Pinball machines entice people for a variety of reasons. Flashing lights, exciting graphics, cool mechanical action – they all promise a few minutes of fun.
Manufacturers have upped the attraction game over the years. Older machines just sat there in a suspended animation state with colorful lit backglasses advertising a theme, just waiting for someone to come by and drop a coin to wake them up.
Newer games have sophisticated attraction modes that cycle through light shows and random “try me” type call outs like a sideshow barker or one of the ladies in the red light district.
My small collection of just three pinball machines from different time periods, the 70s, 90s and 2000s each provide a different type of fun.
For my 1976 Bally Hang Glider electro-mechanical pinball machine the essence of play is purely to score points, watch the ball fly around and keep the ball time going as long as possible.
This is pure pinball fun but at a basic point collection level. The lights, the artwork, the spinner, the bumper, trying to make shots and collect bonuses all while feeling and hearing the mechanics of the machine come to life – the score reels, flippers, drop targets, slingshots, bumpers.
Next up is WipeOut. Gottlieb/Premier’s 1993 Wipeout is a combination of skiing and snowboarding with a surfer vibe. You get a whole package of sights and sounds that create a world of under glass. Not a real story but an environment.
In the 70s EM pinball machine the theme was purely decoration – any theme would do – the sights, sounds and mechanics like the ski lift conveyor belt and slalom course on WipeOut all combine to create an environment and atmosphere fitting of the theme.
Stern’s Lord of the Rings pinball from 2003 takes the concept to another level by adding a real story to the sights, sounds, and mechanics. In Lord of the Rings pinball, you are basically playing the character of Frodo and progressing through the three books/movies by completing modes or mission. Along the way, you battle orcs and evil wizards while collecting allies like the army of the dead and Gollum.
With the three games side by side in my collection, you really get a sense of the history of pinball and the progression from pure point collection and a score to the idea of immersing oneself into another world.