New York's War on Pinball! | Extra History #shorts

Artist: Nick DeWitt I Writer: Robert Rath I Showrunner & Narrator: Matthew Krol I Video Editor: Devon House Creative I Audio Editor: Clean Waves I Studio Director: Geoffrey Zatkin I Social Media: Kat Rider

#ExtraHistory #Shorts #History

[extrahistory]

Games have been hustling since the beginning of time.

[Moxypony]

Pinball machines are actually still technically illegal in my hometown. The law isn't enforced, but it's still on the books.

[Welshman]

The poor pinball wizards there has to be a twist.

[OptimusPhillip]

There's actually an interesting story behind how pinball was legalized. Professional pinball player Roger Sharpe went to a courtroom and gave a simple demonstration that pinball was a game of skill: he called a shot, and made it. The court was convinced, and pinball was legalized.

[buttermilktom]

Sounds kinda like Japan's pachinko. There's some good older news videos from the 60s about the pachinko gambling epidemic in Japan

[thornangel]

Sounds to me like pinball deserves an episode of its own! Considering the channel’s history with video games and the role pinball played in the creation of arcades.

[eldorados_lost_searcher]

This was after LaGuardia, earlier in his career, proved the ineffectiveness of Prohibition by holding a press conference, pulled out a near beer (legal at the time) and a packet of brewer's yeast, combined them, and consumed the (technically) alcoholic concoction (illegal). He then walked out onto the street and right up to the nearest cop and confessed to his crime. The cop essentially shrugged and admitted that he wasn't sure if he had the authority to arrest LaGuardia.

[gregorygejoff]

I would have to agree. The addition of flippers into the pinball we know today is definitely more of skill then luck.

[MugiwaraGuy]

Ah yes, bypassing getting banned by adding 2 waving sticks to your game.

[nwg-up]

„Skill, not luck”
Meanwhile me seeing the ball falling into a trajectory that leads to an out:

[petersmythe]

Ironically adding flippers was probably the best thing possible for the game.

[timbax]

He starts off unreasonable but the context makes his actions more and more justified.

Like gosh, what a rebrand for pinball! Wait... so America had pachinko like nearly a century ago?!😂

[GallowglassAxe]

We were just talking about pinball games like Metroid Pinball and Sonic Spinball when I saw this.

[tylercrothers]

I love pinball. it is so sad that 1000's of machines are destroyed.

[RavenDravenek]

Pinball without flippers is just pachinko

[leonb]

During WWII, pinball machine makers made certain military items that used their specialty in electro-mechanical devices. Other cities than New York also made pinball illegal due to its connections to organized gangs. Some of the makers and distributors of pinball and other entertainment machines were owned or very connected to organized criminals.

[EinsamPibroch]

Those Paddle-less Pinball Machines sound similar to Pachinko Machines.

[ThishandlefeatureISdumb]

I just had a funny thought. If they did this in Japan (with pinball machine AND pachinko), it’d turn into Japanese Prohibition but with pachinko.

[skeven]

The reason why they were unbanned was by a GQ Journalist and Pinball Enthusiast Roger Sharpe, Aka The Man Who Saved Pinball

[jonathandixon]

Yes. You absolutely should do a story about Roger Sharpe and the demonstration he did in court (by basically showing off his elite pinball skills) that was instrumental in the start of overturning the ban. :)