Pinball Hall of Fame Description
A symphony of quarters clanging, low-fi beeps, upbeat digital sounds
and faintly distorted classic rock provides the ambiance for the
Pinball Hall of Fame.
Suggestive marquee art shows women in
retro-futurist outfits that seem to be pulled straight out of a version
of “Lost in Space” that was confined to the back of the video store.
Cartoons,
both generic and familiar, make you feel just a bit too comfortable
with parting with your money, while rock stars and TV characters from
yesteryear beckon — and sometimes even mock you – in an attempt to nab a
few more bucks.
“It’s a one of a kind attraction,” said Tim
Arnold, the Michigan native who can often be seen digging into circuit
boards and wires while fixing a machine.
The Pinball Hall of Fame
looks like a plain warehouse with white walls and concrete floors. You
hardly notice this, though, as your attention is immediately drawn to
the noise and color of aisles upon aisles of amusement machines.
“Nobody else has this many machines and nobody else has the technical knowledge [to maintain them],” he said.
“The idea was simple: You put pinball machines in a big building then people come to play them.”
It’s
hard not to part with your quarters at the largest collection of
pinball machines in the world. Patrons have more than 200 pinball and
arcade machines to choose from, ranging from simpler 1940s games to
extravagant interactive tables based on “Avatar,” “Iron Man” and other
recent films.
Yes, pinball machines are still being made.
The
newer machines tend to have more gimmicks and (literal) bells and
whistles: It’s surprisingly cool when you hear Captain Jean-Luc Picard
of the starship Enterprise say “All hands, prepare for multiball” or to
play out the plot of “Terminator 2” with naught but a steel sphere.
Then
there are original tables like the sci-fi themed and
cheesecake-art-laden “Centigrade 37,” white-hat cowboy and Western
trope-heavy “Lawman,” and the far-too-literal “Pinball,” each weave
their own narrative in your imagination, without relying on voiceovers,
brief video clips and glued-on action figures to do so.
These
older machines don’t retell part of someone else’s story — they get the
ball rolling and let you tell your own. It’s a throwback to an era when
you used your imagination to fill in the blanks.
It’s important to
appreciate these unique machines. As Tim Arnold insists, the Pinball
Hall of Fame is about preserving history just as much as it is about
having fun.
With no admission cost, just the cost of however many
games you play, it’s a bargain. Best of all: Your quarters will go to a
good cause. The Hall of Fame donates mostly to the Salvation Army, in
addition to other non-denominational charities in the Las Vegas Valley.
“It’s unique, affordable entertainment and it helps the community. That’s a slam dunk, if you ask me.”
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