An industry census has led Benchmark's Al Kress to cross-check income figures from various types of amusement machines and conclude his own chart of the industry's winners and losers.
Almost all categories of games showed a decline, he said, with the slight exception of ticket redemption which averaged $119 against $118 in the previous year. The best of the rest was prize merchandisers showing a marginal decline from $154 per week, from $156.
Kress commented: "When you look at the cost of the machines in the redemption/merchandise category, the small depreciation overall and the length of service you get from these games, represents one of the best investments in the industry. It never ceases to amaze me that when you go to a trade show and ask an operator or distributor what they thought was a great product, the first thing they name is a video game. I find that they average $54 a week. If we are going to move forward in these tough times, we have to look at what is really playing. There is a voting box on every machine, so the player can tell you what he or she likes and we call it the cash box. Just tally up the ‘votes’ at the end of the week and you will see that redemption and self-contained merchandisers is where the market is."
