The game peaked in the early 1990s, when pinball machines filled dark arcades and backrooms of bowling alleys. Since then three of the four pinball manufacturers in the U.S. have gone out of business, and revenue today-$219 million in 2011-is a quarter of what it was in 2001. The remaining 63,000 commercial machines take in about $67 a week each-an amount operators say makes keeping pinball around difficult to justify. The devices are still mostly made by hand, and servicing can range from $200 to $2,000 a year.
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