pinball machine game
Sign in to savethumb|Terminator 2: Judgment Day (pinball)|Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991 pinball machine designed by Steve Ritchie thumb| Boys with a local pinball game in Filingué, Niger
Article
42 sectionsContents
- History
- Pre-modern: Development of outdoor and tabletop ball games
- Late 18th century: Spring launcher invented
- 1869: Spring launchers become mainstream
- 1931: Coin operation introduced
- 1933: Electrification and active bumpers introduced
- 1947: Flippers widely introduced
- 1970s: Solid-state electronics and digital displays introduced
- 1980s and 1990s: Pinball in the digital age
- 2000s and beyond: Revival
- Relation to gambling
- Components
- Cabinet
- Backbox/head
- Backglass
- Playfield
- Plunger
- Flippers
- Bumpers
- Kickers and slingshots
- Targets
- Holes and saucers
- Spinners and rollovers
- Switches, gates, and stoppers
- Ramps
- Toys, magnets and captive balls
- Features
- Scoring points
- Special scores
- Playing techniques
- Nudging
- Trapping
- Manufacturing process
- Solenoids
- Custom machines
- Competitions
- Video game simulations
- In popular culture
- See also
- References
- Sources
- External links
thumb|Terminator 2: Judgment Day (pinball)|Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991 pinball machine designed by Steve Ritchie thumb| Boys with a local pinball game in Filingué, Niger
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en-route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails called 'pins' and had hollows or pockets which scored points if the ball came to rest in them. Today, pinball is most commonly an arcade game in which the ball is fired into a specially designed cabinet known as a pinball machine, hitting various lights, bumpers, ramps, and other targets depending on its design.