I’ve written before about how limited my experiences with arcades has been, and while that’s a perennial topic with me whenever it comes up, there’s more to tell than what video games I’ve never ever played: the subject of this entry is going to be pinball, and while there are some good associations, there are also some painful ones, too.

This was the year my father passed away, and he was a pinball enthusiast.

Actually, that may be a bit of an understatement. 

This looks somewhat familiar.

This job involves doing strange things. My wife and I have a combined total of more than 30 years of print design experience. That means we don't know everything. Someone always knows more, and on certain matters, like, for example, electronic games, our experience is lopsided: she simply has more experience when it comes to electronic games. She's also the better gamer.

Ah, the Vectrex. An utterly unique console.

“War” is an easy metaphor often used to describe a given competition, and companies sometimes exploit our tendency to attach ourselves to tribal modes of thinking in order to move product.

In the case of a few media companies in competition with one another, war isn’t a valid metaphor, it’s marketing for invented tribes.

This blog is now a tool reference.

Previously on Game Restart: [it’s a series]

N-game.

Because of the Wavebird, games which were released for every platform of that generation wound up being purchased just for the GameCube. Wireless was a pretty big deal, especially since the new CRT television didn’t require me to sit so close to the display in order to play. Besides, then you get to use the Wavebird.