Quoted from calvin12:I'm not concerned with them at all. but to say there will never be a failure is silly. and to say they don't degrade over time is just wrong.
So, here's the perfect solution. Along one edge of the board, maybe even the back side, put a few (or 10) extra LEDs that are lit but just shine into dead space. The can be like the extra buttons sewn onto the tail of a shirt. Since they'll be lit, they'll degrade at the same rate as all the other LEDs in the game and you'll have a matching replacement.
Wait a minute! If they're lit all the time, they'll degrade faster than the blinking ones elsewhere in the game! Maybe they will need to be controlled the same as on of the insert "lamps"... but which one? Oh, no! All of the "real" LEDs are going to be lit at different times and degrade at different rates. Maybe we need LED wear leveling so that they all remain consistent.
Seriously, though. It's a pinball machine, not a Mars lander.
I will admit, however, that I would like to be able to take a crack at writing a PWM kernel module (or however it's implemented) to allow brightness and transition control.