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The Pinball Office is downsizing

Lecari

Lecari

Site Supporter
Joined
Aug 16, 2021
Messages
955
Location
Sudbury, Suffolk
Hi all,

Some of you may have seen on The Pinball Office Facebook page - but for those of you who haven't - from the end of July The Pinball Office will be downsizing to just one room and 20 pins. Unfortunately visitor numbers this year have dropped significantly, with many sessions having less than 10 people attending and it's just not sustainable.

This means that the arcade cabs will be going, as well as the coffee machine (and possibly the drinks fridge), though there are several coffee shops in the area you can visit.

Due to the reduced room size, the session cap will be 15-18 people, and pricing will drop to £12.50 per session for all.

This also means there will not be future tournaments at the Office - it's just not feasible with such low numbers.

I'd like to say a big thank you to Chris @Hiltoncriss for keeping the Office open with 2 (and for a while, 3!) rooms for so long. It has introduced so many people to the hobby, at great personal cost to himself - and he is still paying out of his own pocket to just keep this one room open. It's been a key part of the East Anglia pinball scene - without it, I would probably never have met our lovely East Anglian crew and made such a wonderful group of friends. It has really been such a privilege and we've been so lucky to have such a wonderful venue.

With the last ever Swavesey event this weekend as well as the closure of Tilt, this is a really tough time for UK pinball. Please support your local clubs and onsite pinball machines - Medway, Pinball Republic, Special When Lit, Chief Coffee, Level in Preston, and the potential Blackpool club - and of course even though there will be just 1 room, please do pop in and support The Pinball Office when you can. ❤

Both rooms will still be open until 19th/20th July, so you still have time to visit the current iteration before it changes - visit The Pinball Office website to book (it's open on weekends only).
 
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Sad news for sure. One room packed full of pinball machines is still a rarity in the UK though so hopefully many will still visit. Hugely grateful to The Pinball Office for everything Chris has done to build the East anglian community and bring pinball to so many people for many years.
 
I guess the big players Stern and JJP need to do more placement advertising as the numbers that know about this hobby are still too low. Brand awareness. Even primetime ads might help sell more and create interest where folk might google to find arcades in there area.

Harry Potter is a huge IP so is JAWS..
 
Kenny Taylor said:
I guess the big players Stern and JJP need to do more placement advertising as the numbers that know about this hobby are still too low. Brand awareness. Even primetime ads might help sell more and create interest where folk might google to find arcades in there area.

Harry Potter is a huge IP so is JAWS..
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It’s just not the sort of thing people do or buy on a whim. £10k for a Harry Potter would be an absolutely insane purchase for anybody not already in the hobby and few will have the initiative to search more widely. With the best will in the world, even if you get as far as putting a credit on a modern machine, it’s almost impossible for a first timer to get what’s going on quickly enough to really enjoy it. It’s not very approachable unless you put effort in to research or many £s to find out by trial and error.

Pinball is a niche within a niche within a niche
 
It's a home hobby nowadays for the most part. Maybe one or two in a public location would work where you aren't specifically going for the Pinball, but a dedicated Pinball location is a tough ask to be financially viable.
 
Medway loses money, but was set up with that in mind.
PBR must be hard to run without some individuals helping financially
 
Taxiturn said:
It’s just not the sort of thing people do or buy on a whim. £10k for a Harry Potter would be an absolutely insane purchase for anybody not already in the hobby and few will have the initiative to search more widely. With the best will in the world, even if you get as far as putting a credit on a modern machine, it’s almost impossible for a first timer to get what’s going on quickly enough to really enjoy it. It’s not very approachable unless you put effort in to research or many £s to find out by trial and error.

Pinball is a niche within a niche within a niche
Click to expand...
I definately agree with this.

I am about 12 months into the hobby after a random trip into Tilt on a date night with the wife.

I initially only played the older machines - in particular Monster Bash.

It was easy enough to figure out what was going on, what you were supposed to do etc.

I could also make a bit of progress towards that and start a few modes etc.

It was fun.

Even after playing casually for months, popping in a few times a week, I found the modern Sterns to be absolutely impenetrable.

I would just drain straight away, had no idea what I was supposed to be doing and frankly, just felt there were not as cool as the older ones with the DMD screens.

Eventually I joined the league and started to get to grips with them a bit.

I am now 3 months into the rental of a Jaws and I get it now... but fluck me - they are complicated beasts.

I am guessing as it is now mostly a home user thing you need machines with that degree of depth.

But in regards to getting new folks into the hobby - I think the Stern machines are a nightmare - possibly eased a bit if you can find them on freeplay days etc.

Difficult, it is almost like you need a beginners night, with folks there who know the score who can help kind of coach new players a bit.

Because, if it grabs you, it really grabs you. I have a Kong coming this week, am renting a jaws, soon to be renting a Kiss - I mean, I am all in but... it is not easy to get in!
 
THIS.... Im in a house of 5 and me and one of the kids are "pinball people". Love going PBR and playing the new sterns, workig out the rules etc. Even got a Foo fighters for home and the rest of the family find that super complicated (despite me thinking it's pretty simple)... Fast forward to getting Ninja eclipse and the non-pinball people in the family LOVE IT (like, really enjoy playing it.). Simple to understand the rules, art is clean and uncluttered and there's only flashing lights where there NEEDS to be flashing lights for a simple ruleset. They've played more on that in a weekend than Foo in 2 years... They even wen't back and geve Foo another go after enjoying NE... nope... they still dont like it...

For hobbiests and enthusiasts the old Bally / Williams level likely isnt enough to justify NIB prices but to get people intot the hobby we need these easier to understand machines to exist... Pulp Fiction couldhave been a cointender but it's so damn hard.... Puts casual players off!
 
Yep. It is a funny one in the UK. We don't seem to have the same nostalgic relationship with it as they do in the states. Video games for sure, but pinball, I don't think I had ever played one before Tilt.
 
Marvello said:
It's a home hobby nowadays for the most part. Maybe one or two in a public location would work where you aren't specifically going for the Pinball, but a dedicated Pinball location is a tough ask to be financially viable.
Click to expand...
Genuine question - why do you think that is? It seems, when it grabs folks, that it is a hell of a hobby and people are super passionate. But, it does seem, in the UK at least, it does not get the numbers. Would love to hear your thoughts! We have just lost our local pinball bar in Birmingham and I have to admit I am still utterly bereft. Would love to see a new bar, and see it work, so would love to hear folks thoughts.
 
mac49uk said:
Yep. It is a funny one in the UK. We don't seem to have the same nostalgic relationship with it as they do in the states. Video games for sure, but pinball, I don't think I had ever played one before Tilt.
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There was a good 20 years where they simple weren't anywhere to play. I grew up at the seaside resorts and there were always some around. about 2000 that all stopped. only a few years ago that Brighton Pier started putting them back in to the line up.... You cant have nostalgia for something that didnt exist! :( PLus, the average UK arcade... Videogames remain soimewhat playable when poorly maintained. Pinballs, don't!
 
mac49uk said:
Genuine question - why do you think that is? It seems, when it grabs folks, that it is a hell of a hobby and people are super passionate. But, it does seem, in the UK at least, it does not get the numbers. Would love to hear your thoughts! We have just lost our local pinball bar in Birmingham and I have to admit I am still utterly bereft. Would love to see a new bar, and see it work, so would love to hear folks thoughts.
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Unfortunately people are having to cut back on "luxury" spending. The average price of a pint is crippling to most people.

There is a massive squeeze on at the moment and purses are firmly closed for most folk.
 
mac49uk said:
Genuine question - why do you think that is? It seems, when it grabs folks, that it is a hell of a hobby and people are super passionate. But, it does seem, in the UK at least, it does not get the numbers. Would love to hear your thoughts! We have just lost our local pinball bar in Birmingham and I have to admit I am still utterly bereft. Would love to see a new bar, and see it work, so would love to hear folks thoughts.
Click to expand...
As someone who grew up by the seaside, surprisingly I stumbled across very pinball machines in my entire life. The very few that I did find (St Annes Pier) were in poor condition and always had faults, but that left me thirsty to find more pinball machines, which during the time I was seeking them, there were none out on site, resulted in my starting to buy them and restore them, and well, you can probably see that has spiralled out of control.

I'd say it's perfectly normal that most people in the UK will have never even seen a pinball machine.

My wife throws an annual party, mostly attended by non-pinball people, so it's always interested to see how they react to them for the first time.


FYI : Almost all the non-pinball people seem to play either the early 80's pins (stuff like firepower and Galaxy are popular with them) or Data East Hook and Star Wars. They have almost no interest in even the early 2000 Sterns, as they don't know what they are doing.

I go to Level in Preston to play Phil's machines monthly and I have never see the public playing the modern machines.
 
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