Pinball article posted over at Wired.com

[canuck]

Inside the Wild Comeback of Tournament Pinball

http://www.wired.com/2014/06/pinball-tournament/

 

[neglectoid]

Thanks Canuck. I love when people link stuff like this.

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

I particularly liked this excerpt:

“Before he made it out the door, the game had ended,” Roger jokes. “I vowed that someday I would have that same level of control and mastery.”

I admire anybody who becomes great but had to start from nothing. They had to earn every last milligram of ability and talent they have. This is the first I learned about Roger Sharpe being that sort of person.

 

[vikingerik]

I'm skeptical that there's actually that much of a resurgence. We never went away or anything. Seems like the mainstream media joints notice once a year that pinball and its tournaments still exist, and write just about the exact same article every time, complete with the same lyrical imagery about lights flashing on the silver ball.

The personal stuff about Roger Sharpe is neat though, that's some uncommon insight.

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

The rising prices of pinball machines does seem to suggest it's growing more popular. I don't think it's really mainstream the way it was in the '80s or early '90s though.

 

[Shaneus]

Oh, there's definitely a resurgence. But it's not the same (and likely never will be) as it was in the 80s and early-mid 90s. This resurgence is largely due to the kids of the 80s/teens of the 90s now having full-time jobs and being able to afford (both monetarily and physically) a $2-10k pinball machine.