Business idea for retropie

spicerPI

I have an idea long long way off of starting a coffee shop using only raspberry pi's for as much as possible....ordering system, sound system,etc....

And I wanted to get a take on if I built some coffee tables with arcade machines that would be free of charge to play whether this would be acceptable, I dont develop or contribute other than appreciate the great work done here and an user with 2 arcade machines for home use.

If its not acceptable then idea stops here....its a pipe dream at the moment.

Thanks

helloThere

I'm also putting up some arcade systems for my school.

I would put it in child-friendly mode just to make sure that the settings don't break all too often.

I don't see anything wrong with it, as long as it's free of charge. That way, more people can get in touch with older games and some might become interested in retropie and raspberry pi. That'll always be a win

spicerPI

@helloThere thanks for the reply yes I am not looking at making money from this idea more adding fun for the family and a chill out place to go, the idea is to run everything on the pi to highlight how great they are for such little cost.

mitu

@spicerPI RetroPie is open source, however some of emulators included have non-commercial licenses - therefore prohibiting their usage in a commercial setup/venue (even if you don't charge for the arcade machine usage). The RetroPie image itself has a non-commercial license because it includes those emulators.

dankcushions

it depends on your local jurisdiction, but as far as i'm aware you need a special license from the games publisher to use videogames in a public space. even if you had a real console you can't just set that up in a bar or whatever and let people play. it's the same reason you can't just play CDs you own - you have to get a PRS license or whatever.

and yeah, beyond that you have the emulation software licenses and the illegal games issue.

spicerPI

Thanks looks like its a non starter idea then....will just keep the enjoyment for personal use.

Thanks for the feedback

thelostsoul

@spicerPI I cannot say if that is possible from RetroPie's side, but to have a commercial shop using games as entertainment feature would need the permission for each game. Edit: I see your question is already answered. So that's it I guess.

GreenHawk84

Ah man, thanks for clarifying. I suggested some of the local arcade bars get at least one Retropie machine but alas, this cannot be possible. I am glad I never offered to build machines for commercial spaces haha.

GreenHawk84

@dankcushions there is an arcade bar here in Ohio that has N64 and Super Nintendo available with the actual games to play for patrons.

dankcushions

@GreenHawk84 said in Business idea for retropie:

@dankcushions there is an arcade bar here in Ohio that has N64 and Super Nintendo available with the actual games to play for patrons.

yup, and i've seen highstreet shops here selling pre-loaded retropie boxes - sadly the legality of these things is rarely a concern.