Quoted from JayDee:I’ve personally seen it first hand. Every time my kid has his hockey buddies over they are glued to the pins. They’re 14-15 yr olds. Forget the Xbox, pool table, dart board etc. It’s nonstop pinball and I also get bitched out by some of the dads cause their kid doesn’t stop begging for them to get their own pins. It’s actually quite satisfying seeing the interest.
I did notice last time I played at my local pinball place two weeks ago that I was actually the old guy in the room at 48, everyone else was younger which was pretty cool. Likewise at the Pinball Museum in Banning it was all ages and genders in there, also pretty cool. I figure it's biggest barrier to entry is that it can be really intimidating to new folk, but once you get past that you can get quickly hooked.