Most Redemption games are rigged to pay certain percentages. A bit harder to do that with a pinball game that isn't completely controlled by software.

Ever see a redemption game that lasted 3+mins on a single credit?

Killing your economies of scale -> increasing your costs
Shrinking the market -> less demand for parts -> less suppliers, lower volumes -> higher costs
Shrinking the market -> less exposure -> harder to market -> higher costs
Increasing the per unit cost dramatically -> increases friction to selling -> higher risk of an order not closing -> More volatile sales, more risk

Sounds like an easy out.. but it can hurt you in the long run. A successful company needs a healthy ecosystem of suppliers AND buyers... and a product/price combo that will convert your addressable market into actual sales.

The harder your per transaction sale is... or the less number of buyers you have... the more risky your sales outlook becomes. Hit big, but you miss as big too.

And what about higher prices (alone) expands the market? They haven't done anything different, just raised prices 30+%. The channels, the marketing, the exposure... all the same.

The only thing that has happened has been raising ASPs while thinning their buyers.

Creating a new market would mean reaching buyers they weren't previously. The current products were already 'luxury' vs the prior models. What you outline is what JJP did.. but he did it by changing the product, changing distribution, and changing the marketing. Again, all we've gotten recently is 'more of the same' with boosted prices... no significant change in product or sales.

Pricing are soaring relative to other metrics - Product Volume, size of the current pool of buyers, type of product, incomes, etc. The market has not changed in the last 18months... this is supported by the facts that distribution has not changed, and communities like this still make up the bulk of the buying activity. The edges of the curve do not dictate the market.

Games were under valued vs what people would be willing to pay for them.. and now that reaction has continued to the point where those same buyers are turning up their nose at the prices.

These points are what supports the notion that prices are inflated vs normal inflation.

You keep taking points in isolation and stretching them. Like your arguments have ignored that both the major shipping pinball companies (JJP and Stern) have undergone management and strategic changes during the time period you've used to support your postulation. These are significant factors that muddy any correlation between prices charged and chasing demand. Prices increasing does not always mean demand exceeding supply.. it can simply be capitalizing on willingness to pay.

We know volume is up in success stories compared to years prior (Stern's comments about shipping more games in a month than ever.. and successes like AC/DC).. but past volume does not blindly support any price point. Its possible to over-reach... and that is what the customer sentiment is reflecting now.

Contrast the response seen in the last 6 weeks compared with the price increases we've seen previously. Tipping point is a phrase that sounds appropriate.

Uhhh... The constricted stuff we are talking about are LE editions... Which are announced at what size the run will be capped at. Don't be factious