Why pinball? This is the question that people repeatedly ask me when I state that my dissertation investigates pinball’s history. When I explain that I am a PhD candidate in NYU’s Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies, people become even more confused. What does pinball have to do with cinema? And is it worthy of a book length treatment? I answer those questions by replying that pinball is one of the most controversial American games, hence my title for my first manuscript: Dangerous Amusements: The Controversy of American Pinball. In numerous U.S. states, it was illegal to publicly operate a pinball machine from the early 1930s to the late 1970s. Pinball remains regulated today, as people under the age of 18 cannot legally play the game in South Carolina. While this law is not enforced, it is evident that the pinball bans shaped the game’s legal status for decades to come as well as manufacturer’s design strategies to keep pinball relevant.
To answer the former question, since 1975 many pinball companies began basing their games on films and TV shows to convey pinball’s innocence. The manufacturers’ strategies, in turn, brought pinball further into the mainstream. Recently, Stern Pinball adapted Jaws (1975) into a pinball machine of the same name (2024), as well as the John Wick quartet (2014, 2017, 2019, 2023): John Wick (Stern, 2024). During my time at The Strong National Museum of Play I was able to examine archival material for inclusion in my dissertation, such as Williams’ official proposal for Star Wars: Episode I (1999). Their document made it clear that the Star Wars movies met their targeted demographic: “male, between the ages of 15 and 35.” Williams was focused on securing the Star Wars license as they were struggling financially, and the intellectual property (IP) was sure to draw attention. The Star Wars: Episode I pinball game was the last one that they made. Although Williams ceased operations, Jersey Jack Pinball, Stern, and Spooky (among other companies) continue to consistently release popular licensed games, which displays not only their dependence on IPs, but the intersection of pinball and popular entertainment.
Beyond my investigation into Williams’ pinball department, I also examined Atari’s official documents. I was able to pinpoint one of the earliest recorded references to their interest in designing pinball machines. They showed enthusiasm for creating pinball games in 1975 once companies began making licensed games.
Atari’s video game design decisions caused the 1983 video game crash, and their strategies for their pinball machines were no better. They showed early promise with their first game, The Atarians (1976), but their next games were missteps. The last game that they produced, Hercules(1979), was a colossal failure in more ways than one. I was able to examine The Strong’s Hercules, and it was no surprise that the game did not work as it was poorly made, much like Atari’s E.T. (1983).
Atari’s memos tell a story of a thriving company that declined over time due to poor financial planning and game design. It is vital that we, as game researchers, dig through these archives to write these (his)stories. Various university presses demand deep archival investigations. Raiford Guins and Henry Lowood’s Game Histories series (MIT Press) centers on books that display intense attention to historiography. The Strong National Museum of Play is a crucial resource that aids us in our endeavors to produce rigorous research which will hopefully translate to books that reach not just an academic audience but the lay public. In some cases, the archives make our jobs possible, and this is especially true for my work.
I was lucky enough to work with Chris Bensch, David Sleasman, and Stephanie Ball who made all the documents that I wanted to examine available and accessible. I am forever grateful for my time at The Strong and I hope that my work and this post will inspire others to apply for the fellowship or seek out documents that are housed at the museum for their own research.
By Ryan Banfi, 2024 Strong Research Fellow