![]() It’s exactly why the XFL failed.īut at one point in the last decade, Microsoft put out a stunning collection of video pinball called Microsoft Pinball Arcade. You just don’t mess with a tried and true formula. The games usually have multiple screens and roaming creatures that crawl across the tables and all sorts of stuff that just isn’t pinball. Plus, all too often, video game pinball misses the whole point. There have been rare exceptions to this, but for the most part, programmers just don’t know how to get the feel of pinball down in their video game creations. What the hell happened to the once great industry? Video game revolutions come and go, but pinball was supposed to be forever.Īnd let’s face it, video game pinball has always been only a fraction of the experience of the real thing. For those shrinking arcades in the mall are usually lucky to have any pinball machines in them, and when they do, I find that I’m usually the only one playing them. Kids these days may seriously not have the pleasure of experiencing the whole wonderful mystery of why pinball carries a far greater pleasure than any video game I can name. And when you are in the “pinball zone”, you’re truly one with the machine. ![]() A pinball enthusiast becomes part of the game, gripping on to the table, moving it, shaking it, almost making love to it in an odd way. The thing about pinball was it was always about the whole machine, not just the game play. But what if you’re a pinball freak? That beautiful game invented ages ago, way before anyone ever dreamed of putting a game on a video screen? At least in the US, pinball was the game that always echoed our culture’s current tastes, attitudes, and fantasies With its often fanciful and beautiful back glass artwork and table illustrations, the pinball machine would beckon many from the dark corners of an arcade. So who needs an arcade?Ī loaded question, to be sure. And of course, there are all those game emulators for your home computer that allows you to play all the great classics. Much like in the mid ’80s, it appears that home gaming has taken precedence over the arcade experience. Now they’re usually a hole in the wall at the local mall with a handful of overpriced games that aren’t really too good. Well, that is an arcade anymore, anyway? They used to be big, mysterious, and dark places all aglow with video screens and sounded like a hell-bent carnival from the future. ![]() What’s a poor boy to do? Everywhere one looks, there are all sorts of new fangled video games with graphics that are photorealistic and music and sounds that are larger than life.
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