Arcade Sites - Are they worth it?

I'm thinking about starting an Arcade site any DP member care to give me some advice? This type of site due to its nature must use some serious resources, will it need a dedicated server? do these sites make money? (I see alot of arcade sites for sale now, are people giving up?) Also where would one get the games for these sites, are they all copyright free?


I would appreciate it if anyone that already runs this type of sitecould help me out.

Thanks

 

They make but it's a low paying niche (adsense speacking)

Maybe if you sell olso links + direct advertismen it can make some good $$$

 

Even since adsense had enforced the "no image beside ads" policy recently,many arcades were hit by it.

Here's something for you to research on it.

 

I suggest you to forget it. I started one site one month ago and already invested around 400$ in it. It is making 0.1$ with adsense per day. I think lot more time and work will be needed to make some positive figures, unless I get good page rank on next update and sell some text links.

 

If you get your arcade PR4 or 5 you could make a lot selling links adsense is pointless so try Bidvertiser.

 

I've worked with Arcades before and it's not that hard to get revenue. You just need to market it correctly.

 

Yeah when dealing with Arcade sites it usually interests kids and teens who do not understand the concept of working for a living. They expect you to spend 20 hours per day giving them everything for free and not making anything in return. I deal with businesses now since other webmasters understand what it takes to create a good site so there is no need to sell them on a product or service when they already understand the value.

 

Run an arcade if you have the love for it. If you just want to run it for money, don't bother too much about it. A popular arcade can be very bandwidth intensive. You do not need a dedicated server as long as you can get a lot of bandwidth. You have to also ensure that the games on your site is not a copy of some other sites.

When I had my arcade site, it did not make too much through adsense. You probably make more money selling links.

 

The biggest thing that I could say as a gamer (Not a webmaster), is that you will need to get all the free games you can from other sites, plus program a few flash games yourself. If you can get an awesome game and put it on newgrounds (or any other site) you can add a splash page-esque thing that links to your website. It could really help your traffic if you tell people that the full/bonus version is on your site.

 

Thanks guys for all your opinions

 

I created 2, and started it's development (thousands of games each). But to be honest, I got a bit tired. I have better projects to run. But if you want to do a partnership, and you are serious about it, we can talk
One of them is: http://www.profileshomepage.com and the other is http://www.og24.com (this last one still doesn't have a design)

I have lots of ideas to make them grow, but not enough time...