Bringing new blood to the table

Deadly

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I hosted my annual Halloween party last night. Normally people will step into the game room and play a few games and leave. LAst night was quite different.
The pins were played almost non stop. People that never really played much pinball before were engrossed with them. I cannot tell you how many times I'd hear something along the lines of, "Pinball is so much fun! But I don't understand what I'm supposed to do."
Explaining, "Much like vids, pins have also have a goal to progess to the next stage."

I am indirectly responsible for generating new blood in pinball and I'm proud to have been part of it. I'm certain the next time these people are at a bar or pizza joint, they will be more apt to play the pinball machine sitting there. Nothing compares to seeing the genuine true excitement that pinball gave people last night. I don't understand how such a wonderful "toy" that can generate that much excitement can be on the brink of dying.

Happy Halloween everyone!
 
I don't understand how such a wonderful "toy" that can generate that much excitement can be on the brink of dying.

Happy Halloween everyone!

I think the rumors of pinball's death are greatly exaggerated.

I used to think the same thing so I started a pinball map because I figured there's maybe a couple dozen places to play, tops. Well, there are over 170 locations on the map so far. And over 400 machines (the map says 300-something but that's because most of the games for PPM and Playland have not been entered yet).

So yes, pinball is not what it used to be but it's still out there. Start a league, run a party, run a tournament, start a pinball map or volunteer for a show. People will come!
 
pins are out there,look at movie theaters,bars,pizza places,laundromats,bowling alleys,burger places.mini golf/funland type places. ie the same places they have always been minus mini marts and grocery stores. and the small amount of arcades left..
i.e. the wild is still filled with game, you just have to for it.
i called a local route vender and he gave me a list of every pin he has on route with location address.
 
until there is more than one pinball manufacturer in the entire world, the rumors can't possibly be exaggerated.

I respect that Stern is still in the game - very much so - I just ran the SF avatar launch party.

But they're just one part of pinball. The collectors, shows, tournaments, museums, online forums, custom projects, emulation, home gamerooms, pinball maps, etc. are all part of it too. Some of those areas are booming. There are more shows and tournaments right now than in many years, probably since the early 90s.

In the end it lives and dies one enthusiast at a time. When someone decides "it's dead", then for them, it is.

Additionally, Stern isn't the only maker of pinball games. There are companies in china making gambling and redemption pinball games, as well as a few with flippers.

There's a company in Spain that just made a game. A company in Hungary made an arcade virtual pin. A company in Belgium makes bingo pins.
 
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