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I *think* the cost of commercial spaces is a lot less . They generally have a lot more space - certainly out of the older cities. Finding suitable affordable venues is tough here.
Pinball info
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How long does pinball have left?
- Thread starter David_Vi
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Yes. Average or median pay is much higher than UK and income tax is lower. But they do have to pay for their own health care and private pensions as employers don't have to pay into pensions over there. So Americans also get to choose whether they spend their higher disposable income on pinball or pensions.
I wonder how much Musk, Bezos etc are inflating the earnings gap?
The US is dire for those at the bottom, but Mr and Mrs Average have lower housing costs and higher disposable income than the UK, and of course a new Stern pro is just £5400.
If you ever want to experience the worst of both worlds, US style healthcare and UK inflated housing costs, just come here....
The US is dire for those at the bottom, but Mr and Mrs Average have lower housing costs and higher disposable income than the UK, and of course a new Stern pro is just £5400.
If you ever want to experience the worst of both worlds, US style healthcare and UK inflated housing costs, just come here....
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A good example is nurses average salaries. Here average gross salary is £35k from which take home would be £28k and in USA it is $83k gross and $62k take home so that's about £48k. But from the £20k difference the American nurse needs to pay for private pensions and private healthcare.
Correct- but this is an average. Japan is considered one of the best countries for the small gap in wage inequality from company to company
And on top of medical/pension bills, pretty much everything in the US is more expensive. Some info here, but there are plenty of other sources of similar info - about 20% more on average: https://livingcost.org/cost/united-kingdom/united-states. Bearing all that in mind, as far as I understand it, in recent deacdes the average US citizen had comparable disposable income to the average UK citizen, though over recent years we (UK) are getting significantly poorer - I was reading today that our decline is so bad that Poland are on track to overtake us by 2030. Poland, ffs...
The wealth inequality gap in the US is one of the largest you will find but that mostly comes down to the amount of billionaires, tech companies with massive salaries etc. The average earnings and deposable income is actually much higher than the UK. Aside from healthcare/medical expenses the cost of living in the US was up until recently very low. There is a cost of living crisis over there but it's not talked about because the media have a firm interest in protecting Biden. The price of gasoline, food, etc all gone through the roof as a result of Covid madness + Bidenomics. But on the good side at least they still have lots of space, bigger houses, lower taxes and the right to own guns.
Doesn't surprise me about Poland. Article yesterday in the Telegraph that Britain is now a poor nation - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...w-a-poor-nation-this-is-our-number-one-issue/
The result of almost 3 decades of socialist policies
Doesn't surprise me about Poland. Article yesterday in the Telegraph that Britain is now a poor nation - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...w-a-poor-nation-this-is-our-number-one-issue/
The result of almost 3 decades of socialist policies
Just seen this thread , inthink judging by my kids friends when they come over pinball is timeless . The machines we own now will always bring happiness … except sf2 ofcourse , which should forever be an arcade classic
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We don't have kids but have friends over with theirs in tow at times - ranging from 5 year olds to grumpy late teens
I generally find it goes like this .....the first visit they seem interested, and will happily play a good while. Trying out each machine.
Next time - maybe not so interested. Possibly if there is something different in the lineup. But soon back to a screen if available.
Subsequent visits - might not even mention the pinballs unless I bring it up.
This goes for most adults as well tbh. And this is with me being enthusiastic and encouraging them. Most people round here may show some interest, maybe just to humour me , but can take or leave them , even when its FREE to play. I doubt they would ever drop coins in one. The odd one will really latch on to it - and with the kids it usually is the 'odd' one
I think I’ve only ever had one friend who came over who would then play regularly.
Everyone else follows the pattern mentioned above. Will play on the first occasion, maybe twice but after that there is absolutely zero interest.
The novelty wears off pretty quickly for most people.
Everyone else follows the pattern mentioned above. Will play on the first occasion, maybe twice but after that there is absolutely zero interest.
The novelty wears off pretty quickly for most people.
Definitely more interest from mates my age early 40’s- ours and their kids definitely not that bothered about pinball for more than 10 minutes before wanting to play on a trampoline or a Switch
Grandkids over the other day who normally play MM which you can see on in the reflection, MAME cab has been left off for quite a while now but once I said I will turn it on that’s all they wanted to play. Can’t blame them, I was more into video games when I was a kid. My kids loved the MK2 I used to have years ago and used to play fight while watching the film
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Actually yes . My MAME machine proves popular with the kids , perhaps more than the pins. Screen innit ! Good to see they still dig classics like Pac-Man . And actually my 8 year old niece is pretty addicted to my QBert cab. That will often be first question when she comes round …. Can I play Qbert ?Grandkids over the other day who normally play MM which you can see on in the reflection, MAME cab has been left off for quite a while now but once I said I will turn it on that’s all they wanted to play. Can’t blame them, I was more into video games when I was a kid. My kids loved the MK2 I used to have years ago and used to play fight while watching the film
Same at mine I've always got people round and my son is 14 and has his friends round every other weekend they maybe have a go of pinball for 10mins but will spend hours playing arcade games and of course pool,they seem to love the old arcade games which is great to watch especially when they try to beat each others high scores.
My older son has played about three hours of Minecraft and about 20 minutes of pinball today. My younger son also decided to play pinball at one point, and they got into a fight over who was controlling the flippers
School holidays, huh...
Just
Just come off the PS5 playing Fortnite with the 2 in the pic above and they are only 3 doors away, their younger brother is a little devil child so thank god for the internetMy older son has played about three hours of Minecraft and about 20 minutes of pinball today. My younger son also decided to play pinball at one point, and they got into a fight over who was controlling the flippers
Earlier in the thread I mentioned I was hoping to put a Pin in the rec room at work.
Its now been in there for three weeks, I'm honestly surprised how popular its been, checked the audits and its racked up 900 plays so far!
Younger people getting involved too and a couple even downloading the rule sheet and watching gameplay videos for tips.
Its now been in there for three weeks, I'm honestly surprised how popular its been, checked the audits and its racked up 900 plays so far!
Younger people getting involved too and a couple even downloading the rule sheet and watching gameplay videos for tips.
But without hardcore collectors like yourself about these ppl would never see them. It’s the collectors that keep this hobby alive. I don’t think a large percentage of younger generation is buying machines. They might playing them here and there or think they are cool but are any putting there hand in there pocket and buying them?
About those who have visitors who play once or twice then can't be bothered...
Basic default settings on pinball machines are way, way, way too hard (or difficult to understand) for most novices, so it does not hook them in. This causes them to loose interest as (in their eyes) far there's far more interesting things to be doing without the effort required to understand what to do.
For example I took Batman TDK and Avatar to a comic-con in Salisbury in 2019. On the standard settings a few people that played managed 1 ball then wandered off having lost interest (too hard). I changed the settings to extra easy on everything, for example on Avatar - 1 hit on the Amp suit drop targets, they go down, second hit on Amp suit starts multiball, first ball in to link locks the ball, next hit on the locked ball starts link multiball. Then people were staying for 3 balls and 1 or 2 were beginning to enjoy the games enough to get be classed as beginning to getting hooked on them.
It's a big problem for SWL - we have many one time visitors just to try out pinball as an activity. The games are set too hard so we tend not to see most of them again, unfortunately (games have to be set hard so the regulars don't rack up massive ball times preventing anyone else from playing them). The people we do see again are those who can already play pinball and like the challenge. Many people in pinball don't realise the difference in settings as we take for granted what is in front of us and adapt. When I played local pinball on site back in the 90's there was a Dr Who machine that I could easily put 1.5B on without too much trouble. Playing a Dr Who machine again 10-15 years later in the league/South Coast Slam, I was struggling to get above 30M to start with, before realising it was down to the settings of the machine and I had to figure out how to improve my play in order to get a decent score.
Oh, and pinball has plenty of life remaining, even if it dies a death in the UK (because we've grown too old or whatever). The rest of the world would step up and buy the machines when they became affordable, which will be when the price drops too low.
Basic default settings on pinball machines are way, way, way too hard (or difficult to understand) for most novices, so it does not hook them in. This causes them to loose interest as (in their eyes) far there's far more interesting things to be doing without the effort required to understand what to do.
For example I took Batman TDK and Avatar to a comic-con in Salisbury in 2019. On the standard settings a few people that played managed 1 ball then wandered off having lost interest (too hard). I changed the settings to extra easy on everything, for example on Avatar - 1 hit on the Amp suit drop targets, they go down, second hit on Amp suit starts multiball, first ball in to link locks the ball, next hit on the locked ball starts link multiball. Then people were staying for 3 balls and 1 or 2 were beginning to enjoy the games enough to get be classed as beginning to getting hooked on them.
It's a big problem for SWL - we have many one time visitors just to try out pinball as an activity. The games are set too hard so we tend not to see most of them again, unfortunately (games have to be set hard so the regulars don't rack up massive ball times preventing anyone else from playing them). The people we do see again are those who can already play pinball and like the challenge. Many people in pinball don't realise the difference in settings as we take for granted what is in front of us and adapt. When I played local pinball on site back in the 90's there was a Dr Who machine that I could easily put 1.5B on without too much trouble. Playing a Dr Who machine again 10-15 years later in the league/South Coast Slam, I was struggling to get above 30M to start with, before realising it was down to the settings of the machine and I had to figure out how to improve my play in order to get a decent score.
Oh, and pinball has plenty of life remaining, even if it dies a death in the UK (because we've grown too old or whatever). The rest of the world would step up and buy the machines when they became affordable, which will be when the price drops too low.
