2024 年 Coin-Op 的现状：一个“呼吸行业”，仍然是一个好生意

美国去年的特点是高通胀和就业增长缓慢。这些条件是否对游戏室收藏产生负面影响尚有争议，但毫无疑问，许多游乐场……无论是在 FEC、购物中心、保龄球中心还是独立式……都出现了收入下降。

Coin-Op Closing Year in America: High Inflation, Sluggish Job Growth Impact Collections, But Economic Indicators Show Improvement

美国投币业务收官之年：高通胀、就业增长缓慢影响收藏，但经济指标显示改善

The closing year in America has been marked by high inflation and sluggish job growth. Whether or not these conditions inversely affected game room collections is debatable, but there’s little doubt that a bunch of amusement arcades…whether in an FEC, mall, bowling center or free standing…saw a decline in revenues.

美国去年的特点是高通胀和就业增长缓慢。这些条件是否对游戏室收藏产生负面影响尚有争议，但毫无疑问，许多游乐场……无论是在 FEC、购物中心、保龄球中心还是独立式……都出现了收入下降。

The odd thing is that economic indicators improved during the fall, but coin-op still needs some time to play catch-up. Machine prices continued to be a concern. Operators may want to buy one, two or a dozen of the often-excellent new pieces launched in 2024, but when measured against collections, more than one has kept a tight grip on the purse strings.

奇怪的是，秋季期间经济指标有所改善，但投币业务仍需要一些时间才能迎头赶上。机器价格仍然是一个令人担忧的问题。运营商可能想购买 2024 年推出的一件、两件或十几件通常很出色的新作品，但以收藏品来衡量，不止一件能牢牢控制钱包。

Still in all, coin-op in general remains a good business to be in. As Hall of Famer (HOF) Rick Kirby might say: “We may not all be eating lobster, but we’re still enjoying a steak.”

总而言之，投币式游戏总体上仍然是一个不错的行业。正如名人堂 (HOF) 里克·柯比 (Rick Kirby) 可能会说的那样：“我们可能并不都在吃龙虾，但我们仍然喜欢吃牛排。”

Trade guru Howard McAuliffe, who like his pop George is always and forever a huge believer in this industry’s future, said the first half of the year was great, then things softened up thereafter. It’s important to remember that aftereffects of the Covid-19 pandemic were still being felt, though at this point, it’s sort of been swept into the dustbin of history.

贸易大师霍华德·麦考利夫（Howard McAuliffe）像他的流行人物乔治一样永远是这个行业未来的坚定信徒，他表示今年上半年很棒，但此后情况有所缓和。重要的是要记住，Covid-19 大流行的后遗症仍然存在，尽管此时它已经被扫进了历史的垃圾箱。

The last word on this subject might belong to Utah arcade owner Adam Pratt, who said: “Ours used to be an industry that someone could break into without much money and find success. That’s becoming less likely these days.”

关于这个问题的最后发言权可能属于犹他州街机游戏厅老板亚当·普拉特 (Adam Pratt)，他说：“我们的行业曾经是一个不需要太多钱就可以进入并获得成功的行业。现在这种情况已经越来越不可能发生了。”

What’s important for readers of this magazine to remember, however, is that (with rare exception) they’re already in this industry and in most cases, have gone through the hard knocks and suffered through those hard-won experiences that can be as important to success as a mountain of investment capital.

然而，对于本杂志的读者来说，重要的是要记住（除了极少数例外）他们已经进入了这个行业，并且在大多数情况下，已经经历了艰难的打击并经历了那些来之不易的经历，这些经历可能同样重要成功就像一座巨大的投资资本。

Coin-Op is a “breathing industry.” People, companies and machines come and go as do the players. This year, we saw the continuous growth in cashless vending with QR codes and tap-to-play readers. New factories showed up like Zooom Studios. New leadership moved into position: Bob Burnham at AMOA and Beth Standlee at AAMA. TouchTunes bought Arachnid and, like Dave & Buster’s, made an arrangement with Lucra to bring cash rewards to better players in competition on games like BullShooter darts. Keep your eyes on this during 2025!

Coin-Op 是一个“会呼吸的行业”。人、公司和机器就像玩家一样来来去去。今年，我们看到使用二维码和点击播放阅读器的无现金售货持续增长。像 Zoom Studios 这样的新工厂出现了。新领导层就职：AMOA 的 Bob Burnham 和 AAMA 的 Beth Standlee。 TouchTunes 收购了 Arachnid，并且像 Dave & Buster 一样，与 Lucra 达成协议，为 BullShooter darts 等游戏的比赛中表现出色的玩家提供现金奖励。 2025 年请密切关注！

As always, we lost some friends like Don Hesch, Bill Westerhaus, Stan Jarocki, Don MacBrayne and Bob Boals. And lastly, we found a way to honor some of the greats via induction into the HOF like operators Millie McCarthy and Dick Hawkins, and game designers like Al Alcorn and Eddie Pellegrini.

一如既往，我们失去了一些朋友，比如唐·赫什 (Don Hesch)、比尔·韦斯特豪斯 (Bill Westerhaus)、斯坦·贾罗基 (Stan Jarocki)、唐·麦克布雷恩 (Don MacBrayne) 和鲍勃·博尔斯 (Bob Boals)。最后，我们找到了一种方法，通过入职 HOF 来纪念一些伟人，例如操作员 Millie McCarthy 和 Dick Hawkins，以及游戏设计师 Al Alcorn 和 Eddie Pellegrini。

Finally, may I send out Happy 2025 wishes to the RePlay subscribers who keep our engine chugging along year after year. You’re the greatest!

最后，我向 RePlay 订阅者致以 2025 年快乐的祝福，他们让我们的引擎年复一年地运转。你是最伟大的！