There's one thing missing in this modern world. We used to have it in poolhalls and bowling alleys. In my younger years I oversaw a game room in a ski area hotel, and it was even there along with the foosball table, Ping pong, and pool.
The game was pinball and for those who were into it, it was a riot, a mechanical wizard for someone with the right touch.
I am about to admit to one of the lowest things I ever did to adolescents, but here goes. You see, there were two (or was it three?) pinball machines in the game room but they were rarely ever used so they weren't making much money. It only took a quarter to start a game but almost nobody ever played. Eventually I discovered why nobody played. The owners of the machines had set the tilt weights to tilt the game with the lightest of pressure. Half the fun of playing pinball is to coax the whole pinball table gently and deftly to enhance the ball action. It took skill to do that without tilting the game but with the tilt sensors set on a hair trigger, half the fun of playing the game was lost.
Well it just so happens that hotel management entrusted me with a key to open up the game table and access not only the quarters drawer but also the tilt weights. I used both. First I adjusted the weights to make the game fun again - not enough to risk damage to the table but enough to make it fun again to play. But then I needed to do something to restore the integrity of the game for the hotel guests. Since it was mostly young people not experienced with pinball hanging out in the game room, I used my key to borrow a few quarters and gave them to young guys wanting to try the game.
It was instant pinball addiction for these kids. Yes, I knew that and I let it be my motivation - to addict kids into begging quarters off their parents and dumping them into these pinball machines.
It worked. For weeks those quarters bins inside the games loaded up with money. Some of it was even my own. I loved playing on those tables. But all good things seem to have to come to an end. After a few good weeks the game owners insisted that I hand over my key to their games. They reset the tilt weights to a feather edge, and nobody wanted to play their games anymore.
Anyway, it was a sad era in evening entertainment when they got rid of all the old mechanical pinball machines.
It was a delightful exploit into nostalgia watching this movie about New York City's ban on pinball and how that ban finally got lifted. Brace yourself for some pinball history.
Chek it out:
