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The Continuing Death of Pinball
angkor writes: "To me, the first video games were something like electonic versions of pinball machines, so it's sad to hear that pinball is apparently dying off." I'd really like to see a pinball game based on Zoolander, but I doubt even that would be enough to reverse the current trend.
The number of pinball machines nationwide dropped from 1 million in 1989 to 360,000 in 1999 and revenue slid from $2.4 billion to $1.08 billion in the same period, according to the trade publication Vending Times.
It's sad really. I own a pool hall in a small town and pinball still registers decent coin drop (I have two machines). The problem is that the industry went a little crazy trying to catch up to video in the early 80s and the designs got too complicated and therefore, more expensive to purchase and maintain. Operators started abandoning them in droves near the end of the last century. When companies such as WMS (Bally/Williams/Atari Games), who owned two of the major pinball manufacturers, bailed out in early 2000, the death knell was sounded for the industry. Stern Pinball is still alive, having bought out Sega's pinball division (originally Data East Pinball), but most of their sales are to overseas distributors. The pins they sell in the US are basically writeoffs. It's a shame really. I think if the industry stuck to innovative, less complicated designs, it might still be thriving, rather than barely surviving.
The boss was constantly fixing the pinball machines. How many Jurassic Park pinball machines have you seen where the T-Rex actually eats the pinball successfully? Not to mention mushy flippers. Too many moving (expensive) parts. I doubt they'll ever stop making them though, because they are always popular (every time I'm in the arcade someone is playing pinball). Redemption games are what makes the money. Kids love to get tickets and pick prizes. They just eat that stuff up.
A video/arcade game auction is a good place to get pinball machines. A buddy of mine lucked out and got a Simpsons one for a few hundred dollars. It's godly.
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My dad is stationed in Japan, and I've never seen more video arcades in my life.. in downtown Tokyo there is one like every other block.. the one I've visited before doesn't have any pinball machines. They tend to have more video games - as most of them are owned/sponsered by guilty.
Kenny
Only one in San Francisco/Oakland that I know of...
Which one? I tend to go to the one behind the Emery Bay Public Markey, in Emeryville. Also there's a bar on Shattuck in Berkeley that has Attack From Mars and a few other pinball tables.
For information on pinball in NYC you might want to look at the New York City Pinball Players and Owners Association web site. (Found via the Pinball Machine Links page at the Stern Pinball site.
-- Kevin G. Austin || kaustin@sffan.net || http://sffan.net/kaustin/
While pingames certainly aren't doing as well as they once were, reports of the death of pinball are certainly premature. There is still a big pinball market outside of the US, which Stern (the only remaining manufacturer) is happy to serve.
Domestically, the market is shifting from arcades (where the games are seldom adequately maintained) to collectors, and the folks at Stern have realized that, modifying their design efforts to appeal more to collectors. One of their latest games, "Monopoly" (designed by the legendary Pat Lawlor, who also designed "Fun House," "Addams Family," and "Twilight Zone," among others), has been a tremendous success, to the point of extending its productions run...
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Only in America can something that generates $1.07 Billion in revenue be considered dead. Gotta love it!
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No, there are magnets. I had the game in my house for 6 months once.. in fact most modern pinball games had magnets for a while.. it sux sometimes when they activate. other then that part T2 was a great pinball game.
... but no, there are no magnets in T2. There are three in "Addams Family (Gold)", four in "The Twilight Zone" (and two of those are on the Powerfield), and occasionally those used for "Magna-Save" (clearly marked) ... in games like "Black Knight 2000", "World Cup Soccer", or "Theatre of Magic".
... I doubt the older ones did, either. What you are probably seeing is what's known as "ball spin", which affects the ball's path in somewhat unpredictable ways.
Sorry
"Modern" pinball machines do not include magnets
FWIW, I own four pinball machines, one of them being an Addams Family. I have also been fixing them for ~10 years now. If you can find me an actual magnet in a T2 game, I'll buy you lunch.