In 1983 we are deep in the 1982-1985 pinball slump. It would be tempting to talk about all these machines like, look at what a flop this one was, look at this terrible idea. But that's not the angle I want to take, because
- Some of these designs are brilliant, despite the circumstances
- The big 3 pinball companies all knew they just needed to keep making machines to keep the production lines running, and any machine that kept pinball alive is a good machine*
* this does not apply to Gottlieb's "Ready Aim Fire". Nothing can make that a good machine. I will not be playing it because I got bored immediately and deleted it.
And they did all keep the production lines running. The best fact about 1983 in pinball is that it wasn't like 1999 in pinball.
But it's not that they all got through the year unscathed. Bally, in particular, had huge layoffs in 1983, leaving the company a ghost of its former greatness. And here's what happens to ghosts in 1983: they get eaten by Ms. Pac-Man. This year is the end of Bally itself, and the start of Bally Midway, the combined video game and pinball company.
Also you need to see Gottlieb's Krull. You need to. With a design that takes inspiration from Black Knight and Haunted House and a theme that makes you want to see a bad '80s fantasy movie, it is the greatest table never produced. Thank heck for VPX, the only way someone besides a long-time industry insider will ever get to play Krull.
Meanwhile in Europe, they're not having a slump and Zaccaria is making some of its greatest tables.
1983 starts tonight on Silver Ball Century, at 8pm Eastern on https://twitch.tv/arborelia.
Part 2 starts shortly and it features Zaccaria's Farfalla, a beautiful pinball table that has utter contempt for the player. Let's see what you can do.
