My dear, nerdy, nostalgic FrontBurnervian brethren: I fear pinball is gone. I had intended to compile a list of locales and machines where one might still get some flipper action, but that list is now an entry of one. I’ve scouted out a half dozen places that once had pinball machines and searched others that might. Those places with pinball are either no longer there, or the games they once had are gone. For those who care…
Update: (see below)
The only game I’ve found in the past month or so of casual looking: Rollercoaster Tycoon at Texadelphia in Old Town.
The places I’ve looked: Valley View, where Aladdin’s Castle long ago turned into Tilt which some time ago turned into boarded-up windows; Dave & Buster’s, where I know there was a machine about a year ago, but now there’s some 3-D helmet video game in that spot; Milo’s, which, like many bars, I imagine, found the real estate required for a full-size console is not nearly as justifiable and lucrative as Big Buck Hunter and Golden Tee’s 17 variations; SMU’s student center, which had a game room in the early ’90s. Or so I heard. I mean, what kind of college kid would spend any time at the student center, buying Reese’s peanut butter cups and Cherry Lime Rickey Snapple before playing a couple dollars’ worth of vids, when there were so many sorority crush parties to attend?
Here’s the nostalgic part: I really wish Family Fun Time Center at Park and Central was still in existence. (It was where Bed, Bath, and Beyond is now.) That was a great arcade, with four or five pinball machines right near the entrance. (If you’re wonder who P-O-K was on F-14 Tomcat‘s highest scores, it was me. If you’re wondering why “POK,” that’s a story for another time.) Prestonwood’s Tilt–we’re going back nearly 20 years now–had a rotating mix of a couple. But even then, the pinball machines felt anachronistic, as the cartoony game Dragon’s Lair was all the rage. More recently, Bar of Soap was as good a home as any for pinball wizards, just like Barcadia seems like a perfect retro fit. But there are none. Alas.
Places I’ve yet to check: SpeedZone, in the old Malibu spot, and 300. Also, there are a couple of bowling alleys that might be stuck in yesteryear just enough to still have a pinball machine or two. I’m thinking Don Carters by old Restaurant Row and Jupiter Lanes.
Until then, does anyone out there know where a guy can play a game of pinball? Pinbot? Funhouse? Anything?
Update: Silly me. I spent all of that time in the meat space, rather than on the Interwebs. A helpful FrontBurnervian sends this site, a compendium of local haunts that house pinball machines. Thank you, thank you. Still, only 12 games in the Dallas-Fort Worth area? Depressing.
