I am the proud owner of 3 real pins, and I'm constantly thinking of what I and others might be able to do to keep real pinball alive. I don't have all the answers, but one of them is for us pin fans to not settle for
VP/
FP cabs to take place of real pins unless it's a DIY thing. There are just too many real pins out there that need a good home.
For each person that spends $$ on a nice cab, that may equal 1 to 4 or 5 real pinballs you could have. For those that truly only have room for 1 cab, I can more understand wanting the
FP/
VP cab, but even then, wouldn't you be so damn tempted to get the real thing with that $$? At the price of some of these cabs, you could probably pick the 1 pinball in the world you wish to have, if you could only have one, and its yours.
I'm not totally against cabs though. However, paying a company 4 g's for something like Ultrapin or whatever its called, I'm not for it in most cases. Building a cab on your own, as a hobby, making it all DIY, then that is fine by me. Or if you already own at least 1 real pin and want to buy one, thats fine too, at least you are still supporting the "real" cause.
Cuz the day a manufactured
VP/
FP cab really starts to compete with Stern's sales of new pins, that is the day pinball effectively dies. I'm all for competition between brands of real pinball's, but not the real thing vs similation.
Being a member of
VP for 5 1/2 years now, I've definitely realised some things about pinball, both real and simmed. If not for the popularity of real pinball, we wouldn't have so many great sims! Imagine if the pinball boom of the late 70's and early 90's mini boom never happened, then realise how many great
VP/
FP sims never would have existed as the real things wouldn't have existed. Example, if not for the real success of TAF, then TZ probably never gets made. If not for the success of FunHouse or AFM, maybe we never see ToM or a Road Show. The success of some tables definitely have bred others.
Now, in 2009, if Stern loses more customers, because people are starting to prefer sim cabinets, then it will reach the point where 1 less new table gets made, which could turn into 2, which could turn into none cuz they don't exist anymore.
And with fewer new tables, or no new tables, then we have nothing more to sim in the futute for the many thousands of pinball fans. It is an absolute battle to keep real pinball alive in this world of nano tech & video games. I'm greedy, I love new tech as much as anyone, yet I want to keep my good old pinball as well.
Just turning 30 years old recently, I grew up in an interesting time.
When I was barely old enough to remember, say '85, pinball was pretty popular (even though I have since learned that sales struggled at that time, I believe that the boom from the late 70's & early 80's still kept a lot of pinball machines around for a few years). And we all know about the nintendo revolution that followed. Yeah, it seemed that game technology grew up right with me, and damn did it grow fast.
But as the early to mid 90's showed, there was still a place for pinball amidst the great home video game consoles and arcade games. People still left their houses to socialize, still wanted to do things you couldn't do at home, such as play real pinball.
When we were bored, going to the arcade was alwas on the list of potential things to do, especially if the weather was crappy.
Nowadays, the entertainment once found only by inserting a couple quarters in an arcade machine can be found at home, or all your friends homes. You can play eachother at a game yet be by yourself.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, real pinball will never be on WiFi (then again, you never know). God forbid if you and your buddies want to play real pinball, you have to actually all be at the same place, maybe even have to drink a few beers and be social. Life is tough! Come on, there is nothing like gang kicking the crap out of a pinball machine that eats your quarter, and getting escorted out of the establishment.
I know I'm getting off topic here, but my ramblings are still directed toward the thought of people choosing sim cabs over a real pin. I'm glad Stern is still making pinballs, but I'll be honest, it seems they are doing it half heartedly. Though I don't fully blame them. The customers take some blame too, and certainly the economy these days, as its hard to get real excited to make great pins when you are on the verge of being bankrupt, and worry if enough people are going to buy enough real pins to keep you afloat.
I can understand why they market only toward home pin owners these days, though I don't fully agree with it.
I have my ideas on how I would not only keep pinball alive, but increase its popularity. I believe it can be done, and I believe it can all start from the ideas of a few people, or even just 1.
While I make most of my money in these tough economic times by building web sites for people and doing computer repairs, I actually went to college for human behavior studies (definitely some sociology, psychology).
So one thing I always do when other people are around my pinballs, or I'm at a large gathering like at PAPA this past weekend, I study people's reaction to pinball (even though I'm not always aware I'm doing it). How are todays kids taking to it? Are adults still really into it, or just being nostalgic? Is there still a place for it?
How is and what is the psyche of the average joe when it comes to pinball?
The answers to those questions are always positive. Not only do kids and adults both genuinely still enjoy pinball, but now its more of a bonding thing than ever. Think about it. Pinball only got really huge in the mid to late 70's into the early 80's. Guess how many of the people into pinball then are now parents of kids today? A lot!
Even go into the early 90's pinball mini boom, people around my age who grew up playing TAF, TZ, ToM, FH...even many of those people have youngsters. So at PAPA, I was really amazed by how many families were taking part and having a great time. I can't tell you how many times I heard dads say to their kids "hey, this is the pinball that I used to play when I was a kid" or "when I was your age". I'm paraphrasing, but I more or less heard that a number of times.
So instead of kids thinking of pinball as dad's crappy old outdated toy from when he was young, it something they seem to enjoy just as much. The nature of pinball, the idea behind it, is actually pretty timeless.
At my house, my oldest pin, my '77 Stern Stampede which is well older than I am, that always gets a surprising amount of attention from kids. I always thought of it as a game only real pinball lovers or older adults would enjoy, but the kids love it. Maybe its the slower pace, simpler play, the bells. I saw the same thing at PAPA, lots of kids enjoying the older pins, perhpas more than the newer ones. I get that. Many of these older pins were done in such a way, were just so artistic, colorful, and well designed to attract.
Kids can get frustrated with the much faster pace and complexities of a newer stern pin (just too much going on at once). Am I saying that newer pins seem to leave kids out? Yes.
I'm not saying there isn't a place for modern pins, not at all. Just saying that some kids (and adults) want a more linear game sometimes. I swear some of these newer games were designed by someone with ADD.
In closing, what is my point? My point is that pinball is still such a great thing, and not only do people still like it, but due to its popularity boom back in the day, pinball seems to actually attract more generations of people than ever before. But if real pinball, as tough as things are for it right now, does completely die...I can't tell you how bad it is.
I never mentioned maintenence. As much as I love these great older pins, yeah its true that it is hard to keep them maintained and playable on a daily basis, especially if placed in an arcade. Parts are hard to come by, or too expensive to replace.
Remember how many pins were made between the mid 70's and early 80's. Just that time span alone probably created most of the pins in the world, both in individual titles and how many were manufactured.
The pins from that era have slowly been becoming fewer and fewer. And despite how much many of us value them, there are still more being tossed in the trash than there are being saved.
Over time, we will see less and less of these. You take away pins from say '75 to '81, just a 6 year span, then shows like the PAPA tourney I went to would suddenly house maybe 150 pins instead of 400. That is scary.
Now if real pinball stays on the course its on, or god forbid it gets worse, then look 30 years from now at what a pinball show will be like. Not only would the current classics be even more scarce, but we wouldn't have much of anything to represent this time period...at which point maybe we don't have any pinball shows at all.
How can we save pinball? I don't know. Keep emulation alive, that helps, we need
VP/
FP/
VPM. However, if we have the room and cash for a pinball machine, please spend your money on the real thing. Even buying old used pins keeps the pinball market simulated, it shows activity, it shows people are still interested, and could in turn lift the spirits of those making real pinballs or even encourage new companies to try their hand at it. Even for those without money to spend, just playing
VP/
FP on your PC is support enough, and maybe keep spreading the word about it. Believe it or not, a lot of pinball enthusiasts aren't really aware of
VP/
FP.
As I am living proof that being introduced to the world of emulation can eventually lead to spending thousands of dollars on real pinball.
VP/
FP re-sparked my interest in pinball 5+ years ago, I got to learn about all the different tables and era's out there, and it got my hungry to own the real thing. And all 3 pinballs I own are tables I previously learned about, played and liked in emulation, and never would have known about otherwise and without
VP/
FP, I definitely wouldn't be a pin owner today.
As for keeping real pinball alive, I have some ideas that I know will work, I just hope they come to fruition someday. I think
VP/
FP cabs are pretty cool as a DIY thing, but real pinball desperately needs your support. Whether you buy a new $4,000 Stern, or an old used one for $300, it all helps.
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