Comments on: The economy of pinball machines in the field… http://www.friday.com/bbum/2005/11/23/the-economy-of-pinball-machines-in-the-field/ ...so google can index my head. Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:42:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: The Rise and Fall of Pinball « My Name Is Legion http://www.friday.com/bbum/2005/11/23/the-economy-of-pinball-machines-in-the-field/comment-page-1/#comment-192737 The Rise and Fall of Pinball « My Name Is Legion Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:13:58 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/?p=550#comment-192737 [...] want to understand the economics of having a pinball machine in the back of a grimy pub, you should read this and then this. And then you can shed a tear as you read about the final pinball [...] [...] want to understand the economics of having a pinball machine in the back of a grimy pub, you should read this and then this. And then you can shed a tear as you read about the final pinball [...]

]]> By: Ben Heller http://www.friday.com/bbum/2005/11/23/the-economy-of-pinball-machines-in-the-field/comment-page-1/#comment-192382 Ben Heller Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:40:02 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/?p=550#comment-192382 First, this is a great article. It makes a lot of sense and explains the incentive as to why i only see poorly maintained machines. As for Eric J's comment regarding pricing the games at a quarter... i think exactly the opposite. I think machines should remove the quarter slot entirely. The price point is too low. These machines are expensive to own and expensive to maintain. Approximately $5000 per machine... then add on maintenance... add it up and the result is that pinball machines are going to disappear because they are not a good source of profitability at this point. The mindset of the consumer has to change and getting rid of the quarter slot should help change their mentality and change expectations. Games should charge $1 and the machines should only accept $1 and $5 bills. I also live in NYC (and had been to the Village Idiot - miss that bar too) so i am use to higher price points for everything... $10 per game for bowling... $25 for 100 golf balls at the driving range. I understand that some people will be turned off by the higher price point... but the machines will still be used at $1 per game. People who grew up with Pinball now have jobs and can afford to pay $1 to play. Regardless, I don't see how the game survives without profitability. I do not think home collections can sustain Stern. Best, Ben First, this is a great article. It makes a lot of sense and explains the incentive as to why i only see poorly maintained machines.

As for Eric J’s comment regarding pricing the games at a quarter… i think exactly the opposite. I think machines should remove the quarter slot entirely. The price point is too low. These machines are expensive to own and expensive to maintain. Approximately $5000 per machine… then add on maintenance… add it up and the result is that pinball machines are going to disappear because they are not a good source of profitability at this point. The mindset of the consumer has to change and getting rid of the quarter slot should help change their mentality and change expectations. Games should charge $1 and the machines should only accept $1 and $5 bills.

I also live in NYC (and had been to the Village Idiot – miss that bar too) so i am use to higher price points for everything… $10 per game for bowling… $25 for 100 golf balls at the driving range. I understand that some people will be turned off by the higher price point… but the machines will still be used at $1 per game. People who grew up with Pinball now have jobs and can afford to pay $1 to play. Regardless, I don’t see how the game survives without profitability. I do not think home collections can sustain Stern.
Best,
Ben

]]> By: Zac http://www.friday.com/bbum/2005/11/23/the-economy-of-pinball-machines-in-the-field/comment-page-1/#comment-192359 Zac Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:41:06 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/?p=550#comment-192359 Nice article! From 1982-90 I worked for one of the big parts supply houses in the industry (Great Amusement Emporium), and a huge benefit to the job was attending the annual trade show [AMOA] in Chicago every year. It was great fun to play all the new pinball games before the public had a shot at them. I was never much of a video game fan, although one of my favorite arcade games was Atari's Paperboy. At the end of each day, having spent 10-plus hours down in the bowels of the Hyatt on East Wacker Drive, my ears would ring for hours after the show closed from all the noise generated by video games, pinball machines, kiddie rides, etc. Nice article! From 1982-90 I worked for one of the big parts supply houses in the industry (Great Amusement Emporium), and a huge benefit to the job was attending the annual trade show [AMOA] in Chicago every year. It was great fun to play all the new pinball games before the public had a shot at them. I was never much of a video game fan, although one of my favorite arcade games was Atari’s Paperboy. At the end of each day, having spent 10-plus hours down in the bowels of the Hyatt on East Wacker Drive, my ears would ring for hours after the show closed from all the noise generated by video games, pinball machines, kiddie rides, etc.

]]> By: Eric J http://www.friday.com/bbum/2005/11/23/the-economy-of-pinball-machines-in-the-field/comment-page-1/#comment-192357 Eric J Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:31:00 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/?p=550#comment-192357 Here's something that bugs me - I bet many many underutilized video games and pinball machines, especially in places like restaurants, could actually make more money if they just dropped the price back down to $.25. There's a big psychological barrier between dropping a single quarter into a machine and dropping multiple quarters at once. I'm much more likely to give my kids a quarter to play a machine than fifty cents, or a dollar, especially given how hard the games are today and how short the game is likely to be. Here’s something that bugs me – I bet many many underutilized video games and pinball machines, especially in places like restaurants, could actually make more money if they just dropped the price back down to $.25. There’s a big psychological barrier between dropping a single quarter into a machine and dropping multiple quarters at once.

I’m much more likely to give my kids a quarter to play a machine than fifty cents, or a dollar, especially given how hard the games are today and how short the game is likely to be.

]]> By: bbum’s weblog-o-mat » Blog Archive » Last Pinball Factory Around http://www.friday.com/bbum/2005/11/23/the-economy-of-pinball-machines-in-the-field/comment-page-1/#comment-187102 bbum’s weblog-o-mat » Blog Archive » Last Pinball Factory Around Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:38:15 +0000 http://www.friday.com/bbum/?p=550#comment-187102 [...] entirely surprised to learn that most pinball machines are sold individuals and placed in homes. The economy of route operated — corner store / pub — pinball machines was always based o... that was quite easily resolved by simply replacing all the machines with video games. Lower [...] [...] entirely surprised to learn that most pinball machines are sold individuals and placed in homes. The economy of route operated — corner store / pub — pinball machines was always based o… that was quite easily resolved by simply replacing all the machines with video games. Lower [...]

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