(Topic ID: 20980)

Let me pick your brains a bit...

By Nekojin

11 years ago


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  • 14 posts
  • 12 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 11 years ago by smokey_789
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    #1 11 years ago

    I've got some questions with regard to playing pinball in arcades, and how people view things differently. This all may seem a little random, but trust me - there's a point to it.

    1.) When you go to play at arcades or other public venues, about how much do you spend on pinball in one session (admission fees + per-play fees)?
    2.) If a nearby arcade started offering either 10 machines that you can play elsewhere, but not all in one location OR two machines that you can't play anywhere else, which would you go for (assuming generally high-quality games in both cases)?
    3.) Would you rather have background music in an arcade, or just the sounds from the machines?

    #2 11 years ago

    1. $5-10
    2. the one with 2 different machines, as that gives me at least 12 different machines to play altogether
    3. No music

    #3 11 years ago

    1) $5-$10 when alone (like traveling out of town) $20-$50 if any member of my family is with me and we are having fun!

    2) Easy reply. Like alveolus said above, 2 different machines all day long!

    3) Just the distinct sounds from the pin. If by some chance there were a snack counter area near by, I would like a tv with sound about current local news (or radio music is cool) while I ate a hot dog or nacho's

    nice thread...off the beaten path...I like that...shakes it up a bit around dis place

    #4 11 years ago

    1. depends on venue. If it's all-i-can-eat for a one time fee, I expect to pay $15. If I'm walking into an arcade, I expect to pay 75 cents a game for anything solid state and above. If it's a near collector condition pin that is well taken care of by a good router, I expect to pay a dollar a game easy.
    2. "machines I can't play anywhere else" meaning those machines are nowhere in the vicinity of a 300 mile radius? I would say it would depend on the titles, but probably the two machines. If I could play the same games within reasonable distance, why bother? Unless I'm meeting a bunch of other pinheads (where it would be nice to have machines next to each other instead of location-hopping
    3. I sort of like background music, it's what I remember playing arcades as a kid/teen. Really if it's just the machines, I can't hear them anyway (too much overlap). I would say either:
    a. headphone jacks on all the pins
    b. a laserbeam speaker for each pin:
    http://mashable.com/2012/03/22/soundlazer-kickstarter-speaker

    Another cool thing (besides just music) would be a big screen playing retro stuff, like 80's/90's tv shows

    #5 11 years ago

    1. I'd agree with the $5/person estimate. Roll of quarters for two people for a couple hours or more.

    2. Definitely the two machines I can't play anywhere else. Would rather try to get better at a small number of machines with more games on them than fewer games on a lot of different machines. Also seems like it would help limit how many quarters you're losing to bad games on a single machine; there's only two that can make you just frustrated enough to keep playing that extra game instead of ten.

    3. I don't mind background music on location, but it's made me realize how important the audio queues of a game are for getting feedback on your shooting, mode starts, jackpots, etc. Was getting difficult on SM to know exactly what was active and scoring with the sound so low at the local pin-den. Made it a little more difficult to learn the game. It's also made me realize how much I like the sound design of some games, and multiple music inputs to my brain makes it short circuit.

    #6 11 years ago

    1. $5 minimum

    2. Absolutely. I would also play the other pins too.

    3. Only music from the pins, but I wouldn't mind it at a low volume.

    #7 11 years ago

    1. $5 - $15 depending on how bad I am playing

    2. Two Machines

    3. Only sound from pins

    #8 11 years ago

    1) If admit fee AND pay for play no more than 5 to get in. .50 play. .50-1.00 if just pay per play and 15 for all day pass.

    2) One rare machine and 5 regulars. For uniqueness and variety.

    3) What pinballdad said.

    #9 11 years ago

    Good data so far, thank you all. =^_^=

    #10 11 years ago

    Anyone else?

    #11 11 years ago

    Typically I play at home.

    When I do go out I expect to pay 0.50-1.00 per play depending on how well kept the machine is and what era it was from etc.

    I usually drop $10-20 on just quarters and always go somewhere that has drinks.

    I also almost always go to Ground Kontrol in Portland Oregon. They have a good variety of pins and a great retro feeling arcade.

    I have occasionally went to a location because they have a title I am looking for and I want to play it first. Usually that is the only reason I visit a location with only 1 or 2 pins.

    #12 11 years ago

    1) usually 5-10 bucks unless there is an single entrance fee and games on freeplay
    2) I would rather play 2 pins that arent on location anywhere else.
    3) very low background music is acceptable but cant overpower the pins.

    #13 11 years ago

    1) $5-10 is what I usually spend, unless I get a lot of replays and matches.
    2) 2 pins that are not anywhere else, for sure...
    3) No background music! I once went to arcade that felt the need to blast Adele. Needless to say, I stopped putting money in the games and left.

    #14 11 years ago

    Thinking of opening an arcade? So am I. Thanks for asking those questions.

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