LaserTag Arena...

[zachprzy]

I used to live in a metro area with this kind of business. It was really fun as i recall, but anyway after thinking of many things that i am interested in is LaserTag (indoors), now... I am currently running a business. A party rental business. This would be quite different i would imagine.

But anyway I was hoping someone can point out some figures and market trends for a business like this. I have already spent countless hours on researching the topic but i am still short the hardcore statistics, so if anyone can help me out that would be great.

Regards,
Zach

[DrMoney]

I think the laser tag business could be very lucrative, and easy to set up.
Finding the units may pose a challenge.
But in a big city, if its affordable to 90% of the pop, then you will make very good money, especially if your location is good and if you market correctly.

[akula]

no, laser tag (and gaming arcades) have been on the decline for years

ibis has data as well as other places

paint ball, however is blowing through the roof

[Nigami Enterprise]

no, laser tag (and gaming arcades) have been on the decline for years

ibis has data as well as other places

paint ball, however is blowing through the roof

Laser targets the under 18 market where paintball can't. I think a good idea would be trying to turn it more into a sport then a past time activity. Offer schools insentives to use the laser place rather then other sports. Set up competitions ect.

Just make sure you do something different with it. Mayb link it to a web site where people score and stats is shown so they want to come back in and increase there stats

[akula]

I'd turn down a laser tag opportunity. The kids would much rather have friends over playing wii than spending 30 bucks to play laser tag for 20 minutes.

other forms of entertainment have made laser tag obsolete

[Newton]

Akula, laser-tag isn't an amusement arcade, they're different things all together.

I'd believe that they're on the decline if I saw evidence but I wouldn't pool them with amusement arcades - they're shutting down all over the place, the laser games venues aren't. For example, all the Time Zones in Melbourne have now shut down, but none of the laser games places such as SideTracked or M3. Anecdotal I know but you'll live.

Laser Games are surviving for the same reason as Mini Golf : Religious youth groups.... If you have a lot of churches/temples in the city with young people (ie. the charismatic/evangelist/'fundamentalist' type churches) you have a chance. Those groups form the core business of these kinds of places. I once went to a mini-golf place where it was me, my mate, and three of these groups. My friend and I were the only non youth-group people there - and this on a Saturday night.

My local one also has a huge ranking system which draws a lot of people back as they're trying to pump their ranking up.

[akula]

well....sure

let's do a poll

I wanna know how many under 18's on this site have done either one of the following 4 activities in the last 12 months

a) played a gaming console/pc
b) played an online game
c) played at a gaming arcade
d) played laser tag

I'm not sure we'll be able to find even 1 person who's played laser tag in the last 12 months

Other activities are simply more popular because they're cheaper, more entertaining (more choice) and more convenient.

[colinmcmahon]

Laser tag in my city is 7$ for 20 minutes, Tuesdays are 4$ for 20 minutes. Around here I think they've got the market, can't really compete with those prices...

[Nigami Enterprise]

I played once last year and it costed like $10 for 2 hours. We actually headed there after a club at 3am in the morning and it was a really good way to rap the night up. For those prices u can have 20 hours of entertainment for the cost of just 1 console game. There biggest market is 17 year olds who have a licence but cant get into clubs and need something to do.

[Newton]

I've played in the past 12 months.

Anyway Akula that's getting even more anecdotal than me....

[cube3]

laser tag has already died long ago in asia....

[akula]

well....it has to be anecdotal

what does it matter to zachprzy what Gartner's nationwide, longitudinal survey has to say abot laser tagging?

the only thing that matters is whether he can get enough kids from his neighbourhood through the door in the first 6-8 weeks

for zachprzy, this whole discussion depends on getting kids from the mall to sign up to his prelaunch mailing list

what's happening in Asia, or Australia is a very distant second consideration

[DJ Samson]

I'm 15. We had a laser tag arena in our mall when I was younger and it was very fun. They made it very dark and war-like. Pretty much every kid's birthday was held there.

I have a paintball gun but it's too expensive to play. For some games its upwards of $80 to play. This doesn't include paint balls, Co2, and all the other good stuff.

Even at our age, if me and my friends had $4 each and 20 minutes to spare before a movie we would definitely check it out.

I agree that it definitely is harder to compete with at home games like wii. My advice would be to survey the young kids and the teens in your area.

[Newton]

Interestingly enough, regarding Asia, Time Zone is exploding its business all throughout... They were dying in Australia so they moved overseas and are kicking ass.

Anyway, this forum will be more interesting if someone puts alternatives to your views - Akula you're a good poster but you need a counter-weight.

Zachprzy seems to have disappeared.. like my earlier post suggested to do with religious youth groups, Australia is a very secular country yet most of these amusement places depend on religious groups to survive. USA (assuming that's where he's from) should be more fertile for this sort of thing. He should do some research on groups in his area, talk to them about their group activities, etc. that would be AG, Episcopalian, Methodist/Presbyterian, Southern Baptist, I'm sure there's more in his area.

However a problem with setting up a Laser Tag arena is the design of the complex - you need a pro. It's not just a ramp here, a hole here, it's pretty scientific in that you can't have any areas where it's almost impossible to get shot in.

Another problem is public liability insurance which would be.. lots.