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The Last Pinball Machine Factory

Posted by Soulskill on from the producing-at-full-tilt dept.

The New York Times is running a story about Stern Pinball Inc., which they say is the last pinball factory left worldwide. The story describes working there as a "game geek's fantasy job." The company president, Gary Stern, acknowledges the lack of demand, but he plans on sticking around. He also expects the industry to rebound within the next 10 years. We've previously discussed a slightly smaller version of pinball. "Corner shops, pubs, arcades and bowling alleys stopped stocking pinball machines. A younger audience turned to video games. Men of a certain age, said [Pinball Hall of Fame operator Tim Arnold], who is 52, became the reliable audience. ("Chicks," he announced, "don't get it.") And so for Mr. Stern, the pinball buyer is shifting. In the United States, Mr. Stern said, half of his new machines, which cost about $5,000 and are bought through distributors, now go directly into people's homes and not a corner arcade."

15 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Pinball is too expensive... by Manip · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think the reason Pinball is dying out is purely the cost of playing it.

    I mean you pay 50p for three balls. Or 20p for three lives in most other arcade games.

    So you're paying a 150% markup for seeing balls bounce around which is cute but it also seems to last a lot less time than normal video games too.

    So higher cost, plus shorter games just means that people won't use the pinball tables anymore.

    They'll either spend less for cheap video games or spend a little more for a much more interactive game like table football, dancing, or shooting.

    Pinball killed its self... They set the price too high and over-valued their product.

    1. Re:Pinball is too expensive... by electrosoccertux · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think we're missing the point of pinball.

      Arcades made zero sense to me until I had pretty much played every genre of video game. Now that I don't own a console...

      You start doing other things besides playing video games all the time, like socializing and hanging out. You start thinking, hm, what could be a fun, cheap, casual date destination? And suddenly the arcade makes all the sense in the world. Think about it-- after class Friday, you walk to the local college arcade with your S.O. and play some pinball, 2-player Tekken, Galaga, whatever. Cheap, easy fun that gives you the option to make small talk about whatever, but also the option to stop and have a decent conversation when you find a common interest. BUT there are none (or very few) of the tense, silent moments where you're both just looking around trying to come up with something to talk about (like during a conventional date when you go get something to eat and sit down at Applebee's for 45m) and where your apparent lack of ability at making conversation rears its ugliest. Then, after, you can drop by the Graeters/Baskin-Robins 31 for some ice cream before you head back to your dorms.

      I think us gamers were so far gone from the normal world that the obvious social genius behind the arcade was lost like the forest in the trees.

    2. Re:Pinball is too expensive... by Andy+Somnifac · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I wish I could argue with this. I have one of the last all mechanical tables (Gottlieb Mustang, made in 1976-77)that's in need of extensive repair... It's going to cost me a ton...

    3. Re:Pinball is too expensive... by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Arcades killed themselves. Kids have no interest in dropping $1.00Us to $2.00Us to play a video game. The racing ones are crappier graphics than a PS1 and gameplay sucks because most games are broken in one way or another.

      $0.25US is the key price point it always has been. $0.50US is tolerable but their insane prices today makes it so that nobody plays.

      Hell by the time you master an arcade game nowdays you could by the PS3 and a couple of games. Back when Atari2600 was out I could master 5 games for the same price.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    4. Re:Pinball is too expensive... by BorgCopyeditor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The fact that you realize this just as arcades are about to become a thing of the past is what Hegel had in mind when he said that the owl of Minerva flies only at dusk.

      --
      Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
  2. Better than arcades by CopaceticOpus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In an age of video game consoles, there's not much reason to pay for a 3 minute arcade game. But pinball is something that most people don't have at home, and video simulations just don't cut it. There's something viscerally satisfying in the experience of playing on a real machine with a real steel ball flying around the table.

    There's a pinball machine at my local laundromat, and it gets a buck or two out of me every time I wash clothes. I think pinball will always be around.

  3. Re:pinball is the video game for old people by Ihmhi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Pinballs are a video game that is manifested in physical, moving parts. How is that NOT cool?

    --
    Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  4. Maintenance by rodrigoandrade · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The REAL reason pinballs died was the maintenance those things required, compared to video games on PCBs. I knew several arcade operators when I was a kid and they all frowned at new machines arriving at the bar. It took a long time to change out light bulbs, fix jammed balls, clean, etc. Meanwhile, video games don't require anything, just plug and play.

    Add to that the fact that assholes like myself refuse to play on crap machines, and these poor souls have a much harder job.

    I believe the silverballs will become more and more a collector's item for people who lived those early days. Like many already said here, kids nowadays just dont see the fun of it.

    Oh yeah, my local arcade only has Mars Attack, John Mnemonic, Pinball Revenge (or whatever...), and Addams Family, and I still enjoy those...

  5. Re:pinball is the video game for old people by phpmysqldev · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The appeal of pinball (for me at least) is that there is no BS, well at least you can't claim BS.
    When me and buddies are playing halo I hear "WTF Lag!" or "WTF was that BS?" a lot more than, "Man, that guys good".
    In pinball you can't claim random computer errors, lag or random technology based BS. You see exactly what happens in the game and why. You HEAR and FEEL the ball move around the machine (not just sound effects). If you F up, you can see exactly why and try to change it. Your reflexes are executed in real time and can't be argued by "I swear I was pressing the button!".

    In short Pinball Machines were like the first (and best) 'virtual reality'.

  6. Shove the machine by Weaselmancer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Give the machine a decent nudge to the left or the right. The ball will continue to follow a path with its original inertia. You just move the playing field so that the ball isn't dead center.

    Pinball is physical. Playing it like a video game is a sure way to lose.

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  7. Re:stern pinball sucks by TechwoIf · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That was mostly true BEFORE Williams stop making pinball. Most of the good folks went over to Stern and that is the reason new Stern pinball feel like playing a new Williams game.

  8. Re:pinball is the video game for old people by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They're nice to watch and nice to play but I think my problem is it lacks complete control. It's a cross between a game of skill and a game of luck and I'd rather know my score bites because I suck.

  9. Re:pinball is the video game for old people by sleigher · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe, maybe not. The thing that made pinball great was that turning the luck in your favor was part of the skill. Once you get that it is hard to stop......

    --
    All points of time and space are connected.
  10. Re:pinball is the video game for old people by timelorde · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Plus that special "clack" when you won a free game.

    Ahh, Dave's Hot Dogs. So much time wasted, and me, too!

  11. Re:luck (pinball is the video game for old people) by cellocgw · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Pinball is a game of luck only the way poker is. Or maybe Ultimate. The more you anticipate the next few collisions between ball and playfield (or flippers), the less likely you'll get in a situation where the ball is headed for the outlane.
    Watch a master player catch 3 of 4 balls in a multiball situation while shooting the 4th for the jackpot lane, and you'll see skill, not luck.

    --
    https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw