(Topic ID: 307654)

It's Time to Make Pinball Mainstream

By PinlordMarc

2 years ago


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  • 314 posts
  • 136 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 1 year ago by Mr_Tantrum
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There are 314 posts in this topic. You are on page 4 of 7.
-1
#151 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

They might not necessarily be to your or my taste, but the fact of the matter is that these things are wildly popular. If we're expanding the base of pinball, we shouldn't just laugh off things that are in the cultural zeitgeist just because we think they are beneath us.
I mean what is wrong with having titles out there that don't exactly line up with your subjective tastes? I wasn't around when the Munsters was a television show, but it doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the game.

You really cherry picked the oldest fossil theme out there to make your point. How about an Adele pinball machine...that would sell like hotcakes.

#152 2 years ago
Quoted from clearstar:

but folks on here are getting what they want (a bunch of old stuff), so they don't care about mainstream opinions.

I dunno. I hear this all the time and then when someone asks what theme they would pick they come up with a handful of even worse ideas. Then you get people that say things like "Less dad music please...how about [insert what would be considered dad music here]". I mean Linkin Park...those guys have to be in their late 40s. Honestly the people in this hobby that are complaining about themes are only slightly younger than the demographic that is currently buying the majority of games. You are not some hip guy. You are just one step away from being called old.

#153 2 years ago

Always amused by bands being called "dad rock" due to their age or how long they have been around. Age is not the defining factor.

Case in point: I am confident that bands like Cannibal Corpse and Deicide who have been around a long time with band members in their 50's can hardly be accused of putting out "dad rock". It was never "dad rock" and it will never be "dad rock" (although the band members are dads and many fans are dads)

If Stern made a Cannibal Corpse pinball machine with Vincent Locke art *that* would be killer.

Attention distributors: Requesting in advance for me and Gryszzz to be placed on the LE list.

#154 2 years ago

OMG I would love a Parasite pin. So much potential.

#155 2 years ago

If anyone expanded the pinball base it was the parts suppliers keeping the old games going, restorers keep the stock of used games running, the manufacturers of new games, locations, collectors introducing friends to the hobby...no celebrity required.

#156 2 years ago

Get JK Rowling to like pinball. That'd target the 18 to 44 year old market, the supposedly mainstream ages?

#157 2 years ago
Quoted from pinballcorpse:

Age is not the defining factor.

It is one of them. I mean everyone keeps throwing the phrase around that there has to be some sort of definition, right? Old group and mainstream. Mainstream would most likely be defined as record sales or radio plays or whatever...that is about it. Cannibal Corpse and Deicide are not mainstream hence they are not dad rock.

#158 2 years ago
Quoted from pinballcorpse:

Always amused by bands being called "dad rock" due to their age or how long they have been around. Age is not the defining factor.
Case in point: I am confident that bands like Cannibal Corpse and Deicide who have been around a long time with band members in their 50's can hardly be accused of putting out "dad rock". It was never "dad rock" and it will never be "dad rock" (although the band members are dads and many fans are dads)
If Stern made a Cannibal Corpse pinball machine with Vincent Locke art *that* would be killer.
Attention distributors: Requesting in advance for me and Gryszzz to be placed on the LE list.

I'm a "dad rock" guy but would be on the LE list for a Jinjer machine. But, are there 999 others out there?

#159 2 years ago

Mainstream really means dumbing down the games for the masses. (what pinhead wants that?)

I was watching people at a barcade over the Christmas break and most people didn't have a clue how to start a game. One guy asked me how to start a game and I pointed to the big button that said "Start Game".

After one ball they'd think the game was over and walk away.

Just about any game you'd approach had four players racked up and it would be on ball two. Player already moved on to the next thing.

#160 2 years ago
Quoted from pinballcorpse:

Always amused by bands being called "dad rock" due to their age or how long they have been around. Age is not the defining factor.
Case in point: I am confident that bands like Cannibal Corpse and Deicide who have been around a long time with band members in their 50's can hardly be accused of putting out "dad rock". It was never "dad rock" and it will never be "dad rock" (although the band members are dads and many fans are dads)
If Stern made a Cannibal Corpse pinball machine with Vincent Locke art *that* would be killer.
Attention distributors: Requesting in advance for me and Gryszzz to be placed on the LE list.
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Woah hold it, add me to that list...although I wpuld choose many other metal bands before CC, I'd buy that in a heartbeat (while we know it ain't happening anyway lol).

#161 2 years ago

Oops, thought you said mainlining.

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#162 2 years ago
Quoted from Palmer:

...I mean Linkin Park...those guys have to be in their late 40s...You are not some hip guy. You are just one step away from being called old.

Anyone thinking they're "hip" for listening to Link Park is already out of touch.

#163 2 years ago

Here’s a theme to make everyone happy. ABBA. Now I just need OP to go get it done. Anyone who doesn’t like this idea can go eat doodie and pee pee. Have to go, recess is over.

#164 2 years ago

Themes aside (a vote for Minecraft and Lego)…it would be interesting to see Stern launch a pin subscription program (e.g., what some automakers are experimenting with) whereby for a monthly fee you get to have a home pin and can, say, swap it out for another every few months. It would certainly lower the barrier to entry from a cost perspective.

#165 2 years ago

Some good comments here already. Accessible location pinball is the best attempt to make it more mainstream. How much of the recent growth though, has been thru home arcade owners? What percentage of say Stern sales are to home owners? I remember George Gomez stating that in an interview but do not remember what he said. I think it was at least 50% though. Maybe the best approach is to open our home arcades to the public?

#166 2 years ago
Quoted from Dogford_Studios:

Mainstream really means dumbing down the games for the masses. (what pinhead wants that?)
I was watching people at a barcade over the Christmas break and most people didn't have a clue how to start a game. One guy asked me how to start a game and I pointed to the big button that said "Start Game".
After one ball they'd think the game was over and walk away.
Just about any game you'd approach had four players racked up and it would be on ball two. Player already moved on to the next thing.

Yeah, I was at a barcade last week, there was a mother and her daughter there (maybe about 10 years old). The mother was playing Led Zep, while the daughter tried to play TMNT next to me by repeatedly pressing the button on the lockdown bar. I pointed her to the flipper button, so she tried to use one hand for the right-side flipper and the other hand on the lockdown bar button. She played one ball and walked away. I weep for the future...

#167 2 years ago
Quoted from mbeardsley:

Yeah, I was at a barcade last week, there was a mother and her daughter there (maybe about 10 years old). The mother was playing Led Zep, while the daughter tried to play TMNT next to me by repeatedly pressing the button on the lockdown bar. I pointed her to the flipper button, so she tried to use one hand for the right-side flipper and the other hand on the lockdown bar button. She played one ball and walked away. I weep for the future...

Why wouldnt her mother help her learn to play?

16
#168 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

Why wouldnt her mother help her learn to play?

Because Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wasn't mainstream enough for her.

#169 2 years ago

About the only thing I would love to see is cheaper prices for new pinball machines. #inflation

The popularity of pinball is fine. COVID has messed up society and people don't want to be around other people in public settings. People do want to be around family and friends in their own homes though.

#170 2 years ago
Quoted from Coindork:

loose your balls

Sounds messy.

#171 2 years ago
Quoted from TheLaw:

Anyone thinking they're "hip" for listening to Link Park is already out of touch.

Yeah that is my point.

#172 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

Games need to get cheaper
There’s no excuse for the prices that Stern is charging, and the smaller companies are charging even more! It’s time for these prices to come down for the good of the sport.

You should start a pinball company and show them how it's done. No one in recent history has jumped into the market with claims of cheaper, better quality, faster turnaround................. It must be easy money, so many are so successful at it.

#173 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

I think that putting machines in places other than bars would be a great way to get people playing more. I hate having to always go to a place where it might get crowded with noisy drunk people while me and my friends are just trying to play. There's one bar we play at that gets really packed after work and people are constantly bumping into you/ the machines.

Go right ahead and put your games wherever you find best and start building your own games with more marketable themes, heck you could even outsource to have them made in china to bring the price down. But I'm afraid that those invested in the field already know what they are doing.

#174 2 years ago
Quoted from Olddragon:

I'm a "dad rock" guy but would be on the LE list for a Jinjer machine. But, are there 999 others out there?

Who's Jinjer?

#175 2 years ago
Quoted from Platypus:

Go right ahead and put your games wherever you find best and start building your own games with more marketable themes, heck you could even outsource to have them made in china to bring the price down. But I'm afraid that those invested in the field already know what they are doing.

Didn't that guy who tried to make Thunderbirds in China fail too?

#176 2 years ago

Yeah, no real comedians use a "Applause Sign"

#177 2 years ago
Quoted from Tophervette:

Didn't that guy who tried to make Thunderbirds in China fail too?

Isn’t that the same guy rumored to be making Spinal Tap?

#178 2 years ago
Quoted from Tophervette:

Didn't that guy who tried to make Thunderbirds in China fail too?

He's making coil stops for Stern now.

#179 2 years ago
Quoted from Dogford_Studios:

Mainstream really means dumbing down the games for the masses. (what pinhead wants that?)
I was watching people at a barcade over the Christmas break and most people didn't have a clue how to start a game. One guy asked me how to start a game and I pointed to the big button that said "Start Game".
After one ball they'd think the game was over and walk away.
Just about any game you'd approach had four players racked up and it would be on ball two. Player already moved on to the next thing.

Ppl know how to work the plunger and really like that, but for some reason the flashing start button is lost on them. Don't even try to setup multiple players unless you want ALL 4. Maybe we do need a pin bar

#180 2 years ago

I have seen the future and its name is Arvid Flygare!!!

#181 2 years ago

If pinball becomes more "mainstream" we will end up with even more Joe Zenk's?

Or more flakes like the individual with the two day old Pinside account with a Scared Stiff that was listed yesterday for $4900 whose account is now blocked?

#182 2 years ago

Stranger Things, Rick and Morty seem rather current and mainstream.

Doesn't matter these days. A Pin about rabbit farts would sell 1000 LE's.

Until demand can be satisfied at it's current level, fuck mainstream. Let's catch up first.

#183 2 years ago
Quoted from Beechwood:

A Pin about rabbit farts would sell 1000 LE's.

Who doesn't like the smell of carrots ?

LTG : )

#184 2 years ago
Quoted from DJK77:

Ppl know how to work the plunger and really like that, but for some reason the flashing start button is lost on them. Don't even try to setup multiple players unless you want ALL 4. Maybe we do need a pin bar

My mom will somehow figure out how to start a game…then go to another game and ask how to start it.

#185 2 years ago

This thread is Dank Farrik. How's that for current culture trendiness?

#186 2 years ago

I was just lamenting the fact that pinball didn't have enough 'influencers'. I really need someone who's popular on all the cool new social media sites to validate my feelings. I mean, I love Jack Danger - but yeah, getting someone like Pete Davidson and that Jake guy from YouTube my kids talk about would be FIRE!! Or a Kardashian - man that family really has their finger on the pulse of popular culture...or somewhere - I know their finger is somewhere.

Ohhhh, and imagine all the cool Tic-Tok videos - FIRE I say - FIRE!!! Yeah - bring in more young people into the hobby so we can wipe off the stank of all these old farts playing pinball now.

#187 2 years ago
Quoted from schudel5:

He's making coil stops for Stern now.

Great job, gotta keep replacing the ones you just made

#188 2 years ago

Wow what a past few days. Epic thread on the NOS High Speed and then this train wreck

#189 2 years ago
Quoted from Palmer:

Wow, these are your modern IPs? This is laughable. I agree that Stern should really explore a solid video game license like Halo. But Maroon 5? Linkin Park? Big Bang Theory?! lol.

I’m in the older camp and I thoroughly enjoy watching you brats trying to out-young eachother.

-6
#190 2 years ago
Quoted from jgentry:

You should start a pinball company and show them how it's done. No one in recent history has jumped into the market with claims of cheaper, better quality, faster turnaround................. It must be easy money, so many are so successful at it.

I love how snide some people are being at the very concept of modernizing machine titles beyond Marvel properties. I wonder if these people would have been upset in the 70s at current stars like Elton John or The Who getting titles instead of Guy Lombardo or Benny Goodman

#191 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

I love how snide some people are being at the very concept of modernizing machine titles beyond Marvel properties. I wonder if these people would have been upset in the 70s at current stars like Elton John or The Who getting titles instead of Guy Lombardo or Benny Goodman

Aren’t you the dude that kicks machines, puts drinks on the glass, and hates Trevor? I see your posts are improving

#192 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

I love how snide some people are being at the very concept of modernizing machine titles beyond Marvel properties. I wonder if these people would have been upset in the 70s at current stars like Elton John or The Who getting titles instead of Guy Lombardo or Benny Goodman

False equivalency. You’re comparing the era of the arcade to an era where arcades are largely irrelevant. People who buy pinball machines buy games with themes that are deeply nostalgic to them. That’s what gets people to part with their cash & can’t keep a pinball factory alive in an era where they shouldn’t even exist anymore.

Enjoy the new games. It’s amazing that we have so many, all things considered.

16
#193 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

I love how snide some people are being at the very concept of modernizing machine titles beyond Marvel properties. I wonder if these people would have been upset in the 70s at current stars like Elton John or The Who getting titles instead of Guy Lombardo or Benny Goodman

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#194 2 years ago
Quoted from Palmer:

I dunno. I hear this all the time and then when someone asks what theme they would pick they come up with a handful of even worse ideas. Then you get people that say things like "Less dad music please...how about [insert what would be considered dad music here]". I mean Linkin Park...those guys have to be in their late 40s. Honestly the people in this hobby that are complaining about themes are only slightly younger than the demographic that is currently buying the majority of games. You are not some hip guy. You are just one step away from being called old.

I was born in 77... gen x and I want a Laurel and Hardy theme... like a proper one, not a nod like cinema or prospector, a real balls deep L&H pin. Eff that recycled stupid ass Marvel BS. (Cue the "this belongs in the unpopular opinions thread in 3, 2,1")

#195 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

I love how snide some people are being at the very concept of modernizing machine titles beyond Marvel properties. I wonder if these people would have been upset in the 70s at current stars like Elton John or The Who getting titles instead of Guy Lombardo or Benny Goodman

No one in the 70's had a clue what titles were coming out nor did they care. They went to the arcade and put dimes in the games they liked and ignored the ones they didn't. After 5 years most games were pitched in a dumpster by the owner.

There are numerous current modern titles. It's like you don't even know what has been released in the last few years. Stranger Things was the most popular show anywhere. Rick and Morty is hugely popular, TMNT is still extremely relevant with kids and hits on the nostalgia factor for adults, Supreme had people fighting over it, JP continues to release new movies and games.

#196 2 years ago
Quoted from jgentry:

No one in the 70's had a clue what titles were coming out nor did they care. They went to the arcade and put dimes in the games they liked and ignored the ones they didn't. After 5 years most games were pitched in a dumpster by the owner.

It was also possible (and common) to run into older games that you had no idea existed. There was no top 100 list or IPDB. You only knew anything about games you had run across in person.

#197 2 years ago
Quoted from PinlordMarc:

No one has ever heard of Ed Robertson and Slash doesn't appeal to a modern audience. We're trying to grow the sport, bud.

Sorry. It's not a sport. Pinball is an amusement device. That's why it's boring as f*** to watch others play it.

I love the hunt, (for the most part) fixing games, and playing games... but I'd rather bang my head against the wall than sit and watch it. Besides, I've had lots of feet travel through my game room and vast majority, young and old, really don't care about pinball beyond a few flips. That's totally fine by me, because it's there for amusement.

#198 2 years ago
Quoted from Platypus:

Who's Jinjer?

Pretty sure she was a character on Gilligan's Island, but I preferred Mary Ann.

Quoted from clearstar:

My list was examples of things real people are into like my wife.

I'm glad that real people are into your wife, though you may find that a bit of a concern.

(Although it occurs to me you may have meant "real people like my wife are into." In which case never mind.)

#199 2 years ago
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#200 2 years ago
Quoted from 27dnast:

That's why it's boring as f*** to watch others play it.

I would venture a guess that many many others on here (like myself) totally disagree with this. I find live-streams of big events even more enjoyable than most other ‘sports’ these days.

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