pinball in 2020 makes the peaks of the 1990s machines seem so old and limited in comparison.
RGB lighting, LCD screens, and a focus on deep rulesets has sparked a lot of pinball joy.

THAT SAID,
I don't really know where pinball will go forward from here. The current wave of excellent machines will probably start feeling stale after 5 more years of releases like JP, DP, Met, JJPPotC, and TMNT. (I'm assuming)

P3 is definitely the most notable innovation and is brimming with future potential, Heist being their first truly killer game.

But thinking of more traditional platforms like Stern, I'm not sure what might be the next gamechangers there.
I guess embedded internet connectivity and the innovations that can spur?

I really like the first post's mention of slot machines, where yeah it's basically the same thing over and over with just themes swapped in and a few aspects changed around.
You see this in Japan with the pachinko and pachislo industry as well.
With the gambling industry, if it's not broke you don't fix it, so those mainstays will just keep getting churned out.
(Japan has lots of innovation when it comes to gambling though, like check out there immersive horse track machines! https://kotaku.com/awkward-adventures-in-segas-digital-horse-racing-game-1798615738 )

Will pinball get to a point where the inherent layouts are absolutely exhausted? That feels like a question they were also asking back in the 1960s.
It feels like a question that Pinball 2000 and P3 took the most seriously.
But I'm not sure if it's an existential threat to the hobby itself, at least for the next decade.

this rules and also A+ for theme integration there

I could envision a P3 game based off table-top RPG campaigns and you join different parties (different groups of players around the world) and have to build up stats over the course of a month. Each player could log in to the campaign once per day and put in a game and that effects the entire party's progress and status.

maybe you do one game for that party per day, but you could simultaneously be part of a number of entirely different campaigns with different groups of people. so advance your first story, log that game, then move on to the next story you're involved in.

Any franchise that can harvest real-time data has potential.
Fantasy Football is apparently a big thing. It might be a nice flourish to have a game that incorporates those kinds of daily updates.

Here is some innovation in pinball: a company representative that understands pinside and doesn't fall into it's traps!

this hobby is 90 years old, we're jaded, crusty, and wise.

tbh I'm not sure why that hasn't been an option for a while. Just a flat door at the front where you could install a proper door if need-be, but no reason to actually include the coin mechs and coin box for the home environment

I'm thinking we should go back to roto-targets and vari-targets

We moved a JP2 down my precarious stairs and it was noticeably better than moving a 90s Williams machine. On Williams machines to make the difficult turn easier I would often remove the playfield from the cab to make it more manageable.
hallelujah