RACINE — As manager of Aladdin's Castle video arcade, Paul Hantschel was often a little frustrated.

He couldn't control the selection of games the Regency Mall store stocked. Hantschel couldn't even protect their best ones if Namco, the company that owns Aladdin's, wanted one. Earlier this year, for example, Namco pulled the highly popular Dance Dance Revolution game out and moved it to a different store.

May 9 the situation hit a brick wall when Namco closed Aladdin's Castle. The arcade had had a 24-year run as one of the mall's charter stores before Namco pulled the plug at Regency and another store in Sheboygan.

But six days after Aladdin's closed, Hantschel was back in business — for himself. He's transformed his situation from manager of a video arcade to owner of the new Paul's Video Arcade at the former Aladdin location.

Hantschel, 26, is starting modestly. He bought from Namco about 16 of the games he wanted and let them haul the rest away. He has about 10 more games on order now. And when a loan comes through, he will build his inventory to about 40 to 45 hand-picked games.

It's been a relief to Hantschel to control what the arcade can offer young, quarter-plugging game-lovers.

Under Namco, "They dictated the inventory. We'd get some of the good games and get some crappy games that barely perform over the week."

Hantschel feels confident that he's in touch with what games will pull their weight. "I've been playing video games all my life."

He's bringing in not just the latest and hottest games but also what he considers "classic" games such as Centipede, Miss Pac Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga.

He'll also add two games that customers had futilely requested for years: air hockey and foosball.

In addition, Hantschel located and bought a used Dance Dance Revolution game. "People are really enthusiastic about it," he said. "That machine's been occupied pretty much constantly since I reopened on Sunday."

The average cost of a video game is about $3,000, Hantschel said. "But I've found some for as low as $300 on eBay."

Despite the up-front investment, Hantschel thinks he'll do better financially than before, when the company took its cut of the proceeds.

Part of his strategy was to drop the ticket games and prizes. That saves him money three ways: He can use one attendant instead of two on a Saturday, because there's no one turning in tickets and claiming prizes; he doesn't need a ticket counter; and he's not buying prizes.

The reaction to the loss of games such as Skee Ball "hasn't been too bad," he said.

The irony of Hantschel's situation is that he's a young man investing in a business with a young customer base — but one that's been fading because of another technology, computer games.

"Video arcades are becoming a thing of the past in most areas," he acknowledged. "But I think there's still a market for them."