I love real pinball machines. There's nothing else quite like it. It's partially luck, but it's also skillfully hitting the ball just right with the respective flipper to get it to go just where you want. For my money, you just can't beat the physical feel of a real pinball machine. It's very much like the mechanical manifestation of a videogame. Certainly until roughly the 1950s pinball machines weren't that great as they didn't have flippers, but with the addition of flippers and increasingly sophisticated table elements, particularly ramps, tunnels and multi-balls, good pinball machines became tough to beat for pure enjoyment in my opinion.

Obviously videogames have surpassed pinball for a reason - they tend to be more flexible and offer a more surreal experience - but I think the two are inextricably linked. It's a shame that like the traditional arcade, pinball is all but dead as an industry.

Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.