As Women’s History Month comes to a close, let’s look at a February visit to the Pinball Hall of Fame, on the Strip in Las Vegas.
This is essentially a big warehouse filled with old arcade games, indifferently maintained and many powered off. That said, it is a large enough collection that there are probably some playable games within that you’ve never seen and never played.
Here’s a supersized Flintstones machine from 1994 that is better as a concept than as a game:
A prototype machine for squirrel-hating golden retrievers… Goin’ Nuts:
Speaking of hate and haters…
Those who appreciate fruit crate art will like this 2015 retro Stern Whoa Nellie!
Machines are priced at whatever their original price was, e.g., some as low as 25 cents and quite a few at 50 or 75 cents per play.
Let’s close with a 1995 Gottlieb Strikes ‘N Spares machine, dressed up in Big Lebowski garb.
Tip: Get there right when it opens if you want to be able to hear the machines’ callouts and music clearly. Don’t be put off by the surly ladies who run the place! (I’m not sure why they’re there because one of them said that she didn’t like pinball and never played any of the machines.)
Streetside entertainment from Akumal, Mexico.
What is it?
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10232715035919195&set=a.10210583929135357
CCReed: Not a pinball machine. Beyond that, tough to say. Image search with Google or ChatGPT?
Great pinball machines!
I’ve always wanted to go there when in Las Vegas and keep forgetting and ending up at the rent-a-machine-gun place instead (expensive!). Next time I am definitely going. That, and Sphere.
The largest known video game arcade in the world is in Chicagoland, outside of the city and near the Brookfield Zoo. Galloping Ghost Arcade claims 1,075 game now. Probably 900 fully work. $25 all you can play for the day with leave and return privileges since there is no room there for food. There is barely room to walk around – the only complaint. https://www.gallopingghostarcade.com/ Highly recommended. They also have a pinball place a block down the street. https://gallopingghostpinball.com/. You can visit both for $35 a day. Show up after lunch. Play for a few hours, leave for dinner, come back. I am not affiliated. I drive about an hour to visit a couple of times a year, and it is worth it.
Thanks for the recommendation. The video collection does look impressive! Unfortunately, they currently list only 47 pinball machines so they’re beaten by https://pinballgallery.net/game-list/ (Malvern, Pennsylvania) and similar.