So I've been doing my pinball survey research this past week, and one of the complaints that came up frequently in the results was that machines cost too much to fix and maintain. The opinion was that machines should be easier to maintain and more reliable, which might even make the games appealing to bars & Dave & Busters again.

Two questions:

1. Is a maintenance free pinball machine (at least, better than what we currently have) even possible?

2. What's a maintenance headache that would make angels sing if resolved?

I haven't bought any pins myself yet...just finally found a job again. I'm hungry to get one, though I'm not the most tech savvy when it comes to repairs like this. I get a headache just thinking about it!

Yeah, a virtual pin could be cool. Of course, without the physical feel and objects to hit I can see purists playing a game or two before moving on.

Sounds like easy access to all parts of the machine (without having to remove & lose a bunch of screws, etc.) would be a decent step forward, something Heighway has put some quality energy into.

Makes me think of modern cars and how they have onboard computers that mechanics can dial into quickly to diagnose issues. Maybe pinball needs that.

Yeah, time. But what about frequency? How long should a machine go--or how many games--before you're expected to tear it open and start reviewing stuff? I suppose you could ask the same thing about your car...

I recall a thread a few months back about an arcade documenting all the different repairs they had to make in a day or week. Even my local mini golf/arcade that has about ten Sterns and a WOZ seems to have at least one machine down when I go in there a few times a month...sometimes even two or three.