EP28 Robert Owens My Journey Into Pinball
Episode 28 of The Pinball Studio Podcast features another installment of My Journey in Pinball with special guest Robert Owens, owner of Retro City Arcade in Evans, Georgia. Join us as Robert shares how he first discovered the hobby, the path that led him to opening Retro City Arcade, and the challenges and successes of building one of the region’s premier pinball destinations. It’s a great conversation about the passion that drives the pinball community and what it takes to turn that passion into a successful business. Note: At the beginning of the episode, I accidentally refer to this as Episode 29. It is actually Episode 28. Thanks for understanding, and enjoy the show!
Kineticist’s take
Arcade operator Robert Owens reflects on five decades in pinball, collecting philosophy, and venue economics.
Synopsis
Robert Owens, owner of Retro City Arcade in Evans, Georgia, discusses his 50+ year journey in pinball starting from bowling alleys in the mid-1970s through his current operation of a 50-game arcade. The conversation covers his collecting evolution, venue economics including licensing challenges in Georgia, the debate between coin-drop and free-play models, and his preference for classic games over modern licensed titles despite acknowledging market trends.
Entities
- Electric Playground· company
- Old Town Pinball· company
- Retro City Arcade· company
- Rotten Dog· company
- Spooky Pinball· company
- X-Pin· company
- Texas Pinball Festival (TPFL)· event
- Attack from Mars· game
- Black Knight· game
- Firepower· game
- Flight 2000· game
- Gorgar· game
- Grand Slam· game
- No Fear· game
- Paragon· game
- Rush· game
- Shadow· game
- Special Force· game
- The Avengers· game
- WHO dunnit· game
- Kathleen· person
- Robert Owens· person
- Sterling Martin· person
- Steve Ritchie· person