Very Sad to hear

NOOOO!!!!!

I thought it was May30th! I need to find a way down there ASAP!!!

I have only been there a few times but it is quite an amazing place.

Sorry to hear it is closing Sarah. You ran a great place.

Suuuuuuuuuuucks

Best of luck Sarah. Thank you for what you did for pinball.

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Thanks Sarah. Your place was awesome, the staff was always friendly, and selection of games was ridiculous. Best of luck!

Walking through the doors for the first time reminded me of walking into Fenway my first time 40 years ago and seeing all that green grass. Very few chances to ever get that opportunity in life and now one of them is gone.

Thanks for keeping it going so strong for as long as you did.

Pinball Wizard Arcade is what brought me into this great hobby.

For years, I was used to playing the broken, run down pins at Funspot. It wasn't until I stopped at Pinball Wizard on a whim that I realized how much fun pinball could be. Playing clean, fully working games of every era made me appreciate the breadth and beauty of pinball. Now, I own two games of my own and I'm looking forward to my third.

New England has suffered a HUGE loss for public on-location pinball. For now, I'll hang onto the hopes that someday, an arcade as awesome as Pinball Wizard rises again. Thanks for the memories, Sarah!

-Doug

Second that. I'll never forget that same feeling after seeing that giant purple sign every time I took my son to Chunky's next door. One day I finally decided to say heck with it and go by myself to check it out and see if it was anything like my old birthday party joint when my friends and I were growing up - Dream Machine in the Methuen Mall. I'm so glad I didn't bring my 4yr old that day because I got to be a kid again all by myself. The place was at least 4x the size of Dream Machine, with the wildest collection of pins ever. To think right now there are both JJP games, loads of Premium/LE Sterns, tons of early B/W, both P2Ks, and enough System 11 & WPC games to make your head spin all in one place.

I live 20 min from PWA and it's been a weekly staple for the past 4 years. When I first took my son, he was only tall enough to play SMB Mushroom World. Four years later, he's now keeping up with my scores on some of the better games, has very decent flipper technique, and understands some of the games' rules. This has been a wonderful place for the two of us and I'm SOOOOO sad that he's away this weekend and won't be around to spend the last of his tokens that he got for X-mas.

Thanks Sarah, for giving my son and I an awesome place to have fun for the past 4 years... awww F*** it. I'm leaving work now to go play.

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Thank you so much for Pinball Wizard and everything you've done for the hobby.
Best of luck to you.

This is a huge loss to the pinball communitY. I was always hoping this would work out in the end.

Pinball Wizard was the absolute best arcade I have visited over the years. Thanks for having such a great venue for so long.

To Sarah and everyone that works or worked at Pinball Wizard......thank you. I brought my family there in October 2011 for the first time. Got to give my sons a look into how the good old days were. Have been going there once or twice a year every year after from Long Island, New York. Was like going back in time to when I was younger, going to all the local arcades in the late 70's/early 80's. The variety of machines was amazing. Wish you well. Places like this don't exist, they are few and far between. Take care.....

Sorry to hear.. gonna come out Sunday hopefully . If not I hope you will have me and jess over..

What a shame - this place was legendary! I'm sad we don't live close enough to pay our respects. What is happening with the inventory?

Sad to hear. Losing a great place really hurts.

Best wishes to the owner and staff on their futures.

LTG

Thanks Pinball Wizard staff and Sarah. I have brought my young ones there a few times now and hopefully one last time this weekend. Kids are 3 1/2 and 2 and wanted them to experience an old-school arcade feel. Thank you for that. I also took them to Dave & Busters once and that was enough for my son, he cried the whole time because it was so loud in there and had no pinballs. Won't be going there again.

I'm sad to here this Sarah. I would like to offer you a pinball wizard arcade area in the free play room at pintastic this July. Thoughts?

Definitely gonna miss this place ..

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Made a point to come and visit a couple years ago when I was in MA for a weekend. Brought some friends that weren't pinball players and they had a great time too. Awesome place. Best of luck Sarah in whatever life brings your way.

Sad to hear the news, any arcade closing is sad, especially when it is an obviously well ran one. Here's hoping your future adventures are bright!

Dang! I never got the chance to make it.
I salute your efforts of this endeavor for sure.

Best wishes for your Future!

Your Arcade was so outstanding, it was often brought up in conversations from Florida to CA!

Lots of fans who never got there, but knew of the Quality you brought to all!

Art

Never got there. When I got back into the hobby years ago and was looking for some place to play, a google search brought them up. Looked amaze-balls. It would be something like a 6 hour drive from NYC and I never did it, and I regret that. I always wanted to go and always thought there'd be something that would get me up that way so that I could check it out. Over time I bought my own games, met fellow hobbyists that owned games, and various locations cropped up to play, so the trip became less of a priority. I blew it!

Sad day for Pinball.

Aww I upvoted you but that doesn't mean I like it.

I still remember how I found Pin Wiz and really the whole retro arcade scene. I was at a really terrible welding job in '12 however I couldn't quit because I had been laid off for like a year. The radio kept playing an ad for the "Pinball Wizard Arcade" all damn week just taunting me to go but I couldn't because I was so tired after work so I decided to go on that Saturday. I took my mom and dad along and the last time the whole family actually went to an arcade together was back in the 90's. It wasn't for a concert or anything it was actual real family fun arcade time and that hadn't happened since I was like 5 or whatever.

I just remember thinking this was a hole in the wall crappy place because of the giant "for lease" sign outside and this tiny door. Maybe a few arcade machine's who knows right? Well through the door opens into this GIGANTIC swath of just arcade everything-ness. Everybody mouth was just agape. I mean a few games and ticket redemption games is all we were expecting not like everything under the sun. I remember being amazed that they didn't have bells and chimes anymore, the Fonz wasn't there, how much it was to play (it went up a bit since the 90's), the toys in the games, and there were themes in the games. I decided to play "Family Guy" and I just remember laughing which I really needed when I got into "Fart Multiball". Getting free games I was shocked at.

Then I remember meeting Greg Bond (who I didn't know at the time) and just being mesmerized by how good he was. A real "pinball wizard" which I was shocked they exist like some sort of Jedi and there is skill in pinball. That upped my game for sure learning there was more to pinball.

Then I remember Sarah for actually pushing me into competitive pinball. I was getting replays and some hi-scores but to play in a pinball league? I mean you had to be like PAPA A division to be in a league I thought. If you weren't, you were just going to waste money and look like a rookie. Well Sarah said "try it because you're pretty good I think". The rest really is history as I'm ranked under 1k now.

Really there are so many more memories but.....yeah....I don't have the words that can do it justice. Thank you. Thank you so very much. For everything.

-Derek

headin' there RIGHT NOW

Knew for a little while the possibility of this location closing and was holding out hope the day would never come. so again will enjoy it for a couple more visits.

Honored to meet many great people there and Sarah is in the top of the list.

Just visited for the last time tonight. So sad to see it go!

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Wanted to go since 2011 but never made it, darnit.

http://www.maaca.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2669

Here's hoping Pinball Wizard Arcade will re-open in the future!

Great walkthru video:

got halfway there & car started to crap-out think a tranny problem. by hook or by crook I'll make it there before weekend is out.

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

At the beginning of that video there's a Boston Red Sox pin next to the coin dispensing machine near the front desk. Looks like a re-themed EM maybe? Anyone know anything about that? The video is from 2011, before I ever went there.

Thank you, Sarah!

Your landlord is a complete idiot. This is a big blow for pinball in New England and the Wizard will be sorely missed. Thanks for sharing your games with us these past six years.

So sad to see you go!

I made the 4hr drive out today because I was worried it would close before I got there again. I can't believe I was so close to missing it one last time. I love that place and have driven out many many times. It was my go to location even though it was a 400 mile round trip every time. I had an awesome time with my brother today, who I brought there for the first time. We had such a blast. It is seriously the best arcade I have ever been to and am so sad I can't ever go back.

You seriously did it better than anyone else.

We had such fun with marble madness and smash tv today. If you guys are selling anything, there are at least a few games I'd want, especially because of the sentimental value.

I was able to visit twice when I was on a business trip a few years ago and it was awsome!
This place will always be remembered by me. It was an awsome place to play.

Hey the guy in blue is Mappy champion Greg Bond, seen in King of Kong

Not trying to rub salt in the wound but was the business profitable? I'm assuming yes since you were open for 6 years and pinball has only increased in popularity in the last 6 years. Or are you having to close for other reasons? I find myself getting more pissed working for corporate America and have been dreaming of owning my own business... just curious if you could shed a little light on what happened.

yeah no EM tables since I started to visit ....

interesting table though , found this: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=5534

She has had a couple of sports retheme games there. One of them was a Flying Carpet EM. There is a local guy that does the rethemes.

And I'm thinking of trying to squeeze in a couple hours up there tomorrow. I don't have the time, but it's my last time there, so I'll figure it out. One last Suppa sub.

I really thought someday my son would have his birthday here. I'm sad beyond words.

Winner for the feels

This comment reminds me of a line from The Departed. "Ma, I won't be home for suppa." One last one at the PWA tomorrow for me.

That's a damn shame !!

Too far for me to swing by but anytime "fun" places shut down
It's a loss for all of us.

You will be missed !

All good things......

I drove down from Canada couple of times to visit! It was an amazing place, I still have some tokens. I drove down because there was no where to play this much Pinball in public here in toronto. It was worth the drive! sorry to see it go.. this place reignited my passion for pinball.

Sarah, my sincerest thanks for the last few years. My kids love my collection, but taking them to your place brought their interest to a whole new level. Somehow our trips to your place became a part of their childhood and they're going to miss it terribly. Especially my son. Thank you for being inspired enough to open and run the place and deal with all of the hassles. Hopefully knowing how appreciated it was makes it feel worthwhile. Best of luck.

Feel lucky to have made it there twice (and play the hell out of Full Throttle). Brilliant arcade, shame to see it go.

the em red sox game was one of the first done by game room pinball - he is on pinside - if you need his info just contact me - or do a google search for custom boston celtic pinball machine and you will see all the games he has done. thanks ed