Friday, January 05, 2007

Pinball!

Yesterday, Steve's dad took us up to Lyons to play pinball at one of the few remaining pinball arcades, Lyons Classic Pinball. Their selection is amazing! 36 machines (according to their website, I didn't count), ranging from classic Gottlieb, Bally and Williams machines to modern Stern machines, including a Pirates of the Caribbean one, can be found there. I don't think I've ever seen so many machines in one place, much less ones that are all functional. The arcade even has a pinball league! I don't know how a pinball league works, but it kinda sounds fun.

Of particular note is the "Hercules" machine, the largest production pinball machine in the world, which uses a billiard ball (or maybe a rubber billards-sized ball)! The cabinet is at least 3.5 feet across, maybe larger. Unfortunately, the game isn't very exciting; the size of the ball probably makes it hard to have much tilt, and the flippers were already weak. Also, there was a two-player machine, called "Joust", that pitted the players directly against each other, which was different but fun!

I definitely enjoyed myself, and it's been a while since I played much pinball. I may have to take another trip up there sometime soon, just for fun.

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