Arcade ops license

Some of you guys might remember me complaining about a mvs cab in one of our local game stores that dosen't work and they won't fix it.
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133147
I was pretty pissed at the time, however I was talking to the owner of the place today and he was telling me that it is working now (still won't sell it, keeps this at the store now for storage and plays his AES at home -- a true fan it seems) however, he can't turn it on while the store is open due to the requirment of a license to run it on pay to play. Just curious about this as I have toyed around with the idea of opening my own little joint someday.

Anyway, give me some comments about what you guys might know about this.

Dunno much, but I can say that it probably varies depending on where you are. I'd advise you to check with your Town Office to see what ordinances they may have regarding arcade games...and remember to be patient, because you'll find that often times Town Officials act like they can't be bothered about things like video games (at least, that's the kind of reception I often got in my neck of the woods)

It all depends on where you are ... basically everything Kazuki Dash said.

A friend of mine used to live in a town where they had to turn everything coin-op off on Sundays ... some places are really strange about things.

Murray said:

A friend of mine used to live in a town where they had to turn everything coin-op off on Sundays ... some places are really strange about things.

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It's pretty much that over the years, the stance most Town Officials(and parents in general) have taken is that arcades are not something they want in their neighborhoods(it becomes a hangout for bad element, encourages truancy, blah blah blah). It seems pretty evident to me this is now the dominant attitude as over the last 2 decades you could see that most communities have gradually added ordinances and legislation to phase out the presence of video games anywhere. Once you have a certain number of machines, you could become classified as a place of assembly, which can bring a whole bunch of headaches that most places don't want to bother with...it's a shame but that's just the way it is now in most places, and jerks like Hillary Clinton and Joseph Lieberman are certainly not helping.


Sorry for the rant, this is still a bit of a touchy subject for me...

Hillary Clinton and Joseph Lieberman did what exactly that pissed you off?

It really depends on where you live. I was talking to the owner of my local arcade and he has to get two liscenses per machine. One from the state and one from the town. The one from the state isn't that bad but the one from the town is a killer.

werejag said:

Hillary Clinton and Joseph Lieberman did what exactly that pissed you off?

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They've both been known to constantly attack video games as causing violence in children...because as we all know video games pose a much greater threat to children than shoddy parenting...

Here in Oklahoma, if you want to make money on the machine, you are required to purchase a small sticker from the Tax Commission. It's a flat rate of $50/year. If the machine is at your place of business and you are willing to have the game on free play for decorative/entertainment reasons, you don't have to have any kind of license.

There are a few different varieties of the tax tags that depend on the type of machine. For example, a gumball machine has a "small vending" type of license that is only $5 or $10 a year. The $50/year sticker applies to conventional arcade machines and coke/snack machines.

It's most likely to be different in your city, but I imagine it being something comparable.

Hope that helps.

Kazuki Dash said:

They've both been known to constantly attack video games as causing violence in children...because as we all know video games pose a much greater threat to children than shoddy parenting...

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ah ok thanks for clearifying

Kazuki Dash said:

They've both been known to constantly attack video games as causing violence in children...because as we all know video games pose a much greater threat to children than shoddy parenting...

Click to expand...

We all know video games causes violence, I ate a magic mushroom the other day and jumped on someones head!!

Here in the UK i think you only need a licence if you have gambling machines... I have a friend who used to rent out gaming cabs, he would simply take 50% of the takings as payment.

Here in Ohio you can have up to 3 arcade cabs without an arcade license. 4 or more then you are considered an arcade and then are required one.

Or at least that is what I was told 6 1/2 years ago when I opened my store....