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Comment by system16 | Hacker News Reader

I'm glad this exists but at $22 admission I don't think you're going to attract anyone but hardcore pinball lovers and maybe the odd person trying it out as a novelty once and then never returning. Pinball for most people is not an all day activity so an hourly rate seems like it would be a better fit.

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They have a two for Tuesday special. I have gone a bunch of times, I took a friend and we played for 5 hours. Much cheaper than feeding quarters, and a LOT better variety. Yes, they could do both half days, and an hourly rate...

But its a Museum, and there is a bunch of overhead.

Playing for an hour at an arcade can easily drain a roll of quarters. $22 for a day is a pretty reasonable deal imo.

Silverball in Asbury park is $25/day and always packed out. If you play for even an hour or two you'll be well ahead of where you'd be paying a buck or game or whatever pinball in the wild goes for these days.

I went there maybe ten years ago and it was pretty full of people, not jam-packed but enough that you had to maneuver around them. (Only went there once because when we lived in the Bay Area it was an hour-plus drive)

I've been there recently and can confirm it still draws a healthy crowd.

1) They have a row of coin-op machines by the front door if you just want to swing by for a quick round or two. 2) That is how much an activity costs in Alameda. A game of bowling for two or a round of mini golf for two costs the same at nearby facilities. 3) Before I visited I thought it would only be interesting f for like an hour. I ended up staying for hours of entertainment and learning.

Yeah, I used to live a couple blocks from the museum and only went there once. The admission's a bit steep if you only want to play a couple of games and then leave.

Hey, I still live a couple blocks from there! Hi, ex-neighbor.

We took a group of Cub Scouts there one night and turns out a bunch of skeptical little kids can become instant fans.

If you haven't played pinball in a while, you'd burn through quarters pretty quickly. They're not a quarter per play anymore, it's usually 50¢ to 75¢ for older games and $1/play for anything from the 1990's or newer.

An hourly rate was tried and it was a pain in the ass for staff and now it’s gone. (Source: I am an irregular volunteer technician, and have been going there as a customer for 15 years.)

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