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Once banned as a form of gambling and later nearly wiped out by video games, pinball has survived nearly a century of moral panic, cultural change, and technological upheaval. Now, in the era of arcade bars and basements, the classic game has earned an extra life. New technology, digital integration, and motivated collectors are fueling a pinball renaissance. But not everyone prefers the new evolution of the game. We explored the past and present of the industry to find out why pinball is still standing.
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00:00Take a look at these articles from the 1930s.
00:03Pernicious and dangerous.
00:06An evil and a menace.
00:08Insidious nickel stealers.
00:11Now, what if I told you that these quotes are describing pinball?
00:17It's been nearly game over for pinball at least twice in its 100-year history.
00:23First, in the late 1930s, when several U.S. cities banned the game.
00:27And again in the 1980s, when video games almost killed the pinball star.
00:33Over and over again, the game adapted to survive.
00:38A pinball machine from 2025 might resemble one from the 30s at first glance,
00:43but under the hood, it's a whole new ballgame.
00:47Some pinheads aren't pleased with the game's modern iteration, though,
00:51preferring the gameplay experience of vintage machines.
00:54So, how has the game changed in order to survive?
01:00And after a century of ups and downs, how is pinball still standing?
01:09Before we talk about pinball, we have to talk about this.
01:13This is Bagatelle.
01:15It's a 19th century parlor game that was the foundation for the pinball machines we're familiar with today.
01:22Bagatelle games often featured these pins, which is where pinball got its name.
01:27Along with the pins, pinball inherited Bagatelle's controversy.
01:32Lawmakers debated whether Bagatelle was a game of luck or skill.
01:37If it were a game of luck, it could be labeled as gambling and require regulation.
01:41Early Bagatelle iterations had a cue, like in billiards, that gave players limited control over speed and direction.
01:49But after the initial strike, gravity and obstacles determined where the ball landed.
01:55In 1871, a new patent popularized features that gave players more control.
02:01A spring-loaded plunger and added incline increased repeatability and predictability.
02:07While some historians consider the addition of these features the start of modern pinball,
02:13it wasn't enough to definitively say the game was fully skill-based.
02:18The addition of the coin slot in the early 1930s further complicated the debate.
02:23Now that these games could generate income, demand exploded.
02:28The Great Depression had Americans clamoring for cheap entertainment.
02:32At 10 balls for a penny, these games appealed to players and machine operators.
02:38One of the first coin-operated pin games sold about 50,000 units.
02:43Following these games' success, the number of coin-operated pin game manufacturers skyrocketed by the mid-30s.
02:50Players weren't just playing for the experience.
02:53They could win cash, too.
02:55Despite ads like this claiming that winning the jackpot required unusual skill,
03:01the debate came to a head by the end of the decade.
03:04Major cities like L.A., Chicago, and New York City decided pinball's gambling ties had gotten too strong.
03:12Lawmakers began referring to the game with terms like mechanical bandits to justify banning it.
03:19Laws and ordinances making pinball illegal sprang up across the country.
03:24It brought pinball down to a level that it didn't deserve.
03:29It wasn't bad.
03:30It wasn't evil.
03:32It's pinball.
03:34It's a game, for God's sake.
03:36That's Roger Sharp.
03:38He's widely considered to be the man who saved the game.
03:42But more on that later.
03:45New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia spearheaded the most notable pinball ban in 1942.
03:51New York City completes a roundup of thousands of pinball machines each, valued at about $100.
03:57He needed some something just to kind of spotlight and highlight his role in the world.
04:05What can I target?
04:07What's going to be easy?
04:09World War II made it even easier to crack down on pinball.
04:13Manufacturers around the country were forced to either shut down or pivot their business to support the war effort.
04:19So the wiggle and sway with the hits and misses may become a forgotten art.
04:27No more of this in Manhattan.
04:30By war's end, fewer than 20 pinball manufacturers were left of the nearly 180 that sprang up in the 1930s.
04:39But those that remained were ready to meet pent-up demand.
04:42And Gottlieb, one of the last big pinball makers, was about to change the game.
04:49In 1947, it popularized pinball's most iconic feature, flippers.
04:55The Humpty Dumpty machine had six spread across the playing field.
04:59Now a player has the ability to actually manipulate, control, aim, God forbid, for a particular area, a particular feature.
05:12Up until this point, players' limited control came from the plunger and gunching, a term for nudging the machine with your body.
05:20But the addition of flippers alone was not enough to lift the bands.
05:25Everything was based on gambling, underworld, and not skill.
05:32That was the fundamental root cause.
05:34That's where Roger came in to save the game.
05:37In 1976, the Music and Amusement Association of New York enlisted him to help get the pinball band lifted once and for all.
05:45All they wanted me to do was to comment on why pinball is fun.
05:52That was the whole premise.
05:54I was the one who said, you know, let's show that it's a game of skill.
06:03Let's show that there's more to it than it just being an evil pinball machine.
06:08Roger convinced the association to take a more hands-on approach.
06:14On April 2nd, he appeared before the New York City Council for a live demonstration.
06:19The association brought two pinball machines, one for backup.
06:23And as I got up to go to effectively what was going to be El Dorado, the chairman literally rose up and said,
06:31not that game, that game over there, because obviously he thought that that game was rigged.
06:38Roger began playing on a billiards-themed machine called Bank Shot, calling his moves before he made them.
06:44I was hitting shots and explaining as I was going along.
06:48Where I said, if I do this just right, it's going to go down the center lane.
06:53Pull the plunger back.
06:54It went up, bounced, came down, and as I've used the basketball analogy, nothing but net, straight down the middle.
07:04I'm still playing now. The ball's still coming down.
07:07It's like, all right, we've seen enough.
07:08I mean, hello.
07:11I have more tricks to show.
07:13But that was that.
07:15That was that.
07:17After Roger's demonstration, the council voted to overturn the ban.
07:21And cities around the country quickly followed suit.
07:24Now that they could sell more widely, manufacturers ramped up production and began to innovate.
07:31Suddenly there was music.
07:34Suddenly there was speech.
07:36Suddenly there were themes, both original as well as brand licensed,
07:42that gave a machine more personality than maybe what it had before.
07:47The late 70s saw the introduction of solid-state pinball machines, which drastically changed the experience.
07:55Electronic displays replaced mechanical scorekeepers,
07:59and digitally controlled lights, sound, and motion brought the game to life.
08:04But most pivotally...
08:05What solid-state electronics did was it had memory and recall.
08:10You could play up to four players, and each of our games were unique to us.
08:17So I was playing the complete story, if you will, versus just replaying chapter one.
08:24This allowed games to get longer and more complex, just in time for video games to enter the scene.
08:33Video games had no home if it hadn't been for pinball.
08:37The pinball arcades were the places.
08:41Where else was video going to go?
08:43But the first generation of digital games didn't appear out of thin air.
08:49Before pixels ruled the arcade, pinball taught us the grammar of play.
08:53Video games was gleaning a lot of different elements that were inherent to pinball
09:00that may not have been overly apparent.
09:04High scores, leaderboards marked with initials,
09:07and the standard of three lives with the opportunity to earn more
09:11were all seemingly influenced by basic pinball structure.
09:15Then the tides began to turn.
09:19And conversely, pinball realizes that we need to upgrade.
09:25In the 80s, pinball games with story-based progression,
09:29like in video games, started popping up.
09:32But despite these evolutions,
09:33the novelty of video games began to win players over.
09:37In 1979, about 200,000 pinball machines were sold nationwide,
09:44generating $2.3 billion in revenue.
09:48By mid-1982, sales had sunk to 33,000 machines,
09:54and $464 million in revenue.
09:57Video games, on the other hand,
09:59were raking in about $7.7 billion by that time.
10:04Pinball tried to keep up with innovation,
10:06but video games were evolving faster and at a lower cost.
10:11The 90s seemed to mark the beginning of the end.
10:14Despite some major commercial successes,
10:17like 1992's The Addams Family,
10:19which would end up as the best-selling pinball machine of all time,
10:24manufacturers shuddered one by one.
10:26At the turn of the century,
10:30Stern Pinball was the only company still in the game.
10:34The team here at Stern were kind of the last folks standing, right?
10:37And through that, the company went through, you know,
10:40some ups and downs and some tough years,
10:42and it was their commitment to pinball.
10:44It's something that has kept us around and kept them alive
10:46even through the tough periods.
10:49In the early 80s,
10:50there were an estimated 24,000 arcades in the U.S.,
10:54compared to just about 2,500 arcades in 2002.
10:59But by powering on,
11:01the company kept the ball rolling.
11:04This entity virtually went out of business a number of times.
11:10And at any one of those times,
11:13Gary and team could have thrown in the towel and said,
11:15we're done.
11:16I think he just wasn't willing to quit.
11:18Pinball had survived bands,
11:21moral crusades,
11:23and the rise of video games.
11:25Now it was hanging by a thread,
11:28held up by one stubborn company
11:30and a handful of loyal fans.
11:33One thing was clear.
11:35Stern needed new buyers,
11:36and it found them not in arcades,
11:39but in homes.
11:41We also developed and adjusted our business
11:43to start to appeal to those kids,
11:47like myself,
11:48who grew up in the 80s arcade
11:49that all of a sudden started deciding
11:51that they might want pinball machines
11:53in their own homes.
11:54And the growth of the consumer business
11:57that we had in addition to our commercial business
11:59really is part of what has helped pinball
12:02kind of surge in popularity.
12:04But selling to home players
12:06sparked a new question.
12:09Do we take the little windows
12:10with the coins off the front of the game?
12:13You're not using them at home.
12:15People do not want that.
12:17They do not want that.
12:18The game people still want
12:19is the game they remember growing up.
12:21Stern says 50% of its business
12:23came from selling machines
12:25direct to players at home.
12:27Today, it's 70%.
12:28At the same time,
12:30pinball found a second life
12:32in new venues.
12:33Breweries, arcade bars,
12:35and retro-themed businesses
12:37where new players discovered the game.
12:40Goes great with a beer.
12:41They'll stay in,
12:42they'll drink some more beer.
12:43And it's also a good decoration.
12:46By the 2010s,
12:47Stern pinball had survived its lean years.
12:49But survival was not enough.
12:52To thrive,
12:53pinball had to adapt
12:54to a generation raised
12:55on home consoles and smartphones.
12:58So pinball is,
13:01if you think of,
13:02if you deconstruct pinball,
13:04at its core basic thing,
13:06you know,
13:07it's a ball and bat game.
13:08I like to imagine
13:09that the ball and the flippers
13:11are sacred.
13:12Everything else is up for discussion.
13:14With its app Insider Connected,
13:17Stern introduced online features.
13:19Achievements, leaderboards, quests,
13:22into the pinball world.
13:24Achievements are an interesting one
13:26because little kids
13:28who came up
13:29in the PlayStation and Xbox world,
13:32they are playing our machines
13:34for achievements.
13:35They don't care about score.
13:37They just want, you know,
13:38whatever it is,
13:3950 Deadpool icons on their phone
13:41and show their friends.
13:43Our games are simple to start,
13:46but they're not simple
13:48to get deep into anymore, you know.
13:50They're kind of simple to get hooked,
13:52but there's a lot of depth in,
13:54you know, the scoring
13:54and the strategies
13:56and really mastering the game.
13:59Now, a game could evolve
14:00long after it left the factory
14:02with new rules
14:03and content overnight.
14:05The fact that the machines
14:07can update,
14:08that means that we can create rules
14:10that aren't in the machine
14:11when they ship.
14:12Anyone has that game
14:14will download that code
14:15and we are essentially
14:17extending that game.
14:20It's no different
14:20than when you get updates
14:22on your phone
14:22or updates in your,
14:24you know,
14:25on your game device.
14:26Evolution has always been
14:28a part of pinball,
14:29but the digital age
14:30unlocked new levels
14:32of expansion.
14:33The impact of that expansion
14:35is playing out in real time,
14:37and it's drawing new players
14:39to the game.
14:39Organizers at Interium,
14:44an arcade in the suburbs
14:45of Chicago,
14:46are seeing growing interest
14:47in tournaments like this.
14:50The monthly event
14:51regularly attracts 80 to 100 players
14:54of all skill levels.
14:55We had a two-year-old playing
14:57several months.
14:59He had his own stool
15:00that he brought with him
15:01to stand on,
15:02and he actually,
15:02he's so talented
15:03that he beat a bunch
15:04of the adult players
15:05and stuff in the rounds,
15:06and everybody was thrilled
15:07by this.
15:08Andy Bagwell
15:09is the tournament's host.
15:11Check your orders.
15:13I flipped them,
15:13so high seat goes first.
15:15At the time of publication,
15:16he was ranked
15:17the 74th best pinball player
15:19in the world.
15:21He's also on the board
15:22of directors
15:22of the International Flipper
15:24Pinball Association.
15:26Since 2006,
15:27the IFPA has seen
15:29the number of registered players
15:30increase from 500
15:32to more than 140,000.
15:36Andy credits Modern Machines
15:37as one of the major reasons
15:39for that increase.
15:40But not everyone enjoys
15:42the games coming out today.
15:45Nikki Piazza
15:45is one lifelong player
15:47who prefers older versions
15:49of pinball.
15:50With the older ones,
15:51you just kind of plunge the ball
15:53and try not to drain,
15:54which, to me,
15:55is a lot easier.
15:57The newer ones are different.
15:58They have very in-depth rule sets,
16:00so people who are good
16:01at memorizing that,
16:02it's closer to, like,
16:03a video game.
16:04On the newer ones,
16:05you have to know,
16:06I have to get the left shot first,
16:07then the right shot,
16:08then these drop targets,
16:10so it's really up to the player.
16:13Nikki has played pinball
16:14since childhood.
16:16At the time of publication,
16:17she was ranked 42nd
16:18in the world among women.
16:20I am trying to make
16:22the Women's World Championship
16:23this year.
16:24I'm very close.
16:25Today's event will help her
16:27qualify for the championship
16:28only if she finishes
16:29in the top five.
16:31I've never won this tournament.
16:33I've been coming for four years,
16:34and I've never won,
16:36but I have made the finals a bunch,
16:37so I do have hope.
16:39The competition
16:40at this tournament is tough.
16:42Most of the people
16:43who attend this monthly
16:44are about in, like,
16:45the top 100 or so.
16:50Nikki didn't end up
16:52placing this time around,
16:53but there will be plenty
16:54more opportunities
16:55to boost her ranking.
16:57This tournament is the arcade's
16:59biggest regular pinball event,
17:00but definitely not its only.
17:03The growth of the pinball
17:04community here has been great.
17:05There's world tournaments
17:06we hold here.
17:07There's all kinds of different
17:08tournaments now we're expanding
17:09into not only our monthly,
17:10we do a youth tournament,
17:11we do a women's tournament.
17:13Mike says that as long
17:15as there's demand,
17:16Antarium will keep expanding
17:18its pinball offerings.
17:19You saw the dedication.
17:21You saw that they would come back
17:22every month or even every week
17:23to play their favorite games.
17:25You saw the passion
17:26they have for it.
17:28And so that's why I decided
17:29to keep growing this community
17:30and to see how far it would get.
17:31To be very honest with you,
17:33I did not expect it to grow
17:34as large as it has.
17:36Despite the current renaissance,
17:37it's clear from pinball history
17:39that its future isn't guaranteed.
17:42But the game isn't over yet.
17:46The number one reason
17:47why we're still standing
17:48is pinball's fun.
17:50When you ask anybody
17:52about pinball,
17:53I mean, almost everybody's like,
17:54yeah, I like pinball.
17:55It's fun.
17:56How do you know
18:00when you're done?
18:02What are you talking about done?
18:04I'm never done.
18:08You're talking about
18:09when the game is over?
18:10I guess, yeah.
18:12Well, I mean,
18:13when it's over,
18:13it's over,
18:14and then it's a question,
18:15can I play again
18:19and do better?
18:20Let's watch it.
18:22Let's see.
18:23Let's see.
18:24Let's see.
18:24Let's see.
18:26Let's see.
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