The demographic for pinball machines is adults, plain n simple...arcades already with ticket dispensing will help pinball machines to stay there with ticket dispensers added etc, but in the scheme of things, 70 percent of pin sales are now to home users. The days of siting machines are over...all operators I have met are saying they are not making money on a $7,000 pinny purchase for the returns they are/arent getting.
Just go to a Timezone (the biggest and best in Australasia is here in QLD just 10 minutes away at Surfers) and u see that 18 yr olds plus, but mostly 30 ish old people or 45 yr old parents play the pinballs. Kids rarely even stop or play unless the parent has a go, and then, the attention span is less than 5 minutes tops. 30 yrs ago, when computers n video games werent invented, different story. All the arcades shut for a reason.
Pinball machines are not fun enough in any way shape or form for young kids compared to what they have to chose from. Just go to a proper Timezone, look at what unbelievable machiney is on offer, and u quickly see that there are many many things that kids will play well before pinball. The fact that 99 percent of people in the place dont even know, or have ever seen a pinball doesnt help.
The ticket dispenser will help, but it aint going to set the world on fire..it might help the arcade operator let the pinball operator leave it there for another 12 months, til the play figures come back.
At least Stern has had a go. The future is home use everywhere in the world...if thats your strongest market, build on it, work it to the bone, do everything to grow that segment because the operator market has and will continue to die a slow death.
Clever marketing to the home market will replace the operator market inside of 3 yrs if someone with some nouse got involved and started thinking 2012 and 2020 versus 1980.lol
p.s - someone said WOZ was a broad market appeal machine...only if you visit old persons homes, cause only 70 yr old people were around when the movie came out....how old is Jack from JJP the boss, close to 65 yrs probably...point made...
The wizard of who ??.....replied the mass market of 2013.
