See, I would have said that 10 or 15 years ago when barcades started popping up... but now it seems bigger than a fad, we have more than ever in my city and nearby towns now, at least a dozen and they all seem to be going strong.

What I see here in the Seattle area is more and more barcades, more and more pins in regular bars and restaurants, growing numbers of casual pinball players and collectors, and a growing competitive pinball scene with multiple pinball leagues, open pinball tournaments about every night of the week in a different bar or arcade, and bigger turnouts than ever at tournaments, from the smaller bar ones to the big ones at the NW Pinball & Arcade Show and NW Pinball Championships, as well as people travelling from here to Portland and B.C. for tournaments. Our show had a fairly significant jump in attendees this year, I think we hit 3,000 unique individuals for the first time. I really feel like there is a new pinball renaissance that's still growing and spreading out to the cities that don't have a lot of tournaments and league play. Sure, it will slow down again eventually, but there are a ton of people in the 18-29 age range playing in tournaments and going to shows that will be buying our games when we sell them off eventually.

I think as long as we are replacing current pinball fans with new ones and the numbers stay the same or increase, then the hobby continues to thrive, regardless of where it happens. I feel like pinball was kept alive in the 90s in part because it was still doing well in Europe, as evidenced by how many 90s games we are now re-importing to the States and my travels there last Summer, that's completely changed, where now pinball has shrunk in Europe and grown in the States. But yes, I think pinball will grow again in the middle of the US as people start pinball leagues and host pinball tournaments in public spaces, I think there is a huge growth market for it, regardless of what happens in the home market. Especially with a few technological advances like lcd screens and game scores posting immediately online (which makes things competitive even when playing alone).

Weird, totally different story where I live. EMs have increased pretty dramatically in price over the past few years and seem highly collectible. I never see a working EM for sale for less than $600, usually they are in the $800-$1200 range. It just goes to show how much prices can vary geographically.

Do you go to barcades or play in pinball tournaments at all? While it's anecdotal, most of the people I see playing pinball in barcades and in tournaments seem to be in their early 20s through 30s. I don't think kids under 17 are getting exposed to it like they used to, but once they turn 21 they sure are, there are far more pinball machines in bars today then there were 15 years ago, at least in my town.