And people complain that there's no innovation in pinball! 31 years later and they're still pretty much identical to the original. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
(I've owned an original example since '86!)
As for the tournament scene, you might want to look into doing something at CAX, too. There was a Super Chexx there that there was always a line for and that place is known for having all kinds of tournaments on all kinds of games.