How long does pinball have left?

[David_Vi]

One of the most important things even if the younger gens do love pinball and can own them they also need repair guys around or be willing to learn to repair as nowadays most things that break they are dumped and replaced for the latest model. Just cant see most being bothered to do that to be honest its not like years ago when people used to have a go at fixing anything

That's an interesting perspective!
We are in a throw away and replace society nowadays.

I'm late 30s and knew absolutely nothing about how pinball machines worked in 2018.
I had a desire to learn because I hate things not working as intended or how I want them and you have to learn if you own pins (unless you can afford a tech every few weeks).

But, growing up I used to take things apart to see how they work, rarely ever fixed anything but I suppose it shows my mind was always fascinated by how things work. Pinball fits perfectly into this.
I can't imagine many young people are like this now, obviously exceptions but there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to be.

 

[FinalFight]

That's an interesting perspective!
We are in a throw away and replace society nowadays.

I'm late 30s and knew absolutely nothing about how pinball machines worked in 2018.
I had a desire to learn because I hate things not working as intended or how I want them and you have to learn if you own pins (unless you can afford a tech every few weeks).

But, growing up I used to take things apart to see how they work, rarely ever fixed anything but I suppose it shows my mind was always fascinated by how things work. Pinball fits perfectly into this.
I can't imagine many young people are like this now, obviously exceptions but there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to be.

Im 35 was the same as you i used to take things apart clean them put them back together like my c64 etc.. learnt myself to build computers as a kid.. I wouldnt say i can repair major things but have basic understanding of stuff and can fix things if i put my mind to it do some soldering swop parts out that sort of thing. I grew up playing arcade machines and my dad was an engineer when he was younger (now 80) for MHG so did jukeboxes and arcade machines hes old school so like alot of them back in the day repairing cars,washing machines,fridges,irons, building extensions doing roofs basically everything So as i got a bit older i bought my first arcade machine (had hundreds since got out of control) i used to do cab restos he done most the repairs crts,psus the usual but ive never had it in me to fully learn i felt why bother as he could do it , yeah i learnt bits but thats it .. eventually in 2014 i think it was i got a pin and he enjoyed working with the mechanical parts and stuff but as hes got older hes losing intrest and to be honest im not fully willing to learn i just havent got the patience he had.
I fix bits like our washing machine broke recently changed the board and ribon cable (not really fixing but you know i got it working) i change the screens on partners phone or daughters Ipad but i have mates who havent even decorated in their life never fitted flooring .. they just dont see the point. The gf said to me why you bothering fixing the washing machine just buy a new one? Its 3 years old like nobody i know in work my age has done half the stuff i have done with my dad .. i was gutting houses and replacing floors while in school.. The younger ones wont even clean the car themselves they want everything done for them.. Thats what i mean people are so differnt now

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

That's an interesting perspective!
We are in a throw away and replace society nowadays.

I'm late 30s and knew absolutely nothing about how pinball machines worked in 2018.
I had a desire to learn because I hate things not working as intended or how I want them and you have to learn if you own pins (unless you can afford a tech every few weeks).

But, growing up I used to take things apart to see how they work, rarely ever fixed anything but I suppose it shows my mind was always fascinated by how things work. Pinball fits perfectly into this.
I can't imagine many young people are like this now, obviously exceptions but there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to be.

Yep see it all the time. People throw away otherwise perfectly working electric stuff because the switch has failed. A bit of know how and some serious bodge skills and you are back in business .
Just fixed my neighbours electric chainsaw that he said was dead. Dodgy switch . Same with bro in laws mower.

 

[M4carp]

Yep see it all the time. People throw away otherwise perfectly working electric stuff because the switch has failed. A bit of know how and some serious bodge skills and you are back in business .
Just fixed my neighbours electric chainsaw that he said was dead. Dodgy switch . Same with bro in laws mower.

My son (30) wants me to fit a pull cord switch, extractor fan and a mirror in his bathroom. Put a tv and sound bar up for him recently as well.
They earn well and just want stuff done, can’t blame them. Is what it is. Annoying though as I have always done stuff myself, in the past because I was skint and had no choice.
Good to be able to be self sufficient though, although I’m going to my bro-in-laws garage in the morning to fit callipers, discs and pads on a ramp

 

[johnwhitfield]

I occasionally get credit at home for being able to use pinball skills and tools to mend stuff. It goes against the grain to buy new if it can be easily mended.

This isn’t a young vs old person thing though. I know plenty of 50 year olds who can’t even change a plug. Both my kids have built PCs (or rather started to and I’ve had to sort the **** ups out )

I think it depends what it is though. If a TV goes wrong I’d rather just pay and buy new and upgrade it.

 

[Rob zombie]

I wouldn't worry about it. If you've seen the Terminator films and you're following the current AI breakthroughs....

 

[PeteB]

So, if the UK ends up being a sh*thole in ten years’ time then the prices of stuff already here will fall until people can afford it. That’s not the same as ‘the hobby will collapse’. NIB in the UK isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of pinball!

Well that's certainly true, yes, but all of the data sources I see to form my opinions on this stuff actually come from the US market. Really, the entire pinball market is pretty much the same in every country - demographics, age, education, income, split of men vs women etc - it's just that the US has the largest share. In Europe, it seems to be Germany. There is more exposure (pins out in the wild) in the US for sure and that's definitely the case for Germany as well - they're all over place in Airports for example, but on the whole there still isn't enough to draw the same numbers of new youngsters into it, like we were all exposed to in the 70's, 80's and 90's.

I suspect if you’re young enough to be under 40 it’s hard to imagine how prevalent pins were around the country.
Until the mid 90s they would literally be in every town. Hell my village had two.

Bowling alleys and the laser quest place had pins too. I even played a BSD in a Burger King

Exactly! I'm 38 and I remember vividly my dad teaching me to bowl at 4 and 5, and everywhere we went there were pins. Rows and rows of pins. I was more interested in them than bowling. Arcades, amusement parks, leisure centres, pubs, record stores, motorway services, restaurants (thinking back to the days of Happy Eater), hotels.... they were everywhere. I can remember being mesmerised by Funhouse because it had the talking head on the playfield, then came Road Show which had 2, and T2 had a head but it didn't talk. So I used to spot them and point them out to Dad everywhere we went.

My brother who's a fair bit older than me ran pubs throughout the 90's so every time we used to go see him at a new pub of course there would be the standard pool table, a bandit, and usually 2-3 pins.

Where do young'uns get this level of exposure to pinball now? Nowhere.

That's an interesting perspective!
We are in a throw away and replace society nowadays.

I'm late 30s and knew absolutely nothing about how pinball machines worked in 2018.
I had a desire to learn because I hate things not working as intended or how I want them and you have to learn if you own pins (unless you can afford a tech every few weeks).

But, growing up I used to take things apart to see how they work, rarely ever fixed anything but I suppose it shows my mind was always fascinated by how things work. Pinball fits perfectly into this.
I can't imagine many young people are like this now, obviously exceptions but there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to be.

That's a great point! Think most of us here like a bit of tinkering at the very least. Best mate of mine is 34 and into jet ski's, car engines, building pc's - every time I walk into his house the dining table is covered in bits and my usual opening line is "what the f*** are you doing now?"

The younger lads I know in their 20's are nothing like this. They can't even wash the dishes never mind anything else. Besides, its not like they can change the battery on their phones as it's all fixed together permanently with glue these days.

 

[VeeMonroe]

I suspect if you’re young enough to be under 40 it’s hard to imagine how prevalent pins were around the country.
Until the mid 90s they would literally be in every town. Hell my village had two.

I can’t ever see those types of numbers coming back.

My husband played T2 and Lethal Weapon in the mid-90s. Coverage was evidently patchy because he didn’t encounter pins locally in south London. He only ever encountered them occasionally in service stations when driving on UK holidays. By the mid-90s, he thought most of the arcades had shut because pinball had already been displayed by home games consoles.

I'm not just referring to NIB but the pinball hobby in general. It's been said many times in this thread. When the main demographic in the UK moves on where do all their games go? They won't all be sold for cheap.
Where's the new blood? A trickle doesn't count.

UK pinball isn’t exactly a large hobby and there are a tonne of younger people. Went to PBR last night. Same as last time. Lots of players who didn’t play pinball in the 70s/80s unless they were like my youngest son (i.e. on a step stool, hammering both flippers). At the moment, most UK pins seem to be in lockups owned by a handful of people. I assume, in the future, they will be in lockups owned by a handful of different people.

Also, as pinball was more popular on location than it is now, we have a lot more room for it to become more - not less - popular for demographic reasons. It’s obvious to me being on the forum that I’m culturally very different from most collectors/players who are active here. I don’t know who Foo Fighters is (and neither does my husband), but we’re pretty familiar with Venom, for example. We’re part of the techgeek-creative-sperglord demographic that runs Silicon Valley and which has offshoots here in the UK. Most of that demographic are seriously into gaming (analogue and digital) and also tend to be relatively well off. This is why board game Kickstarters can routinely make eight figures and people are spending $27k+ on virtual ships for a video game that’s still not finished after a decade (https://gamingtrend.com/feature/pre...h-star-citizen-the-whole-story-as-of-q2-2023/, https://bit-tech.net/news/gaming/pc/star-citizen-gets-27000-ship-bundle/1/)!!

I’ve come here from analogue gaming, not nostalgia, and I’ve noticed once I get into a niche hobby, others follow and there are *a lot* of us in London, Cambridge and Oxford. Husband reports that, at work, the main reaction to him talking about pinball is people asking how/where they can buy a pin. So, yes, it’s entirely possible that the demographics are going to flip to home collections owned by the people who buy Star Citizen ships/Frosthaven (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frosthaven/frosthaven). Those people have enough space for a pin because you practically need a truck to move Frosthaven across the room and, as demonstrated by me, you don’t need to remember playing pins in the 90s to get involved

There’s at least one person in the community who I’m pretty sure doesn’t want my demographic here (as evidenced by him wheeling out a bunch of stereotypes a few weeks ago), but there will always be angry people shouting at clouds.

 

[Sako-TRG]

Ha… the irony..
“Let’s save pinball” ….resurgence..
Manufacturers then believe their own hype and sh1t on support of customers by hiking prices to astronomical levels.
Lol the shortsightedness is comical.
I say it’s destined to be doomed, in this country anyway.

 

[johnwhitfield]

He said, by the mid-90s, most of the arcades had shut because pinball had already been displayed by home games consoles.

100% correct. The Megadrive and similar had a huge impact on games of all types in the wild.

Not sure how old your husband is but by the mid 90s I can only think of a few places that still had pins in pubs. (Lewisham had the fox and firkin and another “fun” pub next uk where Tescos is. I think that was knocked down around 98/99)

I didn’t really go to Greenwich at the time but there were a few games in places such as Hollywood Bowl in Surrey Quays.

It was a VERY different scene 5 years before that.

As an older person I genuinely don’t think many of us are especially caught up worrying that different generations are enjoying the hobby. New blood is always welcome as it keeps things alive. Nothing worse than a scene where fewer and fewer people are involved.

It’s great that people like yourself are stepping up and hosting this year. But I also appreciate that younger people are less likely to have the space to do so.

There’s far bigger generational divides in some other hobbies I can think of. At a rpg club near me there is almost zero cross over of different generations. Older players left in droves when younger members wanted to introduce a “trigger warning” system if GMs wanted to have any scenes that contained violence or potentially upsetting scenes. Given I mainly play horror games this didn’t go down well…..

 

[VeeMonroe]

Ha… the irony..
“Let’s save pinball” ….resurgence..
Manufacturers then believe their own hype and sh1t on support of customers by hiking prices to astronomical levels.
Lol the shortsightedness is comical.

Yeah, but this is a company who thought Rush would be a great theme for a music pin

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Yeah, but this is a company who thought Rush would be a great theme for a music pin

Rush are massively popular in the US and Canada . Embedded in their pop culture . Baffling but true

 

[David_Vi]

I’ve come here from analogue gaming, not nostalgia, and I’ve noticed once I get into a niche hobby, others follow and there are *a lot* of us in London, Cambridge and Oxford. Husband reports that, at work, the main reaction to him talking about pinball is people asking how/where they can buy a pin. So, yes, it’s entirely possible that the demographics are going to flip to home collections owned by the people who buy Star Citizen ships/Frosthaven

I have quite a few friends in game and software development, a few who work in silicone valley and in my experience they have little to no interest in pinball except the novelty of it.
Also I'm quite aware of Star Citizen, I used to be a big pc gamer and backed it when the Kickstarter began, as I grew up playing Wing Commander games. Spending money on a 3d model is nowhere near the same as buying a pinball machine. A video game with dlc about space isn't anything similar to pinball except it costs a lot of money.

My experience has been a lot of gamer types aren't by default susceptible to getting into pinball. I'm an exception because I like the fact pinball is a real physical tactile and mechanical object.

Also, as pinball was more popular on location than it is now, we have a lot more room for it to become more - not less - popular for demographic reasons

So how do you make it more popular? Considering nearly every Pinball club in the UK is struggling? The only ones that seek to he doing well are the ones who have other forms of income like Tilt and chief coffee.

, as demonstrated by me, you don’t need to remember playing pins in the 90s to get involved

What is your point? I don't remember pins either, except one or two sad ones.

Regardless of what you're saying the point still stands that there is nowhere near enough people exposed to pinball like in the past decades.
If you could expose everyone to it again you'd catch those who are likely to get into it. But that's not going to happen.

 

[StandUpAndFight]

Lots of wild generalisation of young people on here. Garages aren't struggling to get new mechanics particularly, so I imagine there are plenty of youngsters who like fiddling with stuff and repairing. We have lived in a disposable society all our lives, nothing new here, I can't fix anything of note. Many of them, if not already, in ten years time will have plenty of space and plenty of money. Trying to guess what will be popular in the future is a fools' errand, my kids aren't interested, but their friends like to play my machine when they're over, but if Taylor Swift played one in a video, my daughter would soon show an interest. And eventually pinball may appeal to your kids, because you loved it, and they loved you, and you're not about any more.

 

[Gonzo]

I actually think the throw-away society thing will reverse eventually (not that it will really impact pinball).

Most non western countries I've been to repair everything from their toaster to doing their own car mechanics.

Repair and retain is the natural progression to recycling and less plastic usage.

A few months ago I was pretty skint. My oven broke at the same time as my car and van so couldn't afford to replace it. I watched a video, purchased a component from the Smegg store and I was eating chicken kiev & chips in no time.

The perfect storm of no money and the age of recycling will hopefully push more into trying repair.

 

[Colywobbles]

My Son Gabe used to play pinball with me every night until he discovered Tik Tok and now im lucky to get a couple a games a month with him if bribed to do so! The rest of his free time is taken up playing FIFA or Red Dead with his mates. He is 11 BTW an accomplished skier and plays football 3 times a week so hasn’t quite became part of the phone zombie generation. Yet!
Part of the problem is the attention span of kids nowadays is like goldfish and like it or not is the current general trend of where socialising lies.
I regularly see groups of kids standing around street corners all with their heads buried in there phones and I wouldn’t be suprised if they were texting each other

It’s a shame really as Gabe kicked my **** on a regular basis and even though I have a steady flow of pins coming he is not interested as the mojo has gone although when he does play Deadpool is his game of choice.

My take is Pinball will always be here in some form or other but sadly due to the massive hike in ownership most kids just dont have the disposable when leaving the nest and setting up a home. It was a totally different story back in the day with decent pins costing no more than £2-300 whereas nowadays add a nought and double it.

 

[VLAGAS]

As a 26 year old unfortunately none of my friends have ever played a pinball bar mine and that’s if they even know exactly what they are. All of them needed showing the flipper buttons to press.

They are all gamers and I know would be even less interested in playing virtual pinball, I personally feel like you’re only going to use your gaming console or PC to play something as niche as pinball if you’re already into pinball.
I’d have thought must be very rare to stumble onto it and get hooked without already having some enthusiasm for at least arcade machines / the like.

Those that have played mine think it is cool but have a hard time getting to grip the idea that; it’s not just a keep the ball on the table for as long as you can kinda game and so it's worth doesn't really come across and I wouldn’t dream of telling them the cost
It seems like with pinball you need to put some real time into it to appreciate everything that's going on and that's only probably going to happen if you have someone showing you the ropes and encouraging you to continue.

I got into it ofc through my father first and foremost and it straight away appealed to me as a movie enthusiast / merch toy collector.
I'm a huge Alien fan practically growing up on 80’s movies and collected a lot of merch from the films, once I realised a Pinball machine is basically the Ultimate Toy for adults (cost) that's hugely interactive and encompasses a theme unlike anything else I was quickly hooked.
What I didn't realise is that I wouldn't be able to just have the one and be done!

There's tons and tons of toy collectors, I know it brings up space / other issues in comparison but if only the price / economy wasn't what it is today I believe it would be way more accessible and picked up by this kind of demographic that loves movies and toys!

Feel like living in Lincolnshire deserves a bit of a disclaimer though as is a particularly barren area for the niche hobby that is already particularly barren in the UK.
Out of everyone that I went to school with here I'd be surprised if more than 5% have played on a pinball... % chance of ever wanting to own one - I'd hate to think.

 

[VeeMonroe]

I have quite a few friends in game and software development, a few who work in silicone valley and in my experience they have little to no interest in pinball except the novelty of it.
Also I'm quite aware of Star Citizen, I used to be a big pc gamer and backed it when the Kickstarter began, as I grew up playing Wing Commander games. Spending money on a 3d model is nowhere near the same as buying a pinball machine. A video game with dlc about space isn't anything similar to pinball except it costs a lot of money.

My experience has been a lot of gamer types aren't by default susceptible to getting into pinball. I'm an exception because I like the fact pinball is a real physical tactile and mechanical object.

@David_Vi The point is that, to remember the arcades in the 80s, you need to be 50+. Now it might be different elsewhere in the country, but two thirds of the people I meet in the pinball community here in London are younger than that. So, they didn't get into pinball through playing in the arcades in every village. They've come in some other way. Also, the UK pinball community is small and niche, so the people I see probably are the people involved - especially the people with the huge collections. We're also in a golden age of pinball with new companies starting up and Stern hiking prices to keep up with demand.

Thus, the idea that the entire hobby is being propped up by Baby Boomers and Gen Xers with huge collections who are about to sell them off causing a crash/the end of pinball doesn't make sense to me.

So how do you make it more popular? Considering nearly every Pinball club in the UK is struggling? The only ones that seek to he doing well are the ones who have other forms of income like Tilt and chief coffee.

Again, I've mentioned this elsewhere. People aren't playing pinball mostly in dedicated clubs in London. They're playing pinball in venues like Gravity or Plonk, which also offer axe throwing, VR games, darts, crazy golf, arcade games, Japanese dance machines and a couple of pins. There's a huge and growing market for these types of venues here because 6.5% of the population of London are Muslim and, given we all hang about in mixed faith groups, young people need alcohol-free venues. Going by my son's school, the faith-based communities of London are the people who are having kids and the future belongs to the people who turn up for it. So, given my difficulty getting onto Star Wars in these venues (it's always Stern Star Wars), there's no shortage of future pinball players.

What is your point? I don't remember pins either, except one or two sad ones.

But... here we are. Two people under 50 with over seven pinball machines a piece. Having an argument about how everyone else in pinball is a 60-year-old man poised to sell off his collection due to retirement/health issues.

 

[David_Vi]

The point is that, to remember the arcades in the 80s, you need to be 50+. Now it might be different elsewhere in the country, but two thirds of the people I meet in the pinball community here in London are younger than that.

The late 80s to late 90s is the golden age. wpc-95 games were, well 1995+ and they're some of the most sought after games, totan, AFM, MM, MB. So I'd say 40+
Plus the people you see at PBR often don't own pins, they've got into the competition side. There's so many more people in the UK who never attend a comp but have collections, going by the tales of pinball techs I'd say they're mostly mid 40s to 60s.

I think it would be interesting to do a poll and find out how most people discovered pinball .

Most of the pinball office demographic is "normal" non pinball people who see the Facebook ads. But barely any of those return after one visit and you're talking around 60 people every Saturday. The regulars we get are those who were already into pinball except maybe one or two.

What does this tell you?

Also, a lot of these families bring their kids, who get bored of pinball quickly or get bored once they realise theres no tickets coming out the machines and sit on their phones while their parents play.
The few children who do get into it are those who have a parent who is playing with them and already had an interest in pinball.
The pinball office feels more like an "experience" as most of the attendees come from FB ads and treat it as a day out so it's a good way to look at the demographic and how people get into Pinball.

Again, I've mentioned this elsewhere. People aren't playing pinball mostly in clubs in London. They're playing pinball in venues like Gravity or Plonk, which also offer axe throwing, VR games, darts, crazy golf, arcade games, Japanese dance machines and a couple of pins.

I'm not sure how many people get into Pinball that way, as it's a lot harder to get into than other modern arcade games or experiences

But... here we are. Two people under 60 with over seven pinball machines a piece. Having an argument about how everyone else in pinball is a 60-year-old man poised to sell off his collection due to retirement/health issues.

We're the exception to the rule and still a minority. I grew up playing pinball games on PC, so I sought out playing more and found Pinballfx, similar to you. I was still aware of pinball though.

 

[Jay Walker]

I regularly see groups of kids standing around street corners all with their heads buried in there phones and I wouldn’t be suprised if they were texting each other

I suppose it must've been before smartphones, but when the local library got skype, kids did sit at adjacent terminals and skype each other.

 

[MajesticPinball]

This whole thread just seems like it's spitting hairs over nothing. Go and play pinball and enjoy it while the Earth is still spinning.

There is literally a whole world out there outside of this forum and comps. I meet so many people every single month who just have 1 machine in their home that's been in their family forever and they all adore it. Most call-outs I go to I will hear a story of the family pin and how all the kids and their friends love it etc. Generally they have absolutely no idea that there is a pinball "scene", forum or competitions... And I see this almost every single repair visit I do. UK pinball is so much bigger than just the forum and people that regularly attend comps.

Pinball won't "die" it's always going to be here but there will be ebbs and flows in its popularity for sure. Just because you can't see younger people enjoying it behind closed doors doesn't mean no young people enjoy it and it's all going to crash and burn soon.

 

[Gonzo]

Thus, the idea that the entire hobby is being propped up by Baby Boomers and Gen Xers with huge collections who are about to sell them off causing a crash/the end of pinball doesn't make sense to me.

Funnily enough I just got off the phone to John at Williams amusements and we accidentally got onto this subject (funny how a conversation about Zoltar the fortune teller can deviate).

These were his unprompted words to me. "Pinball and arcade machine buyers are different. 80% of my pinball sales are to some bloke who once played Fish Tales in a pub during the 90's. They get to retirement age, get a bit of disposable income and want to relive their youth".

It's good that there are younger people visiting pinball clubs . . . really good. But I'm not sure it's reflective of the general buying market.

 

[David_Vi]

This whole thread just seems like it's spitting hairs over nothing. Go and play pinball and enjoy it while the Earth is still spinning.

I thought it was nice to start a discussion about the future of pinball. It's gone on for a few pages so obviously has created interest in a forum that's been usually full of sales or specific threads.

You're backing up the point that people get into it either from nostalgia or through family and friends.

 

[Gonzo]

I regularly see groups of kids standing around street corners all with their heads buried in there phones

You're so right mate, basically the phones are too good.

We do Tuesdays and Thursdays without phones or consoles and they go mental (initially). The only reason I do it is concentration and for a bit of thinking time for the brain to defrag. I'm hoping they'll benefit a bit and maybe they'll thank me later?

Red Dead is soooooo good. Even I want to get on the horse and have a gun fight. It's too good, phones are too good. The difference between telling a kid who's on a phone that their dinner is ready compared to one who's reading a book is stark.

 

[Gonzo]

I thought it was nice to start a discussion about the future of pinball. It's gone on for a few pages so obviously has created interest in a forum that's been usually full of sales or specific threads.

You're backing up the point that people get into it either from nostalgia or through family and friends.

It's a great thread David, lots of views lots of engagement. I like it and at the end of the day . . . .this is a forum to chat about pinball.

 

[Gonzo]

Incidentally . . . . anyone selling a Zoltar?

That bloke would know what the future of pinball is.

 

[Tucks]

Now 2 and a half weeks

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

Now 2 and a half weeks

Prob lost a few old timers in that space . Godspeed fellas and I hope your games find new homes.

 

[VeeMonroe]

It's good that there are younger people visiting pinball clubs . . . really good. But I'm not sure it's reflective of the general buying market.

Yes, but you're mixing two things People visiting pinball clubs and playing pinball machines in entertainment venues, who are often quite young, often don't have families or the space for pinball machines. So, no, they're not going to be buying them.

The issue is that, in ten years, all those young people hogging the Star Wars Pro in Gravity are going to be at the life stage to move out to Essex/Kent to start a family and they'll be the ones phoning Williams Amusements (or equivalent) looking to buy a vintage Stern.

My kids also play computer games. I used to love playing computer games when I was younger. I wanted to code video games for a living. My mum made jokes about how much time I spent with my head stuck over in a Nintendo Gameboy/Sega Gamegear. Thing is, at some point, my job ended up being entirely computer-based and I'd do pretty-much anything to get away from a screen for five minutes. So, apart from writing fiction (which is more of a semi-pro job than a hobby), most of my hobbies are analogue these days.

 

[OTRawrior]

I used to love playing computer games when I was younger. I wanted to code video games for a living. My mum made jokes about how much time I spent with my head stuck over in a Nintendo Gameboy/Sega Gamegear. Thing is, at some point, my job ended up being entirely computer-based and I'd do pretty-much anything to get away from a screen for five minutes.

I really relate to this. I'm a relative whippersnapper, but grew up playing pinball on my phone. As I've got older and more of my life has been on a screen, I've realised there's a world of actual pinball machines out there. That, along with board games and card games, is definitely my preferred thing to do with friends. Though my other hobby seems to be telling my friends off for scrolling Instagram when its not their turn.

Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man after all.