Tilting, taking turns, and winning free games: the many tricks inside old pinball machines
807,662
Published 2024-05-27
Links 'n' stuff:
The Pinball Playlist (it'll getcha to parts 1 and 2)
• Pinball!
This is the video on Bally Gay Time, a bingo machine from the 1950's
• Vic Camp Pinball: 1955 Bally Gay Time...
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All Comments (21)
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*Alec brings home pinball machine* “This will feed our family for months”
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The fact that we can (probably) fit all the logic of this machine into something the size of a grain of sand now, is mind blowing. But perhaps equally impressive is that they were able to do all this complex stuff with just relay logic.
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46:20 Honestly the idea of having an internal outlet for a soldering iron is genius and a great QoL feature, I love how ya can just sorta ~tell~ it was added by an engineer who was sick of needing a long cable on their iron when they were building and designing the thing
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25:11 "They only made their profit when they sold the machines, they didn't care how they got used" Oh how I miss those times.
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Now, whenever someone asks me How does a pinball machine work? , I can confidently say I've got no clue, but I sure have a video series for you...
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Had a pinball machine growing up. It was SO loud I only played when no one was home. Got home from school and it was gone. I asked why my parents sold it. "No one plays it."
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Alec is doing future historians a huge favor.
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I like how in Brazil, "tilt" has become synonymous with something that stopped working, especially after misuse or attempts at percussive maintenance. Nice to see where that actually came from!
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My father, who was born in 1922, told me that it was common practice for the owner to buy back any extra games when you were done playing pinball. The owner had a way to wipe the free games off the machine after the payout. When I was a kid in the 60s, I heard it was a thing that happened, but I never saw it. Most people would just play until they lost. I can imagine, "Hey kid, we're closing!" "But I have 12 free games!" "Here's $3, and I'm pulling the plug."
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This machine is so complicated but when you really zoom in you find what looks like a rock hanging on a string haha.
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I love watching Alec talk about balls and knockers.
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Oh man, the dedicated outlet for the soldering iron is really very telling. Thanks for this series, enjoyed it immensely.
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fun fact: since pinballs didn't often get translated in italy the word tilt was often assumed to mean "out of order" or something like "kaputt". Today to "go into tilt" (andare in tilt) means to stop working
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Speaking as a guy that cannot see the screen, I appreciate the quality of your descriptions.
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I like how the service manual is essentially the source code and it is available to prove the design and aid in debugging issues. More code-bearing boards should do that today
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I am the proud owner of a perfectly functioning Aztec. I am absolutely in love with this machine and its quirky electromechanics. Your video's on the internal workings are truly gems. Thanks so much for all the painstaking research that must have gone in to making these vids. I stored all three of them with my digital documentation of this wonderful machine.
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11:10 Huh, so the "ball reset sound" in Space Cadet Pinball on Windows ACTUALLY used the real sound...that's so fascinating.
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My aunt gave me a pinball machine back in the 1960's when I was in high school. It was well used and needed occasional maintenance. I quickly learned how to adjust the tilt bob for easier playing. I didn't even know what a relay was but I learned a lot from that old machine and eventually became an electrical engineer.
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There is a pinball museum near me where all machines are free that I'd be more than happy to capture and provide footage free of charge.
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My FIL has a 1950’s baseball-themed pinball machine. We were looking at it one day and I noticed that the wiring and mechanics were in a rough state, he plugged it in to my dismay and I was dumbfounded when 90% of the machine came to life and worked! A few lights and features were dark, but I couldn’t believe it hadn’t caught on fire. Amazing analog programming inside these.
