer," he said.

"Operators didn’t need to visit each location - this changed the whole atmosphere from running leagues the old way which had players filling out written score sheets and then someone had to go out to the location to collect the money - at the time in 1991, it was the first coin-op game of its kind."

Technological changes

Medalist’s Peppard adds to this, telling InterGame: "The dramatic changes in technology have helped electronic darts become what they are today. The audio/visual advancements have made full-colour video displayed on LCD monitors possible. Sound production has grown in leaps and bounds - before where a simple buzzer might have been the limitation, today’s audio has advanced to include state of the art music and sounds.

"Technology has also allowed electronic darts to grow from ‘pen and paper’ to information being electronically updated and transferred the same night," added Peppard.

This improvement in technology encouraged Arachnid to take its products and its now famous Bullshooter tournaments across the Atlantic and it has been represented by Spanish company Diana Marketing in Europe ever since. For the company’s Marisol Rodriguez the continuous development of technology in Arachnid’s products has enabled the league and championship structure to grow to a size that was unimaginable in the 90s.

"We have been able to take the sport of darts from the old simple game (301, 501) through to strategy games that are impossible to play with non-electronic systems," said Rodriguez.

"We have automated league management using software which allows leagues to be run remotely. We now have more than 65,000 machines connected to our server. By running clean, clear and accurate leagues we attract new players - the technology promotes growth."

This improved technology has also had positive implications on the tournament side of the business, which if run efficiently can be a real money earner for locations. "Big tournaments take a lot of coordinating and training to manage 1-2,000 people playing in a room all at one time," said Zammuto. "Arachnid software tournament registration seems to have handled this big tournament system quite easily which obviously assists an operator on their first big tournament."

Popularity

As with any game or sport, its popularity with players does vary depending on the country and there are some areas where electronic darts is still to make its mark - such as the UK market, which would seem surprising as the traditional format of darts itself can be found in the majority of pubs and bars.

For Rodriguez there are three possible reasons for this, "traditionalism and stick-in-the-mud mentality; a failed incursion with the wrong machine and the wrong approach at the wrong time, which has then left an unfortunate recollection in people’s minds; and a difficulty of finding a synergy."

Zammuto adds to this, telling InterGame: "The popularity of electronic darts varies between countries and relates to the degree of promotion which the operators put forth to maintain dart leagues. League play should be scheduled twice a year, which then helps out other coin-op equipment in the venue, especially jukeboxes.

"European countries such as Germany, France, Spain and Portugal caught onto dart leagues and tournaments in the late 80s / early 90s and we have since expanded into many European countries.

"Looking forward we see an expansion into China, Hong Kong, Japan and other Asian countries. They are using the same format as the US did in the 80s, which has led to an increase in popularity."

As reliable as the electronic dart machine is, it is not fool-proof and like many areas of the coin-op industry it has felt the effect of the recession. "It has been a double-edged sword for electronic darts," said Peppard.

"It has had a negative impact on events that require travel. It has contributed to the demise of many pubs. However, because it is very affordable entertainment and many pubs have recognised that electronic darts are a proven tool for addressing their most basic need, bodies in the bar, the recession has created a growth opportunity for electronic darts."