I can't speak for Cary NC, but I can tell you out West pinball is back!
In Portland we have new locations popping up regularly with a pretty solid line up of games throughout the city.
Ground Kontrol which has an amazing 20+ pins is rotating games in and updating them with Leds.
There are even lines to get in on weeknights!!! Shit there's even hot girls in there now!
5 years ago you could go on a Friday with zero crowds and zero girls.
Brand new arcade with tons of pins just opened in Lincoln City OR that I'm dying to check out too.
Seattle is rocking a ton of pins last few times i was there, maybe the locals can chime in but it's not just Shorty's anymore…. Seattle pinball museum just got a Woz and that sounds like a road trip ASAP. The Seattle pinball show grows every year in attendance and this year they moved to a bigger venue to accommodate the crowds.
Pin a Gogo in Northern CA is packed with people and pins, pretty excited thats in two weeks! Last year the organizers where talking about the exponential growth each year. I believe they have expanding into the party next door this year.
All that being said; those examples may not be enough to bring pinball to the state of 1992 but to say it'll burst and be gone in a decade is hardly the case.
