Pinball Hall of Fame Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada Made in Museums - Travels to Curious Museums

Confession:  I am not a gamer.
I mean, I’ve played games in arcades.  I’ve played pinball machines in the local Four Thieves bar when I was growing up (don’t worry, it was small town Nebraska and the family-friendly bar was also the only place in town that served food).  We even had an Atari when I was a kid (Space Invaders Rock!), but that pretty much was the peak of my gaming experience.  I flirted with various handheld games over the years – and definitely spent too much time playing Tetris.  However, my recent gaming experiences have been with my nephew at the holidays where he basically challenges me to play video games just so he can see how badly he can beat me. 
I’m definitely a casual gamer, but even I was hooked on the excitement of the lights and sounds of The Pinball Hall of Fame Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Sitting down with Tim Arnold, founder of the museum, allows us to peek behind-the-scenes and experience what it takes to keep this type of museum open.  
This museum is unique for a couple of reasons: 
It features pinball machines from every decade starting in 1933 when pinball machines were a small, countertop game played with marbles to the modern pinball machines known today. You can actually play every single machine in the museum. Set up like an arcade, the 250+ machines on display have been fully restored and you can play every single one of them for either a quarter or fifty cents.  Tim rescues pinball machines and always restores them with the “designer’s intent” in mind.  As Tim puts it, “We've got a strict set of rules here about designer’s intent and also the flavor of the game when we're rebuilding a game. I could make all the old games just as powerful as the new games and make it really thrilling and make the ball go fast, but we don't do that because that was not the designer's intent and it's not the original flavor of the game.”  That craftsmanship and attention to the spirit of the games really highlights the authenticity of every machine in the museum. 
Museum Highlights:
1933 Jigsaw Pinball Game – the “original” pinball game was a countertop game found in bars.   The main board would have metal pins and balls (hence the name “pinball”).  The goal is to shoot the balls into the pockets.  You add up your score and either win definitely adult prizes like a free beer, cigar or money. This game is how the entire pinball industry started.  Who would have thought that this simple game in 1933 would grow into the $80 million industry it is today? 
Bowling Game  – this game used to be in every bar in America.  According to Tim, instead of going home after work and watching your big screen TV, you would go to the bar and play your friends on a bowling machine.
Joker Ball  – the game that every video poker machine in the world is based on.  The original “random number generator” is the rubber balls, which bounce around and determine which cards you get.  They made 200 of these machines in 1959 – only two are still known to exist.  An incredibly rare machine that you can still play at the museum. 
5th Inning Baseball Game  – similar in design to a traditional bowling game, this game is housed in a solid oak cabinet and features baseball instead of bowling.  Listen to the episode to find out about “the one that got away” and how a collector’s ex-wife strong-armed Tim into buying this game.   
SEGA Basketball Game  – one of the very first games produced by the Japanese video game manufacturer was an arcade basketball game wth an actual court and a rubber ball.  Whoever punches their number in first makes the ball go in that direction. 
“Wedge-Head” Pinball Machine Design – a sub-genre of pinball machine design are “wedge-head” machines versus the standard, square head.  The head is shaped like a wedge – wider at the top and tapering down towards the bottom – so you can put them in a row