Slashdot Mirror

I haven't seen one of those old arcades in ages. You could walk into any mall in the 80's and hear the centipede game from halfway across the mall. The one I spent a lot of time in had a very distinctive smell of electronics and carpet cleaner. I could play Spy Hunter as long as I wanted to on one quarter, and my sister could do the same thing with Galaga. I remember being horrified the first time I wandered into a mall in Florida and realized they didn't have an arcade. That situation became more and more common as time went on. I think the demise of the American mall is in some way linked with the demise of the American video game arcade.

The loss of the mall was one factor among many. In order to have an experience better than what you could get at home, you need custom hardware. Moore's Law has kept the cost of bleeding-edge hardware approximately flat in constant dollars, but all the other costs - electricity, rent, lighting, air conditioning - are also subject to inflation over a 10-20 year timeframe. Nobody wants to deal with two slots for quarters/nickels, tokens are a PITA for an operator, and in the end, that means there are two prices for games in the US: $0.25 and $0.50. Nobody could be first to double the price of a game and stay in business, despite the fact that if you're charging $0.25 per play in 2014, it's the equivalent of charging $0.10/play in 1984.

One of the more surprising developments has been seeing them come back, although as playable museums this time, and maybe one or two per state. (Funspot in NH, Ground Kontrol in OR, The 1-Up in CO, and Pacific Pinball and High Scores in CA.) There's also the annual CA Extreme event in the Bay Area with several hundred vids and pins, coming up in about two weekends.

i love pinball, but finding a machine is rare! let's hope bars/arcades start stocking them instead of that stupid bowling/golf thingy

Pacific Pinball Museum
Pinball Hall of Fame
Silver Ball Museum Arcade
Pinballz Arcade
Seattle Pinball Museum

Plus there are annual shows all over the country.

I've been to the one in Alameda, CA. http://pacificpinball.org/ It's a free play museum, but also has some information on the machines giving the history of them in context. It's not something I'd go back to every week, but it was fun to do once.

I'm curious if anyone knows how it compares to the National Pinball Museum, recently reopened in Baltimore, MD.

There seem to be a few places like this now. There is the one in las vegas: pinball hall of fame
The one in Baltimore you mentioned: national pinball museum
One I just found in California
The one the article mentions in Seattle
another I found in NJ
An article about several of these opening up around the country.
And if you are interested in playing I found a place in St. Louis CP Pinball.
Any other places people have found that are worth noting here?

-T

This would make a nice complement to the Pacific Pinball Museum (formerly Lucky Ju-Ju) in Alameda.

Being an avid pinball player I was pleased to see this make it onto /. I thought I would post some other great pinball events in California.

Already occured (but will happen again next year)
Pin A Go Go http://www.pinagogo.com/ May 14-16 Dixon California
California Extreme http://www.caextreme.org/ July 17-18 2010 Santa Clara California

Upcoming
Pacific Pinball Expo http://www.pacificpinball.org/ Oct 1-3 2010

All of them are great shows and we're lucky here in northern California to have 3 great pinball conventions.

Also anyone else interested in pinball in the northern California area there is the Bay Area Pinball Association (BAPA) http://www.bayareapinball.org/
There are a number of players in our league who compete in our local tournaments, as well as the various California Tournaments, and even national and international tournaments. In fact the #2 player at PAPA A division was from our league (Andrei).

Pinballers are a dying breed. Play while you can...join a league...have fun.

-Alex

He will have his cool set up that places video cameras over the playfield so you can watch the amazing action. October 1-3, Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, CA. http://www.pacificpinball.org/.

If you want really "old school", check out the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, CA (near Oakland) - http://pacificpinball.org/. They have pinball machines from the 1930's to 2000's, with a big collection of "woodrail" and "wedgehead" games. No video games. Only pinball (and an odd electromechanical rifle game here and there).