(Topic ID: 229328)

$2.50 per game. What's the most you ever paid?

By ThisNotes4U

5 years ago


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    There are 109 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 3.
    #1 5 years ago

    https://pinside.com/pinball/map/where-to-play/11678-elite-home-gamerooms-fort-myers-fl

    Inside a mall in Fort Myers FL. By far the most I ever paid by far, great game though.

    #2 5 years ago

    What game?

    I really think $2/1 $5/3 is coming, especially on the JJP titles if the location has any split at all.

    #3 5 years ago

    never done more than $1 for 1 play or $2 for 3 plays but have never seen a game more than a buck a play

    #4 5 years ago

    When aerosmith launched the ripoff operator by me was $2/game

    Personally I'd never pay more then $1.00 to play a game of pinball

    -1
    #5 5 years ago
    Quoted from dirkdiggler:

    When aerosmith launched the ripoff operator by me was $2/game
    Personally I'd never pay more then $1.00 to play a game of pinball

    Never is a long time. Pretty sure you will be sooner rather than later. Pricing pressure on location mandates that $1 for the $8-10k premium titles just doesn't pencil out with any kind of location split. There will be older games or pros for you to play, but the newest, best stuff will be over $1 in the next few years.

    #6 5 years ago

    Just recently paid 50cents a game on the new JJP POTC at Flippers in Outer Banks. Big Bang bar for 50cents a game too. I don’t think 2.50 a game will go over too well with potential customers

    #7 5 years ago

    Gene, Gene the dancing machine tried to con me out of five bucks to play his King Pin machine at Expo when it was at the Ramada in Rosemont. This was after I bought a couple hundred bucks worth of books (Mad Dog and his Art) from him to boot.

    I laughed in his face and walked away.

    #8 5 years ago
    Quoted from Coz:

    Just recently paid 50cents a game on the new JJP POTC at Flippers in Outer Banks. Big Bang bar for 50cents a game too. I don’t think 2.50 a game will go over too well with potential customers

    I don't think 2.50/game is happening any time soon on a widespread basis, but 1.66 if you play $5 at a time or $2/game singles? Yes.

    #9 5 years ago
    Quoted from PinMonk:

    Never is a long time. Pretty sure you will be sooner rather than later.

    Never say never.

    I still remember when games went from a nickel or dime to a quarter.

    Probably was quite a bit per play when I owned BM66 or METLE, more than a buck or two for sure, but I don't really keep track.

    That way I don't dwell on it and can just cut my losses after suckering myself into buying something I should have known I'd get sick of looking at and want to get rid of after a short time.

    #11 5 years ago
    Quoted from PinMonk:

    I don't think 2.50/game is happening any time soon on a widespread basis, but 1.66 if you play $5 at a time or $2/game singles? Yes.

    Are you a operator? Just wondering. Sounds like you want prices to increase?

    The best location by me is Pokeys pinball cafe in Saskatoon. $1.00/game. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are 2 for 1 and Sundays are $10.00 and all games are on free play.

    #12 5 years ago

    There’s a place in Osaka Japan with ~100 pins. Lots of new Stern, Spooky and JJP pins. 100yen ($0.88) per game.
    http://brangista.j-server.com/BRABIGSTEP/ns/tl.cgi/http://big-step.co.jp/event/detail/52/?SLANG=ja&TLANG=en&XMODE=0&XJSID=0

    There’s a tech on site and all pins are in great condition.

    #13 5 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    Never say never.
    I still remember when games went from a nickel or dime to a quarter.
    Probably was quite a bit per play when I owned BM66 or METLE, more than a buck or two for sure, but I don't really keep track.
    That way I don't dwell on it and can just cut my losses after suckering myself into buying something I should have known I'd get sick of looking at and want to get rid of after a short time.

    Yep. I clearly remember the dime to quarter transition. HIGHWAY ROBBERY! (Spoiler: I got over it)

    #14 5 years ago
    Quoted from dirkdiggler:

    Are you a operator? Just wondering. Sounds like you want prices to increase?
    The best location by me is Pokeys pinball cafe in Saskatoon. $1.00/game. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are 2 for 1 and Sundays are $10.00 and all games are on free play.

    I help an operator so I see the revenue and expense equation on the pinball. If you want perfectly maintained, high end pins (which is what I help him provide with preventative maintenance and quick repairs), it costs money, and more than $1 now since $8-10k is now the going rate for high end pins. Pin play now is cheaper than it was in 1975, adjusted for inflation. 25 cents in 1975 is $1.10 now.

    It's going up, just a question of when it becomes widespread. But there will always be older and less flashy (Pro) pins available for play, though I see Pros creeping up to $1 more widely lately, too.

    17
    #15 5 years ago

    Tell the wife at $2.50/game its better to just add one to the home collection.

    #16 5 years ago

    Lots of bars have older solid states at 50 cents per game. Was just playing Gold Wings and Secret Service for those rates the other day

    #17 5 years ago
    Quoted from dirkdiggler:

    Lots of bars have older solid states at 50 cents per game. Was just playing Gold Wings and Secret Service for those rates the other day

    Yep. You can get the old stuff that's long-ago paid off for 50 cents, early 2000s are usually 75 cents, as well as some current Pros, newer stuff $1, sometimes $2/3. If you get a location that owns everything, sometimes less than that.

    11
    #18 5 years ago

    How do ops make money these days? I mean straight up arcades, no alcohol sales.even with food/soda I’m not sure. Spend 8 grand on a new pin then rent, utilities, insurance, taxes, and some dill hole smashing the playfield glass= no money. I really don’t see how anything less than $2 game makes it worthwhile anymore. Not that I wanna see prices go up, I just feel for the ops.

    #19 5 years ago

    In Sydney Australia, pretty much every Stern game is $2 for 3 balls. Some of the older B/W games are $2 for 3 or 5 balls.

    Its not a cheap hobby here. I spent $20 on a Deadpool Pro the other day in about 20-30 minutes that was absolutely brutal and unforgiving!

    #20 5 years ago
    Quoted from PinMonk:

    Yep. I clearly remember the dime to quarter transition. HIGHWAY ROBBERY! (Spoiler: I got over it)

    And they gave three balls instead of five.

    But to be fair, they made the games easier with tilt no longer ending games, provided inlanes so side drains happened less often, and increased scoring and basically gave us the universal bottom half of the playfield.

    Which leads us to now where inflation has made a game of pinball still relatively cheap, and the games are easier now, at least to keep the ball in play, than they ever were.

    #21 5 years ago

    When I started playing in the late '60's, pricing was 10¢ for one game and 3 plays for a 25¢. The next price jump in the early '70's was two plays for 25¢. Early Solid-State pins (1976-7) were priced at 1 quarter/play. Some ops had the 3 plays for two quarters until the early '80's with only a Quarter per game. The operator I worked for had us change everything to 50¢/play. A colossal failure. We switched everything back in a few weeks as revenue dropped by 75%.

    #22 5 years ago

    Except for Dragon's Lair. We left it at the factory set 50 cents/game.

    15
    #23 5 years ago

    You guys would be shocked what Dave & Busters charges for a short redemption game. And you don't even know what you're paying because its all hidden in their weird credits system.

    #24 5 years ago
    Quoted from frolic:

    You guys would be shocked what Dave & Busters charges for a short redemption game. And you don't even know what you're paying because its all hidden in their weird credits system.

    Pretty easy to calculate using arithmetic. I would do it all the time when I took my kids to D & B as well as Lucky's. Lucky's has pins and decent looking waitresses.

    #25 5 years ago

    There's a Tilt Studios in the Valley Mall in Hagerstown, Maryland with a large row of pins. They've got the weird card system that you have to swipe, even on their old classic Bally games (interesting to see on a Fireball Classic and Star Trek) The old games are "2.3 units per play" and everything newer than their Metallica is "6.4 units per play."

    The value of the "unit" is a quarter. I assume they add the weird decimal value to leave you with *just* enough units left over to justify refilling the card, which is annoying. But that means you're paying something like $2 for a single game of most of the games in their lineup. Luckily they're maintained well, and you get "free" bonus units when you recharge your card with more than $10.

    #26 5 years ago
    Quoted from mbaumle:

    There's a Tilt Studios in the Valley Mall in Hagerstown, Maryland with a large row of pins. They've got the weird card system that you have to swipe, even on their old classic Bally games (interesting to see on a Fireball Classic and Star Trek) The old games are "2.3 units per play" and everything newer than their Metallica is "6.4 units per play."
    A the value of the "unit" is a quarter. I assume they add the weird decimal value to leave you with *just* enough units left over to justify refilling the card, which is annoying. But that means you're paying something like $2 for a single game of most of the games in their lineup. Luckily they're maintained well.

    Same here with Tilt. Pretty expensive and I feel like I need a slide rule to figure out exactly what i'm paying. But it's half price on wednesdays, and they also do unlimited play cards which can be pretty economical if you plan on playing for a few hours. Almost all pinball I find in Phoenix is $1 or more unless it's some special (happy hour or something).

    #27 5 years ago
    Quoted from MrBally:

    . Lucky's has pins and decent looking waitresses.

    Worth extra for sure

    #28 5 years ago
    Quoted from MrBally:

    When I started playing in the late '60's, pricing was 10¢ for one game and 3 plays for a 25¢. The next price jump in the early '70's was two plays for 25¢. Early Solid-State pins (1976-7) were priced at 1 quarter/play. Some ops had the 3 plays for two quarters until the early '80's with only a Quarter per game. The operator I worked for had us change everything to 50¢/play. A colossal failure. We switched everything back in a few weeks as revenue dropped by 75%.

    Quoted from o-din:

    Never say never.
    I still remember when games went from a nickel or dime to a quarter.

    You can tell who the old guys are in this thread. Where I played they had a few of the older EM games at a nickle and some at dime. With newer EM's and new solid states at a quarter. Then went to .50 That's about the time a quit going to the arcades. After about 10 years I started looking for pins to play again and couldn't believe all games were .50 to $1.00.

    #29 5 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    And they gave three balls instead of five.
    But to be fair, they made the games easier with tilt no longer ending games, provided inlanes so side drains happened less often, and increased scoring and basically gave us the universal bottom half of the playfield.
    Which leads us to now where inflation has made a game of pinball still relatively cheap, and the games are easier now, at least to keep the ball in play, than they ever were.

    Most of the pins (Iron Maiden and AfMr being exceptions) I help with are set to narrower outlanes and/or forgiving tilt with longer ball-saves so people feel like they're getting their money's worth.

    #30 5 years ago

    I don’t think I would ever pay more than 1.00 per play. If it goes above that, I’ll just get my fix on my machines at home.

    I do understand the operator needs to make money and titles continue to increase in cost, but similar to the movies, once they went hog wild with prices at the theater I quit going.

    #31 5 years ago
    Quoted from arcademojo:

    Then went to .50 That's about the time a quit going to the arcades. After about 10 years I started looking for pins to play again and couldn't believe all games were .50 to $1.00.

    Did your salary not go up during this time ?

    Pins used to be $500 to $700, then $1800 to $2400, then $3400, now 5K to 6K plus. Everything has gone up.

    Price per play usually lags behind.

    LTG : )

    #32 5 years ago
    Quoted from fxdwg:

    I don’t think I would ever pay more than 1.00 per play. If it goes above that, I’ll just get my fix on my machines at home.
    I do understand the operator needs to make money and titles continue to increase in cost, but similar to the movies, once they went hog wild with prices at the theater I quit going.

    It's not a binary thing. I've run into people in this area that actually DRIVE to play the pins I help with since they're almost all Premium or LE and in perfect working order (all with Color DMD, too). They can't get anything close in their town. Some use the new pins we have out as their test drive to see if they want to get one for home, too. Just having the OPTION of playing it for $1.66 or $2 is worth it (in the future scenario we're talking about, they're all 75 cents to $1 now) when the premium end of pins are so crazy expensive and you want a better idea before dropping $8-$10k on your own.

    #33 5 years ago

    If I'm going to plunk down anything more than a dollar(and i think that is extreme for some titles, but reasonable for the new stuff), then I better have a guaranteed ball time or length of play. I know a lot of places charge a dollar for Ghostbusters and while I love that game... I'd lose my shirt if I played it on location. I mean... A game of that for me, if they have no ball save timer can be around a minute...
    And generally I do need about 3-4 plays on a game to get the feel for it... I personally wouldn't mind like 7 plays for 5 dollars. Or something like that. OR the 3 plays for 2. But, again need some guarantee about ball times.
    And I think if pinball on location prices itself out of play... Then that's bad long for this hobby. This hobby needs youngblood. And not much of that going around.

    #34 5 years ago
    Quoted from PinMonk:

    It's not a binary thing. I've run into people in this area that actually DRIVE to play the pins I help with since they're almost all Premium or LE and in perfect working order (all with Color DMD, too). They can't get anything close in their town. Some use the new pins we have out as their test drive to see if they want to get one for home, too. Just having the OPTION of playing it for $1.66 or $2 is worth it when the premium end of pins are so crazy expensive and you want a better idea before dropping $8-$10k on your own.

    And I agree to you.. .That 2 or 5 dollars per play is peanuts compared to what I've spent even on my cheapest of pins... But, still... If I pay 15 dollars to go see a movie... And I can get cheaper tickets depending on when I go... Then I at least get 90 minutes of entertainment.
    So... If I pay 15 dollars and only get 10 minutes of play... Then I'd be pretty pissed.
    I also have a rule about the money that I spend. I like at least an hours entertainment for an hours wage. That way I can make sure my party time and work time balance out nicely...

    #35 5 years ago
    Quoted from Diospinball:

    And I agree to you.. .That 2 or 5 dollars per play is peanuts compared to what I've spent even on my cheapest of pins... But, still... If I pay 15 dollars to go see a movie... And I can get cheaper tickets depending on when I go... Then I at least get 90 minutes of entertainment.
    So... If I pay 15 dollars and only get 10 minutes of play... Then I'd be pretty pissed.
    I also have a rule about the money that I spend. I like at least an hours entertainment for an hours wage. That way I can make sure my party time and work time balance out nicely...

    If you pay $15 under the theoretical $5/3 premium machine pricing, you'd have 9 games. You're saying you'd get a bit over 1 minute of play for every GAME (9 games/10 minutes)? 20 seconds per ball, including ball saves? In that case, I'd recommend going to the movies.

    #36 5 years ago
    Quoted from Diospinball:

    And I think if pinball on location prices itself out of play... Then that's bad long for this hobby.

    I agree.

    I do think we are close to the point though where ops can't operate at a loss to keep the hobby healthy.

    LTG : )

    #37 5 years ago

    In 1980 Black Knight was the first pin that pushed for the $.50. And new that pin wasn’t 1500 back then.

    Easy to compare. To keep the same ratio a $6k pin should cost $2 and a $$7.5k pin should cost $2.50 with all things equal.
    You will find cheaper pins out there, but being run by people that enjoy doing this, not putting food on the table. Otherwise most should be several $$ per play or more

    #38 5 years ago
    Quoted from athens95:

    In 1980 Black Knight was the first pin that pushed for the $.50. And new that pin wasn’t 1500 back then.

    As I recall my Black Knight back then was around $2400.

    And according to the US Government's cost of living index, that 50¢ a game should have gone to 75¢ a game in 1991, to have the same buying power. And in 1991 the price of pins was over $3K and still on 50¢ a game play.

    LTG : )

    #39 5 years ago
    Quoted from PinMonk:

    If you pay $15 under the theoretical $5/3 premium machine pricing, you'd have 9 games. You're saying you'd get a bit over 1 minute of play for every GAME (9 games/10 minutes)? 20 seconds per ball, including ball saves? In that case, I'd recommend going to the movies.

    Not what I said.
    What I said is if I am going to spend 5 dollars PER GAME. Then it better give me long ball times.
    I said 1 dollar per game is a bit too rich for my blood... Yes... Laugh, as I have a maiden Prem and a Monster BashR LE coming...

    But, those are assets and time playing a game for fun is fleeting.
    And its really only ghostbusters that I suck badly at.
    First time I played the hobbit I had like a 10-12 minute game... Maybe a bit longer... And I can go decent on a few others. But, again if the operator is cheap and stingy and no ball saves, and its a tough game. Then I'd walk away pissed and probably would stop feeding tables in the wild.
    Asking for 15 minutes per play is not reasonable. But, 5-7 minutes... For 5 dollars... For an average play. That isn't the worst deal ever. Which means spend a few more games and bring it up to 10-15 minute game times.
    But, again I think that pricing approach drives people away.

    #40 5 years ago

    Never encountered more than $1 CAD per credit

    #41 5 years ago

    I should probably pay a buck or more to play Congo now that it’s an A title!

    #42 5 years ago

    We have been paying $2 per game (per credit) in Australia for the last 15 years (at least). Recently, the newer Stern machines (starting with Iron Maiden) have been jacked up to $3 per game (per credit) - there was a community backlash when they did this (unsure if they have changed their pricing back to $2).

    #43 5 years ago

    Most games around here are $0.50 for most solid states, $0.25 EM's, $0.75 for expensive/popular 90's titles and 2000-2010. $1.00 on newer games.

    Games are priced like this in my business. All the pins are mine except the 4 new Sterns, Spiderman and South Park.

    Space Mission = $0.25
    Genesis, South Park = $0.50
    PinBot, The Simpsons, Batman, Lethal Weapon 3, Rollergames, Diner, Rocky & Bullwinkle = $0.50 or $2.00 for 5 plays
    Rollercoaster Tycoon = $0.75 or $3.00 for 6 Plays
    Spiderman (Stern) = $0.75 or $2.00 for 3 plays
    Metallica, Deadpool, Ghostbusters, Star Wars = $1.00 or $2.00 for 3 plays

    #44 5 years ago
    Quoted from Diospinball:

    I think if pinball on location prices itself out of play... Then that's bad long for this hobby.

    Pinball on location is more than a hobby for the Operator and a massive investment. I see people go to locations that have expensive pins and complain about price per play while they are drinking a $5 beer, make no sense. Where else can you rent a few minutes of expensive equipment use for a few dollars?

    Quoted from Diospinball:

    If I pay 15 dollars and only get 10 minutes of play... Then I'd be pretty pissed.

    Play more pinball and get better

    #45 5 years ago
    Quoted from Coz:

    Just recently paid 50cents a game on the new JJP POTC at Flippers in Outer Banks. Big Bang bar for 50cents a game too. I don’t think 2.50 a game will go over too well with potential customers

    Flippers is definitely an exception to the rule. Name one other place you can play BBB for $.50!

    #46 5 years ago

    $1 is the most I've ever paid, DILE
    A place by my work has AFM, TOM, CV, JP, Roadshow, TSPP, Junkyard, Champions Pub, and Dr. Who. They are all set to $.50 a play or 3 plays for $1. Between an occasional match and a free game from a high score every few games I can play for an hour on $2. I can't see them making much on that.
    At Sparks Pinball Museum they have somewhere around 48 and they are $.50 for most SS and Alphanumeric and $.75 for most DMDs. They had a DILE for awhile that was $1. When I bring my wife she can go through $10 very quickly!! When I go with my dad we can play for over an hour on less than $10.

    #47 5 years ago

    Probably $1 straight up.

    #48 5 years ago
    Quoted from megalo17:

    Flippers is definitely an exception to the rule. Name one other place you can play BBB for $.50!

    Flippers is much more than pinball too. Redemption is helping with their overhead.

    LTG : )

    #49 5 years ago

    We can only dream of paying $0.50 or $1 per game

    #50 5 years ago

    Paying cash for a 3500$ game in the 80s
    Or buying them on a line a credit in 2018
    At 3% interest.
    I can borrow 100k now for 500$ a month.
    Back in the 80’s 100k was 2500$ a month
    Maybe OP’s use cheep money, interest only loans and then resell the game in the high price home market after 5 years of income.

    I wish I had some coin drop cash flow

    There are 109 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 3.

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