It's such a shame that many of the kids of today are missing out on pinball... Unfortunately, Redemption is all the rage in the Amusement Centres, so pinball (and even video games) are a dying breed in these places. Redemption (or kiddy gambling as I like to call it) makes the most amount of money by far in the Centres.
About 7 years I worked full time for AMF Bowling as one of their amusement techs in Melbourne. Redemption was already taking hold by then, and pinballs were definitely on the way out. AMF had 8 pinballs in Melbourne between the 12 centres, so I convinced the boss to bring each one back and recondition them. My boss's boss was amazed at how much money the pinballs were making once I had reconditioned them - about 3 times what they were before! But this only amounted to about $200 per week on average per pinball, compared to the $1000+ per week the redemption machines made... I only lasted there 12 months, as I wasn't really repairing machines, just stocking them up.
Then, about 2 years ago, I was asked to come back to AMF on a contract basis - they were in need of a tech who could just come in and do the work without spending the time training someone, but it was also not full time. I agreed, and spent some time back there helping them out (this was on and off for about 18 months, and I was flown to most of the capital cities in Australia and also to New Zealand)... By now, there are no pinballs left at all in the operation, and most of the video games are gone also, except for the driving, riding and shooting games... Redemption is a very easy way to make money, and the machines are much easier to repair than any pinball! Which means that the techs are no longer techs... they are glorified couriers! They do repair problems here and there, but most of the work is stocking up the machines and the prize cabinets...
With this being the way of the future for Amusement Centres, pinballs really have no place. I think it is a great loss to the youth of today, but business is business... At least pinballs are ending up in peoples homes for everyone to play and enjoy, so there will continue to be a following, but not like it was once upon a time...
