Each time technology advances favourite games also evolve. Electricity brought light and sound to many traditional games, and the microprocessor has enabled the evolution and creation of other popular games. This article takes a look at how these innovations have changed the games you love.

A brief History of Pinball

Pinball is one of the most popular games in the world. It’s so popular, in fact, that it’s found in almost every major game arcade on the planet. The history of pinball’s roots began in 1871 with a man called Montague Redgrave. He took the French game of Bagatelle and used it to create a wooden pinball-like machine. It included the well-known feature of a coiled spring to launch the pinball or marble. Redgrave also added a slope to the Bagatelle table to give his pinball machine its characteristic appearance.

Early pinball evolution

As pinball increased in popularity throughout the 1930s, manufacturers of pinball machines needed to make their products stand out. When electricity was added, the addition of lights, sound, and even music became possible. Gameplay was also enhanced through the use of electromagnets, and electronic solenoids were used to propel the ball in new directions. However, it wasn’t until 1947 that the first pinball machine included the flippers, which added skill to the game, making it a far more popular pastime. 

Pinball fell foul of US gambling laws

Today playing pinball is seen as a harmless way to pass the time. However, that’s not always been the case from the early 1940s until as recently as 1976, pinball machines were banned by US regulators. It’s easy to see why the regulators took this view as the pinball manufacturer Bally made machines that would pay out cash prizes.

The laws were overturned when it was proven in court that pinball is a game of skill rather than pure luck. Roger Sharpe testified in court and demonstrated that he could predict the movement of the ball before shooting.

The golden age

Now free of US gaming regulations, with the introduction of electricity and microprocessors the pinball entered its golden age. Arcades across the US, Europe, and the UK all heavily featured a variety of pinball games. This popularity continued well into the 1990s.

However, the 1970s also saw the emergence of games like Pong, Space Invaders, and Tank. These games started the video game revolution, which led to an increase in competition for pinball. In many arcades, the new video games started to become more popular than pinball.

How have today’s pinball machines evolved

Due to strong competition from arcade machines for gamers’ time, and money pinball has had to evolve. No longer are players limited to a single version of their favourite game; the virtual pinball machine can have many 100s of games included. Cabinets now come complete with high-resolution LED screens, LED back glass, and surround sound.

While these innovations are far from what the original inventors ever foresaw, no doubt they will be thrilled that the simple pinball machine is still popular today.

A brief history of arcade video games

Our older readers are sure to remember the early video games. Already mentioned, the earliest commercially successful arcade game was Pong. Atari, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, released Pong in 1972. It was the first arcade game to be a major success. Pong was based on table tennis. It has two paddles and a ball that moves back and forth in the centre of the screen. The players have to move their paddles vertically to hit the ball back and forth. Pong was the first arcade game to be installed in a commercial bar Andy Capp’s Tavern.

Since their humble start, Video games have become extremely popular and have seen the addition of games such as Space Invaders released in 1978, Asteroids released by Atari in 1979, and Pac-Man released first in Japan and then the US in October of 1980. These games quickly became famous and led to the creation of a new genre of video games known as the “Space Race.”

Home arcade machines

The development of home gaming consoles ran parallel to the development of arcade video games. Atari manufactured the first home console, an area that has now become dominated by companies such as Nintendo, Sony’s Playstation, and Microsoft’s Xbox.

The golden age of home gaming

Gaming has now become so popular that websites such as Twitch have been launched that allows professional gamers to stream gameplay live across the internet, making it far easier to generate an income and promote a player’s ability to professional teams. Furthermore, the market value of gaming consoles market sales amounted to $42.9 billion in 2020 and is set to increase year on year. 

So is this the golden age for home gaming? 

It’s difficult to state exactly what the future holds for home gaming. However, computing power continues to double every two years the only thing limiting gameplay will be the developer’s imagination.