Pinball VS Arcade - The Battle For Your Coin in the 80s and 90s

[ausretrogamer]

Article link: http://www.ausretrogamer.com/the-pinball-vs-arcade-industry-battle-of-the-80s-and-90s/

So which made more money for (US) operators, pinball or arcade?
Everyone knows the answer, but some of the $$ figures are quite staggering!

This was quite an interesting research project. The early data that was available from the US Dept of Commerce was quite comprehensive, but difficult to roll-up and summarise. I tried to look for (US Dept of Commerce) data beyond the 1992 census, but I kept hitting dead ends. If I do manage to find more official data, then the article will be updated.


NOTE: Was also checking if such census data existed for GB/UK and Australia, but haven't been able to find anything (yet). Will keep digging for sure.

 

[DRD]

There is a great line at the end of the article .....

Speaking of the current video game industry ..... "If pinball could tap even 0.5% of this (that’s USD$580M), then the great silver ball game will be here to stay and be enjoyed for many generations to come"

Statements like this were extremely common in the late 90s when all sorts of dreamers/ cyberpreneurs were coming up with business plans and seeking investment. The dot com crash all but killed off this line of argument. Nice to see it appearing again.

I have apple trees in my garden. The annual global apple market is 90 million tonnes. If I could tap even 0.5% of this ......

 

[Deleted member 2463]

thats the challenge, build it and they will come is super risky and the only way you can do that is with your own capital. build to demand isn't feasible owing to the lead-times and then the ongoing fixed costs... Having looked in depth at building a place the payback is just insanely ****e for the amount of effort you have to put in and really needs to be your passion.

Neil.