The limited-ness of pinball machines is a good example of how limitations give way for innovation. This can be seen in the creation of multiple play fields, this allows for variety in play within the game. I always loved the idea of games within games, and the multiple play field can be implemented in so many ways, both digitally and analogously, such as in the Black Knight 2000, or the Game of Thrones games, as well as the digital pinball machine, Sorcerer’s Lair(Can be played in the Pinball FX2 in Strong museum). These multiple play fields cover a lot of ground, in terms of what they can be. In Black Knight, it is a second raised playfield that has its own paddle and gravity, while in the Game of Thrones one is a completely unique, but small, pinball game, while in the Sorcerer’s Lair , consists of around 3 different self-contained pinball machines, as well as one completely unique style of mini-game, where the ball is moved with a few gears, kind of like a Pachinko machine with moveball pins. The multiple play fields always fascinated me, because it requires you to then understand more than just one type of physics and gameplay, but two or more. The best part of most of these smaller games is that they also give you a great number of points for beating them (most of them are beatable in the sense that they have an end).
The other interesting thing I found in nearly all of the newest machines in the Strong museum of their constant digitization. There are nearly no machines in the newer machines that does not include some sort of digitization. This goes from the Star Wars games, to the Game of Thrones machine, or the Lord of the Rings machine. When I say digitization I’m encompassing the use of more complex hardware as well. So in the Lord of the Rings games, this would be the slot where you shoot the ball into the Eye of Sauron, or when you have to fight the Balrog. There is also machines like Revenge from Mars, revolutionary pinball machine that has a holographic screen to interact with. I think it is fascinating to be able to see the pinball machines evolve to have more of these complex or just interesting mechanics, that just were not feasible prior to them, due to technological restrictions. Digitization also comes into play with digital machines, since they allow for things are actually not possible with a regular analog machine, such as tons of interactive locations, multiple play fields, and gravity shifting, where the ball actually slows down or speeds up depending on the buffs you get. It even allows for health and mana points, such as with the Bethesda map, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The digitization of machines just expands the horizons for pinball machines, and gives me hopes that pinball machines will continue to evolve and not become a fad of older days.
I find the fact that the pinball machines were banned for some time to be very interesting. If they were banned, that means that someone must have thought that the machines were dangerous, or the people involved with them were dangerous, which is the opposite of how I see them. As it turns out, because of their ban, pinball machines were seen as a symbol of youth and rebellion between the 1940s to 1976. The use of Pinball as a sign of rebellion can be seen in episodes of “Happy Days” and The Who’s album, Tommy. It’s even more interesting when you realize that this interpretation has been lost over the years, where Tommy, known as the Pinball Wizard, is no longer seen as this rebellious character, while the original purpose for the character was to show the off as such. What this means for pinball is that it evolved alongside Rock n’ Roll as the symbol for rebellion and youth, which is very interesting, as pinball has very much lost that rebellious attitude, while Rock still holds onto its roots as a Rebellious genre (maybe not as much as punk, but still).