Arcade revenue

	B	D	E	F	G	I	J	K	M	N	O	Q	R	S
1		PlayMeter Issues
2	WHAT IS IT	Issues done				Years done		Missing		Missing issues		No chart issues
3	This is the tabulated listing of various "top" of professionnal arcade magazines, listing the top earners in each issue.	1979	1979-06-01	05-11	15	1979	7	0	1982	1982-04-01	08-07	1980	1980-02-15	06-03
4	The "PlayMeter" and "GameMachine" sheets are raw data ; the rest are various stats and data crunch I compiled	1979	1979-07-01	05-13	10	1980	12	0	1985	1985-08-15	11-15	1981	1981-04-01	07-07
5	You should use in priority "PMdata" and "GMdata" which are the clean but raw data, then do your own stats.	1979	1979-08-01	05-15	10	1981	19	0	1986	1986-05-01	12-07	1982	1982-03-01	08-05
6	I you trust my stats (you shouldn't) you can check the "PMstats" and "GMstats" sheets	1979	1979-09-01	05-17	10	1982	23	1	1986	1986-05-15	12-08	1985	1985-04-01	11-06
7		1979	1979-10-01	05-19	10	1983	24	0	1986	1986-06-01	12-09	1985	1985-05-01	11-08
8	Use it in whatever way you see fit, you don't have to credit me, but I'd be glad to know you found it useful in any way	1979	1979-11-01	05-21	10	1984	24	0	1986	1986-07-01	12-11	1985	1985-05-15	11-09
9		1979	1979-12-01	05-23	10	1985	23	1	1986	1986-08-01	12-13	1986	1986-12-01	12-21
10	TODO / data	1980	1980-01-01	06-01	10	1986	12	10	1986	1986-09-01	12-15	1987	1987-01-01	13-01
11	PlayMeter: 252 issues done; 28 issues without data; 23 missing issues up to 1998 (new scans arriving sporadically)	1980	1980-03-01	06-05	10	1988	11	0	1986	1986-09-15	12-16	1987	1987-03-01	13-03
12	GameMachine: got up to 660 (2002-06-15) ; entered up to 580 (1999-02-01) ; 368 issues done ; 80 issues left	1980	1980-04-01	06-07	10	1989	13	1	1986	1986-10-01	12-17	1987	1987-05-01	13-05
13		1980	1980-05-01	06-09	10	1990	8	3	1986	1986-11-01	12-19	1987	1987-06-01	13-06
14		1980	1980-06-01	06-11	10	1991	13	0	1986	1986-12-15	12-22	1987	1987-07-01	13-07
15	TODO / stats	1980	1980-07-01	06-13	10	1992	10	3	1989	1989-06-01	15-06	1987	1987-11-01	13-11
16	- By game :	1980	1980-08-01	06-15	10	1993	13	0	1990	1990-01-01	16-01	1987	1987-12-01	13-12
17	- longest lifespan - absolute // by genre // by top manufacturers	1980	1980-09-01	06-17	10	1994	13	0	1990	1990-02-01	16-03	1988	1988-01-01	14-01
18	- longest/most appearances in top 1/5/10	1980	1980-10-01	06-19	10	1995	12	1	1990	1990-04-01	16-05	1988	1988-12-01	14-11
19	- longest uninterrupted appearance; largest gaps between appearances	1980	1980-11-01	06-21	10	1996	13	0	1992	1992-01-01	18-02	1989	1989-01-01	14-12
20	- average appearance in charts (time/number)	1980	1980-12-01	06-23	10	1997	12	1	1992	1992-03-01	18-04	1989	1989-01-15	15-01
21	- distribution of time in chart (scattered plot)	1981	1981-01-15	07-01	10	1998	10	2	1992	1992-11-01	18-12	1989	1989-02-01	15-02
22	- list of games having achieved top 1/5/10 at least once	1981	1981-02-01	07-03	10				1995	1995-03-01	21-04	1989	1989-03-01	15-03
23		1981	1981-03-01	07-05	10				1997	1997-03-01	23-03	1989	1989-04-01	15-04
24	- By genre :	1981	1981-05-01	07-09	10				1998	1998-02-01	24-02	1989	1989-02-01	16-02
25	- longest/most appearances in top 1/5/10	1981	1981-06-01	07-10	10				1998	1998-12-01	24-13	1991	1991-02-01	17-02
26	- average appearance in charts (time/number)	1981	1981-06-15	07-11	10							1993	1993-02-01	19-02
27	- distribution of times in chart (scattered plot)	1981	1981-07-01	07-12	10							1994	1994-02-01	20-02
28		1981	1981-07-15	07-13	10							1995	1995-02-01	21-02
29	- By manufacturer :	1981	1981-08-01	07-14	10							1996	1996-02-01	22-02
30	- biggest/most prolific manufacturer per year (most top 5/most appearances)	1981	1981-08-15	07-15	13							1997	1997-02-01	23-03
31	- most popular manufacturer per genre (number of appearances in a genre)	1981	1981-09-01	07-16	13
32	- longest/most appearances in top 1/5/10	1981	1981-09-15	07-17	10
33	- longest uninterrupted appearance; largest gaps between appearances	1981	1981-10-01	07-18	15
34	- average appearance in charts (time/number)	1981	1981-10-15	07-19	16
35	- distribution of times in chart (scattered plot)	1981	1981-11-01	07-20	20
36		1981	1981-11-15	07-21	14
37	- By date :	1981	1981-12-01	07-22	16
38	- genre breakdown per year-month	1981	1981-12-15	07-23	13
39	- most present manufacturer per year-month	1982	1982-01-01	08-01	14
40	- biggest hits per year	1982	1982-01-15	08-02	17
41	- number of new games per month // per year and manufacturer	1982	1982-02-01	08-03	18
42	- best rank	1982	1982-02-15	08-04	15
43		1982	1982-03-15	08-06	15
44	GAMES	1982	1982-04-15	08-08	20
45	Sometimes variants are distinct, sometimes not (ex: SF2/CE are separate in PlayMeter, Hyper Fighting is not).	1982	1982-05-01	08-09	21
46	Sometimes cabinet types are distinct (ex: Hang-On sit-in / upright)	1982	1982-05-15	08-10	21
47	Sometimes a game is listed under multiple manufacturers (Crazy Climber Nichibutsu, Crazy Climber Taito in PlayMeter 07-16)	1982	1982-06-01	08-11	20
48	Very rarely two different games are released with the same name by the same manufacturer: Ninja Gaiden arcade/Playchoice. My guess as to which one is listed is as good as yours.	1982	1982-06-15	08-12	16
49	Games are listed from the point of view of the operator: the best are the more lucrative ones, they don't care about the gameplay or whatever.	1982	1982-07-01	08-13	15
50	This means the top games are not necessarily the most played: it also depends on credit price, difficulty, number of players...	1982	1982-07-15	08-14	12
51	Additionnaly, this chart says nothing about games sales: some pretty rare games are high in the charts	1982	1982-08-01	08-15	14
52	In 1998 some issues list the respondent rates: some high ranking games are owned by less than 10% respondant	1982	1982-08-15	08-16	16
53	This should go without saying, but obviously much more games were being played than what's listed; these are only the top earners.	1982	1982-09-01	08-17	17
54	Older games that still earn money are not listed; see the charts of PlayMeter 1988 where they list a few old games that still make money (sometimes more than newer games)	1982	1982-09-15	08-18	13
55	I try to stick to the written name, but when it changes between issues I keep only one	1982	1982-10-01	08-19	15
56	Sometimes I change the name to help data entry/autocomplete (ex: SSF2T) : avoid using "ctrl+f" to find a game by its title ; prefer using the MAME rom name, or use the "data" tab	1982	1982-10-15	08-20	20
57	Obvious name mistakes are fixed.	1982	1982-11-01	08-21	17
58		1982	1982-11-15	08-22	15
59	MANUFACTURERS	1982	1982-12-01	08-23	15
60	Manufacturers : as listed in the magazine, can change depending on month.	1982	1982-12-15	08-24	18
61	Sometimes a manufacturer changing name is listed under the same name, ex: Bally Sente is listed as Bally Midway. It's just to help me with autocomplete.	1983	1983-01-15	09-01	19
62	When multiple manufacturers (ex: Romstar/Taito) one of them is picked depending on various criterias.	1983	1983-02-01	09-02	25
63	Obvious name mistakes are fixed	1983	1983-02-15	09-03	21
64		1983	1983-03-01	09-04	24
65	ACCURACY	1983	1983-03-15	09-05	14
66	All rely on voluntary polling from operators ; polling numbers are pretty low (90 in first PlayMeter poll, 20-30 in GameMachine), so it's not accurate at all	1983	1983-04-01	09-06	16
67	You can have legitimate concern about the accuracy of what's reported ; for instance, bootlegs, while widely installed, are not listed.	1983	1983-04-15	09-07	14
68	Charts only represent a country: obviously the US and JP charts are different, but in Europe they were probably different for each country too	1983	1983-05-01	09-08	17
69	A detailed letter about polling sample and results problems can be found page 10 of PlayMeter issue 09-01 (1983-01-15)	1983	1983-05-15	09-09	16
70	Polled are probably mainly larger operators and skew the results. Ex: Race Drivin' Panorama is consistently in the top despite only 50 units being produced in the US.	1983	1983-06-01	09-10	22
71	What's accurate to the original listings : games, ranks and ratings (some issues have errors that have been reproduced here)	1983	1983-06-15	09-11	16
72	What's not accurate : exact game names (I can only type "super street fighter 2 turbo" so many times before shortening it to ssf2t), manufacturers	1983	1983-07-01	09-12	17
73		1983	1983-07-15	09-13	21
74	MISC	1983	1983-08-01	09-14	20
75	Page: magazine's page number, may be different than PDF page number	1983	1983-08-15	09-15	21
76	Magazines change formatting and data once in a while so I keep a separate sheet for each formatting	1983	1983-09-01	09-16	16
77	Some issues/scans are missing so the data has gaps.	1983	1983-09-15	09-17	25
78	Sample size is almost never reported. PlayMeter 08-16 has a tiny bit more data. Play-Meter 11-13 says the first poll had a sample size of 95.	1983	1983-10-01	09-18	17
79	Note that ratings are usually printed a month or two after the survey responses are received: PlayMeter of october 1st 1981 has data from august 18	1983	1983-10-15	09-19	26
80	Ratings are relative to each other and don't show the overall trend. A game rated 9 can earn simple to double depending on the year.	1983	1983-11-01	09-20	17
81		1983	1983-11-15	09-21	18
82	Additional data	1983	1983-12-01	09-22	18
83	Mame is here to normalize games ; unless both a parent and a clone are present on the charts, the parent rom is always used (ex: Zoom 909 is Japanese Buck Rogers)	1983	1983-12-15	09-23	15
84	Some games are not in MAME : their MAME name will start with "notfound-"	1983	1983-12-31	09-24	10
85	Normalized ranking allows to merge different categories in issues separating arcade and street : I took the high number and ignored the other.	1984	1984-01-15	10-02	12
86	Games marked as "duplicate" appear multiple times in the issue ; only the top ranked is kept	1984	1984-02-01	10-03	16
87	Don't take the exact ratings too seriously - the games can change position with a 0.01 point of difference. The only thing you can deduce is whether a game has been popular, and for how long.	1984	1984-02-15	10-04	14
88		1984	1984-03-01	10-04	14
89	Play-Meter (general)	1984	1984-03-15	10-05	15
90	Play-Meter equipment polls start at issue 05-11 (june 1979)	1984	1984-04-01	10-06	18
91	Games not marketed anymore are not reported. Sometimes older games still appear when they do particularly well, but this skews the results towards newer games; older ones can still make some money after a few years	1984	1984-04-15	10-07	17
92	Games without enough data are also not reported ; this removes the latest money-maker that are not widely available yet.	1984	1984-05-01	10-08	15
93	Only games reported by a minimum amount of locations are reported; this skews towards bigger, more widely available games.	1984	1984-05-15	10-09	14
94	Issues were monthly up to 1981-06, then bi-monthly.	1984	1984-06-01	10-10	18
95		1984	1984-06-15	10-11	16
96	Play-Meter 05-11 (1979-06) to 07-14 (1981-08-01) :	1984	1984-07-01	10-12	16
97	Style: basic top 10, no info	1984	1984-07-15	10-13	21
98	No information is given as to how the games are ranked	1984	1984-08-01	10-14	36
99	Issues are bi-monthly starting in june	1984	1984-08-15	10-15	34
100		1984	1984-09-01	10-16	36