Yo,
Someone on Twitter directed me this thread to ask for my input.
Long story short, yes, we sold MBAA:CC to FFA in Cali because nobody here was playing it. We were the only arcade in the USA to import it and we lost over $1,000 on the purchase [i.e. (price we paid) - (the amount it was played + the amount we sold it for) was over $1,000].
Some people seem to be saying if we had more events, it would've been different/gotten more support/whatever.
First of all, events do not cause a game at the arcade to profit. They are simply there to support the community, since a popular game will always make more via pay per play. Games make money on the arcade by getting played on a regular basis, which MBAA:CC definitely did not get that. MBAA:CC and MBAA were the two least profitable fighting games we ever imported, which is unfortunate, since I made the purchase mainly as a fan of the series.
So, even if we advertised a big Melty tournament every month and got 10 people playing it all day, it still wouldn't have been enough to make the game worth keeping in the arcade based on how many locals/regulars played. Furthermore, when only 2 or 3 people per week max are showing up to play the game, what's the point in holding a tournament for it?
I played the game with everybody that came in and asked me to play, but I was at a much higher level than any of the people that came in, and nobody ever reached that level even though I never really studied the game.
Finally, the Austin/Texas thread hadn't had posts in over 2 or 3 months every time I looked at it. The Texas thread was all people from other cities posting. Melty players all knew we had the game, and I did post in the appropriate forums. I simply reached the conclusion that Austin did not have a scene for the game, and that I couldn't carry the weight of it on my own shoulders (nor bear the financial burden) and decided I had to sell. Judging from what I see here, I don't really think that's changed much.
We do still have the old version of MBAA v2 on Naomi, which is now outdated even by the current PS2 version IIRC. If you guys pick a day to come and let me know, I can always throw it in.
Still hope I can find some way to support the game in the future, but it's way more likely that we'll be able to get a stronger scene for P4U or Under Night In-birth.
