I think part of the reason is a whole generation of people for whom a realistic simulation of how nudging the entire cabinet causes vibrations and wobble would

I think part of the reason is a whole generation of people for whom a realistic simulation of how nudging the entire cabinet causes vibrations and wobble would be an anti-feature, because they aren't intuitive to the current majority of gamers who have never ever handled a physical pinball machine, and they would rather mechanics that are more visual and less tactile, focusing on the gameplay that can be fully represented on the screens and devices they use instead of attempting to simulate a real, physical machine. The market niche of people who'd appreciate insane fidelity of physics simulation in pinball is shrinking every year, so we'd expect less games now than yesteryear, and even less such games in future. On the other hand, there could be a market for more 'gamey' mechanics (as you say, smashing the glass with a hammer) in the style of many 'physicsy' virtual reality games, but the preferences of that market is probably the opposite of what pinball purists would want.