I can’t believe I’m saying this - as I've never recommended a 90s gottlieb game to anybody - but bang for buck, and reliability-wise, he may want to take a trip to 90s gottlieb town.

A a newbie a $2500 system 11 or early digital game might not be a very reliable or palatable decision. Gottlieb stuff like waterworld, barb wire, wipeout...not the best games in the world but should be able to get a nice, reliable gottlieb system 3 for that money.

Forget about wpc games any 90s Williams he finds for 2500 or less is probably gonna be pretty shitty, and your friend wants a pin not a headache. Even system 11 the picking will be pretty slim, and a 30+ year old
Game could be a pain.

Nobody is selling these for 2500 anymore unless they are total basket cases. “I got one last week for 2200 from my dentist/old lady down block” doesn’t count we are talking realistic, readily available market value.

STRICT $2500 budget like the thread title says, you can rule out any 90s games besides premier/gottlieb stuff. That’s realistic life in 2021.

This is the $2500 sweet spot these days!

What’s the world coming to?!

Everything under $2500 is gonna “get old fast” if “deep” games are your thing.