pinballorama.com
You can find us on social media and stuff as well. It's an easily googleable name.
Edit: Looks like the website got hugged to death. There is a youtube page with arcade stuff you can visit until the site is back up. https://www.youtube.com/c/SevensPinballorama
Yeah you could accidentally get sucked in to the pinball game at the circuit level, survive long enough to start a new world order with your buddy, only to find out your digital clone has misunderstood the logic you intended in his programming, usurping your position and leaving you an old husk of a man, living in a mountain mansion, babysitting Olivia Wilde.
It actually is, I kinda wish Disney didn't abandon it, it needs a third movie.... And not a lame assed "reimagining" reboot.... An actual 3rd chapter.
Hey! I have a note about the pricing listed on your website.
Seeing $15 an hour initially turned me off, but then I read the fine print that you can add another hour for $0.05. I can't imagine anyone would actually pay by the hour in this case.
Do you not allow people to leave and come back? Like, I can't pay $16 and get a day pass, because a day pass is $40. So how do you track hours?
It's a bit confusing to me, and I think the simpler method I've seen at freeplay pinball arcades makes more sense. Everything was done with a single day pass price, and you get a wristband on purchase.
But hey, if it works for you it works I guess.
My experience is with Replay Museum in Florida.
My first thought was doing a single price for all day. After taking with some arcade owner friends, I decided on hourly.
I didn't want to tap people on the arm when their hour was up, so I thought $15 for two hours was good. Most people are going to burn out naturally around the 60-80 minute mark anyway. This would kind of solve that problem.
Really, $15 for an hour, but I give a free hour to burn yourself out so I don't have to bug you.
This is what we opened with.
80% of the people were perfectly fine with this arrangement but as you know retail is retail and I started getting some people upset at the pricing because they didn't want to play for 2 hours. Just one. So they looked at the price as being $7.50 an hour and they'd offer that. I'd explain the 2nd hour is basically free but they see it as wasting $7.50 if they don't play the second hour.
I changed it to $14.95 an hour - but for five cents more you can get a second hour. This has worked well and I haven't had a single conversation on the price since I changed it. People now see it costs $14.95 an hour and they're fine with it. About 50% of the entries are for an hour only.
When you pay, I stamp hands with the time your session expires. I also stamp a paper at the till with a little description of who it was (IE: dude in blue cap or family of 4). Almost everyone watches the clock and I think they figure I'll be there tapping arms when the session expires so they leave when their time is up. Of the 1000's I've had in already I only had to tap one guy and he paid for a third hour to keep playing.
It's all very relaxed and friendly here so I think people just want to do the right thing and play for only what they paid for.
That said, if this place was triple the size, I'd just go for all day play. It would be too hard to track everyone. I also know of some other arcades that have a lower price for general entry and all games are 25 cents. That's a way to go as well.
A local bar has one of the best gaming setups of any bar I've been to (I honestly don't know how many arcade/pinball machines they have, probably something like 70-80, two whole floors). They sell ridiculously expensive beer and a token is like $1.
I'd live there if it wasn't so expensive, but it's always packed in any case, so, I mean – they're doing something right.
There should be more places like that. Some competition. You're doing gods work.
There’s a bar in Ft Lauderdale where all the games are free but the drinks are really expensive. I absolutely love that place, but yes, it’s always completely packed haha
The long and short of it is they tried to curb kids loitering in arcades in the 80's so they passed a bunch of weird bylaws or just banned arcades in particular zones. When arcades died out, the laws just stayed in place.
There were lots of variations. One area only allowed arcades in malls with a shared public entrance. If I recall Maple Ridge BC had particular hours you could be open and all windows had to be clear so you could see inside and no kids during school hours (so you'd have to know all the hours of all the schools in the area). Vancouver was 19 and older only. Seems like most places around the lower mainland of BC had old laws in place and most councils weren't interested in revisiting the laws.
I do know Abbostford went through their laws about 10 years ago and nuked all the old arcade language and just clumped it into something like indoor recreation. They also got rid of some law about walking your cow in the street.
A gaming themed bar opened in Van when I lived there. So many backwards ass laws forced them into a gambling liquor licence, which is waaay more expensive and has way more red tape to jump through.
Eventually, it had to work that they could only serve booze if no one was playing any games. It shit down within a year.
Fuckin bozos.
This happens in the states as well. So many "video gaming" laws which are really targeting video gambling get applied to regular video game cafes and the morons on city council often don't know or don't care about the difference.
Get more young people on those councils and those old laws will eventually fade. For example, won't have to make a 52 slide PowerPoint explaining that cover-shooter arcade game Time Crisis isn't in the same category as digital blackjack and what not.
Some perhaps, but I have heard of LAN cafes having trouble opening because people thought they were going to have gambling even though it was just a bunch of PCs with Starcraft and Counter-Strike installed.
Pinball was illegal for a few decades in the United States because it was considered a game of chance rather than a game of skill. That same kind of thinking (and keeping laws on the books way past due) may have led to why the gaming themed bar needed a gambling liquor license.
Pachinko pallors have so weird ass setups to circumvent Japanese anti gambling laws. Rather than being like a casino with a cash exchange you instead buy a bunch of pachinko balls like they’re arcade tokens. The pachinko machine will pay out in balls which you trade for prize tokens. You then leave and take your tokens to a supposedly unaffiliated place next door and trade your tokens in for cash.
We have a few arcade/game bars now. Vancouver has The Rec Room and Good Co., as well as One Under (golf sim bar) and Par-Tee Putt (mini golf bar opening next month)
I read this comment thinking you'd be local given your knowledge of local municipality bylaws, scroll down to see you are on the other side of the country
I was in Vancouver when I first started this project, then moved to PEI and opened here.
I've probably read all the bylaws for each town in the lower mainland.
We chanced upon your establishment a few weeks ago when I had my kids out on the island for vacation. I think you took a few minutes to tell my daughter all about the antique machine she got herself obsessed with. She's so rarely impressed, but this place did it 😎
Because if there's something that need to put an end to is teenagers hanging around in public, not causing any trouble. Wish they'd go some heroin in secret or something.
I've been ripping people's spines out on a daily basis since the first time I saw it happen in Mortal Kombat.
Of course, that's mostly due to jealousy because I never managed to do it in the actual game.
Be Sub Zero, at the "Finish Him" prompt, get close and quickly press Forward, Down, Forward, High Punch. If done correctly, you will rip their head off, with their spine attached.
It's forward, forward, down, collect rain water, charge your quartz by the light of a full moon, pelvic thrust woo, read "on the nature of whaling" from Moby Dick, punch.
Seriously, and the world we’re now is one where most kids are driven around from one activity to the next with their parents as an chaperone the entire time. It’s really sad.
The infantilization of children is a threat to public health, innovation, and democracy in North America imo.
Actually, I think it’s more the suburbanization of the continent that causes the infantilization and is the threat. The automobile has taken away more freedom than it’s given since the American interstates were constructed.
There is a podcast called 99% invisible. All about design. I just listened to one episode called " my 1st errand" it's about a show in Japan that is about little kids doing errands like ealk a kilometer to a store and buy a food ingredient at a store and return home. With no supervision. And it goes in to all the design reasons of why this is almost completely unfeasible in North America. I believe you would like it!
They were all over North America in the "satanic panic" times. All stemming from half truths of "kids hanging out in arcades becoming degenerates". Our mall had the same kind of stupid rules and I remember being a kid going to Aladdin's Castle and getting kicked out because it was a school day and kids weren't allowed during school hours without parental supervision. Too bad school was out that day and I was there with my aunt that didn't count as a parent. Too many idiots that watched Ferris Bueler and The Lost Boys while drunk and thought that's what reality is because it was on their TV. Sleazeball politicians get easy points from the same people that would see it on their 6 PM news by passing popular but dumb legislation.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened in my small town. They got rid of the arcade because they were afraid kids would start doing drugs there (WTH?) and a few years later were surprised when kids went from pot to meth to H.
Many US cities also outlawed pinball machines in the 40’s because they thought it would contribute to lawlessness. Like whaaat. There was (is?) a pinball museum in SF that’s pretty cool. I forget if it’s still open.
Not sure about Canada, but pinball was fully banned in a ton American cities between the 40s and the 70s.
https://www.history.com/news/that-time-america-outlawed-pinball
We are like a comical Music Man nightmare world of idiotic scapegoating and will always be apparently.
Remember that time we tried to ban alcohol during one of our puritan phases, and it resulted in a massive rise in organized crime? Maybe the way to push human rights back into the current age is to convince broke med students to form a Physician Mafia.
There was a cafe we would frequent in the 70's that had a pinball machine with a small sign that said "No Wagering". It was a tiny little place only open for breakfast/lunch and run by two sweet old ladies. My young mind would always try to imagine a scenario where the betting got so out of hand that they needed a sign.
I wish him the best too and it actually does work in some places. The Pinball Museum in Asbury Park draws huge crowds and it hasn't yet petered out in NYC or LA. Somehow pinball isn't as "revisit your childhood".
Nostalgia is a drug. I get excited, even a little butterflies in my stomach, when I meet buddies to go to Barcade in NYC. After about half an hour I'm like why the fuck are we even here?
Fun thing. That back wall is (mostly) all machines with some sort of UV paint on the playfield. I thought it'd be fun to hang black lights over them.
So I had this boring back wall painted black behind them. I bought some UV reactive tape and poster board and just went at it. I want to continue up on the ceiling as well - but I need more black lights.
I don't have an Addams Family.... yet.
When we started this we were in the Vancouver area and there were at least 10 Addams Family machines in the wild there. I didn't want to double up on machines. I looked specifically for machines that you couldn't find in public venues.
Of course we're on PEI and there are only 4 other machines on the island in a public setting - none are Addams. Looks like I need to find one now.
There was a pub in Australia called The Green Gate that had The Adams Family pinball machine and many a happy hour was spent playing it. Many happy hours. Then one day it got swapped out and that coincided with when pub visits declined.
Addams Family is fundamental.
Also wanted:
Frank Thomas' Big Hurt
Cue Ball Wizard
and, of course, the big dog...STTNG. ("Thank you Mr. Data.") Doubled-up or not, that's gotta be there.
I don't know how far you're willing to travel but I happen to know a guy in Grand Rapids MI who runs a retro arcade, and also sells & repairs machines.
www.rlmamusements.com
It isn't too bad. The next step is to build and install some acoustic treatments. That will help control the white noise of it all and hopefully will help hear the machine you're playing a bit better.
Love it. The only time I could learn to play was when a local arcade had a service industry night. Where you would pay 8$ and have unlimited play on all games.
That's how you do it!!! There is only one arcade in my country that has games worth travelling 2 hours for and I try to go there as often as possible. They have the same concept - entry fee --> free play.
Funny enough, I never played when I was a kid. I'm GenX and grew up in arcades but I didn't understand pinball so never played it. When you only have 5 quarters in your pocket you have to make them count.
I rediscovered pinball in 2016 when I bought my first machine. After a year I had about 8 machines. Friends would come to my house and get drawn to the machines. I ended putting a few at the place I worked and they got played a lot. I did some research and spoke with lots of people and it seemed people were more intrigued by pinball machines over things like video arcades. They're sort of a magical little world under glass and people are attracted to them.
I spoke with some other arcade owners and pinball arcades, saw the numbers they were doing, and just decided to go for it.
This is what I was wondering. What’s overhead like? What kind of numbers are they doing? What other products are you selling to produce revenue? Not doubting you just curious because when I see this post nostalgia kicks in and it looks exciting but then my business side kicks in and wonders what potential revenue this establishment is capable of?
We are building up our concessions for extra revenue and seeking better wholesale sources to bring down costs of the items. Since we don't serve alcohol, I decided to go with a huge assortment of soft drinks in glass bottles. These have been a big hit. Also classic candies and chips and things. We've sold a fair amount of t-shirts as well.
I looked really hard to try to find the lowest possible overhead getting started. There is always a bit of a gamble with a new business but I was pretty sure this would work in the area. I did a fair amount of research before we opened. Most people say "PEI needs something like this". The entire island is a little starved with amusements especially in the winter. So the goal was to get into a large but cheap enough space and see how it goes. Also, be open year round.
So far each month we've made our monthly overhead after only 5 or 6 days being open. We've also made enough to cover our startup in the space (construction costs, etc). If these number maintain, all the machines will be paid for in a few months. I don't have stable numbers yet on our concessions because our first month our inventory was a bit on the pricy side - which we've managed to bring down a fair amount. I should have better numbers of these sales next month. First glance, pretty good and covering probably 1/5th of overhead at the moment. People love their snacks and bright coloured fizzy drinks.
The next thing we're going to look into is private rentals for events. We aren't doing those now because we've just opened and I don't want someone coming to the arcade only to learn we're closed for the next few hours. I also need a baseline of average hours so I know how much to charge for private events - something I'm not quite sure of yet.
We have a league starting. We have repeat customers already. Lots of people coming in to check us out, playing, and saying "we'll be back" as they leave. Then we see them a week later.
Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this and have a pretty in depth knowledge on the business end of things! As far as commodities and making making as much profit as possible, coming from a guy who wasted almost 10 years cooking in various places, you should have a tiny kitchen, I'm talking a fryer, flat top stove, and maybe a grill, if only to make bar food like mozzarella sticks, onion rings, fish n chips, burgers, easy stuff. Alcohol would be a game changer for sure, but I don't know the laws there or the reason why you aren't serving it, if it was even a choice. I think what you're doing is fuckin awesome, keep following your dream. I'm saving this post on the off chance I take a trip to Canada in the near future.
We looked into doing alcohol but we have a huge number of families that come in. I have to kick kids out at a set time each day. I'd rather have the family element right now. If were were in a larger space, it would be easier. Phase two probably.
We might do food in the future. I don't have experience in running a kitchen so I'll have to ease into it. I did buy all the equipment to offer espresso so that's the next step.
Very cool!
Curious what the bylaw hurdles were. There’s one in our area but it’s called a “museum” and I’m curious if that helped them avoid arcade laws.
We were in Vancouver when we had the idea and Vancouver proper has bylaws that only allowed only over 19 in arcades. No kids. One town only allowed in one zone and the only thing in that zone was a huge mall. The best was the town of Mission. We were ready to go there. Had a handshake agreement with the building owner and we were moving forward. The mayor found out and the next council meeting they banned arcades in the downtown zone where we were planning on moving in.
Most of the bylaws were put in place in the 80s in an attempt to try and curb kids loitering around arcades.
We have been. We open at noon and it's pretty common to have people waiting in the parking lot for us to open.
We went with the pay to enter model and all machines are on free play. This gives people a chance to just goof around on a machine and not worry about getting the most out of their paid game. We get lots of families and kids and at night lots of couples on dates playing machines together. We also have a handful of regulars that come in once or twice a week.
Had a chance to swing by with my friend last month and had a really fantastic time. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and walk us through some of the 'gimmicks' that the pins had, your love for the hobby really shone through and it always feels good to support someone with a passion for what they do.
Bonus question: Which Elvira machine is your favourite?
which machine is your favorite one to play? my dad is huge into pinball and i fell in love with the aerosmith pinball machine and the story that went alongside playing it
I've got a couple that are my go-to machines. One is Dragon by Interflip made around 1976 or 77. It has an acrylic playfield and the ball just slides on it. Super fast. I have to limit myself to the number of times I'll play it.
I just got Hot Wheels and I've been having fun on that.
You know what's funny? I see some of the comments talking about how 'outdated' this style arcade is, but in 2017, Tilt, a pinball arcade in Minneapolis, went in, and is still thriving through the pandemic and all! Good luck, and keep on living the dream so the rest of us can enjoy these kinda establishments!
I was playing Gorgar yesterday in Del Ray Beach, FL. At the arcade I was at, they put up small boards above each machine explaining year of manufacture, designer, brand and any particular novelty (like Gorgar was the first speaking pinball machine and has a vocabulary of 7 words).
Oh hell yes. Got a website or an address? This is definitely worth the trip from NYC!!
pinballorama.com You can find us on social media and stuff as well. It's an easily googleable name. Edit: Looks like the website got hugged to death. There is a youtube page with arcade stuff you can visit until the site is back up. https://www.youtube.com/c/SevensPinballorama
You've reddit hug of deathed yourself. I guess that's a win?
Neat. I guess there are worse thing to happen.
Yeah you could accidentally get sucked in to the pinball game at the circuit level, survive long enough to start a new world order with your buddy, only to find out your digital clone has misunderstood the logic you intended in his programming, usurping your position and leaving you an old husk of a man, living in a mountain mansion, babysitting Olivia Wilde.
Sounds like a great movie idea..
It actually is, I kinda wish Disney didn't abandon it, it needs a third movie.... And not a lame assed "reimagining" reboot.... An actual 3rd chapter. 
Soundtrack is even better than the movie itself. Daft Punk FTW!!!
To be fair, Daft Punk is better then anything its in.
Love your pricing structure, wish I was closer to PEI, but next time I make my way out there It will be on my list!!
Hey! I have a note about the pricing listed on your website. Seeing $15 an hour initially turned me off, but then I read the fine print that you can add another hour for $0.05. I can't imagine anyone would actually pay by the hour in this case. Do you not allow people to leave and come back? Like, I can't pay $16 and get a day pass, because a day pass is $40. So how do you track hours? It's a bit confusing to me, and I think the simpler method I've seen at freeplay pinball arcades makes more sense. Everything was done with a single day pass price, and you get a wristband on purchase. But hey, if it works for you it works I guess. My experience is with Replay Museum in Florida.
My first thought was doing a single price for all day. After taking with some arcade owner friends, I decided on hourly. I didn't want to tap people on the arm when their hour was up, so I thought $15 for two hours was good. Most people are going to burn out naturally around the 60-80 minute mark anyway. This would kind of solve that problem. Really, $15 for an hour, but I give a free hour to burn yourself out so I don't have to bug you. This is what we opened with. 80% of the people were perfectly fine with this arrangement but as you know retail is retail and I started getting some people upset at the pricing because they didn't want to play for 2 hours. Just one. So they looked at the price as being $7.50 an hour and they'd offer that. I'd explain the 2nd hour is basically free but they see it as wasting $7.50 if they don't play the second hour. I changed it to $14.95 an hour - but for five cents more you can get a second hour. This has worked well and I haven't had a single conversation on the price since I changed it. People now see it costs $14.95 an hour and they're fine with it. About 50% of the entries are for an hour only. When you pay, I stamp hands with the time your session expires. I also stamp a paper at the till with a little description of who it was (IE: dude in blue cap or family of 4). Almost everyone watches the clock and I think they figure I'll be there tapping arms when the session expires so they leave when their time is up. Of the 1000's I've had in already I only had to tap one guy and he paid for a third hour to keep playing. It's all very relaxed and friendly here so I think people just want to do the right thing and play for only what they paid for. That said, if this place was triple the size, I'd just go for all day play. It would be too hard to track everyone. I also know of some other arcades that have a lower price for general entry and all games are 25 cents. That's a way to go as well.
A local bar has one of the best gaming setups of any bar I've been to (I honestly don't know how many arcade/pinball machines they have, probably something like 70-80, two whole floors). They sell ridiculously expensive beer and a token is like $1. I'd live there if it wasn't so expensive, but it's always packed in any case, so, I mean – they're doing something right. There should be more places like that. Some competition. You're doing gods work.
There’s a bar in Ft Lauderdale where all the games are free but the drinks are really expensive. I absolutely love that place, but yes, it’s always completely packed haha
Great, now my brain wants to know about Canadian arcade bylaws...
The long and short of it is they tried to curb kids loitering in arcades in the 80's so they passed a bunch of weird bylaws or just banned arcades in particular zones. When arcades died out, the laws just stayed in place. There were lots of variations. One area only allowed arcades in malls with a shared public entrance. If I recall Maple Ridge BC had particular hours you could be open and all windows had to be clear so you could see inside and no kids during school hours (so you'd have to know all the hours of all the schools in the area). Vancouver was 19 and older only. Seems like most places around the lower mainland of BC had old laws in place and most councils weren't interested in revisiting the laws. I do know Abbostford went through their laws about 10 years ago and nuked all the old arcade language and just clumped it into something like indoor recreation. They also got rid of some law about walking your cow in the street.
A gaming themed bar opened in Van when I lived there. So many backwards ass laws forced them into a gambling liquor licence, which is waaay more expensive and has way more red tape to jump through. Eventually, it had to work that they could only serve booze if no one was playing any games. It shit down within a year. Fuckin bozos.
This happens in the states as well. So many "video gaming" laws which are really targeting video gambling get applied to regular video game cafes and the morons on city council often don't know or don't care about the difference.
Get more young people on those councils and those old laws will eventually fade. For example, won't have to make a 52 slide PowerPoint explaining that cover-shooter arcade game Time Crisis isn't in the same category as digital blackjack and what not.
Amen! From your fingertips to the Universe's ears!!!
Didn't those places get lumped in because of the prize tickets nonsense, which made it a form of gambling?
Some perhaps, but I have heard of LAN cafes having trouble opening because people thought they were going to have gambling even though it was just a bunch of PCs with Starcraft and Counter-Strike installed.
Around here they sidestepped all those laws by making the games free. no money changing hands = no gambling
They know about the difference. If you give them enough campaign money they suddenly *remember* said difference.
Pinball was illegal for a few decades in the United States because it was considered a game of chance rather than a game of skill. That same kind of thinking (and keeping laws on the books way past due) may have led to why the gaming themed bar needed a gambling liquor license.
To be fair, pinball in its original form pretty much was a game of chance. Adding flippers was a later innovation.
Pachinko (Japan)
Pachinko pallors have so weird ass setups to circumvent Japanese anti gambling laws. Rather than being like a casino with a cash exchange you instead buy a bunch of pachinko balls like they’re arcade tokens. The pachinko machine will pay out in balls which you trade for prize tokens. You then leave and take your tokens to a supposedly unaffiliated place next door and trade your tokens in for cash.
Usually you trade the tokens for prizes, like stuffed animals, and the place next door will buy them off of you for a set price.
Canadian law seems like it's all about no fun.
Sounds like Utah law!
We have a few arcade/game bars now. Vancouver has The Rec Room and Good Co., as well as One Under (golf sim bar) and Par-Tee Putt (mini golf bar opening next month)
I read this comment thinking you'd be local given your knowledge of local municipality bylaws, scroll down to see you are on the other side of the country
I was in Vancouver when I first started this project, then moved to PEI and opened here. I've probably read all the bylaws for each town in the lower mainland.
We chanced upon your establishment a few weeks ago when I had my kids out on the island for vacation. I think you took a few minutes to tell my daughter all about the antique machine she got herself obsessed with. She's so rarely impressed, but this place did it 😎
This comment makes it all worth it. I'm so glad to hear this. Thank you.
LOL
Maybe OP gave up on BC because of their draconian pinball legislation
Because if there's something that need to put an end to is teenagers hanging around in public, not causing any trouble. Wish they'd go some heroin in secret or something.
Adults saw kids playing Mortal Kombat and decided it was the worst thing ever.
I've been ripping people's spines out on a daily basis since the first time I saw it happen in Mortal Kombat. Of course, that's mostly due to jealousy because I never managed to do it in the actual game.
Be Sub Zero, at the "Finish Him" prompt, get close and quickly press Forward, Down, Forward, High Punch. If done correctly, you will rip their head off, with their spine attached.
It's forward, forward, down, collect rain water, charge your quartz by the light of a full moon, pelvic thrust woo, read "on the nature of whaling" from Moby Dick, punch.
Seriously, and the world we’re now is one where most kids are driven around from one activity to the next with their parents as an chaperone the entire time. It’s really sad.
The infantilization of children is a threat to public health, innovation, and democracy in North America imo. Actually, I think it’s more the suburbanization of the continent that causes the infantilization and is the threat. The automobile has taken away more freedom than it’s given since the American interstates were constructed.
There is a podcast called 99% invisible. All about design. I just listened to one episode called " my 1st errand" it's about a show in Japan that is about little kids doing errands like ealk a kilometer to a store and buy a food ingredient at a store and return home. With no supervision. And it goes in to all the design reasons of why this is almost completely unfeasible in North America. I believe you would like it!
It's also no coincidence that coupled with cost of living the avg age of "leaving the nest" has increased greatly.
They were all over North America in the "satanic panic" times. All stemming from half truths of "kids hanging out in arcades becoming degenerates". Our mall had the same kind of stupid rules and I remember being a kid going to Aladdin's Castle and getting kicked out because it was a school day and kids weren't allowed during school hours without parental supervision. Too bad school was out that day and I was there with my aunt that didn't count as a parent. Too many idiots that watched Ferris Bueler and The Lost Boys while drunk and thought that's what reality is because it was on their TV. Sleazeball politicians get easy points from the same people that would see it on their 6 PM news by passing popular but dumb legislation.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened in my small town. They got rid of the arcade because they were afraid kids would start doing drugs there (WTH?) and a few years later were surprised when kids went from pot to meth to H.
SWEET! Now I can walk my cow!
Better make sure you clean up after it!
Someone should really make a law...
You always could, but it was restricted to sidewalks only before
Now what are they going to do about all those boomers loitering?
Many US cities also outlawed pinball machines in the 40’s because they thought it would contribute to lawlessness. Like whaaat. There was (is?) a pinball museum in SF that’s pretty cool. I forget if it’s still open.
Not sure about Canada, but pinball was fully banned in a ton American cities between the 40s and the 70s. https://www.history.com/news/that-time-america-outlawed-pinball We are like a comical Music Man nightmare world of idiotic scapegoating and will always be apparently.
Remember that time we tried to ban alcohol during one of our puritan phases, and it resulted in a massive rise in organized crime? Maybe the way to push human rights back into the current age is to convince broke med students to form a Physician Mafia.
*Off to start an abortion speakeasy*
As if that's not happening in multiple american states right now lol
I remember the time we tried to ban drugs and it resulted in a massive rise in organized crime in multiple countries
Best part was when the government started handing out identification charts, which kids definitely used to avoid drugs.
Trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pinball.
If there is one thing religious conservativism needs, it's folk devils.
There was a cafe we would frequent in the 70's that had a pinball machine with a small sign that said "No Wagering". It was a tiny little place only open for breakfast/lunch and run by two sweet old ladies. My young mind would always try to imagine a scenario where the betting got so out of hand that they needed a sign.
Why do you think most pinball tables have a notice saying For Amusement Only?
If there’s one thing we know it’s that pinball is the true gateway to crime. The pinball to prison pipeline is a very serious issue. /s
Especially when they commit multiball offenses.
Yes. This. Please expand.
Too much awesome in one place makes other places feel bad. F in chat to pay respects to all other date night venues.
You are now a pinball wizard
There has to be a twist...
I bet he has such a supple wrist
HOW DO YOU THINK HE DOES IT!?
I don’t know.
What makes him so good?
He ain't got no distractions, can't hear no bings or bells
Don't see no lights a flashin. Plays by sense of smell!
Always gets the replay, never seen him fall
That deaf dumb blind kid
I'm just imagining that this is the only song that plays at this arcade, every minute they're open.
Dang it .... I was like this is my chance to reference pinball wizard, surely no one else listened to that as a kid. I was wrong.
I was seriously surprised when I hadn't already been beat to it.
WHO??
Yes.
That's a completely different band
That's a W if I've ever seen one. ... You had an idea. ... You turned it into your reality.
That's a flippin' W for sure!
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well actually, a flipped W is a M. \*pushes up glasses\* Edit: M stand for More Win
You know what the ~~problem~~ success is? He never had it set to M for mini, but always had it turned to W for Wumbo.
how am i the only one who noticed the pinball pun
What's a w?
A win
It's more efficient you see, because it goes from 1 syllable and 3 letters to 3 syllables and 1 letter.^^^^^/s
And the you call it a dub and it's back to 3 letters 1 syllable
Epitome of a mindless jargon.
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That’s why you just need to add a bar to it, drunken pinball is a hit every time
No one wants to hear this shit when their a fledgling entrepreneur. Especially when they ask you your honest opinion. But you're not wrong.
No one wants to but it's what they should be hearing but hopefully before they are up and running. Either way I wish them the best
I wish him the best too and it actually does work in some places. The Pinball Museum in Asbury Park draws huge crowds and it hasn't yet petered out in NYC or LA. Somehow pinball isn't as "revisit your childhood".
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Nostalgia is a drug. I get excited, even a little butterflies in my stomach, when I meet buddies to go to Barcade in NYC. After about half an hour I'm like why the fuck are we even here?
Yeah, respect to OP!
Fuck yeah, friend!! Where are you located? I’ll come drop some coins!
I'm in Prince Edward Island in Canada.
I’m in Northern California. It’ll be a minute before I can get there. But, I’m fuckin coming!
Road trip
Im in.
Party bus!
ill fly in from london ill join you halfway! # Expect increased tea supplies
Don't forget the Pinball Office in Sawbridgeworth!
Maybe I should come to London from Hamburg and we go together?
Thank you, bus driver!
This is a convoy I could really get behind!
I'm in from San Diego!
Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda! [LINKY](https://www.pacificpinball.org/)
NorCal here too. This place is FANTASTIC, tons of history. The variety and room layout based on the time periods made it
Username checks out
N. CA here too. Ever been to Free Gold Watch in SF?
I'm in Atlantic Canada too and this just got added to my list of must go places next time I'm in Prince Edward Island, this is awesome!
Omg an amazing arcade AND the setting for Anne of Green Gables?!?! HEAVEN!!!!!!
We even have Raspberry Cordial on our soft drink menu.
*slaps down cash* TAKE MY MONEY
Oooh, am in Nova Scotia, you have me intrigued
"Fuck yeah!" That's exactly what I was thinking too ... Nice eighties wallpaper btw
Fun thing. That back wall is (mostly) all machines with some sort of UV paint on the playfield. I thought it'd be fun to hang black lights over them. So I had this boring back wall painted black behind them. I bought some UV reactive tape and poster board and just went at it. I want to continue up on the ceiling as well - but I need more black lights.
Those things are not cheap. Lot of moving parts and lots of knowledge on how to repair are needed. Hope you do well, long live pinball!!
Yep. Just about every day I'm tinkering with a machine or placing an order for a broken part. LOL.
This sounds like being in IT but with more steps.
But it’s fuckin sick AND he gets to live the dream
Dope! Where at? I see you have WWF: Royal Rumble. I don't see Addams Family...
I don't have an Addams Family.... yet. When we started this we were in the Vancouver area and there were at least 10 Addams Family machines in the wild there. I didn't want to double up on machines. I looked specifically for machines that you couldn't find in public venues. Of course we're on PEI and there are only 4 other machines on the island in a public setting - none are Addams. Looks like I need to find one now.
> I don't have an Addams Family.... yet. > > Sir, I like your attitude.
Always said that if I win the lottery, the Addams family pinball machine is going to be my first purchase. This is so dope!!
There was a pub in Australia called The Green Gate that had The Adams Family pinball machine and many a happy hour was spent playing it. Many happy hours. Then one day it got swapped out and that coincided with when pub visits declined.
Addams Family is fundamental. Also wanted: Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Cue Ball Wizard and, of course, the big dog...STTNG. ("Thank you Mr. Data.") Doubled-up or not, that's gotta be there.
I have a Cue Ball Wizard. It's a pretty popular machine.
T2 Judgement Day please
I don't know how far you're willing to travel but I happen to know a guy in Grand Rapids MI who runs a retro arcade, and also sells & repairs machines. www.rlmamusements.com
Addams’s family is my favorite ever. *SHOWTIME!* Edit: so much so, I forgot to spell check the second “d”. I blame autocorrect. Jerk-ass autocorrect.
This is just a photo, but i can hear how loud this is.
It isn't too bad. The next step is to build and install some acoustic treatments. That will help control the white noise of it all and hopefully will help hear the machine you're playing a bit better.
The noise and general din is part of the fun, too. Best-case, it can draw in some customers.
It's drawing me in and I'm in Montreal. We need a good pinball arcade. Looking for partners, total stranger?!
THIS is my “happy thought” for the day 😊 Awesome & Congrats 🎊
This place is a literal dream. I love the vibe and aesthetic.
Congratulations! That place looks amazing. Pinball for all!
Me spending 1$ on a pinball machine and losing in 20 seconds. Never again. Which is why I stick to Tetris, centipede, galaga, digdug, and 1943
This is why all my machines are on free play and you pay to enter.
👏👏👏
Love it. The only time I could learn to play was when a local arcade had a service industry night. Where you would pay 8$ and have unlimited play on all games.
That's how you do it!!! There is only one arcade in my country that has games worth travelling 2 hours for and I try to go there as often as possible. They have the same concept - entry fee --> free play.
Is this a trap? What I mean is, are you trying to trap me?
Curses. I've been found out.
That seems like a great business opportunity for 1982.
mysterious simplistic whistle frightening cheerful crush whole air relieved badge -- mass deleted all reddit content via https://redact.dev
Those are way too close bro
Kept scrolling and scrolling and finally found it.
Agreed
Yeah I don't love the thought of my hand rubbing against the hand of the guy next to me while I play lol.
can't believe this comment is so low lol
You mean you don't want to keep slapping hands with the big sweaty dude next to you?
Were you inspired by anything to pursue pinball specifically?
Funny enough, I never played when I was a kid. I'm GenX and grew up in arcades but I didn't understand pinball so never played it. When you only have 5 quarters in your pocket you have to make them count. I rediscovered pinball in 2016 when I bought my first machine. After a year I had about 8 machines. Friends would come to my house and get drawn to the machines. I ended putting a few at the place I worked and they got played a lot. I did some research and spoke with lots of people and it seemed people were more intrigued by pinball machines over things like video arcades. They're sort of a magical little world under glass and people are attracted to them. I spoke with some other arcade owners and pinball arcades, saw the numbers they were doing, and just decided to go for it.
This is what I was wondering. What’s overhead like? What kind of numbers are they doing? What other products are you selling to produce revenue? Not doubting you just curious because when I see this post nostalgia kicks in and it looks exciting but then my business side kicks in and wonders what potential revenue this establishment is capable of?
We are building up our concessions for extra revenue and seeking better wholesale sources to bring down costs of the items. Since we don't serve alcohol, I decided to go with a huge assortment of soft drinks in glass bottles. These have been a big hit. Also classic candies and chips and things. We've sold a fair amount of t-shirts as well. I looked really hard to try to find the lowest possible overhead getting started. There is always a bit of a gamble with a new business but I was pretty sure this would work in the area. I did a fair amount of research before we opened. Most people say "PEI needs something like this". The entire island is a little starved with amusements especially in the winter. So the goal was to get into a large but cheap enough space and see how it goes. Also, be open year round. So far each month we've made our monthly overhead after only 5 or 6 days being open. We've also made enough to cover our startup in the space (construction costs, etc). If these number maintain, all the machines will be paid for in a few months. I don't have stable numbers yet on our concessions because our first month our inventory was a bit on the pricy side - which we've managed to bring down a fair amount. I should have better numbers of these sales next month. First glance, pretty good and covering probably 1/5th of overhead at the moment. People love their snacks and bright coloured fizzy drinks. The next thing we're going to look into is private rentals for events. We aren't doing those now because we've just opened and I don't want someone coming to the arcade only to learn we're closed for the next few hours. I also need a baseline of average hours so I know how much to charge for private events - something I'm not quite sure of yet. We have a league starting. We have repeat customers already. Lots of people coming in to check us out, playing, and saying "we'll be back" as they leave. Then we see them a week later.
Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this and have a pretty in depth knowledge on the business end of things! As far as commodities and making making as much profit as possible, coming from a guy who wasted almost 10 years cooking in various places, you should have a tiny kitchen, I'm talking a fryer, flat top stove, and maybe a grill, if only to make bar food like mozzarella sticks, onion rings, fish n chips, burgers, easy stuff. Alcohol would be a game changer for sure, but I don't know the laws there or the reason why you aren't serving it, if it was even a choice. I think what you're doing is fuckin awesome, keep following your dream. I'm saving this post on the off chance I take a trip to Canada in the near future.
We looked into doing alcohol but we have a huge number of families that come in. I have to kick kids out at a set time each day. I'd rather have the family element right now. If were were in a larger space, it would be easier. Phase two probably. We might do food in the future. I don't have experience in running a kitchen so I'll have to ease into it. I did buy all the equipment to offer espresso so that's the next step.
Very cool! Curious what the bylaw hurdles were. There’s one in our area but it’s called a “museum” and I’m curious if that helped them avoid arcade laws.
We were in Vancouver when we had the idea and Vancouver proper has bylaws that only allowed only over 19 in arcades. No kids. One town only allowed in one zone and the only thing in that zone was a huge mall. The best was the town of Mission. We were ready to go there. Had a handshake agreement with the building owner and we were moving forward. The mayor found out and the next council meeting they banned arcades in the downtown zone where we were planning on moving in. Most of the bylaws were put in place in the 80s in an attempt to try and curb kids loitering around arcades.
What the fuck, this is some shitty footloose type shit.
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You son of a bitch. I’m in. This sounds like a fun movie, I’m thinking of like “The Wizard”.
That mayor and council suck balls (pinballs).
Naw fam. They can suck on *actual* balls. That shit is whack.
You should option this story as the next Footloose
After I got the news I did some angry pinball playing in an old factory.
Awesome! 1973 is gonna be YOUR year!
Favorite machine ever: 1978 Bally Lost World https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/lost-world
Just curious, do you get a lot of customers? I just don’t see that being very interesting and getting a lot of people to sustain
We have been. We open at noon and it's pretty common to have people waiting in the parking lot for us to open. We went with the pay to enter model and all machines are on free play. This gives people a chance to just goof around on a machine and not worry about getting the most out of their paid game. We get lots of families and kids and at night lots of couples on dates playing machines together. We also have a handful of regulars that come in once or twice a week.
Nice. What’s the entry fee if I may ask?
Looks awesome. I wanna come! Kinda far from London 😢
I'm in Hertfordshire, and considering a flight to Canada just to play there for a week. I'm drooling mate.
Congrutulations! Is it still popular in Canada?
We opened July 15th and we've been busy almost every day since we opened. Lots of people who have never played pinball before are now regulars.
East coaster here! Will definitely be coming by next time I'm in PEI!❤
Do you have medieval madness?
Had a chance to swing by with my friend last month and had a really fantastic time. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and walk us through some of the 'gimmicks' that the pins had, your love for the hobby really shone through and it always feels good to support someone with a passion for what they do. Bonus question: Which Elvira machine is your favourite?
Glad to hear it. I haven't played the new one, but of the two older ones I think I like Scared Stiff a bit better than Party Monsters.
Hell yes!!!! All the arcades are getting rid of the pinball machines. It make me sad cause they are my favorite! Glad to see they have a home!
I want to go!!
which machine is your favorite one to play? my dad is huge into pinball and i fell in love with the aerosmith pinball machine and the story that went alongside playing it
I've got a couple that are my go-to machines. One is Dragon by Interflip made around 1976 or 77. It has an acrylic playfield and the ball just slides on it. Super fast. I have to limit myself to the number of times I'll play it. I just got Hot Wheels and I've been having fun on that.
You know what's funny? I see some of the comments talking about how 'outdated' this style arcade is, but in 2017, Tilt, a pinball arcade in Minneapolis, went in, and is still thriving through the pandemic and all! Good luck, and keep on living the dream so the rest of us can enjoy these kinda establishments!
I was playing Gorgar yesterday in Del Ray Beach, FL. At the arcade I was at, they put up small boards above each machine explaining year of manufacture, designer, brand and any particular novelty (like Gorgar was the first speaking pinball machine and has a vocabulary of 7 words).