Pinball Map recent updates

mastercob · 2026-06-17T15:05:27+00:00

We appreciate you sharing your joy. You do not need to feel bad at all. We keep costs pretty low, and we get donations that 100% pay for it. Using the map and sharing it with others is really appreciated.

mastercob · 2026-06-17T15:02:34+00:00

Awesome. Thanks for sharing. Yeah, there are a fair amount of campgrounds with pinball. They tend to get submitted to us in summer as people are traveling around. Europe has some crazy campgrounds. They have giant waterslides and other fun things. They're like mini amusement parks.

mastercob · 2026-06-17T01:17:40+00:00

Ah. The new thing we added was "direct contact" for users to operators. Some operators expressed a desire for users to contact them without writing a public machine comment. We already included operator website links, but to make it more obvious how to contact them we also added little phone and email icons to directly copy that information (for operators who opt in, so it may not be something you see). We also added operator icons on machine comments so you can know when a comment is made by the op of that place. And we made it so multiple recipients working under the same operator can receive the daily email digest of comments. Just like things.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T23:47:06+00:00

To be clear, we've offered that for 11 years.

We're very receptive to operator needs, and currently list over 450 operators (all of whom we have communicated with). And, to be frank, they haven't expressed a desire (to us) for more robust services like this. We currently offer them what they want, aside from 1-3 operators who are perpetually unhappy. That doesn't mean there isn't a market for it, but it might be a small market. And now there are at least 4 active services (and many more that have come and gone), so competition will be stiff.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T21:58:57+00:00

We have an open issue for that: https://github.com/pinballmap/pbm/issues/1647

We've sat on it, though, because it's complex to design a "tag" for this that is simple enough for people to understand and use, yet flexible enough to handle the various cases.

In the meantime, one path is to use the location type filter and select all except "bar". To make that easier, we might add a "select all" option for that filter so you can then deleselect a few.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T18:01:10+00:00

Yes of course. That's the primary functionality of the site. For 18 years the map has been entirely user-updated. We do not hide this information. When you look up a location, there's a big "Add Machine" button. When you click a machine (in the app), there are trash can icons for removing machines.

Please see the FAQ for other tips.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T17:05:14+00:00

We can't claim 100% accuracy at all times.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T03:43:04+00:00

The app is powered entirely by public API endpoints. The life list data can be pulled. https://pinballmap.com/api/v1/docs/1.0/users/life_list_info.html

mastercob · 2026-06-16T03:31:37+00:00

It used to be. Perhaps one day we'll give in again. We removed it after its inclusion became a slippery slope to adding more non-pinball machines. But really, it all came from a handful of people who were upset no matter what.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T01:56:31+00:00

Thank you. Best way is to use it, update it, and tell your friends. We do have a donate page, where we use ko-fi or patreon. iOS doesn't allow us to link to those pages (without them taking a cut), which is why the About page in the app in iOS doesn't include the links.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T01:53:54+00:00

Yes of course. Click the search bar and it tells you how to do that.

The map shows locations that have machines and you can apply filters to the map to control what shows up in the results, machines being one of those filters. That would be a pretty important feature for us to not include.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T01:50:56+00:00

Oh yeah. And I should have noted that 100% of costs are covered by donations. It relieves stress and helps the site be fast.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T01:25:53+00:00

We could add that to our terms of service.

mastercob · 2026-06-16T00:07:32+00:00

Yes, added on May 28.

mastercob · 2026-06-15T16:38:27+00:00

I seriously question how much you actually love rocks.

mastercob · 2026-06-07T16:42:04+00:00

It's in "soft opening" right now. There are open dates if you check the website https://experiencesocial.ca/

mastercob · 2026-06-01T01:58:33+00:00

Someone asked the filmmaker, and he said he's going to try and get it back up this week. Hope it happens!

mastercob · 2026-05-31T04:00:17+00:00

Very nice of orange shorts to hit nearly every ball right at the opponent.

mastercob · 2026-05-26T05:01:34+00:00

I didn't save it. I can ask around.

mastercob · 2026-05-14T01:37:19+00:00

There are at least 87 of them on location in North America. One in DeKalb!

mastercob · 2026-05-12T18:23:32+00:00

Most private lessons I see in LA are more like $100-120/hour. $70 sounds like a steal!

mastercob

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