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Nestled in a nondescript industrial area in the shadow of MetLife Stadium and the American Dream in the Meadowlands is the US headquarters of Betson Enterprises – a nationwide retailer and service provider of arcade games.
Insiders say the market is booming for arcade games, which almost went out of fashion in the 1990s with the advent of home video games.
“Arcades are experiencing a huge renaissance right now,” said Jonathan Betti, senior vice president of sales at Betson in Carlstadt, in a recent interview. Jonathan is one of a handful of members of the Betti family who run the business.
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From Dave & Busters and grab-and-go games to bowling alleys, boardwalk arcades on the Jersey Shore, movie theaters and arcade bars — pubs with arcade games — Betti says Betson, a division of H. Betti Industries, is seeing tremendous demand.
And Betson provides everything needed for arcade gaming, from sales to financing, game room design, arcade parts and maintenance for more than 6,000 customers around the world.
The product range extends from air hockey to motorcycle and car racing, shooting games, claw machines, skeeball, dance machines, boxing games, basketball and football. And Betson sources its arcade games from 30 different global manufacturers, according to its website.
A company that took almost a century to build
Betson began in 1934 as H. Betti Industries Inc. and was founded by Humbert Betti Sr., a restaurant and tavern owner who began operating jukeboxes in his own Greenwich Village restaurant and other establishments, its website says.
Eventually, Humbert Betti shifted his focus entirely from the restaurant business to jukeboxes and other entertainment devices throughout New York City and New Jersey, with over 7,000 units on the streets.
Humbert retired in the 1950s, returned to Italy where he grew up, and left the business to his son Bert.
Under the new ownership, Betti began supplying spare parts for pool tables.
“In the late 1950s, the family began distributing equipment, initially distributing the Fischer line of pool tables and later games from Midway, Chicago Coin and others,” the website states.
The arcade business was renamed Betson and over the next 60 years distributed all kinds of entertainment games and other devices across the country.
“Our business may have shrunk, but when you’re in business for 90 years, you develop the muscles to handle these things,” Betti said in the recent interview.
Arcade games can cost between $11,000 and $50,000
Betti said classic arcade games – like Pac-Man, Galaga and Donkey Kong – have their own secondary market. Individuals buy and sell them for home use and as collectors. Pinball machines, for example, are a sought-after collector’s item.
The average arcade game costs around $11,000, but newer and higher-end pieces, such as virtual reality games, can cost up to $50,000.
“We have to do everything we can to keep these playrooms fresh,” said Betti. “People like going to the movies because they see something different every time. Our most successful customers are those who regularly refresh the playrooms.”
Other parts of the company sell “home game room equipment” like pool tables and darts, “things you would find in a man cave,” Betti said.
What makes a successful arcade?
Many gaming halls have their own technicians who check the machines during and after busier times, such as weekends. Other establishments lease the machines and outsource technical services.
Betti said Betson offers services such as real-time screen sharing technology so customers can call a hotline and share their screen “and then we can explain on-site how to fix the problem or get the parts needed to do it.”
There is also something called the Betson Technical University, Betti said, which offers a one-day training course on maintaining arcade games: soldering, multimeters, crimping cables and troubleshooting.
“A successful arcade is subject to wear and tear and games are bound to break, so someone has to be on site to fix it,” Betti said.
Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.
E-mail: [email protected]; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook
