I think my dad might have been the first person to introduce me to pinball. We didn’t play it very often, but I remember him showing me how to let the ball roll down the flipper a bit so I wouldn’t always shoot it up the middle. By allowing it to roll toward the end of the flipper, I could go for the more premium targets and ramps.

It wasn’t until college that I gave any more thought to pinball. Between classes, I’d kill some time at an arcade on Washington Street in the Downtown Crossing area and another on Arlington Street. Games like the Addams Family and Twilight Zone were very popular, and pinball was in the middle of a growth period. At the same time, games like NBA Jam Tournament Edition, Mortal Kombat II, Cruising USA, and Daytona were revitalizing the video arcade industry. Since about 1996 or 1997, I’ve been playing classic video arcade machines on my PC through MAME (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator), but only this year did I get involved with Visual Pinball which works in conjunction with PinMAME to play classic pinball tables at my computer. Rediscovering my old favorites like those mentioned above and Funhouse, Fish Tales, Whirlwind, Black Rose, etc. got me to dive in and listen to 50+ episodes of a pinball podcast called Topcast. Hearing interviews with pinball luminaries who designed and marketed these tables taught me pinball’s history. And I heard it straight from the designers, engineers, artists, programmers, and heads of companies who made these games available to the world. I’m now able to play over 100 of the greatest pinball tables on my PC, using the flipper buttons on my HotRodSE arcade controller. If you don’t have access to actual pinball machines, Visual Pinball is the next best thing. The excitement, the rush, and the anxiety is all there.

Appreciating the history of pinball and learning about actual games I hadn’t played in real life (but could now experience with Visual Pinball) led me to seek out places to play the machines. The owners of arcades like Fun Spot in Weirs, NH, Salem Willows in Salem, MA, and the arcade at the Acton Bowladrome in Acton, MA are committed to providing well-maintained pinball games for the enjoyment of the players. Now I know about places where I can play games from my college years to current tables from the last remaining pinball manufacturer in the world, Stern, plus some oldies from before my time.