Pinball Machines
“Two kind of people in this world,” Ray Liotta’s character says in the 1997 movie Cop Land. “Pinball people and video game people.” If you’re 50 or older, you might fall into the former group of gamers who are enthralled by the ringing bells, snapping flippers and the captivating combination of mechanics and electronics that make pinball irresistible. While it’s the ultimate Sisyphean game—the eternal (and doomed) effort to keep an 80-gram, carbon-steel ball from going down the drain—for those who love it, it couldn’t be more fun.
Descended from bagatelles, with such evolution as coin-op (1930s) and flippers (1947), pinball dominated arcades ( arcades?) and created diversions in bars and candy stores. Its star began to fade in the 1970s with the rise of video games, the mechanics and simple buzzers replaced by pixel images of insatiable Pac-Men and relentless Asteroids. When video games moved into the home, pinball machines became even rarer. But a few companies continue to make them for the man caves and smoking rooms of sentimental gamers.
Stern, located outside of the hotbed of pinball manufacturing, Chicago, is the dominant remaining force. Its many theme choices vary from Star Wars and Jaws to Godzilla, “Stranger Things” and James Bond. Prices begin at $7,000 and go as high as $10,500. The machines aren’t small: more than four feet long, more than two feet wide and just over six feet tall at their highest point.
While the general idea of the game is unchanged—launch a ball, use the flippers to keep it in play and build up points—there is plenty of nascent tech in pinball. The new John Wick game uses an artificial intelligence system controlling enemy lights on the playing field to make it less predictable. The Jaws game comes with a pair of 3D glasses, which you pop on when you reach a bonus round. A hanging chum bucket releases LED “blood” to attract the shark, accompanied by the theme music.
Miss the days of playing in public? Stern has a pinball locater to find machines around the United States—there may be more than you think.
