This thread <3
My babies:
This is my High Speed with an under-cabinet lighting mod, originally it's only supposed to just have the top rotating light.
Not much I can say about pinball in this thread that hasn't been said already. Went on a one-week trip to Texas (from Australia) just to go to a pinball show in Dallas, and a place called Pinballz in Austin.
I'm also not as much of a fan of the newer machines (particularly Sterns) as the older ones, but some from the other companies have been really well put together. Played a friend's Hobbit a week or so ago, and it's miles better than anything anyone else has put out in the last 10 years or so.
For those wondering why pinball seems to be making a comeback (or is at least sustainable), is that for the people who grew up during it's heyday in the 70s and 80s, those people are now either settled with kids and have some disposable income, or don't have kids and have even more income. Plus, barcades.
What people might not realise about pinball (and I didn't realise for the longest time, either): They have rules. Whilst it's obviously about keeping the ball in play as long as possible, there's also progression in the games to get the highest score. There are timed modes where a certain sequence of shots could be worth a shitload, you'll have multiball where there's jackpots all over the table and of course there's the wizard mode, which is usually reached after all other modes are completed and is worth even more still.
Until I knew about that, I really didn't think there was much to it. But it clicked, and knowing you have to aim for certain targets to get bigger scores adds to the intensity.
Fixing machines is part of owning one though. They break a lot more often than arcade machines since they have so many moving parts.
That relates to their greatest strength though. Because moving parts, there's infinite randomisation compared to anything video-based. And the experience of playing one could never be emulated.