Silver Ball Century - Episode 2 - 1947-1951
Tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 8) at 8pm, it's episode 2 of this season of Silver Ball Century. We've reached 1947 and flippers are about to become part of pinball!
Silver Ball Century goes live at 8 PM Eastern on https://twitch.tv/arborelia.
Wasn't it 1935 last episode? Did I miss an episode?
There are fewer surviving pinball machines from 1936-1946. Because of electrical components that broke down, a crusade against pinball by NYC mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, and y'know a world war that diverted manufacturing to other purposes, virtual pinball is missing a decade of historical recreations.
We have photos of them, and we can see some of them in museums and private collections, but none of them have had their gameplay recreated successfully in VPX.
Tables in this episode
Nudgy (Bally, 1947) - VPX by Scottacus
This one still doesn't have flippers, but the right flipper button controls a lever that moves the playfield.
Humpty Dumpty (Gottlieb, 1947) - VPX by Okobojimusky
The first machine with electromechanical flippers, which would be on the vast majority of pinball machines from then on.
Alice in Wonderland (Gottlieb, 1948) - VPX by JPSalas
The sequel to Humpty Dumpty. Not licensed in any way from Lewis Carroll.
Joker (Gottlieb, 1950) - VPX by Loserman76
We owe a lot to Loserman76, Jeff Whitehead, a player of physical and virtual pinball who passed away a few years ago, for his prolific recreations of old pinball tables. This is the first of many.
Knock-Out (Gottlieb, 1950) - VPX by Shannon
Ahead of its time, and features an animatronic boxing ring.
Spark Plugs (Williams, 1951) - VPX by ukexpat71
A game that's so obviously for gambling that you start to think LaGuardia had a point. But who cares, he was still a corrupt asshole who tried to destroy a good thing.