I played blackwater 100 (lol!) when I was about 5 or 6 at a restaurant on the way back from a beach trip with my family. I was curious to say the least. Crazy ramps and carrot flippers.
After that, every time I would see a pin I would want to play it, and it only got more awesome 
I have to confess to not being clear on the concept of a pinball machine being a physical entity until I was, like, 20 and started going to bars in Portland. I got super into Space Cadet pinball for Windows as a kid (after learning, beating, and becoming bored by all the other optionsā¦Minesweeper, FreeCell, PipeDream, Spider Solitaire, etc.). My cousins could not figure out how I was able to beat them every time we played, but I had realized the phrases on the ādisplayā were actually telling me what to hit. I never saw a pinball machine growing up, though, so Iām not even sure how I managed to connect my memories of the computer game to seeing the real thing.
I will say that learning the rules of Space Cadet primed me to understand that there was a strategy and a ruleset to pinball games as I got started, something I see most novice players struggle with. I couldnāt necessarily make the shots, but I knew what I was trying to hit, which allowed me to focus on skill building and accuracy with an objective in mind. It also allowed me to have strategy conversations with more experienced players early on in my pinball playing, building relationships with competitive players who could help me improve. Now when Iām teaching newer players, I try and give them a basic strategy to attempt so that they can 1. feel accomplished and 2. be primed to learn new tables and rulesets once they get the basics down on a machine they know and love.
Like many others, I got into pinball through a video game. It was not The Pinball Arcade or Zen Pinball, though. It was Sonic Generations. Released in 2012, if you pre-oredered the home console version of Sonic Generations through GameStop, youād be given a download code to get a DLC stage, Casino Night. This wasnāt a full set of stages, but an EM-style pinball machine.
Two things I have to point out: The first is that, since this is a virtual table, theyāre free to do all sorts of crazy things. This is only about 30% of the total playfield space. There are five mini-playfields offscreen (though itās pretty obvious seeing the multiple plungers). The second is that playing this did not initially get me into pinball. I just saw it as a quick diversion, the mini-game it was intended to be. It was maxing out the score that made me wonder what real pinball must be like. By then, I knew through the Sonic Generations virtual machine, that there are rules and strategies.
Now, I had played physical pinball before, when I was little. I just didnāt understand it at all. The few times my father allowed me to play arcade games, I played only redemption machines. My father didnāt really understand why anyone would play arcade games unless you could win things out of them. I was used to the ones where your token would land on certain spots and it would give tickets, and I treated inserts the same way. One arcade I frequently visited was All Amusement Fun Center back when it was in Panorama City, CA, at The Plant. (A GM factory had shut down there, and in its place was an outdoor mall.) It had at least ten pinball machines right at the front when you walk in, and I can recall The Addams Family and Earthshaker among them, but I forgot what else. But I played The Addams Family, and I would see certain things lit. And I was confused why I didnāt get them when I rolled the ball over those lights, not realizing they indicate you have to shoot a target, or a ramp, or a scoop, or a lane, or something, and not the light itself. I deemed pinball too confusing and too hard until I maxed out that score in Sonic Generations, as I didnāt need to spend any additional money; I could play until I understood the table. At that point, it was late 2013. I didnāt play the Casino Night table that much.
The first location I found was Japan Arcade in Los Angelesās Little Tokyo district. It had The Simpsons Pinball Party, Terminator 3, Data Eastās Time Machine, and a fourth game I cannot recall as it was always out of commission. Time Machine spent most of its time turned off too, and there was always someone at Terminator 3, so The Simpsons Pinball Party was the first physical machine I played. Didnāt understand it much; game times were less than 60 seconds. But I liked what I saw, even if it had a bunch of mechanical problems I didnāt realize until later (but I knew the DMD was messed up, as the top of it was flickering).
So I looked up The Simpsons Pinball Party on Wikipedia to learn more about it, and one of the external links was its Internet Pinball Database page. I went over there and saw there was a pinball glossary. Over the course of a week, I read the entire glossary, and it was a world-opening experience. I didnāt know pinball could be so complex. Now I knew I HAD to try my hand at The Simpsons Pinball Party again, knowing what modes, multiballs, drop targets, scoops, and other game states are.
I did my own searching for about a couple of months and found 10 locations in the area with at least one machine. That was when I learned about Pinball Map, and Iāve been using it since to play as many different machines as possible and practice.
Japan Arcade had since gone out of businessāI must have gone there during their last months. That Simpsons Pinball Party, however, seems to have made its way to Valencia Lanes in Valencia, CA. The mechanical problems this thing has had only gotten worse, such as weak flippers and a permanently partially open garage door, and last month, it was swapped out for a Sopranos, which has a lot of physical problems too.
I was born in 1970. I was literally a video game kid. Arcades hit huge when I was young. I never paid any attention to pinball.
Years later, around 2008, I discovered multicades etc. I got into video games and that was my gateway drug. In 2010, I got my first pin. Itās been all pinball ever since. Now my vids are just for nostalgia.
Being born at a house with Paragon in the basement.
Was your basement nicknamed āThe Beastās Lair?ā
Since I was playing the game before I could read, my sisters and I made up names for all the sections of the playfield. I canāt remember what weād call the Beastās Lair, but the droptargets were āMonster Heads.ā
Iām sure my parents had a cool name for this basement. It was huge, and also had a full-size bowling lane, pool table, craps table, fireplace, and drumset.
The chance for a free game.
Iāll keep this short.
My parents bought my brother and I a Nip-It pinball for Christmas in 1977.
So technically that was the catalyst.
But it was not until I was at a conference for my wifeās job in Orlando that I truly became a fan.
It was the early 90ās and the hotel arcade had an Addams Family. After emptying my wallet into it I vowed to myself that one day I would own one.
Took until around 2001,but it was my first pinball purchase.
There was an Arcade in the small town I grew up in that got a DE Star Wars when it came out. For some reason there was no tilt bob and I figured out that if you just lifted the machine the ball would be saved every time. Being broke, this made playing pinball far more attractive. Once I learned how to aim a little it was over. Ever since itās been a thorn in my side. As a friend once said to me after watching me play, āIāve never seen someone so happy to get so mad.ā
Being born in 1966, my earliest memories of pinball go back to the mid 70ās when I was 8 to 10 years old. Our family belonged to this family sports type place where my sisters took gymnastics in the winter, swim team in the summer, I bowled in leagues during the winter and played softball in the summer. Anyway, they always had pinballs, video games (later in the 70ās/early 80ās), EM gun games, pitch-n-bats, a pool table, ping pong and such. The earliest titles I remember are games like Little Chief, Flip Flop, Ro-Go, Fireball (EM), Capt. Fantastic, Bow and Arrow, Freedom, Grand Prix to name a few. Then the Solid States started rotating in. EK, EB, EBD, Flash, Firepower Kiss, Mata Hari. The thing I didnāt realize at the time was that these games where brand new as I was seeing them rotate in. Now we seek out these games in hopes that time has treated them well. Iād always watch the guy that came and collected the coin boxes and try to get a peek under the hood when he would clean or have to fix something. I was probably really annoying to that guy with all my questions. They always fascinated me and more so than the video games did. I could make $0.25 last longer on a pinball than I could a video game.
I always played whenever I found one later in my teens and early 20ās but by then the arcades started to disappear. It wasnāt until 5 years ago that I bought my first game (Space Invaders) and dove into the hobby full force. Iāve managed to get several of those games from those childhood memories into my collection which to me makes the hobby even more enjoyable.
Like a lot of people, I got into pinball thanks to digital pinball. But it wasnāt Pinball Arcade - it was War Pinball on iOS sometime early 2011. After that, it was Pinball HD (also on iOS), Pinball Arcade, Zen Pinball/Pinball FX. Heard about Louisville Arcade Expo in 2014 and decided to go last minute, and it all ended with owning and enjoy the physical thing (alongside the digital of course).
I started playing pinball when I was a teenager, back in the 80ās. My parents were on a church bowling league, (when gamerooms were dubbed as 18 and overā¦) there was a gameroom at the bowling alley, but it was closed off, I would get quarters from my Dad, and sneak into the gameroom to play pinball. (my Dad thought I was putting the quarters in the gumball machines) 
I remember playing Haunted House there, it was always REALLY quick games, cause all the flippers never worked and Lets face it I wasnāt that good!! Fast forward a few years, at another bowling alley (no age restriction at this one) a friend of mineās Mom worked there, so we went to see her after school one day. I met my future hubby there (he worked there too) ā¦While we were dating, we played lots of pinball. Space Shuttle, and Black Knight are two that I specifically rememberā¦Black knight was removed, but SS stayed, and we played it alot! 
After we got married, we got away from pinball for a few years (late 80ās and all of the 90ās). We had kids, and no time or money to drop in location games. Fast forward to 2000. We were house hunting, and our new house was gonna have a basement for our pool table (heirloom from hubby) and we came back to pinballā¦found E-bayā¦and realized that you could have a pinball like the ones we remembered in your house. 
So in 2001 when we moved in, we got our first pin, Williams Space Shuttleā¦Still have it, it was the first game I restored and it will not be leaving anytime soon!
That was the beginningā¦we decided that our one pin looked lonely, and we needed another one to go with it. And that if we got another one, we would still have one to play while we restored the SSā¦ So we got another, and another, and anotherā¦
Our first plan was to have an 80ās theme. We were gonna have one Williams pin from every year in the 80ās, and a few classic vids (Pac-man, Space Invaders, and Donkey Kong) We completed that particular goal, with a few years having doubles and even triplesā¦so we decided we wanted all the system 7 games, then all the sys. 9s then all the sys. 6sā¦so you see where this is goingā¦
Now it is 2016 and we are holding steady at 50 pins. We are active in our local Cincy Pinball group, and I am āin chargeā (technically everyone helps) of our Cincy Pinball league. We are both active in playing in tournaments (kind of getting away from it a bit) and we enjoy going to shows and have met some of our best friends through this crazy hobby!! 
Phoebe
My dad worked in a bowling alley and bowled in leagues when I was really young, and they always had a machine or two there. I never really understood what was happening when I played; it was more of a way to pass the time while he got through his league nights. In around 2000-2001, they didnāt have pins there anymore.
Fast forward 12 years and I stumble onto the pinball scene by total chance.
I was taking a break from studying for a pharmacy and therapeutics final and decided to watch something on Netflix to try and relax a little bit. The first box art on the ārecommended for youā page was for Special When Lit. I was a little confused, because I hadnāt really watched anything that was related, but whatever. Iād always liked vids and arcades, so I thought Iād watch it and see what it was about. I saw the segment about PAPA taking place in Pittsburgh and became really interested in going to visit and seeing what it was all about. As fate would have it, PAPA 16 was set to start the day after I saw the documentary.
So I hopped in the car that Thursday, drove to PAPA, and I didnāt even get the door all the way open before I was completely sold. I couldnāt believe the magnitude of what was going on. The number of games and people, the cameras, the sounds, the smells (of varying levels of good and bad), all of it. I stayed the entire weekend, found a flyer for the Pittsburgh Pinball Open, which was my first tournament ever, and itās all been downhill from there.
That study break was undoubtedly one of the greatest moments of procrastination of my entire life, and I canāt believe how life changing its been.
Pinball rules.