this is kind of on topic. i just want to say im DONE with consoles and i mean DONE. i will no longer purchase a sony or microsoft gaming product. first of all the content really isnt that great, how many times can you rehash call of duty?? beyond that as an investment they really are terrible. i can buy a pinball machine, play it for as long as i want and sell it in the future for what i payed for it or more so long as i maintain it. i bought an xbox 360 4 years ago, i called gamestop today because i wanted to get as much as i can out of the stupid thing. they told me it was only worth $40-$50 in "trade in" credits. i dont want trade in credits, i wanted cash to help fund some LED's in some of my pins and i was hoping i would at least get $75-$100. you mean to tell me this thing lost 80%+ of its value in 4 years. think i will ever buy a console ever again... think again. pinball is a much better investment and while the machines cost more to buy up front they are cheaper in the long run as you can get nearly all of your money back and maybe even might make a profit. consoles are a loose, loose, loose. if the buying public ever figures this out and turns to pinball machines as I did they are done. real life, tangible pinball machines are a much, much better investment. consoles suck

i still have my PC. i never really played the 360 that much anyways. i bought it to play forza and i will say that was excellent. halo was OK. on the pc i always like the company of heroes. i wont be buying a next generation anything. i have more fun with my pinball machines anyways. consoles are just the chinese ripping us off. now, if only i still had that original Nintendo from 1985, that would be worth something.

as far as money i guess you guys dont know what i tight-wad i am, lol. my cars lol. i would never waste my money on a new car. 20k for a chevy cruze that rapidly looses value. i have a 1996 pontiac bonneville, a 1991 cavalier convertible, and a 2000 grand prix gtp. the gtp was the most expensive car i own at $3,500. the bonneville and the cavalier were both less then 2 grand and both of them came from florida, they might be old but no rust. they have both been payed for for several years.

of course i have a job i make $18.50 per hour. i also have a mortgage, a child, food, a wife that's been out of work, credit card bill, car insurance, ect ect. i like to have fun but i also like to get money back out of what i bought when im done with it... i have fun with my pins and i can get my money out of them when im done with them. i think thats awesome then someone else gets to do the same thing. gee i just think buying a new star trek pin might not be such a bad investment after all, lol.

i always liked pinball arcade on the PC but honestly i dont really play it too much now that i have real pins. why play something on computer if i have real machines to play. i really only play pinball arcade to see what pins are out there and what i might possibly want to buy. its a try before you buy experience i think, an education if you will.

i wonder what make you guys think there is going to be a "market correction". perhaps some of the really expensive pins will loose SOME money but i dont see the whole market tanking. i have gone to the locally pool hall where they have 6 machines and i have seen teenagers playing them. the game has survived several ups and downs, i would speculate that its not going anywhere. there are companies currently making state of the art games, extremely high quality, high tech and fun to play. that's what gets people started, they play wizard of oz or star trek on location and decide to buy an older pin because that's what they can afford.

if the economy gets really really bad, great depression style nothing will be worth anything anymore because money will no longer have any value. otherwise i think its a fairly safe to say the value of the average $1-3K pin is not going to tank. i just dont think games like attack from mars, mid-evil madness or catcus canyon are going to be able to maintain $10k values. i just dont think a pinball machine is worth that kind of money, i dont think those games will maintain that value (in my opinion). i could be wrong, in way i do wish those games would come down as i would buy an attack from mars in a minute if it was more affordable.

i do think the resurgence of pinball is partially due to the fact that people are sick and tired of call of duty and other repeat titles with excessive violence. i have a 3 year old son and i dont want that nonsense in my house. pinball on the other hand is a game that requires great skill to play well and does not involve any violence. i think people are looking for better entertainment then what is offered in modern video games and TV (i literally watch NO TV... i watch SOME netflix)

i dont need or want animated violence i read about it, i see it on the news i dont want to act it out.

sure there are classic video games but the content was better back then which is what draws people to it i think. sonic and mario didnt walk around with an RPG blowing peoples brains all over the place. i think there is far too much violence in video games and somewhat difficult to find good games that dont fit that mold. our society is mess up bad. pinball is pure it does not involve any type of violence, it can be fast moving, and very difficult to master.

i understand the concept of never really getting your money back if you sell and then buy more pins, i get that. however in the event of a loss of your job you can sell your pins to put food on your table. pins offer some security that consoles NEVER will. A used console and games cost quite a bit of money BUT are completely worthless as a source of income in an emergency. pins are not that way, when things are going well and your working steady you spend money on them, thats the hobby. As long as things continue normally then you just enjoy them. if things fall apart its "money in the bank" so to speak. thats the big difference for me, knowing that if i had a money emergency i could sell them if i had to.

by the way i actuallyy do like some of the older video games. i have been known to download the emulators, play some sonic the headhog, mario, 1942, bubble bobble. sure i have my favorites, i just dont have any need to act out violence, AND i think that getting roughly 10% of what i paid for my xbox 360 4 years ago is a joke. 10%?? i might as well run the thing over with my farmall cub tractor, and that was store credit only. im not interested in buying anything from gamestop i wanted some extra cash to spend on LED's. its not even worth the gas or the time to drive there.

consoles have nearly ruined PC gaming. allot of developers dont want to bother with the PC anymore. personally if i was to play video games i much prefer the PC. however since i got into having my own pinball machines i really dont do too much with video games.... i do say the PC was always the best way to go... today they have the graphics muscle but the titles arent there like they used to be. consoles have destroyed the arcades, pinball, and weakend PC gaming. truthfully i dont really care for them