Quoted from vid1900:I ask again:
How many of you guys went to D&B to play Pinball regularly when they still had Pinball machines?
I use to go to the original D&B's location in Dallas and play pinball in the 90's. They had an awesome selection of new Bally/Williams games in great condition. For the time they were the best maintained games in the area, at least that I was aware of. I would walk in, start a four player game, and then order a beer when the server came by. Basically what I do now at my house, except for the server part. Once B/W stopped producing pins D&B's never bought any new Stern's and then started slowly getting rid of their existing games. I think they've been pin free in the DFW area about ten plus years now.
Something that I've heard before but no one has brought up here yet is that pinball usually doesn't earn as much per square foot as redemption or a new video game, which is the reason D&B's always gives for not buying them. But once you factor in residual value you end up better than a video game. Basically a five year old pin holds more of its original value than a five year old video game does. D&B was originally supposed to be an adult arcade. Kids were allowed until 9:00pm, but even before that they always had to be accompanied by adults. That's pretty much all gone out the window now. A few weeks ago when I was at our closest D&B's there were kids literally running around the entire time like it was a McDonalds play-land. The old D&B's would have pins even if they were just breaking even on them, because they knew it brought in adults who would then spend money on food and drink. Now they are basically a higher end Chuck E. Cheese.
Back in the 90's myself and a bunch of friends (both male and female) would go to D&B's several times a month and spend a bunch of money on food, DRINKS, and games. There was something for everyone and D&B's was constantly experimenting and trying out unique new things. Giant linked cockpits with PC's and 32" monitors, Galaxian theaters, shooting gallery with rifles. Now every game they have can be found at other large entertainment centers like Main Event. They hardly ever get new video games and when they do they buy the same games for every location. So even their own locations have the exact same games! Having pinball now would be unique, at least in DFW where we don't have many places that have any pins let alone ones that are well taken care of. I really miss the old Dave & Busters.
