Probably why you're here.
Exploring EMs: Ted Zale and New Frontiers for Bally
Ted Zale designed for Bally from 1963 to 1973. Here, we look back at eight of his machines and what each one introduced, from lock-and-release multiball on Star-Jet to the Balligator on Nip-It.
solar_espeon
Remembering Dolly Parton: Her Legacy in Pinball and Beyond
Dolly Parton passed away on August 25 at the age of 80. solar_espeon looks back at the 1979 Bally game that carried her name, the backglass her team sent back for a redraw, and how it plays.
solar_espeon
Cirqus Voltaire Returns With American Pinball's Classic and Ringmaster Editions
American Pinball announces Cirqus Voltaire in Classic and Ringmaster editions, $9,989 and $12,589, shipping October 2026. Paul Melio reports.
Paul Melio
Exploring EMs: The Legendary Career of Designer Wayne Neyens
Wayne Neyens spent more than 40 years designing for Gottlieb. Here, we look back at some of his most influential ideas and popular designs.
solar_espeon
The 150 Most Historically Significant Pinball Machines
154 years of pinball firsts: from an 1871 bagatelle patent to the largest homebrew ever built.
Joe Ciaravino
Slow, Then Fast: Meet the Builders Behind Pinball's AI-Era App Boom
Developers Conor Wilson, Ed Giardina, and Will Oetting talk about their latest projects amid an explosion of new services.
Colin Alsheimer
Tasker Smith Talks Flow, Focus, and Bad Luck at His Book Launch in Natick
Tasker Smith took questions from Marc Patenaude and the audience at the Center for the Arts in Natick for the release of Pinball: A Quest for Mastery. Flow states, focus rituals, split flippers, and the 1974 Strato-Flite he brought in for the occasion.
Andrew Quemere
Exploring EMs: A Rundown of the Top 10 Electromechanical Games, According to IPDB Users
The ten best electromechanical games ever made, as rated by users of the Internet Pinball Database. solar_espeon runs down what makes each one great, from Gottlieb's drop-target classics to a surprise #1 from Williams.
solar_espeon
A Battle Plan for Williams’ Medieval Madness Pinball
Learn how to play Williams' Medieval Madness pinball in our detailed tutorial.
solar_espeon
The Best Pinball Machine of 1996, Ranked
Matt Owen ranks all twelve pinball machines released in 1996, worst to best — from Capcom's Flipper Football to Williams' Tales of the Arabian Nights — as the whole class turns 30.
Matt Owen
From Callbacks to Kickbacks: An Interview with Comedian Matt O'Brien
LA comedian Matt O'Brien on the pinball obsession that turned into viral videos — and got Stern to loan him a machine. Benjamin Plotkin met him at Walt's Bar to talk comedy, getting hooked on pinball, and the road to "getting good."
Benjamin Plotkin
The Full Story of Williams’ Tales of the Arabian Nights Pinball
Learn how to play Williams' Tales of the Arabian Nights pinball in our detailed tutorial.
solar_espeon
'Creators Gotta Create': James Cardona on the Business of Pinball 2.0 Kits
James Cardona of Cardona Pinball on the business of building officially licensed 2.0 upgrade kits for classic Bally/Williams machines.
Colin Alsheimer
Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!
Learn to play Stern Pinball's 2026 release, Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye in our latest tutorial.
Noah Crable
Pedretti Gaming Launches Tales of the Arabian Nights Remake
Pedretti's second Bally/Williams remake is official — a $10,999 Legacy Edition and a strictly-399 $11,999 30th Anniversary Edition with all-new Brian Allen art. Here's the pricing, the editions, and what's changed.
Colin Alsheimer
Kick Off the Summer with Bally’s World Cup Soccer Pinball
Get ready for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup with our expert guide to Bally's 1994 classic, World Cup Soccer.
solar_espeon
Meet Daniel, the Australian Maker Bringing Space Cadet Pinball Into the Real World
The Windows 3D Space Cadet table that raised a generation is getting a real, physical build — from a maker who'd barely touched a pinball machine before. Chris Krentz talked to CNCDan about printing nearly every part himself, the skepticism his 3D-printed flipper "rubber" drew online, and how his layout stacks up against Deeproot's abandoned Space Cadet prototype.
Chris Krentz
Top Ten: The Best Pinball Video Modes of the 90s
After considering which video modes were the worst efforts of the 90s in a previous list, it’s time to flip the script with our look at the best video modes of the 1990s.
solar_espeon
Go For a Spin: A Rundown on Williams’ High Speed Pinball
Learn how to play the 1986 Williams release, High Speed, in our latest tutorial.
solar_espeon
Homebrew and You: From Garage to Career, and the Team Making It Easier Than Ever
Brisket, bourbon, and a flamethrower: inside Pinforge, the homebrew collective behind Bootleggers — and pinball's homebrew-to-pro pipeline.
Paul Melio
To Flip and Tilt in LA – A Guide to Pinball in Los Angeles
From Molly Atkinson's Pins and Needles to today's anchor venues — in his Kineticist debut, LA local Benjamin Plotkin maps the past, present, and people of Los Angeles pinball.
Benjamin Plotkin
Top Ten: The Worst Video Modes of the 90s
Some video modes are great. Some are forgettable. And some are so badly designed that the optimal strategy is to immediately stop playing.
solar_espeon
Pokémon by Stern: A Pokéfessional's Take
A 30-year Pokémon fan with a Living Pokédex looks at Stern's pinball adaptation — what works, what's coming in code, and what fans probably won't ever get.
Chris Krentz
Nutter’s Pinball Restoration Spotlight: mrm_4
In the second edition of Nutter's Pinball Restoration Spotlight, Michael talks with Matt (mrm_4) and tours the Pinside threads that made him one of the hobby's most prolific restoration documentarians.
Michael Swanson
Why Does Spooky's Beetlejuice Have a Goonies Logo in Its Source Code?
The Goonies has been heavily rumored as Spooky's next release. Evidence of it may have been sitting inside the public Beetlejuice code for months.
Colin Alsheimer
The Magic is Within You: A Playbill for Bally’s Theatre of Magic Pinball
Learn how to play Bally's 1995 classic, Theatre of Magic, in our expert guide. For the first time ever, we also break down the changes found in a popular community-contributed code update (Soren's 2.0 ROM).
solar_espeon
Every Dennis Nordman Pinball Machine, Ranked
With Dennis Nordman in the news lately, we sit down and formally rank all of his major pinball releases.
Chris Krentz
The Score Card 13: Women's Championships and More March Madness
Jack Revnew takes the Texas Wizards, Sterling Mitoska picks up his first Stern Pro Circuit win at Steel Valley, and Emily Reilhan caps a historic run with the Women's North American and World Championship titles.
Matt Owen
Pinball Capital Opens as Chicago’s Largest Public Pinball Location
James Fremont covers the grand opening of The Pinball Capital in Stone Park, Ill. — Chicago's largest public pinball location at 131 games. Roger Sharpe re-enacted his famous 1976 "called shot" demonstration on its 50th anniversary, and Brian Weisberg swept both opening weekend tournaments.
James Fremont
Nutter’s Pinball Restoration Spotlight: Leebo’s Pinball
Michael Swanson profiles Leebo's Pinball, a YouTube channel dedicated to teaching pinball restoration one task at a time, from metal polishing and cabinet repainting to wiring repairs and connector upgrades.
Michael Swanson
One More Dollar, One More Game: Inside Project Pinball with Daniel Spolar
The pinball community keeps asking questions about Project Pinball. We sat down with Daniel Spolar for three hours to get answers.
Colin Alsheimer
Noah Crable on His Surprise Run to the 2026 IFPA National Championship Final
The rulesheet writer talks his path from NH States to the IFPA Nationals final, tournament strategy, and VHS tapes.
Matt Owen
I Choose You! The Pokémon Pinball Trainer's Survival Guide
Learn to play Stern's 2026 release, Pokémon Pinball in our latest expert tutorial.
Noah Crable
TEP's Rob Rath and Nick Neitzel Join American Pinball's Growing Team
TEP co-founder Rob Rath and product engineer Nick Neitzel are joining American Pinball as Product Director and Product Designer — the latest in a string of moves under new owner Bryan Vincent. TEP will continue independent operations while becoming a key AP vendor.
Colin Alsheimer
The Pinball Music Video Leaderboard
Eight contenders. Bonus tallies. An Annie Lennox penalty. Only one takes Grand Champion. Who will it be?
Brian Saa
Get Ready for a Dungeon Crawler Carl Pinball Machine
Someone has the license for the massively popular LitRPG franchise. We don't know who — but we have thoughts.
Colin Alsheimer
The 2025 TWIPY Pinball Awards: Full Winners and Recap
The 2025 TWIPYs looked nothing like the eight shows before it. Seven categories, no sponsors, four arcades, and real conversations with the people who make the games. Here are the winners and what happened.
Colin Alsheimer
Melvin Williams Joins American Pinball as Creative Director
Melvin Williams has been named Creative Director of American Pinball, just over a week after splitting from Dutch Pinball. Here's what it means and why the history is wilder than you'd think.
Colin Alsheimer
Stern Pinball Reveals Pokemon Pinball
Stern Pinball has revealed their next cornerstone title, and it's the one everybody's been waiting for: Pokemon.
Colin Alsheimer
RUMOR: Dutch Pinball Partnering with Stern Pinball to Produce Back to the Future
Back to the Future might still be happening — and it could be coming alongside a major international partnership.
Colin Alsheimer
The Pinball Bet
The Pinball Capital of the World doesn't have a world-class place to play. Francis Wisniewski thinks he can fix that.
Colin Alsheimer
Dutch Pinball Exclusive (DPX) Is No More
DPX is shutting down and Melvin Williams is out at Dutch Pinball. Here's what we know and what it means for Alice owners.
Colin Alsheimer
American Pinball Partners with Planetary Pinball Supply to Produce Classic Williams and Bally Games
American Pinball is getting into the classics business—and they're not just doing straight remakes.
Colin Alsheimer
IFPA Announces Updates to Mission Statement & Leadership Team
Three new members join the IFPA leadership team, the mission statement gets a complete rewrite, and the organization commits to new TD resources and continuing the Women's Championship series.
Colin Alsheimer
14 Questions with American Pinball President Ron Lindeman
Ron Lindeman answers questions on the JB Vincent LP acquisition, what's next for product development, and how American Pinball plans to rebuild trust.
Colin Alsheimer
American Pinball Under New Ownership
American Pinball and Orbit Games were officially acquired by JB Vincent L.P. Here are all the details we know so far.
Colin Alsheimer
Is IPDB Dying? Visualizing the Slow Death of a Pinball Institution
IPDB.org has been the pinball community's go-to database for over two decades. But the data tells a troubling story: database updates are down 93% since 2020, 71% of major pinball releases since 2020 are missing entirely, and search visibility has collapsed.
Colin Alsheimer
A Chat with Pinball Prodigy Sterling Mitoska
On the surface, Sterling Mitoska is your average teenager, that is, until he starts playing pinball.
Matt Owen