Arcade Collecting > Pinball

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Jeff AMN:
If you ask me, Pirates serves better as a coat rack than a pinball machine...

Anyway, pinball is dead. I was at an arcade yesterday that has a full row of pins (we have two fantastic arcades with about 15 pins each), and I was the only guy playing pinball for the 2 hours I was there. The redemption games and the video games were alive with activity, and this is how it normally is. It's not a pricing issue either, because this is a nickel arcade. And before anybody wants to say it's because they were bad games, here's what they have at the first location:

- Twilight Zone
- Indiana Jones
- Scared Stiff
- Cactus Jacks
- Goldeneye
- Who Dunnit?
- Cyclone
- Black Knight
- The Addams Family
- A few more I can't remember right now

So yeah...NO STERNS, and yet nobody was playing. They're in 100% working condition, clean, and nobody cares. The second place sometimes sees a tiny bit more attention on the pin row, and they have (as I can remember now):

- The Addams Family
- Revenge From Mars
- Roadshow
- Space Invaders
- Black Rose
- Monopoly
- The Getaway
- High Speed
- Simpsons Pinball Party
- Terminator 2
- Hook
- Roller Coaster Tycoon
- South Park
- Maverick
- Jackbot
- A couple more

At peak hours on a Saturday afternoon you're lucky to see 2-3 people checking out the pins, but try getting on some JAMMA crap and you'll need to wait for your turn.



I took that on a Saturday when the arcade was packed. The guy that owns both of these arcades is a pinball machine collector. He doesn't put them out there to make money (they don't make much), but to keep a place to play available for the local area. Aside from a few hardcore pinheads like myself, the general population simply doesn't care nor do they appreciate clean machines that work 100% and can be played for 10 cents.

Flake:
Well there you go, good line up of pins, well maintained, busy arcade, no one playing.  If you ask me that pretty much wraps it up........until Xiaou2 takes his lunch break......

 

LLUncoolJ:
I got semi-wood looking at that arcade picture. Other than D&B's which is across the city and expensive, there are no arcades around here...especially with pinballs. The places that do have coin-ops are kiddy casinos (Chucky Cheese and the ilk). CP's is an oasis, but it's only open 4 days a month, so you'd better have a plan.

JeepMonkey:
I agree, pinball is all but dead.  There are so few machines on route here that you rarely see them.

I bet I play 90% of my public pinball games at auctions.  It really is about my only chance to go somewhere that has multiple machines.

A little OT - My friend brought his two kids (four and six) over to my house a couple Saturdays ago.  They had never seen or heard of pinball before, but they had a blast playing on my pins.

RayB:
They should redesign the general body so it looks "current". The body style of a pin hasn't changed since wedge-heads went out of style. The orange DMDs don't help either. They look 1980's, just like how red or blue digital score displays look "70's", and mechanical reels look "50's" / "60's". I'm convinced young people see these things as "dad's Buick".

Asides from a fresh look to appeal to younger crowds, they could easily add redemption features. Has that been tried? The Super Mario pin spits out tickets (doesnt it?), but its small and made for kids. I'm talking about appealing to teens and 20-somethings; normal sized pinball playfield and no compromise to the gameplay, but have features that award tickets. Hell they could make it a button where you get a free game or convert the free game to tickets, thereby pleasing both types of players.

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