Good to see this trend continuing.

North of Houston there is the Game Preserve that has been around for a few years. I have not been there yet as it opened not long before I had moved away from the area. Now I'm back and I'm going to check it out. It was started by a group of pin/arcade video collectors who decided to rent a space and open their stuff to the public. They do a monthly membership deal as well as day passes, and it's really cheap. The model must work somewhat because they were able to get a bigger space after a couple years. They have games of basically every era of flipper pinball too.

Some don't like the freeplay format because people will camp on a game they want, but it's wonderful for experimentation and learning. I have just started playing live pins again after a long time not, and these sessions have been great for regaining a feel for live catching, multiball trapping/separating, nudging and working with tight tilt bobs when you find them. TAF I played last night showed me no mercy for example. You can forget about scores and replays and just hone skills if you want.