More
gaming
arcades
Arcade Street
Paris
This friendly arcade
next door to theNation
Métro stop is a favourite
for cabinet game
aficionados. It’sopen till
10pmeverynight; classic
games are50cents and
newones€1 per play.
arcadestreet.fr
Next Level
NewYork
Brooklyn’sNext Level is
oneofNYC’s last early
’90s-style video-game
arcades. The focus
ison “head-to-head
button-mashers”, but
there arealsoconsole
games youcan select
from a large library.
Wednesdaynights
featurecompetitions for
hard-coreplayers.
nycnextlevel.com
Vigamus
Rome
Among its vast selection
of arcadecabinets,
Rome’sVideoGame
Museum features an
original Space Invaders
cabinet from 1978, first-
person shooterDoom
and titles includingKing
of Fighters that youcan
play.
vigamus.com
wizard; and
TheSimpsons
’ SideshowBob
onceproclaimed that, “Televisionhas
ruinedmoreyoungminds thanpinball
and syphilis combined.”
All of this is represented, albeit
obliquely, in the formof iconicmachines
atPbal inBudapest. You’ll find, for
example,Gottlieb’s 1947HumptyDumpty
machine, thefirst inhistory touseplayer-
controlledflippers, adding skill to the
game for thefirst time. Theearlyflippers
lacked thepower toget theball to the top
of themachine, soHumptyDumptyhas
threepairs.
Pálfi’s favourites, though,didn’t come
until theearly 1980s, anothergolden
age,whenclassicgameswerealsobeing
developed forearlyarcademachines (by
1981, in thewakeofSpace Invaders, Pac-
ManandDefender, thearcadevideogame
industrywasworthUS$8billion).
Pálfi’sall-time favourite isFathom,
made in 1981byBally: “Itwas fromwhen
Iwasachild, and it’sstill agreatgame,
withbeautiful graphicsandchallenging
gameplay.Thereare lotsofballs, the
sound’sgreat, it’s just reallyexciting.”
Another from theerahepoints to is
Gottlieb’sHauntedHouse (1982), famous
for itsuseofBach’sorganpiece,Toccata
andFugue inDMinor. Someconsider the
HauntedHouse theperfectpinball layout.
Today, onlyAmericancompanyStern
regularlyproducesnewpinballmachines,
like thebestsellingAC/DCgame, yours
forUS$7,495 (NOK27,200). Pálfihasoneof
Stern’s2013StarTrekmachinesstill in its
box, ready for its“ceremonial opening”
(Stern’sothergame themes include
Metallica,Mustangand IronMan).
Nowadays,machinesare increasingly
in thehandsof collectors–part of the
reasonPálfiwanted toget thepublic
playing. “Twentyyearsago, therewere
nopinball collectors, andalmost all
themachineswereownedbyoperators
who’dhave them in their arcadesor
whatever. Today, around80per cent of
newmachinesgo tocollectors,manyof
whomarebuyingup theoldones. The
problemwithprivatecollections is that
not everyonecanplayon themachines.
Iwanted togetpeopleplaying– it’snot
onlygreat fun, but you’replayingona
pieceofhistory.”
flippermuzeum.hu
“I want to
get people
playing
– it’s great
funand
you’re
playingon
apieceof
history”
11
⁄
Outside
theFlipper
Muzeum,
orPBal, in
Budapest
12
⁄
Anearly
bagatelle
machine
12
11
n
/065
