What happened to pinball?

Pinball machines have vanished from many places where they were once popular. Remember the days when local convenience stores like 7-11 had pinball machines? What happened? Pinball experienced increased popularity in the 80’s and early 90’s with innovative pinball machines like Cyclone, Taxi, Diner, T2, Indiana Jones, Adams Family, Fun House, Star Trek, and more. In the mid to late 90’s the pinball industry was hit hard by the evolution of high-tech arcade games and affordable computer video console games like Xbox and Playstation. Pinball manufacturers Williams and Bally have fallen by the wayside, and now the only remaining maker of pinball machines is Stern. Some of their more popular pinball machines currently in production are Black Spiderman, Wheel of Fortune, Family Guy, Pirates of the Carribbean, Simpson’s Pinball Party, and Dale Jr.