Quoted from lowepg:A rebirth of pinball would mean arcades were growing, expanding, opening up, etc.
silverball museum in NJ = 155 pins
pinball hall of fame in vegas = 135 pins
pinballz in austin = 104
pacific pinball = 73
seattle pinball museum = 58
lyons pinball in colorado = 43
enchanted castle in lombard, IL = 18
barcade opening this month in chicago is supposed to be 20-25 pins
Pinball is never going to be like the 90's, but that doesn't mean a bubble burst, or a downfall (the next generation IS playing pinball). While the largest share of the market is home use, there are still people operating pins and will continue to do so. Just because people can't afford to drop $7k on a new pin doesn't mean they can't play them in arcades like everyone used to (might have to drive farther). If you really want to be a pinball owner, you can do what a lot of us do, buy broken beat up pins for under $1k and fix them up (and in some cases trade up)