Pinball has been around for some time now, but, unfortunately, is almost becoming a lost art. Originally born from the game Bagatelle in the 1700’s, there were many improvements before the game became known as pinball.

By the early 1930s, the game had become popular thanks to the ability for folks to find some respite from the reality of daily life in America.

With the popularity of cheap entertainment, game creators kept looking for ways to increase their games potential for fun and profit. However, the games were still mostly based on luck, until a creative individual decided to add flippers to make the games less “luck”, and more “skill. Once game creators added “flippers” to their games, to give more control to the player, (as well as avoid gambling restrictions), there was no turning back! Some say the invention of flipper based games, is the beginning of modern pinball.

Since its invention, modern day pinball machines have thrilled players with action, visual and audio stimulation, and themes based on everything from sports, movies, music, and almost any topic you can think of. Pinball machines were everywhere, from your local bar, pool hall, bowling alley, or general store, to full-fledged arcades. It was an iconic part of life in America, as well as abroad. The invention of “video games”, created a challenge for pinball creators, but pinball still found a place in modern video arcades. It was also a wakeup call to pinball creators, and they started incorporating some of the elements from video games into their new creations.

Unfortunately, like many things, cost to profit ratios for pinball began to decline. Home consoles became ubiquitous and was a huge challenge for arcade owners. As arcades began to close shop in the late 1980s – mid 1990s, pinball machines, as well as arcade video games, became harder and harder to find. Some people have never seen a real-life pinball machine, or arcade game.

Thankfully, the hobby has been brought to the digital age and is building steam! With the help of computers, pinball is making a comeback. A real full sized pinball machine is awesome, but comes with a steep price, and a lot of maintenance. Besides cost to purchase and maintain, physical pinball machines only have one game.

Thanks to increasingly powerful, and affordable computers, virtual pinball has become a realistic competitor to its high-priced predecessors. It has also encouraged pinball enthusiasts, to start making custom games, that would have never existed in a real machine. Today, virtual pinball creators have rivaled, and often surpassed, game creators from the past.