Pinballs next generation

[Retropin]

The recent pinball questionaire has prompted this thread.

The final question of where you see the hobby in 10 years is obviously the most difficult to answer as we have no crystal ball. However, the clues to this i feel are in the interaction that our kids have.
 Talking to my dad over a few beers, we know where we would like to see pinball BE right now and maybe into the future but i cant see it happen.
 Personally, id like to see a clear laminate board over a flat plasma or LCD screen, as the game progresses the artwork changes with the plasma. Hitting targets can have explosions happen, a guy could be chasing the ball as it runs over the pf etc. With todays technology, pinball could blow your mind IF it had kept in line with technology. Unfortunately, i think we all agree that pinball has and will continue to stagnate with Stern.

But.. there is hope. My son who is 7 can name every machine i have, knows the game play etc.
 I involve him in my restorations - he even helps me to sand back playfields, we do it together. I explain to him how they work etc.

Now theme is EVERYTHING, and my son is designing his own Ben 10 pinball. The PF layout is drawn out - he is slowly collecting parts to make his own. I find bits of paper with fuses, capacitors, IC's etc all stuck down with blue tac. I gave him some PCB and he has stuck in a ton of LED's, caps, resistors and a multiplexer.

 Ill show him how to make those LED's flash with a 555 timer and potentiometer, with a small speaker we can even have noise.

ALL this came from me working on pins - he loves them. he even got his own Super Mario Bros pin for Xmas which is a real hit.

Cant predict it will last, but Ninos passion stemmed from his dad and although im not pushing my son, he seems to enjoy all the aspects of pinball ownership.

yep - he's no different to any other kid - loves the PS2, but once the game is done, its achievement is over but the challenge of pinball never stops - there is no end to the game, just a battle with yourself to beat a previous score.

With this sort of interest... id say the hobby may well be in good hands for years to come!

[Ford Fairlane]

Thats fantastic Gav!! As soon as i begin to understand, i will pass on all the info i gather onto my 4 yr old boy. He loves the pinball we had and is hassling me everyday to get pro footballer working. He even held highest score for a little while which is embarrassing but cool at the same time. Pinball will live on through people like yourself and it will continue through our kids.

Good stuff!!!

[ktm450]

I agree Gavin, its the current pinheads that will have to pass on the lure of the silverball to our kids and our extended families children.
My eldest son is almost three, I put a chair in front of my pins and he does a great job playing, both flippers usually go at the same time but he actually waits for the ball to come down before flipping.  I can see some potential there, just hope he is still interested in them when he is a teenager.  Out of me three boys at least one should be interested in pins (I hope!!)

[The pinballist formally known as Dean Morgan]

I have three kids, a son 18 and two daughters 16 & 13.  We have always had Pinballs since the kids were young.  The middle child enjoys a game on the newer DMDs that I have but recons my 70s & 80s are boring.  The other two rarely play, the youngest will occasionly when her freinds are over, the eldest vertually never.

They all love the video games and we have 2 X Boxes, 1 X Box 360 and Nintendo WII.  Hard 2 get them off the WII.

I belive a lot of the value in Pinball is the Nostolgia.  I love them partly becouse of the memories of playing them so much as a kid.  As I grow older I now appreciate them as a piece of Art.  The colours and artwork are amazing and I get a real buzz restoring them bith electricly, mechanicly and astheticly.

I think the collectibility of pins will decrease dramaticly and it will only be Pinballs of very high standard (condition) that will remain collectable.  There are a lot of Pins that I would say are in average condition only and I can see these being worth little in the next 20 years.  I certainly hope it doesnt happen but I can see my kids when there older collecting little pieces of their past, such as old gaming consoles (todays consoles).

Hope my kids show some intrest and maybe keep some of my collection when I am gone but cant see it happening at this stage.  Maybe when they mature this will change and they will see them for the beautifull piece of art that I do.

[markc]

my  16 year  daughter helps  us out over school holidays   , even down to doing the Gi plugs now
my 3 year still loves shrek and plays it when i play my MM .  its good fun just watching her

as for the next generation , i think  we will be wating a long time for these  to buy pinballs.

maybe we can do a age poll here and I would guess most owners be over 30