For many their childhood memories are filled with adventures at their local arcade. The arcade was a spectacular place to hang out with friends, grab a bite to eat, win prizes, and play the hottest games. While arcades have gradually declined in popularity, their mark and influence on popular culture is eternal.
These institutions of pop culture would not be what they are without the staff. The hard working men and women of the arcade industry work tirelessly to bring joy to their guests, which begs the question, what is it like to truly work in an arcade?
10 High Turnover
When wanting to find out what working in any kind of industry is like, looking at the turnover rate is very revealing. The arcade industry, while having a diverse range of positions and employees, has an astronomical one. Generally speaking those working in the local arcade will usually be there for less than a couple of months, or a summer at most, though those that do stay, tend to dedicate their entire lives to a career in arcading.
9 Lots Of Gaming
As would be expected those working in the industry get to enjoy the games as much as they want. This is one of the largest benefits of the job, as even today arcade games manage to be engaging and challenging experiences. It would be hard to find oneself working in an arcade without a passion for the games they are surrounded by 24/7.
8 Labor Of Love And Maintenance
While arcade games are fun, and genuinely beloved by the staff, the relationship here is a double-edged sword. Despite the endless entertainment these machines provide both guests and staff, they are prone to a litany of issues. One of the most challenging parts of working in an arcade is knowing all of the quick fixes and maintenance techniques to ensure that every machine is running with as little down time as possible.
7 Pricey Machines
The arcade machines, known as “cabinets” are far from cheap. Modern cabinets incorporate cutting edge technology to provide gamers with unique and new experiences, while the older machines could be considered rare and precious antiques.
The idea of working around a-lot of pricey machinery may seem cool at first, however working on the machines or doing quick fixes, is very stressful for staff members as they could potentially make a mistake and cause irreparable damage.
6 Yes, Sometimes Staff Takes The Prizes
Working around so many cool prizes ranging from tiny trinkets, to full on home gaming consoles, can be tempting. This is not to say that staff will outright steal the prizes, though they will use their insider knowledge to get themselves some extra tickets, very quickly, making purchasing whatever they want, to be an easy endeavor. This practice is mostly tolerated, as long as staff doesn’t get too ambitious and start demanding PlayStations.
5 Missing The Same Old School Flair
As technology advances, so does the arcade industry. What this has meant is that the industry is experiencing a new trend of digitalization. In newer arcades, virtually everything has become digitalized, even the iconic prize tickets don’t exist in a physical form. While this has made work more efficient and easier for the staff, for the old guard they miss the nostalgia of ticket counting and sorting.
4 Much Easier Today Than 20 Years Ago
During the height of arcade popularity, working in a gaming center was truly a feat of endurance, time management, multitasking, people skills, and sometimes even luck. Today it is much easier. with most processes being automated, additionally with most gamers preferring home consoles today, the decline of guests has made work much simpler.
While the industry as a whole is set for a profit focused revival, sometimes working in a modern arcade is more akin to being in a ghost town.
3 Arcading Is Heavily Event Based
Today a good a number of days for staff at an arcade will be spent working some kind of event. Be it a children’s birthday party, corporate event, cosplay competition, or even a wedding, events have become a large factor of the industry as a whole. Most people come for nostalgia, others come to be different, either way these numbered groups can add much welcomed variety and diversity to the every day grind. In some foreign countries arcades even offer English classes.
2 Develop Various People Skills
While being an arcade attendant is an inherently unique job, it is nonetheless the same as any other customer facing role. Arcade attendants need to have varied people skills to deal with the many different guests that will be coming into their center on a daily basis. With some customers, staff will get to have fun and amusing debates about which future home console will be better, other times they are left explaining that no, they don’t get double tickets just because it’s their birthday.
1 A Resilient And Prideful Industry
With the advent of at home console gaming, the arcade industry has been in a steady decline. Guest numbers have never been lower, and arcades have never been more empty. Though that doesn’t mean that the loyal few who have held out in this industry plan on going anywhere. Working in an arcade, after some time, becomes more than just a job, it becomes a point of pride and honor. Arcading, along with the people that make these gaming centers work, is here to stay.
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