The Great Game of Pinball Trivia Quiz

Answer: something of little importance, trifle

"Some of little importance" came directly from French to English. Bagatelle also refers to a "short musical composition, especially for the piano. But, it wasn't until decades after the French were calling the game "bagatelle', that dictionaries began including a definition of the game as one of the meanings for the word. During the reign of King Louis XIV of France, an unknown person narrowed out a billiard table and modified it into the game the French started calling "bagatelle".

It started with the goal being to knock down small pins, but it took too long to reset them, so the pins were affixed permanently to the board and holes were put where the pins were.

The idea was to use the 'cue' to ricochet the balls(nine of them) off the pins and into the holes(nine holes) for scores, with the goal to get as many of the nine balls into the nine holes as possible, playing each ball only once.

This game showed up at a party for King Louis and his Queen at the "Chateau de Bagatelle", hence the origin of the name for what is now known as pinball.

Answer: Montegue Redgrave

British inventor "Montegue Redgrave" moved to America in 1869 and two years later, was granted patent #115,357 for his "Improvements to Bagatelle". These improvements included a plunger with a coiled spring attached that replaced the original 'cue', making the table smaller so it could be played on a tabletop, and the balls, having originally being approximately the size,shape, and weight of a modern billiard ball, were replaced with various size marbles.
These renovations by Montegue are acknowledged as the "birth of modern pinball".

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

It's not certain that President Lincoln had developed an affinity to the game, but according to Wikipedia, there was indeed a satirically political cartoon released that showed the U.S. leader happily playing a game of bagatelle!

Answer: 1930s

The year most mentioned regarding the name "Pinball" is 1936, yet this has never been confirmed, which is during the era of the Great Depression. At the beginning of the 30s, when the first electric machines were invented, the game was no longer called bagatelle, but was commonly referred to as "marble games" and/or "pin games".

By the end of the decade, the term "Pinball" had actually begun to appear on several machines, thereby confirming the name was a product of that decade.

Answer: Bingo

All these games are played with balls, but only "Bingo" is played in 'big halls'. The game "Bingo" was a glass covered tabletop model featuring a scoring grid on the back glass that had spaces which corresponded to holes and/or targets on the playing field.

The manager of the venue would provide the player with a certain amount of balls depending on how much the person wanted to spend. The player would drop one ball at a time through a hole in front of the plunger and 'launch' it into the playing field.

After all the balls were played, the player was awarded "free games" depending on how many patterns were matched. At some places, especially taverns, the player could cash in the free games for money.

Answer: D.Gottlieb & Company

D.Gottlieb is probably the most well-known manufacturer of pinball games and machines in the world. The other names offered as answers are all companies that are famous for toys and board games. "Baffle Ball" was unique in that it could be set up to automatically dispense the balls one at a time and load it in front of the plunger. Depending on the owner/operator, the game could be set to give the player from five to seven balls to play for a penny.

Answer: $17.50

For $17.50, one could own their own "Baffle Ball" pinball machine. I'm not sure if that amount will buy two people admission into a movie theatre, but as of Feb. 2010, it will in my area of the world. The game was a breath of fresh air for a frustrated and bored depression-era public.

The machines began popping up in drugstores, soda shops, train and bus stations, and especially taverns. Most of the locations made their money back in mere days.

Answer: New York City

The ban on pinball machines in New York City ended in 1976 when Roger Sharpe, a star witness for for the AMOA{Amusement and Music Operators Association), testified that pinball games were "games of skill" and not "games of chance". He was able to convince the courts to overturn the ban when he had two different pinball machines set up in the courtroom, and proceeded to play while telling the judge's panel what he was aiming to shoot the ball at, and then doing exactly as he said he would. (Sharpe later confessed that his ability to hit every target he predicted was "sheer luck")

Answer: For Amusement Only

The notice "For Amusement Only" is seen on nearly every coin operated video game in North America. The ban in Los Angeles was overturned by the Supreme Court of California in 1974 for different reasons than New York City. The Court determined;(1) if pinball machines were games of chance, the ordinance was preempted by state law governing games of chance in general, and (2) if they were games of skill, the ordinance was unconstitutional as a denial of the equal protection of the laws. Most of the original cities and countries that banned pinball machines still have the laws on the books, yet it is rarely enforced unless investigations involving illegal racketeering and gambling are undertaken and find that the machines are part of the operation.

Answer: Pachinko

Another big difference from pinball that Japanese "Pachinko" holds, is that the machines offer cash payouts and prizes because that type of gambling is legal in Japan. It is definitely considered a game of chance rather than skill as there are no flippers to keep the launched ball in play, leaving the player at the mercy of the game, which is viewed through a vertical, glass-covered, playing field.

Answer: Both of these

Harry Williams, a man who worked for the pinball manufacturer "Pacific Amusements" in the early 30's, later went on to form his own company in 1944, known as "Williams Manufacturing". It closed it's doors after 55 years due to the downturn in the coin-op games industry, but as of the time this quiz was written(March 2010), there are new pinball companies that still produce machines based on plans and models purchased from Williams. Bally is still involved, although on a much reduced level, in coin-op pinball game design and manufacturing.

Answer: flippers

Harry Mabs, who worked for D.Gottlieb, came up with an idea while working on the design of a new pinball machine. He thought to himself, "what if the player was able to have some control in keeping the ball in play?" That was when he came up with the idea for "flippers"! "Humpty Dumpty" had six flippers, three sets of two, which allowed the player some control over the 'fate' of the ball.

After the advent of flippers, pinball took off like never before. By the early 1950s, almost every pinball machine manufactured incorporated at least two flippers in the style we see on machines right up to this day.

Answer: the tilt mechanism

The "tilt mechanism" was invented in 1934 by Harry Williams of Williams Manufacturing. It turned out to be the answer to the problem of players physically lifting and abusing the games. The "tilt mechanism" was first installed in the game called "Advance".

It was a great invention for Williams as he was able to sell it to the other pinball game manufacturers as he had the patent on the invention.

Answer: solenoids or coils

Without "solenoids"(also call 'coils' in pinball terms), the ball would play much heavier and the flippers, which are controlled by 'two coil solenoids', would be too weak to properly send the ball around the table. There are many "solenoids" are installed on pinball tables as they control all the different electromagnetic actions of the ball as you shoot it at everything from targets, up ramps, and to rollover buttons.

Answer: bumpers

The earlier version of the "bumper" was called "dead bumpers" or "passive bumpers" because they gave no points or sounds, did not propel the ball away from it, and were only installed to help the ball change direction. They were invented in 1936, and debuted on a table appropriately called "Bumper", which was manufactured by "Bally".

They were first used on a game called "Rainbow" by "Williams", but it wasn't until the late 50's and early 60's that bumpers became standard on most pinball playing fields.

They're also referred to as "pop bumpers", "turbo bumpers", "jet bumpers", and "thumper bumpers". When installed in small groups of three and four, they are capable of causing the game ball to "go nuts" bouncing back and forth between them!

Answer: targets

The first "moving target" was installed on William's Manufacturing's "Magic Clock" in 1960, while the first "drop targets" were installed on the company's "Vagabond" game in 1962. Targets greatly increased the need for 'skill' to play the game and acquire free games as pinball games advanced in technology and design.

Answer: all of these

If you play on a machine that doesn't have all of these available features, then you're playing on what pinball lovers refer to as a "dinosaur", which refers to a machine that was manufactured before 1980. That's really not THAT old, but when you take the advancement of the technology of this era into account(March 2010), these "dinosaurs" are actually considered obsolete and are often sought as collector's items.

Answer: both of these

Besides being able to wins games by completing a "special" objective and by a "match" of the last two digits of their final score, free games were also acquired by achieving the "replay" score and/or accomplishing the difficult task of beating the game's "highest table score".

The "replay" score awarded one free game. "Beating the game" refers to when a player surpasses the highest recorded score ever on that particular table, a feature that only was added after the advent of the first pinball microprocessor(1975).

Not only did they get "bragging rights", they were able to prove it because the table allowed the winner to enter their name/initials into the game's microprocessor and the game would constantly display that score on the back panel. Better yet, it often awarded the player from 2 to 10 free replays depending on the game's programming.

Answer: Atari

"Atari" can lay claim to having marketed the world's largest pinball machine, but it's poor sales numbers only served to prove that "bigger isn't always better". The ball was a little larger than a baseball and even with flippers that measured six inches in length, it was known for constantly burning out the flipper coils due to the weight of the ball and the amount of electricity needed to power the flippers. It's real purpose was to serve as a novelty idea and hopefully increase the popularity of pinball while bringing notoriety to Atari as a pinball games manufacturer. It started out costing fifty cents to one dollar per game of five balls, and as much fun as it was to play the world's largest pinball machine, it sadly failed at both of its original efforts.

A predecessor, called "Bigfoot", was even slightly larger, but was never put into production. Only two units were made.

Answer: physical injuries

Hard to believe but the answer is "physical injuries". How can one get injuries from playing pinball? Ronald did! Paramedics had to convince him to quit as he had lost feeling in his feet and legs and was suffering from severe inflammation of his lower extremities.

It was rumoured that he also had blisters on the ends of several fingers and on the palms of his hands from friction caused by slapping the flippers and nudging the machine. It took nearly a week for his legs and feet to return to normal.