Quoted from EaglePin:Clearly there aren't any GOTG near me with IC on them. On Pinballmap.com, other than the Stern Factory Arcade, I see 4 GOTG near me. So that means none of them have IC on them. And this area is a big market for pinball in the country.
I just looked up Greenleaf, ID on Pinballmap.com. It lists 24 pinball machines in Greenleaf. When I entered the Greenleaf zip code of 83626 into Stern IC it shows a grand total of 5 machines connected, but the kicker is that none of them are even in Greenleaf. They're all listed as being over 20 miles from 83626.
There are situations like this all over the country, including in bigger pinball markets like Chicago. So I fail to see the argument that operators need to be protected when there just aren't that many IC games out on location to begin with. There's not that much out there to protect.
Also I think a rising tide would float all boats, meaning more interest in pinball (including having home leaderboards) will translate into more location play because of the expanded interest in total that it generates. Looking at it as "it would take business from locations" is just not supported by the facts. Home pinball owners play a good amount of location pinball. At tournaments in the area a common question when meeting someone is "Do you have any games at home" and the answer is pretty often "yes". I don't think the amount home owners play on location would change much if leaderboards were available at home.
Leaderboards are fun, and more people having fun in pinball means better pinball business for everyone.
Half of our spike 2 games DO NOT have IC on them. Unless they have come with the newer games and yes, we have a leaderboard or two up.
Why? Operators get no discount on the kit. $200 per machine adds up quick and you would be disgustingly shocked by how little money a 7-9k pinball machine actually makes in a month.
