One of those nights, you're riding the groove. You're standing in front of a big, bright, noisy box, and you can't lose. You can't drain. It's the way you shove the machine, just a little, just enough; it's the glorious mad calamity of the bumpers and bells. It's the moment when you caught the ball and let it roll down the flipper like a drop of mercury on your finger, and then you nailed that one last standing target. The hammer raps: free game.
You're a pinball wizard.
Or were.
That was a long time ago. College, probably. You don't play as much anymore — if at all. You hear from time to time that pinball is coming back, but you've heard that for decades. You content yourself with pushing around a machine in an airport arcade now and then between flights.
But what if it might be coming back, like vinyl? It's cool! It's old! It's analog!
What if a new generation realized that pinball is a remarkable American pastime that's more than just lights and noise, but something that's everything the new moderns supposedly want: fast, fun and social?
"It's really back," said Kent Anderson, collector and player. "The International Flipper Pinball Association, they rank players who do the tournaments. When I got with them 10 years ago, I was the 557th member. Today they have 47,000 ranked players."
You're imagining a lot of middle-aged guys, aren't you? Wrong.