Quoted from seshpilot:Barry Ourlser with Space Shuttle
this is the only correct answer and sad it was not in the poll
(Topic ID: 198293)
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I would say that without a doubt, the real people that 'saved' pinball are the hobbyists and peopel willing to collect, fix, and share the knowledge to keep them running.
The current resurgance can all be tied back to those people IMHO.
Roger Sharpe > sure it is a cool story and all, but pinball was not dead then and was actually doing fine. That happened in April 1976, a year when Bally made over 10 titles... Just sayin.... Pinball seemed to be fine in 1976 despite some archaic laws on the books that need to be overturned.
IFPA > Sorry, just no. Competitive pinball is fun but go to any show and you will see the demographic is 90% people that dont care and even avoid the competitive aspect of it. Sure it has been part of the resurgance and growing but cant even come close to being a savior.
Gary Stern > Again, sorry but nope. he is a business man and just making money. If there is a market for pinball then someone will make them. He did not save anything and when pinball manufacturing almost disappeared there was still enough market to keep them in business, that market was because of the people that bought the games and operated them and played them, not because the company made them.
Pinball Arcade > LOL
Pinside > I guess this is the closest thing but Pinside is merely a tool to allow the virtual community to gather. The community would be around even without Pinside and even without the internet. I would give the internet more credit than Pinside. The web made it all more accessible and easier to find and share the knowledge.
If you want a singlar pinball moment that came at teh exact right time, then it is for sure Barry O with Space Shuttle.
If you want the real reason pinball is alive and well (saved) it is because every single person that makes up the community.
Quoted from Frippertron:Whysnow. You made some excellent points, but pinball in its current resurgence has more to due with virtual pinball like TPA. That is the gateway drug for much of the recent converts to the hobby. Most younger millennials first exposure to pinball was playing in the virtual arena. That being said, it was a combination of everything that helped save pinball. If there was no Space Shuttle, High Speed or Pin Bot and later Funhouse, Addams Family, etc, the industry would have suffered a lot more a lot sooner.
I agree that the pinball app/games have helped bring over some new people, but it is far from the savior of pinball. It is aweful physics and I think that quite a few people that play pin arcade actually get put off by real pinball because it does not feel the same.
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