The cost is killer, but the bugs really hurt too. We've been talking to Stern for weeks about our Star Wars losing monitor image after being on for 24 hours or so. They keep giving us code updates that don't work. It's a good location, for a pin, but we're losing money when a brand new machine is broken. Plus, it looks bad for the company when games are down.

That being said, I think two color games would be a terrible idea. Like it or not, I think the casual customer is attracted to the IP as much as anything. I'm sure the Star Wars license was expensive as heck, but people love hearing Yoda's voice. There just isn't a magic solution to make pinballs really profitable. People will go either for what the recognize, what's big and flashy, or what they can win a prize with. Pins don't really fit any of those descriptors without a big name IP.

Wdennie, that's only true if you're going to a set arcade. Most operators have pins in bars, bowling alleys, and eateries. The idea is to grab someone's spare dollar on impulse, at least most of the time.

I like to think of our machines as horses. You got your workhorses, like our T2, that have been out in the field almost 30 years now, and are beat to heck and back. They still play fine, and can earn money, but the years of corners breaking off plastics and scrapes on the side art take their toll. Kids climb on them, people stuff pennies in the coin slots, they get band stickers stuck on them and folks throw up on them. They just keep ticking along.

Then you have your show horses. These are the home use machines. They operate flawlessly, and never get hard use. People brag about them to their friends. The problem is that Stern has to make a machine that can be either a work horse OR a show horse. For limited funds. It can't be an easy task. I just wish show horse owners would understand that our machines aren't going to look and play quite as fine as theirs.