And it’s heartbreaking to see such an amazing collection broken up, even if each machine is likely going to a good number of apparently wealthy collectors and game lovers who will hopefully treat them well. While the COVID pandemic led to loss of so many businesses, I guess I always assumed that a building that sat closed for the majority of the year prior to a pandemic would be unaffected. And yet, I have to admit I almost took it for granted that it would always be there. When it came to pinball, my luck varied, but when the force was with me, I killed on the latest Stern Star Wars pinball and racked up high scores on The Big Lebowski, Judge Dredd (instant multiball!), Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Pinbot, Haunted House, Guardians of the Galaxy, and my personal classic electro-mechanical favorite, Centigrade 37.įeet were sore, fingers had to be bandaged, but no matter how much I played, I was ready to come back the next day and do it all again for as long as I could. Over the years, I conquered Moon Patrol, Jurassic Park, Popeye, Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, The Punisher, and took all the top spots on Junior Pac-Man, Bubbles, Pengo, Time Pilot, and Lock’n’Chase. Because if one was busy, there were only a thousand more I could try my hand at in the meantime. It was an experience not to be missed and I almost never waited to play a game. I even enjoyed cake from a wedding reception from two people who had met while at one of the earliest Arcade Expos. Other times bands would play, even a guy who composed all of his music on a Gameboy Advance. Twice a year, I made the 4 hour round trip from LA to play the games of my childhood NONSTOP for an entire weekend.

I thought I’d be back in 2020 to make a more comprehensive video.

The last time I was there was October 2019. So he made the tough decision to sell off a majority of his collection.Īs you can see from my tribute video above (featuring a speed walking tour of the facility), the Museum of Pinball was massive. Needless to say, with the pandemic shutting down all conventions and most gathering places for gaming geeks over the last year and a half, it became difficult for the owner to keep up with the expenses needed to maintain the museum with no one paying the flat entry fees a few times a year. The rest of the year, it remained closed to the public, but available for event rental. The only place to play many of these items was at the Museum of Pinball (this link acts only as a memory of what once was), which has boasted more than 1,400 machines set to freeplay twice a year at each of their annual Arcade Expo and Pinball Madness events ( but 1700 are estimated to be sold at auction). Over the weekend of September 10-12, 2021, the Captain’s Auction Warehouse received huge bids for some of history’s greatest games going back more than 50 years, including well-known classics and others that only a select few had ever seen, much less played, since they originally debuted decades ago. And who wouldn’t want to spend thousands of dollars to build an arcade in their garage or basement? As devastating as that news is for longtime fans of the massive vintage gaming venue, it’s also many people’s only chance to own some of the most rare and valuable games in history. The Museum of Pinball in Banning, California, has closed its doors for good and is currently in the process of selling off every one of the massive collection’s pinball and arcade machines. With that said, there's no such thing as an easy solution to the problem other than to keep seeking that ideal balance between allowing freedom to any fetishes and censorship to keep public order from spiraling out of order so people don't get hurt in the process.īalance is key, and comes from within (giggity) and requires cooperation etc from everyone in a society in any scale.The end of a gaming era is upon us. Not every individual out there can handle the stuff available in the world/internet and won't/don't/can't parent themselves to not act upon what goes through their minds. I guess there are the occasional overly thirsty individuals in various places around the world of varying ages who don't get to experience the other gender the traditional, healthy way and some family members etc get to deal with their cringeworthy thirst due to such porn addiction etc, in uncomfortable (to say the least) ways, so it wouldn't be hard to understand why some people want some things to be censored and/or moderated to prevent further unnecessary unwelcome behavior among the masses. Click to expand.Angry parents are some of the worst things to experience in customer support outside of PTA meetings.

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