Still Flippin' for Pinball

For a game to stay afloat in today’s high-tech gaming world, it usually needs three things: the latest in cutting-edge 3D graphics, online interactive gameplay and typically some degree of graphic violence. But despite these modern standards, today there are thousands of unplugged gamers around the world who are still flippin’ for a classic arcade game that’s been around for more than 100 years: pinball.

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While it’s hard to even find a pinball machine these days, for diehard pinheads there’s nothing like the lights, color and sound of man-vs.-machine. Whether they’re collecting, playing just for fun or competing in tournaments, fans of pinball can all agree that there’s something very special about these old-school games. “In a pinball machine, you have time and space all under glass in a three-dimensional world…and you’re in control of this world,” says one enthused arcade owner.  “(It’s) a game you can go to that’s going to be different every time you step up to it.”

With over 200 tournaments being played in more than 20 countries, pinball is a vintage game that is still very much alive. My Generation plunges into the workshop of the last-known pinball manufacturer to discover how the machines are made and why so many people still ring-out for this timeless, one-of-a-kind game.