In the olden days of pinball, there wasn't much to adjust. Free game scores were hard wired into the machine and couldn't be changed. But with the introduction of Williams High Speed in 1986, things got more complicated.

The new machines would dynamically adjust the free play score based on an algorithm. It also introduced a method where if you had already scored a free game, it was impossible to win a random free game.

The post at Cheap Talk goes into much more detail, but ultimately, these algorithms, exploits, and the layouts of the tables themselves got so complicated that new players couldn't figure out how to master them. And, as we all know, pinball faded into the night. If you're at all a fan of pinball, it's an interesting read. Head over to check it out. [Cheap Talk via Retro Thing]

Image via ktpupp

Not everything's better digitized, you know? People like pinball because it's nostalgic and flawed, not because it's such a great game. Sure, this digital version lets you "bump and tilt," and for $6,000 I'm sure the rendering of the flippers is excellent—but it's got no soul. But since pinball was already pretty much dead by the time I was born, maybe I'm not the best authority on the subject. It's available from HS now. [Hammacher Schlemmer via Technabob Crunchgear]

Duck Hunt (1976)
Before Duck Hunt hit the NES as part of the most famous (and arguably most successful) gaming bundle of all time, Nintendo released a version of the game as a standalone toy. A revamp of their IR-based Laser Clay Shooting System! (1973), Duck Hunt used a battery powered lightgun and projector to fly ducks randomly around your wall. Tastefully, there was no little dog there to laugh at you when you inevitably ran out of batteries. [See Duck Hunt in action here]

The Atari 2600 (1977)
Parents may hate consoles now, but the Atari 2600 was greeted with open arms by parents who were happy to keep their kids safe at home rather than exploring seedy arcades. It wasn't the first modern (cartridge-based) console—that award goes to the 1976 Fairchild Channel F. But Fairchild gave up on games before the phenomenon had passed while Atari became the best selling Christmas gift of 1979. Powered by a 1.19MHZ process and bundled with two joysticks, two paddles (for Pong) and a game, the launch price was $199. That doesn't sound like much, but in when adjusted for inflation since 1977, that was about $700.

Simon (1978)
In 1974, Atari released an arcade cabinet called Touch Me. It was a critical flop. But four years later, a pair of inventors tweaked the game, shrinking it down to portable sizes and adding color to the formerly black buttons. The result? Simon, the addictive memory-music game that holds up to this day. Sold by Milton Bradley, a slew of clones would pop up over the years. But c'mon, Simon they were not.

Really Bad Sports Games
Sports are hard enough to stomach on their own, but Atari's early versions of baseball, basketball and football, while necessary to the evolution of video game sports, were simply horrible. With the exception of Activision's 1981 Ice Hockey, none of these games have aged well because even in their simplified versions with limited rule sets and minuscule rosters, the very premises of these sports are far wider in scope than any early era video game. Then again, Pong, made in the early '70s, may be the best "tennis" game of all time.

Space Invaders (1978)
Space Invaders is, quite simply, the biggest arcade game of all time. Taito's simple game incorporated sci-fi elements like lasers and aliens to a humble 5x11 grid of monochromatic descending sprites. (In fact, Space Invaders was never technically in color—colored cellophane was merely laid over the monitor.) It's been attributed to coin shortages in Japan and the rise of mainstream arcade prominence in the US. And while Pac-Man would also be a mega force of its own, he wouldn't be around until 1980.

Coleco Telstar Arcade (1977/78)
No, the Coleco Telstar Arcade did not revolutionize gaming forever, it's just a personal favorite. Before the rise of cartridge-based consoles, single-title home arcade units were extremely popular. There was a huge market of PONG clones that were essentially a base unit with knobs that plugged into your TV. Anyway, Coleco made a lot of these dedicated machines, but their most advanced/ridiculous was the Telstar Arcade. The triangle base unit contained Pong, gun and racing controls, plus it actually accepted additional (triangle-shaped) cartridges to expand gameplay. I sort of wish that the Xbox 360 were designed so ludicrously.

Adventure (1979)
It might not look like much now, but Adventure was, aptly, the first action/adventure video game. A modest 4KB, Adventure followed a dragon-slaying hero through a labyrinth of mirrored environments (the Atari simply wasn't capable of more complex levels) in his quest to transport a chalice to a yellow castle. Grand! And beyond its invention of an entire genre, the game introduced the concept of inventory (to hold contemporary gaming mainstays like swords and keys). What Adventure was missing was the motivation of a damsel in distress. [Try it here]

Asteroids (1979)
One ship stuck in an asteroid field—duplicate that idea in arcade cabinet form over 56,000 times and you have Asteroids, Atari's best selling arcade game of all time (though admittedly only about a third as successful as Taito's Space Invaders). As players blew the heck out of space rocks, they also had to control inertia in what's considered the first real physics based game. The effect is akin to a dogfight on ice. [Try it here]

Pinball Wizardry
It's tough to think of the year 1979 without Pete Townshend popping into your head. So what was going on in terms of Pinball in that era? Circuitboards. In 1977, Bally's Lost World became the first pinball machine to replace chimes with electronic sounds. And by 1979, Williams' Gorgar introduced the first pinball game with a continuous soundtrack. But since this was the '70s we're talking about, we'll remind you that Kiss pinball came out, too, and people weren't playing it with any aura of self-deprecation.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 and a healthy dose of Wikipedia/wasted youth].

Gizmodo '79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born.

Constructed from one large HDTV and a smaller LCD monitor, this machine, called HyperPin, makes for a surprisingly convincing pinball experience. The trick is in the software, Future Pinball. It's a real-time 3D pinball simulator for the PC, with which enthusiasts can recreate and play on their favorite tables in a simulated arcade. Builder BadBoybill (indeed!) took this all a step further, adapting the app to display on two screens, giving the appearance of an actual table. Bumping, shaking and drink-resting are not recommended. [HyperPin via Digg]

The Hall of Fame features 141 pinball machines in working order, available to play for just a few quarters, and if you're a pinball fan it looks like a must-see. I'm loving the idea of two-player pinball: it seems like a cross between air hockey and a typical pinball machine, with the object being to score on your opponent rather than just rack up points. This is just the kind of brain-melting mix of excess, shiny things, and noise that you'd want from a trip to Las Vegas. [Joystiq]

Aside from all the vintage game machines (including Playboy pinball), the folks at J & C Studios also have a nice cell tower replica you can use, creating an RF field next to your coffee mug for the tiniest tumors.

[J&C Studios via TechnaBob and BBG]

The experience is so immersive you forget that it's not real—no wonder real pinball is on the endangered-species list. The virtual kind gives you different types of play, four in fact:
• Cooperative, where you have two paddles on your side and one on your partner's side, and you both share a score
• Synchronized, where both sides tap the buttons simultaneously to make the paddles swing fully, so you lose if your partner doesn't help
• Competitive, straight-up pinballin'
• Multiball! You'll see this one at the end of the video, a total clusterfuck with balls flying everywhere

I give Daniel bonus points for cool virtual realism: The actual wooden playing board peaks in the middle, sloping downward. The virtual balls react to this, slowing as they roll uphill to the middle, then speeding up as they roll towards either end.

It was so much fun I almost forgot to ask what the point was. Daniel says that in the age of Wii, it's important to study interaction of players who are not necessarily competitors. Also, he likes to observe how mechanics affect gameplay. We couldn't get Daniel to admit he was merely trying to come up with a great game to sell to bars, but hell if he didn't invent that too. [Moving Parts; ITP]

And things aren't entirely rosy for Stern Pinball. While they used to pump out 27,000 pinball machines a year, they're down to a mere 10,000 now, most of which end up going to homes rather than to arcades. It's a sad state of affairs.

But the owner, Gary Stern, can't really imagine that pinball is on the way out. He thinks that it's like a sport; while it may wane in popularity, it'll never go away. What do you guys think? Have video games made pinball machines antiquated and obscolete, or do they still hold a place in your heart?

In any case, check out the profile of the factory. It's a fascinating peek into the world of gaming development that doesn't involve 3D rendering and cubicle farms. [NY Times]

Our minds are made up by the way that we feel...so if you really love us, come on and let it show. Gosh, Wet Wet Wet were great. Anyway, if you are partial to TAB's Virtual Pinball machine, it has a ten-week wait time and the price is only available by request, which, unlike Wet Wet Wet, is not so fantastic. [Acquire via Technabob]

In other words, the entire game—right down to the silver ball—has been digitized. The machine plays six different pinball games, including classics like Attack From Mars, F-14 Tomcat, and Xenon. A Force Feedback System even allows bumpers and tilters (you know who you are) to bump and tilt all day long.

Jump for another picture.

Without thousands of moving parts to be maintained, the only way to put Ultra Pin out of order is by yanking the plug. – Scott Jones

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LEGO-maniac Anders built this working pinball game out of LEGOs and pure iron will. It doesn't just react to the ball hitting certain sensors—it even takes score and can keep a high-scorer's list. We're hunting up some more information this as Anders' site is pretty aged.– John Biggs

Functional LEGO Pinball Machine [TechEBlog]