[deepbluevibes]

As for money to buy the machines, i'm pretty much set on that, so don't take that into consideration.

A few other things to remember for all questions;

-I live in Modesto, California (basically literally in the center of california, i'm about an hour from SVGL and MGL, hour and a half from San Francisco, and about 5-6 hours from Arcade Infinity

-We already have three arcades here, but they are "family" arcades and as such only have one or two music games in horrid condition, and the rest of the games are very shitty/old games (redemption games, etc.) and most of thier revenue is made off of stuff like go karts, food, etc.

so on with this stuff;

1) Arcades such as Arcade Infinity, TGA, SVGL etc. seem to be able to get games such as Drummania V2 that are supposedly "locked out" from USA.

Is this because said arcades have connections with konami, or with independent dealers, and on either occasion, how possible would it be for me, as a new arcade owner to get such machines?

2) Do you think there is a market for a "norcal TGA/AI"? (Basically having all music games by konami, a few that aren't (crackin dj'2, samba de amigo, ez2dancer, etc.), and the rest would be the latest fighting games/racing games/shoot em ups/"interactive games" etc.)

Basically, a japanese arcade.

3) Would you come to this arcade at least once, if all machines were kept in good condition, and prices were average/low (1 dollar for four songs on most games, etc.)? Would you come frequently?

My father's an electrician w/35+ years of experience, and I know basic electronics knowledge also, as well how to read game menus in japanese, so this would be a "gamer's arcade"; something's wrong with the machines, we wouldn't just slap a sticker on it saying "out of order", we'd break out the tool kit and fix it right there.

4) If i held tournaments here (like serious ones) for various games like CvS2, DDR/ITG, MvC2, and even games that don't normally have tournaments like IIDX etc., would you be even more interested in going to the arcade?

5) Where would you suggest buying arcade games in general? And where would you suggest I look to buy some of the more rarer games (Crackin Dj 2, Drummania V2/3, Beatmania IIDX series, that fist of the north star boxing game lol)

6) Finally, what about having a console set up somewhere every now and then for game tournaments? Or a room where people could bring thier own game consoles (all liability is not on us, they'd have to sign a form) and could do LAN in the back room for like 3-5 bucks an hour?

Thanks for your answers, I'm sick of all of these arcades in California (besides the golflands and AI, although the golflands are getting kinda ehh) that aren't run by gamers, and don't take into consideration their needs.

On ITG/DDR, sensor is broke, we'd replace it.
On DM, drum is broke, we'd replace it within the week or two if we didn't already have spare parts.

etc.

Plus you'd get games that you'd be unable to play almost anywhere else (esp.ra.de, crackin' dj 2, pop'n stage maybe, etc.)

If you have any questions, just ask, i'll explain what games i'm specifically looking to get for sure, etc.