Pinball

Malkin · Post by **Malkin** » Sat Feb 14, 2026 7:47 pm

How about pinball? Can we talk about pinball? Anyone else play? Favorite machine?

Post by **obvs** » Sat Feb 14, 2026 7:49 pm

I had a friend who absolutely loved pinball. I've always thought it was kind of interesting. Do you play pinball a lot?

ukimalefu · Post by **ukimalefu** » Sat Feb 14, 2026 10:46 pm

I like pinball, but I haven't played an actual physical pinball in... decades. And I had some pinball video games, but they don't work anymore because they're pre-macOS 10.15

Metacell · Post by **Metacell** » Sun Mar 01, 2026 9:02 am

I installed a pinball emulator on my BootCamp drive to play all my favorites from the distant and recent past: Xenon, Space Invaders, Gorgon, Haunted House, Flash Gordon, High Speed, Pinbot, Funhouse, Mars Attacks, and Addams Family. It isn't quite the same without the tactile feedback of a real machine, but they have done a masterful job of bringing back all the lights and sounds with very accurate physical simulations and complete 3D modelling of all the games and their moving parts.

I was an absolute nut for pinball machines when I was a kid, before computer games really took off.

Jehannum · Post by **Jehannum** » Sun Mar 01, 2026 9:32 pm

There's a spot in Austin I like to go (when I visit my sister) called Cidercade. Every game there is free, but you pay like $10 cover to get in the door.

They have a whole 1500 sq. ft. room full of pinball machines, and my favorite table there is the Rush-themed one (and not just because I love Rush, though it doesn't hurt). Last time I went, the had an Addams family table that I remember from my friend's house almost 30 years ago (multi-ball is the Mamushka).

juice · Post by **juice** » Sun Mar 01, 2026 9:53 pm

I love pinball, but I rarely get an opportunity to play.

j_tso · Post by **j_tso** » Mon Mar 02, 2026 1:25 am

a buddy of mine acquired a machine based on the movie Maverick, the one with Mel Gibson. He said it requires a bit of regular maintenance, springs and switches need to be reset or adjusted all the time. you hit the ball to score cards to make a Poker hand.

ConnertheCat · Post by **ConnertheCat** » Mon Mar 02, 2026 1:36 pm

I've always wanted my own machine; but dropping a few thousand dollars was a bit of a tough ask.

Ernest · Post by **Ernest** » Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:32 pm

I've got a coworker who is super into pinball. He leaves a little early on Mondays to volunteer maintaining machines at the pinball museum, and owns 2 or 3 of his own. He actually invited me to a Halloween event at a pinball place. Wendy and I went, and it was a good time!

Malkin · Post by **Malkin** » Fri Mar 27, 2026 8:45 pm

A good friend of mine owns a pinball company. A few years back his dad died a pretty horrific death from Alzheimer's and he started holding an annual pinball fundraiser in his memory. I had been a casual player before, but after I went to the fundraiser and met the community I got more into it. Now I play in tournaments a couple of times a month. (I am still casual compared to a lot of those guys, but can hold my own in a friendly competition.)

I generally prefer Solid-State and DMD machines. Mostly because they have more going on than the Electro-mechanical, but aren't as complex as the modern and LCD machines. I mean, I like those too, but I don't have enough time to really figure out what's going on with them. If I owned one where I could explore all the storylines, it would be different.

My friend is good at rotating machines on a regular basis and so there are generally about 30+ machines in my area with different ones coming and going each month. Plus the people I've met playing tend to have large collections that make for fun private parties.

Next weekend I am headed to Can Can Wonderland which is less pinball, but lots of old mechanical arcade machines and I love that too. Being able to look at a game and see how it works and know you could make it yourself if you really wanted to is super neat.

Metacell · Post by **Metacell** » Sun Mar 29, 2026 5:10 am

^ Jealous. The Cliff House in San Francisco had one of those old mechanical arcades (relocated from Playland following its 1972 closure) and it was an absolute fantasy land for me. I haven't been back there since before the 2004 renovation. Wikipedia says the arcade has been moved to Fisherman's Wharf. The Cliff House has been closed since the pandemic but it's supposed to reopen this year.