- Feb 19, 2012
- 8,144
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heh, I'm just trying to lend a hand as it seems brakel isn't aware of the goldmine of pins in the windy city.
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Welcome Back to Digital Pinball Fans - please read this first
heh, I'm just trying to lend a hand as it seems brakel isn't aware of the goldmine of pins in the windy city.
Naildriver74
Active member
- Aug 2, 2013
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Haven't been to Chicago for a while looks like a mighty fine place to be.
brakel
New member
- Apr 27, 2012
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That's a cool site but I stand by my assertion. With the exception of Beercade which I only heard about recently and haven't been to yet the offerings are slim. I scour the city and surrounding areas for machines. I'm not going to attack any particular location because I appreciate any venue that has even one table, but just for example one of those places with 10 machines listed doesn't have room for that many tables. I think they listed every machine that they've had in the last 5 years. They really have 5 pinball machines and the last time I was there one was completely out of order and another had a sticky right flipper. There are machines in Chicago but nothing like the expo. I have a trip planned to the Beercade for my birthday on the 20th.
- Feb 19, 2012
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Check out The Emporium too. They have a stable of pins and a ton of classic arcade games.
But yeah, compared to most towns across the country, Chicago is stacked in the pinball department. A lot of people would be thrilled to have a place in their town that had 5 machines, but Chicago has several such places. It's actually one of the best cities for finding pins. Personally I'd skip the crowded expos and hit up the other locations.
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brakel
New member
- Apr 27, 2012
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The last time I was at the Emporium they only had like three or four tables so I'll have to check it out again. It seems to me that the number of machines in the area has doubled over just the last few years. It was hard to find more than just one here and there at bars and bowling alleys when PHoF Williams came out for the PS3. I think that FarSight's pinball products are at least a contributing factor in this growth. I hope the Barcade concept is successful. We need one out here in the burbs. I'm less than 20 miles from the Loop (center of Chicago) but most of the time that means that the best places for pinball are two hours away. If the Barcade is successful I hope they spread everywhere and kick off a pinball renaissance!
- Feb 19, 2012
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Agreed! And I think you're right about the part digital pinball has played in the revival.
The Emporioum just built a whole new expansion room, so you should definitely revisit.
David Pannozzo
New member
- Mar 6, 2012
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I'm in that situation, their is only one Pinball Machine in my area, and that is Pirates of the Caribean. I was in Orlando on November 22, 23, and 24 for a Pinball show, they had great Pinball Machines like Metalica, Wizard Of Oz, and Star Trek. But trying to play those was like pulling a tooth from a shark, I got to play both Wizard of Oz and Star Trek about 3 times, I never got to play Metalica at all. When the show was over I went to Disney Quest, to see what Pinball Machines they had. They had about 10 of them, but 6 were out of order and 2 had Flipper problems one had a game started but no ball, so to make a long story short I only got to play one Pinball Machine out of 10. I couldn't believe how these machines were treated, this was my only big trip to play pinball, and it wasn't a very good experience. So in closing, I am so happy for Farsight to be making these pinball machines, I also did get a chance to play to Awesome pinball machines I haven't played in years Safe Cracker, and Who Dunnit which I hope both tables come to The Pinball Arcade in Season 3, but I will take any pinball machine and be happy.
superballs
Active member
- Apr 12, 2012
- 2,653
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A bar near me just got a Cue Ball Wizard, I can't wait to check that out, last time I played it I barely got the replay, thanks to my experience in VP, I know the rules a lot better now and have a decent strategy so I can't wait to see how that pans out.
Jeff, thanks for posting that link. I wasn't aware of that site. Bookmarked for future vacation plans.
I was only aware of the Pinside site having locations.
http://pinside.com/pinball/map/where-to-play/
I'm aware of TWO machine in a 25 mile radius of where I live.
One is a classic EM machine that's primarily used as decoration in a pizza place. Most of the time it doesn't even have the power turned on.
If I can get permission to play, it's the closest one, but it's more of a pain to do so than anything as folks seated nearby tend to compalin about the noise when you are playing it.
(no other arcade type games at the location at all, so it's really noticed by folks when you do try to play it.)
If I bump it up to a 50 mile radius, I'm up to perhaps 13 machines.
That includes machines I'm aware of and ones identified on Pinside.
Only one location has more than one machine... it has three. I would have to pay to get in to that location and still pay for each play.
One of the other locations is similar, where you have to purchase a crappy buffet meal to get in only to find out that the one pinball machine is out of order again.
Two of the locations are Chuck E Cheese, each with one very poorly maintained machine.
I'm not exactly in the middle of nowhere. The "Metropolitan Statistical Area" I'm in has close to 900,000 people.
I'd dearly love to access to the wealth of pinball that is Chicago.
- Feb 19, 2012
- 8,144
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- Feb 19, 2012
- 8,144
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No, but at least it's turned into an interesting and helpful discussion. 
Baron Rubik
New member
- Mar 21, 2013
- 1,852
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There is a figure lower than 1. None.
Please be more specific in case this is some kind of magic wishing thread, where all requests are granted.
(Wish I was multi millionaire!)
night
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- May 18, 2012
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I wish you all a merry christmas!
Bowflex
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- Feb 21, 2012
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Eventually there is potential for negative tables once the licenses for t2, twilight zone and star trek expire!
soundwave106
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- Nov 6, 2013
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What I *do* know from IPDB sales figures is that the glory age for raw pinball machine sales was not the early 1990s... it was the late 1970s.
The early 1990s was a nice revival, with good sales for many tables. But there are only three pins that sold over 15K during that period (Addams Family, Twilight Zone, and T2). Between 1976 and 1980, in contrast, *8* pins sold over 15K. One even sold almost as much as The Addams Family (Eight Ball). Only one of those 8 is currently in TPA (Firepower).
To a lesser extent, a similar story emerges if you look at >10K sold machines (10 from 1990-1993 vs. a whopping 28 from 1976-1980).
How well a pinball sold back then doesn't necessarily translate to what sells now, of course. Gorgar, Firepower, and Black Knight came from that era, they were good >10K selling machines... and they don't seem to get a whole lot of love here. (However, forum opinion does not translate into sales figures either and only Farsight knows this number.
)The greater ubiquity of pinball back then suggests that at least the *potential* for late 1970s pinball nostalgia exists. Even if perhaps some of both today's players and the 90s revival folks are turned off by the relative lack of bells and whistles. (Some people still play early 1980s arcade games after all, primitive graphics and all.) I don't know if that potential really translates into sales, but it's possibly a mistake to *entirely* write off this market. (Probably it would need to be marketed separately or something, eg an "old school" table pack.)
BTW, I think Farsight's EM choices so far have been... odd. Small time games like Jive Time in Williams Arcade over well selling early-mid 1970s EMs (like much of what was eventually settled on in the poll, eg Wizard, Spirit of 76, Royal Flush, Space Mission, etc)? Now, Central Park and Big Shot aren't *bad* choices, but they probably aren't the cream of the EM crop that would represent what an EM game would truly sell like...
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- Feb 19, 2012
- 8,144
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The thing about the 70’s: there were pinball machines EVERYWHERE. Every bar, restaurant, etc. had at least a couple. Arcades on the other hand were stocked with pins, and by stocked I mean rows of pinball machines as far as the eye could see.
The 90’s: a high for pinball in terms of complexity and what the machines could actually do, but not in terms of popularity. Pins were now mainly confined to arcades, and by the mid 90’s arcades were already on the serious decline. The arcades that were hanging on usually only had 1 or 2 pins.
So yeah, when it comes to popularity, the 70’s was truly the golden age of pinball.
The 90’s: a high for pinball in terms of complexity and what the machines could actually do, but not in terms of popularity. Pins were now mainly confined to arcades, and by the mid 90’s arcades were already on the serious decline. The arcades that were hanging on usually only had 1 or 2 pins.
So yeah, when it comes to popularity, the 70’s was truly the golden age of pinball.
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