Flipping heck: Is pinball about to stage a recovery

What the article writes sounds plausible. The appeal of video game arcades has been lost over the past 10 to 15 years, with more impressive games being all available at home through a quick download.

It's not surprising that the few arcade games you still see around nowadays are the ones that aren't feasible in the living room due to large physical parts, such as dancing games, skiing, racing cabinets, or stuff like Namco's Rapid River game, which has you sitting in a large moving raft, paddling like crazy.
Obviously, pinball fits this bill perfectly. Even through amazing simulations like TPA, computers can never completely replace the experience of controlling an entire physical world beneath the glass through only the press of two flipper buttons.

In fact, I'm surprised the popularity of pinball was ever falling. I guess, being constantly able to delve into epic, convoluted worlds through modern video games has made people dismiss the thought of a seemingly simpler game, based entirely on skill rather than progression. So most people never get across the first step of even trying out a machine when they see one.
Considering the popularity of table soccer, which is a similar concept, and seen in every single god damn bar around here, it is weird that pinball is not as widespread. Maybe if the lure of competitive play would have more people try it out, it would turn pinball into a more social game, and help rebuild its popularity.
I'm aware that all pinball games come with great 4 player competitive modes, but this isn't evident to most people. I think this is something Stern should work more towards.

I think the only thing holding pinball back is maintenance. Operator maintenance must take enough time and expense that it just isn't worth it. Lets hope that they are able to create pins that are easier to maintain. This would get operators more interested. It's all about the cash.
I would never cross a street to play a video game these days. I can play almost anything on my PS3 or ipad without leaving my sofa. But I still drive to a place 50 miles away every month to just play pinball. You just can't recreate the excitement, sound, and feel of real pinball. I pray it does make a comeback.

Yeah, the only places having pinball tables standing around obviously have someone who's actually interested in having them and keeping them in shape.
A new place just opened here last weekend with 35 legendary tables all in great shape. It's amazing really, and the owner is a huge pinball fan, and obviously has money to spare.

I very much doubt it will ever be what it was; the latest wave of pinball emporia is built on nostalgia, and I don't see kids flocking to play these machines. And with maintenance costs, the economics aren't great. The biggest problem is that there just isn't a busy arcade for every shopping mall and Main Street.

That said, it does appear that there's an extremely modest renaissance going on, and I hope it can continue.

Interesting read. The two things that struck me were that there is actually some thought going into making the tables not need so much maintenance, and the social media aspect being incorporated. As much as I roll my eyes towards the need to have facebook or twitter integration, I recognize that to the generation growing up, these are functions that they expect in everything.

I also think the idea of QR codes on the table for instructions is at least interesting. That being said, if I can access the web from my phone, why wouldn't I just watch a PAPA video? I was expecting the article to say that on WoZ the instructions would just play on the vid screen.

Matt McIrvin said:

I very much doubt it will ever be what it was; the latest wave of pinball emporia is built on nostalgia, and I don't see kids flocking to play these machines. And with maintenance costs, the economics aren't great. The biggest problem is that there just isn't a busy arcade for every shopping mall and Main Street.

That said, it does appear that there's an extremely modest renaissance going on, and I hope it can continue.

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Yes there's definitely a pinball renaissance happening. I attribute much of it to the popularity of new digital pinball like TPA, VP, and Zen. Its getting people into (or back into pinball).

Sadly, it will never be like it once was. Theres many factors why. For one, the games now are designed so differently than in the past. They are easy. The majority of the game is a tutorial and they are so cut scene heavy it's like watching a bad movie. They require you to be online so they can sell you upgrades and outfits to wear around. If it's not that, then its just killing each other on FPS games like Halo or Call of Duty where pre-teens yell profanities at each other and practice racism.

Those SS ball-trackers sound awesome. Combined with the above ground mechanics the P3 guys developed, this could mean far fewer parts, easier to diagnose and fix problems (meaning less out of order time), and (eventually) bring down costs, due to simplified manufacturing.

The reason pinball waned in the 90s were that arcades were moving to more profitable machines - arcade machines were smaller (you could fit 2 where a single pinball machine was), had less maintenance issues (few parts to break), and in general, produced higher income for the operator. Pins, by contract, really didn't - they had more maintenance issues (and still do - short of going back to the old EM days of simple layouts, you're always going to get a lot of things the ball can hit and break).

Pinball is, hwoever, more long lasting because no digital simulation is perfect - it's a purely mechanical thing. A video game is generally perfect - do the same moves over and over again, and get the same result. But a pinball machine has chaotic interactions that make things subtly different each and every time. Knowing you can't always make the shot can make it more interesting, provided the table is wired for fun (they're wired to extract money in general).

Plus, pinball is super simple to learn - anyone can get the basic gist and play. You don't HAVE to read the instructions - just pop in money, and flip away. That generally increases the appeal knowing anyone can play. Also, unless the machine is really bad, the physics are generally well understood by most people, so there's no hidden tricks that some programmer decided to put in, etc. Just the ball following simple trajectories that any human can grasp.

Funny story, cause a local arcade that opened recently, is focusing mainly on "retro" games, basically because those are the games people relate to video arcades (ie. they want real games, not the freakshow that modern arcade games are, like I described above. ). And the pinball machines are the ones that generate the most income, by far.

Times truly changed. People will go home, play the arcade games on MAME, then go to the arcade and play for 45 minutes on (the equivalent of) a quarter to set a high score in the arcade.
People can't do that with pinball. They pop in (the equivalent of) 4 dollars to play a social 4 player game for a few minutes, and when the game ends, they do a rematch.

Worf said:

Also, unless the machine is really bad, the physics are generally well understood by most people, so there's no hidden tricks that some programmer decided to put in, etc. Just the ball following simple trajectories that any human can grasp.

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Well, there are some like Addams Family or TZ that have some hidden magnets under the playfield just to make some extra craziness happen.

(And even where they don't, people imagine them. It's remarkable how many people will insist that all pinball machines have magnets in the outlanes designed to make you lose.)

Matt McIrvin said:

(And even where they don't, people imagine them. It's remarkable how many people will insist that all pinball machines have magnets in the outlanes designed to make you lose.)

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LOL It would never occurred to me that there might be magnets in the outlanes, especially since you can shake the ball out.


People huh?!

Carl Spiby said:

LOL It would never occurred to me that there might be magnets in the outlanes, especially since you can shake the ball out.


People huh?!

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99% sure I have played at least one table in an arcade (Don't recall what table it was now) back in late 80's that had a magnet inserted just under the decal just above and off center from the middle of the flipper's. The pin disappeared from the arcade for a couple of weeks and when it came back you could (I believe) see the ball actually swerve slightly to the center for a middle drain. A local player confirmed this and pointed to the spot where you could see the decal had been tampered with. May or may not be true but I'm pretty convinced.

I also read and enjoyed the BBC article.

Judging by the majority of replies here... Jersey Jack is crazy then right?!

I've got to say that I really admire the guy for trying to regenerate pinball, and I hope more than anything that he succeeds.