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"Tomorrow's" Pinball
The song "Pinball Wizard" set the
stage for what was about to occur as
it filtered through the TV set. It was
the national network and the stars
were Big Brave, Spirit of 76, Sound
Stage, Royal Flush, Capt . Fantastic
and even more . They were familiar
faces to many of us, games we've
played and either loved, liked , or at
least had some feeling for, although
tonight they were all equal. Sept-
ember 6th was the date, and the
arena was the Tom Snyder Tomor-
row Program .
Watch ing Tom Snyder playas the
show opened reminded one of the
great Elton John / Roger Daltry con -
frontation ; but the boob tube tended
to deaden the effect . Maybe it was
the lack of sound from the games
which had their voices taken away to
suit the TV audience. Maybe it was
the idea of watching someone in a
suit and tie try to "get into" the
game . Anyway, although the show
was filmed some weeks earlier, only
to be pre-empted by a Republican
convention that refused to quit
during normal hours, the subject
matter was timeless .
Pinball was going to experience a
quick look-see as the opening
segment of the evening ' s festivities .
Billed as the president of the Pinball
Association of America , and the
organizer of the Pinball National
Open of 1975, Steve Kirk seemed
primed to take on any and all
questions . Sharing the spotlight
were the champion and second place
winner of his tournament, Tommy
Light and Ken Shear.
A very brief history of the games
was offered by Kirk, as he deftly
answered Snyder' s questions in a
way that would hopefully shatter a
few of the myths surrounding the
games . 'Design of the games came
next. " Each machine is different"
Steve relayed , "a unique form of
entertainment." Although I tend to
differ with his view that there is very
little difference between the player
appeal of add -a-ball games versus
free play machines; I know how
network television can change the
mind . We also learned of a new term
called " hudging " which meant the
com bination of nudging and hitting
the machine . The inside of the
games were also studied , before a
short discussion of how tournament
by Roger Sharpe
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games can be altered to make them
play more difficultly .
AII-in-all Kirk accomplished much ,
while giving some good information
and facts about pinball machines.
The players that accompanied him
also held their own demonstrating
the skillful touch that lifts the better
player above the norm .
It was interesting entertainment,
although it could have been longer;
but the important step had been
taken . Pinball was being viewed by a
dramatically different audience than
that which frequents the neighbor-
hood arcade . The ground was
broken, and hopefully in the months
and years to come pinball will find
itself once again on the home screen .
Probably the most fascinating part
of the evening was the appearance
of Marahall McLuhan, introduced as
the " media guru ." This was, in all
fairness , McLuhans' s show and he
gave his own interpretations of the
flipper game in his own unique way .
Pinball is " old nostalgia " he report-
ed, an " old piece of hardware" that
differed from video games which
were termed "software ". Why was
pinball so popular? Simple for
McLuhan ; like all sports " the games
are right hemisphere .. . the world of
electronic simultaneity ... where ev-
erything happens at once, no con-
tinuity and total involvement . .. pin-
ball is an art form ." And of course,
the games " are very sexy ."
Yes, this was the world of pinball
enjoying a valiant and well-deserved
hour (although it held the forum for
far less than half the showl. But
pinball had grown up this evening, as
Marshall McLuhan added his ap-
proval in a language that few
intellectuals would understand . Fas-
cinating media explaining captivat-
ing media , it all seemed too right, too
perfect .
For this time the old views and
images were discarded for a refresh-
ing change of pace . Other shows will
follow as they must; pinball is indeed
maturing and more efforts such as
Steve Kirk's will be needed to put
pinball in the proper light and
perspective . But the feeling is good
now, so one says thank you Steve,
Tommy and Ken . Thanks also to
Marshall McLuhan the master of
"cool " and " hot" media . And to
Tom Snyder, who has a pinball in
his office at NBC , thank you for
realizing that pinball is an entertain- ;i
ment that doesn 't have to be played ~
to be enjoyed. Watching can be just .
as much fun ; although I'll stick to a ~
combination of the two.
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