I don't know if there is a fear that "good" players will come along and keep winning free plays or will make one game last a long time so they must charge big money.

For me I will put in more money overall if I can play more games. When arcades were still around me I would put several dollars into the $.25 per play machine but might only play the $.50 machine for one game. If a place only had expensive pins ($.50 per play in those days) I would only play a game or two. It was not the amount of money that I spent overall that mattered to me, it was the perceived value per play that I looked at.

The few pins that are around me in pizza shops, it is just painful to watch. You can see the college students look at them, $1 per play or buy a big slice of pizza. Which do you think wins out? These games are just sitting idle, no one playing. I would think any money going into them would be better compared to them just sitting in attract mode burning out light bulbs and attracting dust.

I would like to hear an operators take on it, on first glance I would think the pins would earn much more at $.25 or $.50 per play, just because more people would randomly throw in a quarter they have in their pocket. Does the added wear and tear of 4 poorly played (very short) games by amateurs really put that much more wear on the machine compared to 1 well played game by someone is competent and willing to put in a dollar? The vast majority of players I see are so novice theirs games are so short the perceived value to them is awful, compared to playing a game of pool or megatouch.

Its the split. Ops have to split the money if they put it on a location. Thus one $1 games.

If they lower the price, sure people will play it more, but now the game has more wear and tear on it. I think some Ops will raise the price, get less money, but have a pin in better shape.

Same deal here in Sydney (Australia). Many of the operators have 'blinged' out their machines to the max with every mod possible which I can't help feel the player helps pay for at $2 per game. I'd rather not have the mirror blades and a custom topper and pay $1 a game.

I think it is true that I play less games at $2 a play. If it was $1 a game I would play a heap more games and ultimately sink more money into the machine.

In Oslo... it's 10 NOK per game. That's about $1.75 a game.

The .50 cent expectation of video games has really bucked the trend of costs and is a large part why operating isn't that profitable. It's too cheap vs their costs today.. vs what they were 20-30 years ago.

Welcome to Australia - THE LUCKY COUNTRY !

Petrol is between $6.50 to $8.00 a gallon
A case of rock stock brand beer is $40 - a case of Corona can be $60
A coffee is $3.00 uwards and there are NO free refills.
Clothes are twice what you pay in the US.
Food is ridicoulous.
Pinball is expensive
EVERYTHING is expensive.

Yep - we are SO lucky

Struggling to reintegrate after your recent trip mate???.. Youll get used to it, its cheaper today than it will be tomorrow

My understanding is games shipped there cost a lot more to buy too.

Heck I wish I could still buy EM's for $400 and run them on 10¢ a play too, and hundred dollar a month rent would be nice too.

LTG : )

Isn't our minimum wage and average yearly income higher than the U.S may be wrong but I thought it was? Plus we get health care and other benefits that aren't free in the states. Corona's were $40 the other night I got a slab at Dan Murphy's too but alcohol prices are due to all the taxes to prevent people drinking which is retarded. I figured most stuff evens out in day to day living costs but imported electronics is where we really get screwed in made up pricing.
Pin prices are crazy though, near me it's $2 a game and their maintained poorly. Luckily I can get the replay a few times on TF to make it worth playing.

That is sad. They should be maintained, especially at that price.

LTG : )

I first saw 50 cent video games back around when Dragon's Lair and Star Wars came out. That was in 1983. 50 cents, inflation-adjusted, is about $1.15 today - and that's using the gubmints goofballs CPI. In the real world, I would say it's closer to $1.50.

Additionally, arcades and pinball are far more niche these days - you can charge less when more people are playing the games. The price to play just hasn't kept up. But then again, in the case of pinball, it could be argued the games haven't kept up to match the niche audience.

My own feeling is the coin slot ought to go away and they should just ship standard with bill acceptors.

But you have Koala's, Dingo's, and Kangaroo's running around....which is cool.

not really, kangaroos like jumping into cars where I live. My brother in law slowed down because one was on the side of the road and it jumped straight into him. I get them all the time across the road from me in the park lands. Scary when there's a large group near you

Hahaha - what a myth that is ......only in Zoos and when you drive in the country will you see these critters.

Just simply meet other Melbourne pinball owners and play theirs for free.

Hahaha - what a myth that is ......only in Zoos and when you drive in the country will you see these critters.

No myth here in the Nation's Capital...although we are a little more 'country' than Washington. BTW I agree that we're going to struggle to appeal to a new generation as long as game prices are jacked up!

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I live 30-40 minutes out of Melbourne CBD depending on traffic and I have loads of kangaroos near me. Even in my old place which was only 20 minutes or so out of the city there was a small council "forest" that had kangaroos in it which wasn't far from my place but they usually stayed within the fenced off reserve there. Also saw koalas a few times at my old place but haven't seen one where I am now. While my new house was being built we actually saw an echidna in some of the vacant land too which really surprised me.

No myth in Melbourne's west to I'm always dodging the dam things on my way home! The kangaroo population is exploding many need to be culled, they probably don't like Sydney either lol

Oh and as someone mentioned our wages are higher than the USA so me for one believe we are in "the lucky country"

Games in waterloo iowa are only .25 a game but they are such pour shape you still like your ripped off.

Yes,$2 for three balls is a bit steep.

Out of the recent Sterns I played on site.Avatar, BBH and Iron Man.The match % was fairly generous.

The match isn't bad where I play and to be fair the replay scores are set low. The problem I have is that friends who don't really play pinball still can't get the low replay and most of them don't even realise they've gotten a match and walk away. Plus the $2 means I've never seen anyone else ever play one.

It seems like the current route model is bad if you are an operator. Splitting the meager take with the property owner seems like a losing game from what many operators are describing.

I would be very curious about a straight rental of the pins with a service agreement, let the property owner keep 100% of the money earned and price the pins very cheap like $.25 a play.

The goal would be a loss leader or a break even to keep patrons around and buying the stuff that actually makes money for the property owner, like booze. The bands, the pool tables, the megatouch games, the huge TV's on the wall, they are around to keep the patrons entertained so they buy the high profit margin stuff. I would think pins could be like that if they were cheap to play so even very marginal players would play, stay entertained, and hang around for "one more drink" or the kids would stay entertained for a little longer so the parents could stay at the restaurant a little longer.

some good points mg81 but to rent a pin over a weekend is around $200 to $300 for a weekend party and around $1000 a month. But I don't think anyone has done the barcade thing here yet unfortunately.

The operators put in one to a few pins in pubs but commonly it is a 40% to the pub owner and 60% to the operator or a 50/50 deal.

A new Metallica is $6350 Aus which at the moment is equivalent to the US dollar rate so $6350 US for a new pin. Average cost to bring a pin - freight and tax is around the $1500 and then profit margins hence the high price. Then some guys install blades, subs, shakers, leds so the $2 a game set at 3-5 balls is a standard thing in Newcastle as well.

you guys may have higher costs based on import....but dammit if your girls aren't sexy as hell!

yes we do have some sexy girls - jennifier hawkins was a local and use to cheer lead and very beautiful

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Until the Dingo eats your baby .....

rd.

At least in oz our sheep dont need to be nervous bro ha ha

Cheap shot lol

A bit cheap, could have gone the route of the whole countries tourist economy being based around hobbit tours

Back in 2000 Star Wars Ep1 were $2 a game for 3 Balls in many places

The games made $300 a week IE 150 games, people complained and it was dropped to $1 and it did 200 games a week at $1 now $200 a week turnover.

dropped by $100 a week, no wonder operators won't site them as they don't make enough even at $1 in a busy location

So why are you not complaining about the cost to buy the games, most manufacturers now make less games at twice the price a game was back in 2000.

I think $2 a game is fair on site in Australia Now Days

we have plenty of dingo's running around here in America.(but we use a synonym my mom told me not to repeat)

Getting back to girls this is our personal trainer at work... Not a word of a lie:

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I believe

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back to the price subject, i remember visiting Disney in PARIS +/- 10 years ago, pins were set to 2 euros / 3 balls...

was an ass-rape for sure !