It’s wild that people are still in the denial phase of how bad this. It’s the fact that’s it’s already tens of thousands of bodies while probably a good third or so of people keep to themselves. (That guesstimate is for my neck of the woods, I’m sure other places have even more people staying shut in)
A friend lost his stepdad this week. Went to the hospital on a Monday, died all alone by Wednesday, no one can view the body (ashes will eventually come), and now his mother is in ICU.
I’m still thinking it’ll get worse before it gets better. It’s only now starting to circulate in more rural areas which already have numerous underlying health and health care access issues. I’m very curious if there is a second wave after Easter services tomorrow. I’m sure there is a big overlap with the sorta people in denial and twice-a-year church goers.
And that’s to say nothing of how a significant chunk of Americans are blowing through their already meager savings and getting behind other bills/debt obligations. Many won’t be able to afford luxuries like eating out or spending $12 on a cocktail until much after places begin to reopen.
Compound that with how so non-Pinball people are already overwhelmed by $1/play for a game that they last about a minute in... Location operators best be figuring out how to lease machines to homes.
And hey since Stern software guys are stuck at home, it’s probably a good opportunity for new experiments with selectable difficulty options/different game modes, minimum game times, and other ways to make location pinball enjoyable and attract new players whenever people do start coming back to locations.