Also the legendary Steve Epstein was involved in the business. Steve ran Broadway Arcade, which at its height in the 80s had over 144 pins. It was my local arcade growing up and sat where the Times Square Church and McDonalds on 51st st now occupy today.
Palace Playland in Old Orchard Beach, Maine used to be a great location for pinball as well but has long since gone the Family Fun Center route instead. I think most of what they had moved to Maine Silverball Tavern in Saco.
I also hit the PHoF in Vegas every time I go. Great collection.
I've heard that a lot of their games have various maintenance issues, is this true? On the other hand, I've wanted to get over there and play the only remaining copy of The Pinball Circus!
It's a shame, the place has many old games beyond pinball and is truly a museum of gaming. If you get the chance, support them. I hope someone takes up the torch.
The big thing that was missing (at the time) was good nudge support. I did have an accelerometer in my cabinet but nudging never felt very realistic.
name | city | state | country | count
-----+------+-------+---------+-------
Pinball Hall of Fame | Las Vegas | NV | US | 337
Pinball Perfection | Westview | PA | US | 311
Next Level Pinball Museum | Hillsboro | OR | US | 242
Pinball PA | Aliquippa | PA | US | 176
Game Galaxy | Smyrna | TN | US | 169
Wizard's World | Fort Wayne | IN | US | 144
District 82 Pinball | De Pere | WI | US | 114
Pacific Pinball Museum | Alameda | CA | US | 106
Game Terminal | Nashville | TN | US | 105
Silverball Retro Arcade | Asbury Park | NJ | US | 100
ElectroMagnetic Pinball Museum | Pawtucket | RI | US | 96
The Pinball Palace | Brunswick | GA | US | 92
Pocketeer Billiards and Bar | Buffalo | NY | US | 85
Pinballz Arcade | Austin | TX | US | 83
Recbar 812 | New Albany | IN | US | 80
Pinball Gallery | Malvern | PA | US | 79
Grumpy's Arcade | Glendale | AZ | US | 77
Silverball Retro Arcade | Delray Beach | FL | US | 75
CP Pinball | South Roxana | IL | US | 74
Idaho Pinball Museum | Garden City | ID | US | 73
Pinball Long Island | Patchogue | NY | US | 73
Recbar | Louisville | KY | US | 71
Clubhouse Arcade | Fremont | MI | US | 68
Crazy Quarters Arcade | Bay City | MI | US | 67
Lucky Snake Arcade & Sports Bar | Atlantic City | NJ | US | 67
Flippers Arcade | Grandy | NC | US | 67
Western Mass Pinball Club | Palmer | MA | US | 65
Roanoke Pinball Museum | Roanoke | VA | US | 65
Replay Museum | Tarpon Springs | FL | US | 65
Captain's Arcade Showroom | Anaheim | CA | US | 65
Pastime Pinball | Manchester Center | VT | US | 64
The Pinball Palace (Dezerland Park) | Orlando | FL | US | 60
As already mentioned, The Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas is probably the most well known collection on a national level. Pittsburgh has two good collections-- Pinball PA, with various solid states up to modern machines, and Pinball Perfection, with more old (wood rail) tables and rarer tables like Banzai Run and the often-broken Circus Voltaire.
There is a growing number of public collections of modern Stern/Jersey Jack/CGC/American/etc. typically in barcade or enthusiast collections made public environments-- like The Pinball Garage outside of Cincinnati (the owner builds/built vpin cabinets), The Pinball Museum of Corbin in rural KY (50 or so modern tables, mostly Stern) or The Asheville Pinball Museum. They will all vary in quantity and quality (both in games and maintenance)-- so use Pinball Map and see where your favorites (or rare tables) are actually at.
Visual Pinball X and Zen Pinball are probably the two most prominent emulators.
If anyone likes other coin operated esoterica, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum outside of Detroit is worth a visit. Lots of 19th-early 20th century rare mechanical attractions and maybe 10 new pinballs.