1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jovin Strickland. 3 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: tech are you. We are continuing our look at the 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: evolution of pinball, which was inspired by my visit to 6 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: the Southern Fried Gaming Expo where I appeared as media, 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: appeared at as too strong a word, I attended as media. 8 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: So in the last episode, we learned that pinball's origins 9 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: trace back to lawn games that eventually were moving indoors 10 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: because not everyone had a lawn and there is disagreement 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: over what game constitutes the first true pinball table. But 12 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: we learned how a gradual evolution brought us from simple 13 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: machines outfitted only with like a spring loaded plunger up 14 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: to the early days of electro mechanical pinball tables, and 15 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: some of the things that were added were really a 16 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,040 Speaker 1: big deal. I would argue probably the most important was 17 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: the addition of a coin slot. One early title Bally, 18 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: who reportedly sold around fifty thousand units to various shop 19 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: owners and other proprietors. Fifty thousand units, that's no small shakes. 20 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: Remember this is in the nineteen thirties when this happened. 21 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: That really helped put the company Bally on the map, 22 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: and Bally would play a huge role in the development 23 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: of pinball here in the United States. But yeah, these 24 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: coin operated machines like it became a new source of 25 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: revenue for shop owners and bar owners and such. They 26 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: would buy a machine for a large amount of money, 27 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: but then they would get to keep the proceeds the 28 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: coins made up. And so you know, if you had 29 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: a really popular machine, you could earn back what you 30 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: spent on it within a relatively short amount of time. 31 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: And then everything on top of that is profit, apart 32 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: from whatever you have to spend to keep the machine working. 33 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: But these early machine, because they really had very few 34 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: moving parts, they were relatively easy to maintain. But let's 35 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: talk about some of the electro mechanical components in later 36 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: pinball machines and how those components work. Now, as I 37 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: mentioned in the last episode, the earliest electrified pinball machines 38 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: didn't really have much going for them. Usually there was 39 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: some sort of noise making element that would signify scoring 40 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: and help draw attention to the table so that more 41 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: people would want to play, but there were few components 42 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: that actually used electricity to create mechanical motion. But it 43 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: didn't take long for that to change. Harry Williams of 44 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: Williams Manufacturing Williams is another important pinball company, came up 45 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: with an idea to set up a game that would 46 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: make it stand apart from the competition that was on 47 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: the market. So this was way back in nineteen thirty three, 48 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: and his idea was a relatively simple one, which was 49 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: the inclusion of solenoids. Solinoid is an electro mechanical component 50 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: that works through electromagnetism. In many ways, it's similar to 51 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: your basic electromagnet. So if you think of a standard electromagnet, 52 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: you have a coil of conductive wire, typically copper wire, 53 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: and it's wrapped around a core of some sort like 54 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: sometimes it's just iron, right, And when you run electricity 55 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: through the coil of wire, it creates an electromagnet, and 56 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:32,399 Speaker 1: you can interact with ferromagnetic stuff using this electromagnet, and 57 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: with a solenoid it's pretty similar. You've got your coil 58 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: of conductive wire. When you pass a current through this coil, 59 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: it creates a magnetic field, and you have a sleeve 60 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: inside this coil. Nestled in the sleeve is a movable plunger, 61 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: so the plunger can slide in or out of this coil. 62 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: Sometimes it's called the armature. When the magnetic field is on, 63 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: it pulls the plunger into the coil. There's a stop 64 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: on either end so that the plunger doesn't just shoot 65 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: through the coil or or fall out of the coil, 66 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: so that it can come to a stop where it's 67 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: partially inside the coil. But when you run electricity through 68 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: the coil, it pulls the plunger in entirely. So when 69 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: the magnetic field is on, the plunger is inside the coil. 70 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: When the magnetic field goes off, like when the current 71 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: stops flowing through this coil, the plunger moves back out 72 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: of the coil and mounting a post at the end 73 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,479 Speaker 1: of the plunger, like extending the plunger so that it 74 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: can punch through something. You have a little device capable 75 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: of giving a quick push. Whenever the electric current flows 76 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: through the wire, the plunger moves in. It pushes this 77 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: arm out and it's pretty fast. It's a pretty simple 78 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:56,119 Speaker 1: electro mechanical device, and effectively it turns electric current into 79 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: mechanical work. That's its main purpose. Solenoids would in up 80 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: being kind of the heartbeat, the lifeblood of pinball machines. 81 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: They power so much like a lot of the elements 82 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: in your basic pinball machine are worked with solenoids. So 83 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 1: Williams pinball machine had this name called Contact, which is 84 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: very clever because contact is what we would say was 85 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: made within the circuit to activate the solenoid in the 86 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: first place. So the playfield of Contact had holes with 87 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: little barriers around them. So the ball you know, your 88 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: goal is to get the ball into the highest scoring 89 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: holes in the playfield. Those were closer to the bottom 90 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: of the playfield, which meant that the ball needed to 91 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: pass over or around the holes that were higher up, 92 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: because otherwise you would get a lower score. Well, at 93 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: the very top of the playfield was this solenoid, so 94 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: it's facing downward like toward you. It's at the top 95 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: of the play you're playing at the bottom of the playfield. 96 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: If you were to fire a ball up so that 97 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: it would activate a switch, a contact at the top 98 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: of this playfield, the solenoid would activate and it would 99 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: hit the ball, and if you were lucky, it would 100 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: propel the ball so that it would roll over the 101 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: lower scoring holes and the ball would settle into one 102 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: of the ones that had a higher score if you 103 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: were pretty lucky. Contact relied on a dry cell battery 104 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: to provide this electrical current, and according to Williams, the 105 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: battery would hold a sufficient charge to provide three months 106 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: of play. After that, I assume you would swap the 107 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: battery out. I mean possible that you could recharge it, 108 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: but you would definitely have to swap it out if 109 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: you wanted to be able to play after that time 110 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: and to have the electro mechanical elements work. Contact was 111 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: a game that went through some changes. This is something 112 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: that still happens with the pinball machines now, where manufacturers 113 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: will make changes to a machine and later versions will 114 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: be slightly different, or they will these days because things 115 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 1: are running on microcomputers. They will update the firmware of 116 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: a machine and it will include new modes and such. 117 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: We'll talk about modes later. So the company, William's Company 118 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: would incorporate a door bell into the machine so that 119 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: when the ball made contact with this switch, that would 120 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: activate the solenoid, it would also ring the bell, and 121 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: Williams also included his anti tilt measure. I talked about 122 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: this in the last episode. So his anti tilt design 123 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: was there was inside the machine was a post. On 124 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: top of this post was a ball, and if the 125 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: player were to shake the machine in an attempt to cheat, 126 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: the ball could roll off this post and it would 127 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: then signal a tilt, which would invalidate the accumulated score 128 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: at that point. Back to solenoids, These would become incredibly 129 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: important components for pinball machines. They are pretty darn simple, 130 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: which is good right. Simple means they're fewer points of failure. 131 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: They can fail if you run electricity through wire. One 132 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: of the byproducts you get is heat, and if electricity 133 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: is running through wire for a long time, a lot 134 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: of heat can build up and that can cause damage 135 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: to the components. So there are points of failure, but 136 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: there are few of them. Solenoids are used not just 137 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: to knock a pinball around. They can also be used 138 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: as noise makers, they can strike a bell, or they 139 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: can be used as knockers. So if you're really good 140 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: at pinball, you have probably experienced a replay or you know, 141 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: if you've ever matched. Matching is when you know modern 142 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: pinball machines, they'll take the last two digits of your 143 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: score and then they'll display kind of a random selection 144 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,719 Speaker 1: of other scores, and if you end up matching, then 145 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: you get a replay. Well, a lot of pinball machines 146 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: include a knocker to signal that a player has managed 147 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: to get a replay and they have a free game. 148 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: The pinball machine lets out this very loud knocking sound. Well, 149 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: a solenoid is what is actually making that sound. There's 150 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: a dedicated knocker or solenoid mounted in the machine to 151 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: do this, and there are a couple of different types 152 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: that you could find in various machines. One would be 153 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: a spring mounted solenoid. So the spring would typically keep 154 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: the plunger out of the coil, but when an electric 155 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: current runs through the coil, the magnetic pole is strong 156 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: enough to compress the spring, pull the plunger in quickly, 157 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: and mounted on the top of the plunger as a 158 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: post that's capped in plastic. This post strikes a plate 159 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: typically mounted near the pinball machine's back box, and the 160 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: current only passes through the wire for a fraction of 161 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: a second, so the spring decompresses, the plunger is pulled 162 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: into the coil, and the cap strikes the plate and boom, 163 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: you get your old knocking noise, which could be quite loud. 164 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: Usually there's like a fifty volt current that's being put 165 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: through the device order to make this happen, and if 166 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: you have a lower power supply, the knock's going to 167 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:09,199 Speaker 1: be less impressive. Many knocker solenoids actually are simpler than 168 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,439 Speaker 1: this design. They don't have the spring loaded piston at all. Instead, 169 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: they rely on gravity. So these solenoids have to be 170 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: mounted vertically so that the plunger naturally slides down. Like 171 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: if there's no current running through the coil, the plunger 172 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: is going to be resting on a rest plate, so 173 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:31,200 Speaker 1: it's only partly inside the coil. Then when current runs 174 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: through the coil, it pulls the plunger up right because 175 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: magnetic attraction and the plunger the post mounted on the 176 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 1: end of the plunger will strike the striking plate and make 177 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: the knocking noise. And then when the current is shut off, 178 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: the plunger will naturally slide back down the sleeve inside 179 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: the coil and rest against the resting plate, so you 180 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: have to have it mounted vertically so that gravity will 181 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: pull the plunger back down. But this does simple things 182 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: quite a bit. But what about other elements inside a 183 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: pinball machine? What about flippers? These are pretty common today, 184 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: I mean, they're almost universal in modern pinball machines. Again, 185 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't until nineteen forty seven that we got the 186 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: first pinball machine that had flippers. And even then they 187 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 1: were oriented opposite, like they were facing outward on the 188 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: machine rather than inward, and they were along the sides 189 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 1: and there were six of them, so it was very 190 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: different from the way flippers are today. But yeah, it 191 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 1: wasn't until nineteen forty seven that we even got flippers, 192 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:34,719 Speaker 1: and now they're pretty much standard on pinball machines. How 193 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:39,359 Speaker 1: do they work, well, no, big surprise. They also use solenoids, 194 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: which are mounted below the playfield where they're out of sight. 195 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: But a solenoid works, you know, like a piston. Right, 196 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: The plunger moves linearly, it moves in and out, so 197 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: you need to have something that translates this action. Because 198 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: a flipper acts like a bat, It swings, it rotates, 199 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: So mounted on the solenoid plunger is a little piece 200 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: typically called a linkage, and the linkage connects to a 201 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: rotating element that in turn is mounted on a spindle. 202 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: The spindle is connected to the flipper, so the rotating 203 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: element translates the linear action into a rotational action and 204 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 1: then transmits that through the spindle to the flipper. So 205 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: the flipper can swing and there's a stop. Typically that 206 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 1: all may mean the flipper can only rotate so far. 207 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: It's not gonna make the flipper go all the way around. 208 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: It'll just rise up when you're looking down from the 209 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: position of a player. So when the solenoid activates, the 210 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: mechanical motion causes the flipper to swing, and a spring 211 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: on the spindle will return the flipper to its resting 212 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: position afterwards, so it's not just relying on gravity to 213 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: return the flipper to its downward position. There is a 214 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: spring there so that it adds resistance and pushes back 215 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: against the flipper so it returns to its normal downward state. 216 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: When you connect this assembly to a power supply and 217 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: a flipper button, the flipper button serves as a switch. 218 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: You have your classic pinball flipper as long as you're 219 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: holding the switch down the flipper will remain up, but 220 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: it does get a little more complicated, and in my opinion, 221 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: this is a really cool element for flippers because it's 222 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: engineering a solution to a real problem. So again, pinball 223 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: machines typically have balls that are made out of solid steel, 224 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: which allows for some other fun gimmicks that we'll talk 225 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: about a bit later. These balls weigh in and around 226 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: eighty grams, which is significant, so the flipper bats have 227 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: to be strong enough to whack an eighty gram steel 228 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,200 Speaker 1: ball around a playfield. Anyone who has played a machine 229 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: that has really weak flippers can tell you it's a 230 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:48,439 Speaker 1: very frustrating experience. So the solidoids powering these flippers need 231 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,319 Speaker 1: to be sufficiently strong to generate the mechanical force necessary 232 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: to give the ball a good whack across the playfield, 233 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: and that means having a fairly significant coil to generate 234 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: a strong enough magnetic field to pull the plunger with force. 235 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,079 Speaker 1: But this also creates an issue if someone is holding 236 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 1: the flipper button down to keep the flipper raised up, 237 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: and players will often do this, like you might want 238 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: to pause so that you can prepare for a specific shot. 239 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: Maybe you're lining up a shot so you can shoot 240 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: a ball up a ramp, for example, and you kind 241 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: of have a feel for where on the flipper that 242 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: needs to happen, but you need to get control of 243 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: the ball first in order to be able to do 244 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: it reliably. So you've trapped the ball and you're holding 245 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: it in place before you make your shot. You could 246 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: be holding the ball the button down for a bit. 247 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: Maybe you've also decided, Hey, I'm going to take a 248 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: swig of my frosty beverage that I have next to me, 249 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: and I'm going to pause gameplay a little bit by 250 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: holding the ball in place while I do this. The 251 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 1: issue here is that a high powered solnoid's going to 252 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: generate a lot of heat as that electric current runs 253 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: through that coil, which it will keep doing while you're 254 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: holding the button down, right, because that button's a switch. This, 255 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: as I said, can damage the machine over time. Specifically, 256 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: can damage the solenoids and melt them so that they 257 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: become less effective, and eventually they become ineffective and you're 258 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: going to have to replace the solenoids in the pinball machine. 259 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: So what was needed was a way to switch from 260 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: the high powered coil to perhaps a secondary coil that 261 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: was just strong enough to keep the plunger in position 262 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: once it already had been pulled into the coil itself. 263 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: It takes a lot of energy to move the plunger 264 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: into place, but once it's there, it doesn't take as 265 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: much energy to hold it there. So flippers solenoids often 266 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: have two coils, one essentially kind of nested inside the other. 267 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: One coil is the high powered one that pulls the 268 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 1: plunger in the other one requires much less power and 269 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: is just there to hold the plunger once it's in place. 270 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: The rotating element of the flipper's spindle actually breaks a 271 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: contact that is for the heavy duty coil, so once 272 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: the flipper is in full upright position, it is no 273 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: longer under the power of the main coil. It is 274 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: swapped to the secondary coil, which requires much less power 275 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: to operate. It also generates much less heat, so the 276 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: power coil does the heavy lifting of pulling the plunger 277 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: in the later coil just holds it in place once 278 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: it's there. All because a mechanical element physically changes the 279 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: circuit underneath by breaking this one contact and making another. 280 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: And I think that's really super cool, Okay, I've got 281 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: a lot more to talk about with pinball machines, but 282 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,479 Speaker 1: first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsors. 283 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: So before the break, I was talking about flippers and 284 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: solenoids and how a pair of different coils can allow 285 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: you to hold a flipper an upright position without burning 286 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: out your solenoids. Well, we are starting to get into 287 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: why some pinball machines have really weak flippers, and there 288 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: can be a few different things that contribute to this. 289 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 1: One is that the power supply that's going to the solenoids, 290 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,119 Speaker 1: that power of the flippers is in turn weak. That 291 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: could be an issue. And you know, a lot of 292 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,119 Speaker 1: these pinball machines get pretty janky over time, with people 293 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,439 Speaker 1: replacing components with stuff that wasn't necessarily designed to go 294 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: in a pinball machine, or wasn't the same sort of 295 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: power supply that was used in a previous version of 296 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: the machine, which means that some of these solenoids might 297 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,719 Speaker 1: be receiving far less power than they typically would, and 298 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: that means when you push the button, you get a 299 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,239 Speaker 1: kind of weak flipper and you're not really able to 300 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: play the game very effectively. Other times, it can be 301 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: an issue where there's a problem with the actual mechanical 302 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 1: components where they're not able to turn or move as 303 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: freely as they usually would. They might need some cleaning 304 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: or replacing in order to do that, and sometimes it's 305 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: because the solenoids themselves have become damage due to overheating. 306 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: This is a good point to remind y'all that if 307 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,159 Speaker 1: you do ever play a pinball machine, or if you 308 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: happen to be rolling in the bucks and you own 309 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: a pinball machine, because these things are expensive, y'all, don't 310 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: push a flipper button a whole bunch of times in 311 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 1: quick succession. When you do that, you're activating that primary coil. 312 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: Each time you push the button and release it and 313 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: then push it again, they're activating that primary coil and 314 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: you're building up heat. So if you hold the button down, 315 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: that's less damaging because you're using that secondary coil that 316 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 1: consumes less energy and doesn't generate as much heat. But 317 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: if you press the button really quickly over and over 318 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: and over and over and over again, that can make 319 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,399 Speaker 1: the coil heat up, and the coil can actually melt 320 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: and the flippers will stop working. Eventually, you'll have to 321 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: replace the solenoid underneath, and that could be that's a 322 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: bit of a thing, like it's not impossible, people do 323 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,400 Speaker 1: it all the time, but it is a bit complicated. 324 00:18:56,119 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: Another common feature in pinball machines are bumpers. So in 325 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 1: the previous episode I talked about a game called Bollow 326 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,120 Speaker 1: Bolo and it had passive bumpers that has had these 327 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 1: little obstacles. So in Bollow they were the shape of 328 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: bowling pins and they were mounted on rods that in 329 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 1: turn were attached to springs. They otherwise had no other 330 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: mechanism attached to them, so they were what you would 331 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,919 Speaker 1: call passive bumpers. So a ball could hit them and 332 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: bounce off of them, and they would wiggle around in stuff. 333 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: But that was pretty much it. Well, I say that 334 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: was it, But there were also passive bumpers that could 335 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: actually send a signal for the purposes of scorekeeping. Ballow 336 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: as far as I can determine, wasn't this way, but 337 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: others were. And sometimes these bumpers are called mushroom bumpers 338 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: because they look kind of like mushrooms. So these bumpers 339 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: are also passive. They don't bounce back, but they can 340 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 1: register when they've been hit and that can then go 341 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,719 Speaker 1: toward the progressive scorekeeping part of the pinball machine. And 342 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,920 Speaker 1: the way that this typically works is that these bumpers 343 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: have a diss sitting near the top of the post 344 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: of the bumper. So if you think of the bumper, 345 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:09,719 Speaker 1: you got the post that's the centralized stand, the pedestal 346 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: kind of that makes up the bumper. Then you've got 347 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 1: a disc on top, and then maybe you've got like 348 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,680 Speaker 1: a cap on the very top that shows how many 349 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: points the bumper is worth. So when a ball makes 350 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:26,480 Speaker 1: contact with the pedestal, the rod the post of this bumper, 351 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: there's this little disc that the ball impacts and it 352 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: lifts the disc up slightly. Now the disc, in turn 353 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,440 Speaker 1: is connected to a stem. That stem is ultimately connected 354 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 1: to a leaf switch, and when the disc lifts up, 355 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,479 Speaker 1: the leaf switch is activated and it sends a signal 356 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: to indicate scoring. These simple bumpers date back to the 357 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: nineteen forties, but they would get much more attention in 358 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: the sixties and seventies. They would become kind of emblematic 359 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: of pinball machines of that era. Just as flippers were 360 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: really important for pinball machines to take off, these bumpers 361 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 1: would become something that people just associate with pinball machines. 362 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: There are also active bumpers, however, they have different names. 363 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: Some people call them pop bumpers, or jet bumpers or 364 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: thumper bumpers, among other things. So these react when they're struck. 365 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 1: They strike back, so they propel the ball in the process. 366 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 1: These are electro mechanical bumpers, and the basic pop bumper 367 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,560 Speaker 1: is a pretty clever design. So typically at the very 368 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: base of the bumper's post or pedestal on the playfield side, 369 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,920 Speaker 1: there's a little plastic disc that's raised up just to 370 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,199 Speaker 1: touch off the playfield itself. Now, it's low enough that 371 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: a ball can roll onto this plastic disc, and when 372 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,160 Speaker 1: that happens, the weight of the ball tilts the disc 373 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,399 Speaker 1: slightly so. Connected to this disc, underneath the playfield is 374 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 1: a stem, and that stem rests inside a kind of 375 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: a shallow bowl or spoon under this playfield. Now, when 376 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 1: the disc is in its resting position, the stem's not 377 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: really making content with the bowl. It's almost but not 378 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: quite touching, or if it's touching, it's touching so lightly 379 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: as to not displace the bowl. When the disc tilts, 380 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: the stem is deflected, and it starts to push against 381 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: the rising sides of this bowl, and it makes the 382 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: whole bowl push downward. This is what completes a switch. 383 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: That switch does a couple of things. It sends a 384 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,360 Speaker 1: signal to the progressive score keeping system, so it increases 385 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,880 Speaker 1: the score to the appropriate amount depending on how much 386 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:31,680 Speaker 1: the bumper is worth. And it completes a command that 387 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: ultimately sends a signal to a solenoid that's attached to 388 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: this bumper. That's a separate circuit typically, but that circuit 389 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: is what gives the bumper the bump. The solenoid in 390 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: turn connects to a metal ring that is also around 391 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: the bumper's post. So you have a disc at the 392 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,439 Speaker 1: base of the ring. On the playfield side, you've got 393 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: the post that extends up and at the top of 394 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 1: the post typically you have this metal ring that connects 395 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: down through the playfield to the solemn So the solenoid, 396 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,640 Speaker 1: when it activates, it pulls the plunger in. This pulls 397 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:09,120 Speaker 1: the ring downward, and the ring acts as a bumper. 398 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,880 Speaker 1: It hits the ball and knocks it away. So once again, 399 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,520 Speaker 1: solenoids are the work courses of the pinball world, and 400 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,199 Speaker 1: Typically you would find pinball machines that would group a 401 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:22,439 Speaker 1: bunch of these active bumpers in a configuration, often in 402 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: like a triangle where you have one bumper at the 403 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: top and two bumpers below, and with a good trajectory, 404 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: the ball could start bouncing in between these like crazy 405 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: as they activate one bumper after another and get knocked around. 406 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: We're also not done with solenoids yet, and we still 407 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,680 Speaker 1: have another classic element to talk about that uses solenoids 408 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 1: for the purposes of transferring electrical energy and turning it 409 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: into mechanical energy, and that would be the sling shots. 410 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: I've seen Gottleib's Double Feature pinball machine credited as the 411 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: first pinball machine to have a playfield with sling shots 412 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: like these active shots, But then, considering how loosey goosey 413 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: pinball history is, I can't swear that Gottleib's Double Feature 414 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: was the very first pinball machine to have slingshots. It's 415 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: often credited that way, but I'm not sure if that's true. Anyway, 416 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,919 Speaker 1: a slingshot is typically triangular in shape. You will often 417 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,719 Speaker 1: see these at the base of the playfield in a 418 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: pinball machine, usually just above where the flippers are and 419 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:28,480 Speaker 1: the slingshot has a rubber cord or band wrapped around 420 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: it and it kicks a ball if the ball comes 421 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,200 Speaker 1: in contact with a slingshot. So how does this work? Well, 422 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,720 Speaker 1: it's not passive, it is active. And if you were 423 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,920 Speaker 1: to take a cover off of a slingshot, you would 424 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:45,640 Speaker 1: see that this rubber cord stretches around three posts. They 425 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: provide the points of the triangle, and a solenoid is 426 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 1: what gives the the slingshots their kicking power. No surprise there, right, 427 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: because solenoids are used everywhere in pinball machines. The solenoid 428 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: connects to a mechanism that allows for this quick punch 429 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: of power. But what triggers the solenoid? While behind this 430 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,359 Speaker 1: rubber chord making contact with the rubber chord typically on 431 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: either side of where the solenoid's post is, you have 432 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,199 Speaker 1: a pair of switches. So if a ball hits the 433 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: rubber band or rubber chord hard enough to trigger one 434 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: of these switches, it completes the electric current needed to 435 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,639 Speaker 1: activate the solenoid, and the solenoid activates pulls the plunger 436 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 1: inside the coil. This movement also powers the little post 437 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: that punches out through this rubber chord and boom, the 438 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 1: ball gets propelled somewhere else on the playfield, often down 439 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: one of the outlanes, and down the ball drained. Gosh 440 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,639 Speaker 1: darn it. Many bimbo machines also have kickout holes, so 441 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: these are holes in the playfield that the ball can 442 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,080 Speaker 1: fall into, very similar in many ways to the holes 443 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:55,040 Speaker 1: that were used in the old Bagatelle games way back 444 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: in the late eighteen hundreds early nineteen hundreds, and these 445 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 1: are part of play right. This is a hole that's 446 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 1: purposefully put there so that you can have it as 447 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: an element of the game. So shooting a ball into 448 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,160 Speaker 1: such a hole typically accomplishes something like maybe you get 449 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: certain number of points, maybe there's a bonus, maybe you 450 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: earn an extra ball, or something along those lines. It 451 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 1: might be part of a mode in later games. And 452 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,120 Speaker 1: once again, a ball falling into such a hole activates 453 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: a switch. This in turn activates a solenoid to knock 454 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: the ball back out of the hole and onto the playfield. 455 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 1: And if the ball were to fall right back into 456 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,920 Speaker 1: the hole, then it'll happen again, and often the ball 457 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: will drain straight away. A lot of the game designers 458 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: make these holes where that often the trajectory of the 459 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:47,119 Speaker 1: ball is one that is darn close to draining, like 460 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: close to ninety percent of the time, and it is 461 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:55,880 Speaker 1: mad frustrating. One last common element in pinball machines are ramps, 462 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,160 Speaker 1: and I think it's pretty obvious what a ramp is. 463 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: It's an inclined surface that brings the ball somewhere else 464 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: on the playfield. It might be a raised playfield, so 465 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: you have a secondary playfield that's separate from the main 466 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 1: playfield of the game. Maybe the ramp will just guide 467 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,320 Speaker 1: the ball down to one of the in lanes that 468 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,680 Speaker 1: lead to the flippers. Usually hitting a ramp activates a 469 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,360 Speaker 1: switch of some sort that does something at bare minimum 470 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: increases the score, but it might be part of a 471 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: mode or some other more advanced game feature. There are 472 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:33,119 Speaker 1: other basic components as well, like spinners. For example. I 473 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,120 Speaker 1: also mentioned drop targets in the previous episode. These little 474 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: targets typically made out of hard plastic that, when the 475 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,359 Speaker 1: ball strikes them, drops down into the playfield. And there 476 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: are countless gimmicks that are usually called toys in pinball, lingo. 477 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,879 Speaker 1: Toys you can find in lots of different pinball machines. 478 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,480 Speaker 1: Some are unique to a specific table where it's a 479 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: really innovative design and there's not really anything else like 480 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,119 Speaker 1: it in pinball. One of them are based off a 481 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: very similar concept, and it's just that the iterations you 482 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,720 Speaker 1: see looked and act a little different. But these are 483 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,920 Speaker 1: all sorts of stuff and they can do anything from 484 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 1: shooting a ball elsewhere on the playfield to moving it 485 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: with magnets. Like I think of Adam's Family, which is 486 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: one of my favorite tables of all time. There is 487 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: a toy of thing the hand, and it comes out 488 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: of a box and it's got a little magnet on 489 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: the end of it, so it can pick up a 490 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: pinball and pull it in for a ball lock for 491 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: a multi ball further down the game. That's a simple 492 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 1: example of a toy in a pinball machine. And magnets 493 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: are really important in pinball. Not only do they activate solenoids, 494 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: not only are they important for all that physical action. 495 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: Remember that the balls themselves are made out of steel 496 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: and thus are affected by magnets. So some games have 497 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: electromagnetic elements mounted under the playfield in order to change 498 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: the direction of the ball's path as it's zooming around 499 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: it might make it suddenly swerve and go a totally 500 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: different way. Some use magnets to pick up a ball 501 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 1: put it somewhere else on the playfield. Some pinball machines 502 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 1: also have special balls that aren't made of steel, that 503 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: are made of ceramic like usually mixed in along with 504 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 1: the steel balls. Twilight Zone is an example of this. 505 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: Twilight Zone has a power ball that's made out of ceramic. 506 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 1: It is lighter in weight, they don't weigh as much 507 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: as the steel ball, so they go a lot faster. 508 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: And they also aren't affected by magnetic fields, so the 509 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: electromagnet stuff doesn't work on the ceramics, so they change 510 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: the nature of the game as it's being played. So yeah, 511 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: there are versions as well. You can have elements of 512 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: a game work because the balls are mostly made out 513 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 1: of steel. You can also have elements of the game 514 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: for balls that are specifically not made out of steel. 515 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: To be the exception, It gives a lot of versatility 516 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: when you become a game designer. All right, we've got 517 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: more to say about pinball, but before we get into that, 518 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: let's take another quick break. Now. In my last episode 519 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: about pinball, I talked about how various communities across the 520 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: United States had identified pinball as being a great social evil, 521 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: and pinball machines were associated with gambling and delinquency. And 522 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: since early pinball machines didn't have flippers, they were seen 523 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: as games of chance. And I think that was a 524 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: more than fair assertion, Like, yes, you could use some 525 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: skill to be able to plunge a ball in a 526 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: particular way, but there was way more chance at play 527 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: than skill, I would say, And since proprietors would often 528 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: award prizes for people who achieved top scores, these games 529 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: a chance were essentially seen as gambling. And thus the 530 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: authorities eventually came down hard as moral panic drove them 531 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: to do something that would says by their constituents. But 532 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 1: it's important to do something that's not too hard, something 533 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: that's achievable. You know. It's one thing to say you're 534 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: going up against like organized crime and the mob. It's 535 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: another thing to actually do that. So why not just 536 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,239 Speaker 1: smash a few pinball machines and make pimball illegal? And 537 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 1: that'll make you look tough on crime. So folks were 538 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: seeing pimball as a corrupting influence on the youth, of 539 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: the day, partly because pinball machines were also often found 540 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,960 Speaker 1: in places that were a little unseemly, you know, like 541 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: bars and that kind of thing. And so cities like Atlanta, 542 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: New York, Chicago, and several more would pass laws making 543 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: pinball illegal. And then we get up to an event 544 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: that is famous in the history of pinball, at least 545 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:47,720 Speaker 1: for pimball enthusiasts. So, if you'll recall, in the nineteen forties, 546 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:54,640 Speaker 1: New York Mayor LaGuardia would outlaw pinball and famously pose 547 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: for publicity photos sledgehammer in hand, smash pinball machines at 548 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: his feet. And it wouldn't be into till nineteen seventy 549 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,200 Speaker 1: six that this band would get overturned. The New York 550 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: City Council was called upon to review the ban, and 551 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: a man named Roger Sharp successfully convinced the council that 552 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 1: the ban was not appropriate. Sharp wrote for GQ magazine, 553 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: and he really really wanted to play pinball. He had 554 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: played pinball in college and he wanted to be able 555 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:24,479 Speaker 1: to play pinball day to day. He wrote an article 556 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 1: and later a book about pinball. But you know, he 557 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: worked in New York City and there was no pinball 558 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,239 Speaker 1: to be played there, it was against the law. So 559 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:37,880 Speaker 1: his writings would eventually lead to this council meeting and 560 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 1: he was called upon to provide expert testimony about the game. 561 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,640 Speaker 1: And here's where we get into the myth and legend 562 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: segment of the episode, not to say that this stuff 563 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: isn't true, just that it's become kind of a central, 564 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: really important moment in pinball history here in the United States. 565 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: So Sharp was pulled in to talk to the council 566 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:02,360 Speaker 1: about pinball, and he was arguing that modern pinball was 567 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: a game of skill, not chance, and that the reasons 568 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 1: for banning the machines were based off outdated devices that 569 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: were really more like slot machines than they were like 570 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,840 Speaker 1: pinball games. And he said, well, that's not the case anymore. 571 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: That's not what pinball is anymore, and the band shouldn't stand. 572 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 1: And you know, modern machines were games of skill in 573 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 1: which a player who was actually good at the game 574 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: could achieve specific outcomes. You know, you could aim for 575 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: and make a particular shot. It wasn't just random chance. 576 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:38,240 Speaker 1: Otherwise the ball would just bounce around and eventually drain, 577 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 1: and players would not really be able to affect the 578 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,360 Speaker 1: score in any meaningful way. So Sharp was put to 579 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 1: the test. The Council had Sharp play a pinball machine 580 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 1: and asked him to make several specific shots, which Sharp 581 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: managed to do, which is great, he must perform fantastic 582 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 1: under pressure. I hear he's legit a phenomenal pinball. But 583 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 1: the thing that I think was interesting is that even 584 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 1: great pinball players don't make every shot right like It's 585 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 1: just like any great athlete never doesn't make every shot. 586 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:12,920 Speaker 1: They might make most, but not all. So he made 587 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,359 Speaker 1: it when it counted, And the council saw that it 588 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,640 Speaker 1: was possible to actually play pinball as a game, and 589 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:20,760 Speaker 1: that it was a game of skills. So they lifted 590 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 1: the ban, and the war on pinball, at least in 591 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,600 Speaker 1: New York City, was over. I'm sure the extremely moral 592 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 1: guardians of the nineteen thirties and forties were beside themselves 593 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 1: with horror and sadness to see the evil pinball machines 594 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:38,359 Speaker 1: return to corrupt the youth. The nineteen seventy saw a 595 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: real boom in pinball. Not only were various cities lifting 596 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 1: or ignoring earlier bands on the game, but game designers 597 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,440 Speaker 1: were coming up with new gimmicks and themes to entice 598 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 1: people to play. The rise of video games would also 599 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: give rise to the video game arcade. And it used 600 00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 1: to be that, like video games, and pinball machines could 601 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,000 Speaker 1: only be found in random spots like movie theater lobbies 602 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 1: or bowling alleys, or pizza joints and bars. But over 603 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:10,720 Speaker 1: time the possibility of a video game and pinball arcade arose, 604 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:13,759 Speaker 1: and for a short amount of time it was a 605 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,520 Speaker 1: darn good business. Here in the United States, you would 606 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:20,080 Speaker 1: find such arcade galleries in pretty much every shopping mall 607 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: you came across. These days, they're far more rare because 608 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 1: over time the home market would change things. Lots of 609 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:31,720 Speaker 1: things would kind of converge to make the classic video 610 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:36,479 Speaker 1: game arcade a less viable business. Pinball machines didn't tend 611 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 1: to be as popular with these arcades as video game 612 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:42,720 Speaker 1: cabinets were. Pinball machines took up a lot of space. 613 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:46,320 Speaker 1: For one thing, the mechanical components also meant that parts 614 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 1: could and would need replacing on a regular basis, so 615 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: sometimes a proprietor would even have to stop what they 616 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 1: were doing in order to come over and open up 617 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 1: a machine, slide the glass pane out of the way 618 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:01,280 Speaker 1: and remove a ball manually, because balls would sometimes get stuck. 619 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 1: And even a machine that had a ball clearing routine 620 00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: where all the solenoids would go off in sequence or 621 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,000 Speaker 1: in series, sometimes that wasn't enough and you would have 622 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:13,520 Speaker 1: to open a machine up to remove a ball that 623 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:17,680 Speaker 1: got lodged somewhere so that games could continue. So pinball 624 00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 1: machines were seen as kind of a hassle for some folks, 625 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,760 Speaker 1: and the question was would they be worth the hassle 626 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:28,440 Speaker 1: of operating them. Now there were still enough people thinking 627 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,640 Speaker 1: they were worth the hassle that there were lots of 628 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: companies making pinball machines. Licensing had become a really big 629 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:37,800 Speaker 1: deal as well. These companies would strike deals with various 630 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:42,319 Speaker 1: IP holders to make machines themed after known commodities. These 631 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:45,960 Speaker 1: could be television shows or movies, or magazines or comic 632 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 1: books like you know, I keep mentioning Adam's Family that 633 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:52,360 Speaker 1: was actually based off the film version of Adam's Family 634 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:56,799 Speaker 1: with ral Julia as Gomez Adams and Angelica Houston as Mortsia. 635 00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:59,719 Speaker 1: That is still one of my favorite tables to the 636 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:04,040 Speaker 1: stay that's a licensed property obviously, there are lots of examples, 637 00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:11,360 Speaker 1: ranging from things like Marvel Comics to Playboy to Jaws, 638 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:16,360 Speaker 1: to musicians, famous musicians and rock acts, Guns n' Roses, 639 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 1: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Elton John. They all have dedicated pinball machines. Well. 640 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:25,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy five, a company called Micro released an 641 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,560 Speaker 1: electronic pinball machine called the Spirit of seventy six, which 642 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: was really notable because it was a solid state pinball machine, 643 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:38,840 Speaker 1: meaning that instead of having a mass of wires and 644 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:43,480 Speaker 1: physical circuitry underneath the playfield, this one had integrated circuit 645 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,000 Speaker 1: boards that were connected to one another. You still had 646 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,200 Speaker 1: wires running to stuff and everything, but you had these 647 00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: integrated circuit boards, which drastically simplified the layout underneath, at 648 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:59,319 Speaker 1: least from a wire's perspective. The invention of the transistor 649 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 1: and then lay the integrated circuit revolutionized electronics across the board. 650 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:07,200 Speaker 1: It became possible to build much smaller circuits, which in 651 00:38:07,239 --> 00:38:10,560 Speaker 1: turn led to the miniaturization of various devices. So stuff 652 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:14,080 Speaker 1: like radios and computers and televisions and much more would 653 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,680 Speaker 1: transform thanks to miniaturization, and again that was due to 654 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:23,320 Speaker 1: transistors and integrated circuits. Now, in pinball, miniaturization wasn't really 655 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:28,040 Speaker 1: a big concern, but transistors meant that you could create 656 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,960 Speaker 1: these mechanical systems that could be controlled by digital inputs 657 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 1: rather than analog circuits wired to physical buttons and whatnot. 658 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,600 Speaker 1: Integrated circuits allowed for more accurate score keeping and control, 659 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:43,239 Speaker 1: and they would also pave the way for more advanced 660 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:47,520 Speaker 1: effects such as sound cues and voices speech. In other words, 661 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:49,799 Speaker 1: I'm told that the first table to have speech was 662 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:55,759 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventy nine pinball machine called Gorgar gor Gar. 663 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,840 Speaker 1: It had seven whole words to its vocabulary, and it 664 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,319 Speaker 1: could make simple sentences is like you beat me, or 665 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 1: gorgr speaks. Another change in pinball would be how scores 666 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,319 Speaker 1: would be displayed. So you might remember in our first 667 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:12,000 Speaker 1: episode I talked about a pinball machine that featured a 668 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 1: dial and it had a needle that would point to 669 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:17,520 Speaker 1: score increments, so as your score would go out, the 670 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:20,160 Speaker 1: needle would move and show you what your score was. 671 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:23,840 Speaker 1: Later on you would get the famous digit counters mentioned 672 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:28,240 Speaker 1: in the whose song Pinball Wizard, and these were essentially reels, 673 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:32,719 Speaker 1: and the reels had numbers printed on the circumference of 674 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:36,200 Speaker 1: the reel. And the reel would turn to show whatever 675 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:38,520 Speaker 1: the score was, and you would have a sequence of 676 00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:41,239 Speaker 1: reels right so that you'd have one that would be 677 00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:44,400 Speaker 1: the single digits, one that would be the tens, the hundreds, 678 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 1: et cetera, and they would rotate to show whatever current 679 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 1: score was in place. These gave way to digital displays. 680 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: You would get like digital then LCD, THN LED and 681 00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,839 Speaker 1: so on, and that would really allow for a lot 682 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:05,239 Speaker 1: other opportunities to use the BackBox display as part of 683 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,640 Speaker 1: the game. You could incorporate video game elements into your 684 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:12,280 Speaker 1: pinball game. The solid state era would lead to computer 685 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,000 Speaker 1: micro controllers handling the operations of the game, which also 686 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 1: allowed game designers to create increasingly sophisticated modes. So a 687 00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:23,440 Speaker 1: mode is typically a series of tasks that the player 688 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:27,400 Speaker 1: has to complete in order to finish that mode, and 689 00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,080 Speaker 1: then you win points or earn an extra ball or 690 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:34,360 Speaker 1: some other outcome is dependent upon completing that mode. So 691 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,600 Speaker 1: maybe hit these two ramps like five times each. That 692 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:41,360 Speaker 1: would be a pretty crappy mode, but it could exist. 693 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,440 Speaker 1: Or it might be hit these outer lanes a certain 694 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:49,920 Speaker 1: number of times, or hit them in this order right ramp, 695 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 1: left ramp, and then the pop bumpers, it could be 696 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:56,799 Speaker 1: something along those lines now. Eventually, game designers got the 697 00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:01,200 Speaker 1: idea of including several different modes within a single game, 698 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:04,440 Speaker 1: and if a player were able to complete all the 699 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:08,640 Speaker 1: modes listed, then a new bonus mode could pop up, 700 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:12,719 Speaker 1: and in the pinball community this is referenced as a 701 00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:17,160 Speaker 1: wizard mode. Many newer games feature some sort of wizard mode. 702 00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:19,640 Speaker 1: One of the ones I'm again most familiar with is 703 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:22,880 Speaker 1: Adam's Family. If you complete all the different modes, you 704 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:25,920 Speaker 1: get a tour of the mansion, which allows you to 705 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,720 Speaker 1: really rack up points if you're a really good player. 706 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:30,880 Speaker 1: I've actually done it a few times back when I 707 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:33,120 Speaker 1: was in college. These days, I doubt I could ever 708 00:41:33,239 --> 00:41:35,799 Speaker 1: get that far. But back when I was playing it 709 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:38,520 Speaker 1: pretty regularly, I got really good at it and it 710 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:40,919 Speaker 1: was a lot of fun. And people who are really 711 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,600 Speaker 1: good at pinball machines and playing pinball, they can really 712 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,680 Speaker 1: show off with getting to wizard modes. It often is 713 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:52,080 Speaker 1: a bit of a chore. Some games have so many 714 00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:54,399 Speaker 1: different modes you have to complete first before you can 715 00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,799 Speaker 1: unlock Wizard mode that I think I would be exhausted 716 00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:00,480 Speaker 1: before I could ever get there. My wrists give out 717 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,520 Speaker 1: from playing with the buttons too much. But this was 718 00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:05,839 Speaker 1: also in an era in which we would see some 719 00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:09,799 Speaker 1: important companies actually get out of pinball design and manufacturing. 720 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:13,759 Speaker 1: Some companies would shut down important companies that really led 721 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:17,440 Speaker 1: the way in pinball development. So Gottlieb was the first 722 00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:20,920 Speaker 1: to go. Bally and Williams would also get out of 723 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:24,560 Speaker 1: pinball after having an amazing run in the eighties and nineties, 724 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:29,560 Speaker 1: which left a single pinball manufacturer active at that time. 725 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:32,600 Speaker 1: It was Stern Pinball. Stern Pinball was founded in nineteen 726 00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:35,399 Speaker 1: ninety nine. It actually traces its history back to an 727 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:39,760 Speaker 1: earlier company called Data East Pinball, which kind of produced 728 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:44,680 Speaker 1: pinball machines for Sega, But Stern Pinball would establish itself 729 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,000 Speaker 1: in the late nineties and it stuck around. It's still 730 00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:50,279 Speaker 1: making pinball machines today. They made the Jaws machine that 731 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:52,880 Speaker 1: I mentioned in the last episode, the Jaws machine that 732 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:57,040 Speaker 1: I desperately would love to own because it's such a 733 00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:01,280 Speaker 1: great machine. Now, the two saw a lot of companies 734 00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:04,200 Speaker 1: get out of pinball, but some companies actually got their 735 00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:07,320 Speaker 1: start later in the two thousands. In twenty eleven, a 736 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:11,080 Speaker 1: company called Jersey Jack Pinball came into business. Their tables 737 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:14,640 Speaker 1: often include much more advanced technology, including stuff like Bluetooth 738 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:17,520 Speaker 1: connectivity so that you can be part of like worldwide 739 00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:19,960 Speaker 1: leader boards and stuff. I got to play one of 740 00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:23,000 Speaker 1: their tables at the Southern Fried Gaming Expo too. That 741 00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:27,160 Speaker 1: was their Elton John table. I mentioned that earlier. Elton John. 742 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:30,400 Speaker 1: That's another fantastic table. I really love the table design, 743 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:33,160 Speaker 1: plus has an amazing soundtrack. I think they did a 744 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:36,040 Speaker 1: fantastic job with that game. It always had a big 745 00:43:36,080 --> 00:43:39,919 Speaker 1: line waiting for it. There were three Elton John tables there, 746 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:42,000 Speaker 1: I want to say, and all three had a line 747 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:47,440 Speaker 1: and yeah, great machine. Other companies currently making pinball machines 748 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:52,600 Speaker 1: include Spooky Pinball, American Pinball, Chicago Gaming Company. They're several more. 749 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:56,480 Speaker 1: There's even a DIY home building pinball community. You have 750 00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:00,000 Speaker 1: people who are designing and building their own customized machine 751 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:06,200 Speaker 1: because you can get the various components off different markets, 752 00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:10,360 Speaker 1: and if you have knowledge on how to program, you 753 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:13,520 Speaker 1: can program a machine. And if you've got really you 754 00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:18,640 Speaker 1: need to have access to some precision machinery to machine 755 00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:21,440 Speaker 1: the playfield properly. But if you have access to that stuff, 756 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:24,880 Speaker 1: you can design and build a pinball machine. That's just 757 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:28,440 Speaker 1: based off your own ideas, which is really cool. So 758 00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:30,840 Speaker 1: I feel like pinball had a massive setback in the 759 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,000 Speaker 1: early two thousands, like it was in danger of going extinct. 760 00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:37,440 Speaker 1: But since it's seen a resurgence. You can find pinball 761 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:41,279 Speaker 1: machines in lots of different places. You have these expos, 762 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,239 Speaker 1: you have various museums that have set up around the 763 00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:47,839 Speaker 1: United States that have collections of pinball machines. So, if 764 00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:51,040 Speaker 1: you are a pinball enthusiast, I think the future looks bright. 765 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:53,920 Speaker 1: I think that the hobby has got a lot of 766 00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:57,040 Speaker 1: new life to it over the last decade or so. 767 00:44:57,320 --> 00:45:00,040 Speaker 1: If you are not a pinball enthusiast, well, there's no 768 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,200 Speaker 1: better time than the present to go and check out 769 00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:04,320 Speaker 1: a pinball machine. Give it a whirl. There are a 770 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:06,359 Speaker 1: lot of great ones out there. There are also some 771 00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:09,800 Speaker 1: real stinkers. It helps to kind of go and look 772 00:45:10,239 --> 00:45:13,640 Speaker 1: at what games are generally agreed upon to be good 773 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:16,440 Speaker 1: versus those that people think are bad. Now, there's a 774 00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:18,560 Speaker 1: lot of disagreement in the space. You've got people who 775 00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:22,920 Speaker 1: will passionately defend one title and say that another beloved 776 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:25,360 Speaker 1: title is the worst thing to ever happen to pinball. 777 00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:28,960 Speaker 1: That happens too, because gamers, as we know, are a 778 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:32,200 Speaker 1: passionate group. Sometimes they don't agree with each other, but 779 00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:36,000 Speaker 1: I think you'll find general consensus around certain games, and 780 00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:38,399 Speaker 1: if you play those, you'll know whether or not this 781 00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:42,760 Speaker 1: is something that appeals to you. As for me, yeah, 782 00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:46,040 Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep playing. I love my pinball, and I 783 00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:48,919 Speaker 1: had a lot of fun going into talking about these 784 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:52,319 Speaker 1: machines and what makes them work. Obviously, when we get 785 00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:55,680 Speaker 1: to the modern ones, there are a lot of components 786 00:45:55,719 --> 00:45:58,440 Speaker 1: that are pretty advanced stuff that you would find in 787 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:02,640 Speaker 1: things like computer displays and beyond. But it's hard to 788 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:06,840 Speaker 1: talk about that because it tends to get very game dependent, 789 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:09,640 Speaker 1: and then you're doing just an episode where you're talking about, 790 00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:13,240 Speaker 1: you know, four or five specific games, and I felt 791 00:46:13,239 --> 00:46:17,600 Speaker 1: that that was less important than a more broad approach. 792 00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:21,520 Speaker 1: I hope all of you out there are doing well. 793 00:46:21,640 --> 00:46:24,160 Speaker 1: I hope you earn all the extra balls and get 794 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:27,200 Speaker 1: all the replays and set all the high scores, and 795 00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:37,120 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is 796 00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:41,680 Speaker 1: an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 797 00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:45,359 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 798 00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:49,800 Speaker 1: favorite shows,