“Most people become an online arcade webmaster to do one thing, make money. This can definitely be achieved, but it also takes hard work and an edge.” (Agares Media)
Why would you actually want to motivate yourself to work in this life when you can set up a network of automated websites that will do the work for you? If you’re looking for an incredible 10 second guide on how to achieve automated monetization, this website has you covered, and best of all it’s free!
Still with me? Perhaps the real ‘axis of evil’ in this world is laziness and greed, and when it comes to gold bricking layabouts, the Internet is one of the most fertile breeding grounds. Spam sites are the drudergy of the Web and they spawn like wildfire. The blog world refers to them as spam blogs or ‘splogs‘, the html worlds refers to it as ‘scraping‘, but the arcade world has yet to come up with a term to describe this phenomenon. So allow me to propose an easy neologism: ‘sparcades’ or spam arcades = buy a cheap arcade script, install your 3000 game pack, multiply by 10 and leave to ferment/rot.
While the general aim of all scaping is to make quick cash with minimum effort, the means to achieve it differs greatly from medium to medium. Compared with all other media, the ‘sparcade’ still has one possible redeeming feature: you can play free online flash games. But obviously that’s just not enough.
So what’s the problem with sparcades? In economic terms, the practice is completely redundant, because the more sparcades flood the market, the less money there is to make for serious newcomers. This creates a viscous circle where people looking to build reputable game sites are detered by a swamped market. In the end, the only people making money in the arcade insdustry, a part from the established (untouchable) ‘A-list’ sites, are the script authors who pump out mediocre game scripts at $20-$30 a shot.
So what’s the answer? There are two parts to this answer but both involve ‘hard work and an edge’. On the one hand script developers need to stop catering to the sparcade market, have some moral backbone and start building quality scripts even if it means raising prices and alienating the gold brickers.
On the other hand, for potential webmasters, if you’re serious about making money in the arcade world, you have to put money aside and focus on visitors and content. Build an arcade that is original, don’t just slap up a script and readymade theme, customise your arcade, embed your personality in it; don’t stand for mediocrity, if you want to aim for the top you’ve got to start acting like you’re there already.
We need more people who are willing to bring something new to the market, who aren’t afraid of experimenting with the arcade model. My suggestion to everyone is to take a big step back from it all and ask yourselves what is it that you can bring to this market that nobody else can? Higher standards and better practice will be beneficial to all.
Edit: I just received news of an article outlining a case in point in terms of ‘Sparcades’. Read this article for a clear example of arcade exploitation.
The Sly5 Flash Arcade Blog 