What happened to pinball?

[gbpxl]

Just not a big enough draw for today's youth?

There are only two pinballs I know of around me. A Simpsons one that is poorly maintained and one at an Old Chicago. I guess theres a couple I saw at a vintage store but they looked very old and decrepid

[Garry Silljo]

Around the Pittsburgh Pa area Pinball is thriving. There are several Pinball Cafes that sprung up. Of course it doesn't hurt that PAPA (Professional and Amateur Pinball Association) is based in Carnegie. We're only weeks away from ReplayFx, which is a big classic arcade and Pinball show as well as the "Pinburgh" Tournament (one of if not the biggest in Pinball). Check the PAPA website on help finding pins near you. You may be a victim of geography because here at the 3 rivers there's pinball all around.

[Zama]

I haven't seen a pinball machine in years, and I missed those wonderful novelties! I remembered the one pizza shop near my old neighborhood that had the Jurassic Park theme machine that rocked my socks off with the loud scoring music :3

[Tron 2.0]

Pinball is still a thing you have conventions such as what garry mention with papa.Beside stern still puts out tables but mostly license ones as of late.Also there is the pinball hall of fame in nv,las vegas.Still if being able to play pinball tables locally is a problem,there are video game alternatives.For modern consoles and pc there is the pinball arcade,pinball FX and the recent zaccaria pinball.Though i all ways wanted to buy my own table but they can cost a fortune these days.

[mailman187666]

I had a pinball itch to scratch a few weeks ago, so I went to a spot near my place. One of the few remaining arcades from my childhood is still open, although it is a shell of it's former self. They have a 3rd floor that's a bit more for "older kids" that has a decent lineup of pinball machines. They even get new ones in still. They had some Lord of the Rings and a Wizard of Oz ones that had on the marquee that it was only 1 of 1500 made or something. It cost my a buck to play and is probably one of the cheaper machines I've played.

[Gameguy]

I don't see pinball machines anymore, arcades are basically gone except at movie theaters and they just have redemption games now.

[jb143]

I see pinball machines occasionally. I can actually think of quite a few places around here that have them but most are also the type of places that sell them (such as used game stores) or at least have them for sale anyways, seeing how a pinball machine can easily cost thousands of dollars.

My college had a small arcade with several pinball machines that I'd play quite regularly, often for free since people would rarely realize they had won a free game. But that's been over 15 years ago now.

[PsychoCandy]

I was lucky enough to have a pinball arcade near my job until a bit ago when it closed I was pretty sad going to check this place out when I have the chance: http://thegameseum.com/

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Pinball has become just a niche. Once video games came out, pinball went by the wayside as video games became more and more complex. At the end of the day, pinball is the same thing: using two flippers at the bottom of a board and trying to hit as many things with that ball as possible before it passes between the flippers. There are different themes, but it's the same game underneath. You can't really upgrade pinball the way you can upgrade video games.

[gbpxl]

Pinball has become just a niche. Once video games came out, pinball went by the wayside as video games became more and more complex. At the end of the day, pinball is the same thing: using two flippers at the bottom of a board and trying to hit as many things with that ball as possible before it passes between the flippers. There are different themes, but it's the same game underneath. You can't really upgrade pinball the way you can upgrade video games.

I agree but I can think of many classic video games that havent changed in 30 plus years that are still around.

I always figured there was more maintenance involved with pinball and thus the return on investment not great enough, especially if one is not able to increase credits/ball on the machine.

[danny_galaga]

I live in Brisbane, Australia and it is virtually the pinball capital of the world.

[CelticJobber]

The last pinball machine near me was an "Addams Family" one at a thrift store (not for sale, but up front near the cash registers), about a decade ago. They also had a Tekken 2 arcade at the time.

[Rendclaw]

If you don't have any places near you, it hardly means that pinball is dead. It just means there are no places in your area. Cast your search further afield, if you can.

Where I live there are two arcades that has PLENTY of pinball: Pinball Pete's in Ann Arbor, and The Arcade in Brighton. Both places have at least 20 machines, though at last count, The Arcade had 40+.

There are at least three or four pinball streams on Twitch, not the least of which is Jack Danger's (www.twitch.tv/deadflip), who is a lot of fun to watch, and has done a great deal for pinball in the last 5-7 years.

[Edmond Dantes]

What happened to pinball?

The ball drained and you didn't have ball saver on.

[Steve W]

I just discovered that the Texas Pinball Museum just recently opened up in Midlothian, Texas, which is maybe a half-hour drive from me. And I check the website to find out their hours, only to find out that for some reason they've indefinitely closed. Dammit.

[gbpxl]

I went to Blainbrook in Blaine, MN today. If anyone is a pinball fanatic and theyre within 250 miles it might be worth the trip. Its the biggest collection of pinballs in the state THAT IM FAMILIAR WITH. I know there are several places in the cities with them but this one has to be the biggest. I played Jurassic Park for a few turns and mostly got my ass handed to me. I like when the T Rex eats your ball. the other one I played was a newer Elvira one and at one point I had 3 balls going at once so that was fun.

I saw an old guy at one the whole time I was there. it was something about muscle cars. a younger guy who looked like Frodo was playing a Lord of the Rings pinball. a waitress brought him his food and after he acknowledged it, he kept playing for another 30 minutes. that made me laugh to myself for some reason.

I really couldve spent all day at this place but I was mostly there because aurcade.com listed a bunch of upright cabs I wanted to play. the list mustve been outdated because I only saw PacMan Ms Pacman and Donkey Kong. the DK was a multicade though. Ms Pacman was set to turbo but Pacman was default speed.

very family friendly place. i prefer that to going to a barcade and having to show my ID, and be around drunk loud college students