Las Vegas Casinos, USA
Last year, I took a trip to Las Vegas. That is not an unusual journey for me. My normal focus is enjoying everything the Strip has to offer.
On this particular trip to Vegas, the highlight of my stay was sending time at the Pinball Hall of Fame. The Pinball Hall of Fame is located not too far from the Strip. My time at the Pinball Hall of Fame last year was both a highly entertaining and educational experience.
Fun Times at the Pinball Hall of Fame
As I made mentioned, part of my experience at the Pinball Hall of Fame was tremendous entertainment. The Pinball Hall of Fame is home to about 200 pinball machines. There are some other vintage arcade games at the establishment as well.
All of the machines at the Pinball Hall of Fame was playable. They are all coin operated. A few cost only a dime a game, most cost a quarter. There are a few newer pinball machines that cost 50 cents.
I had the chance to play a couple dozen different pinball machines during my time at the Pinball Hall of Fame. These included machines from different eras, including the time period before the 1950s and the 1950s themselves. I also had the chance to try my hand at vintage games from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s as well.
The Pinball Hall of Fame has been open since 2009. The Pinball Hall of Fame is a nonprofit and excess revenue from the venue is donated to charity, specifically the Salvation Army. The Pinball Hall of Fame was established by Tim Arnold.
My History Lesson at Pinball Hall of Fame
As I made mention, not only was a highly entertained while at Pinball Hall of Fame, I also got a solid history lesson about pinball. One of the first topics discussed centered on what pinball; machine was most popular.
The Addams Family, released onto the market in 1992 by Bally, is the best selling pinball machine of all time. More than 20,000 Addams Family pinball machines have been sold thus far.
One of the reasons why the Addams Family is the most popular pinball machine is because it its wise, effective use of technology. The technology on the Addams Family pinball we cutting edge and consistently effectively utilized.
The first pinball machine to penalize someone for tilting the game was Brokers Tip, produced by D. Gottlieb & Company in 1983. The reason pinball machines in this era were subject to tilting is because these machines lacked paddles. Impermissible tiling became the only way to plot the movement of the ball.
On some levels, Harry Williams needs to get recognition for his efforts associated with the tilt function. He really was the one who instructed people on how to slightly tip a pinball. He gave people at least a modicum of real control over the effective use a pin ball machine.
The first pinball machine with flippers was presented to the public in 1947. The game. Humpty Dumpty, was a product of Gottlieb & Company.
I learned while at the Pinball Hall of Fame that flippers were something of an outgrowth of the anti-pinball movement that started to gain momentum in the United States in the 1940s. This resulted in pinball becoming illegal in many locations in the country. The game, prior to flippers, was said to be a game of chance.
Flippers did provide a new level of control over pinball machines. In the end, it was the existence of flappers that ultimately let to the conclusion that pinball was more than a game of chance.
Humpty Dumpty had six flippers on the machine. All of the flippers faced outward, away from the center of the playing field. Beginning in the 1950s, flippers began facing inward to the center of the playing field. The first game in which this transition occurred was Spot Bowler in the 1950s.
Finally, during my time at the Pinball Hall of Fame, I learned that the first licensed movie theme pinball game was produced in 1975 by Bally. The game was called Wizard, and was derived from the song Pinball Wizard in the film version of the rock opera Tommy.
In recent times, there actually has been a resurgence in licensing movie and television franchises for pinball machines. This trend has been picking up steam over the course of the last five yeas and is expected to carry forth apace into the future as well. Stern Pinball is the manufacturer most involved in this trend.
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Jessica Kane is a writer for The Pinball Company, the best online source for new, used, and refurbished pinball machines, arcade cabinets, and more!