Love for a Timeless Classic: Playing Pinball in Raleigh
Straddling a line between purely physical gaming components (such as foosball) and electronic gaming (traditional microprocessor controlled video games), pinball occupies a special place in the hearts of those who grew up in the era prior to computer and home console video games. Although I grew up with computer and console games, my first job was at a video arcade where I spent many nights cleaning and repairing coin-operated pinball machines.
Shortly after being reminded of this sentimental favorite, I embarked on a cross-town quest to play every pinball machine I could find.
The Pinball Mecca: Fat Daddy’s
Fat Daddy’s was suggested by a few friends as the quintessential location for pinball playing in Raleigh. It was mentioned for good reason: it’s the only place I could find that has more than one machine. The three machines available are Cueball Wizard, Cirqus Voltaire, and The Simpsons.
Of all the pinball machines I played, Cirqus Voltaire was my favorite. It wasn’t that the game play was especially interesting – after all, who really understands all the goals and objectives of pinball anyway? You just try to keep from losing the oversized ball bearing and hope to hit enough flashy things to get an extra play. I like it because it generates interest on its own merits rather than trying to strike a chord with a pop culture favorite. It loosely involved being involved with the circus, complete with a “ringmaster” that made me think of ‘Zoltar’ from the movie Big.
Fat Daddy’s
6201 Glenwood Ave
Playing to Live Music: Slim’s
Another stop on the journey was Slim’s Downtown Distillery. The upper floor of this live music venue has one pinball machine (South Park), a bowling video game, and a pool table. Although the plunger was sticky and needed some maintenance, it was a pretty good machine. The live music from downstairs and floor vibrations certainly added some unique points to gameplay. Trying to hear any of the sound effects was a lost cause.
Slim’s Downtown Distillery
227 S. Wilmington Street
Best for Nostalgia: The Alley
Although the pinball machine at The Alley (formerly known as Western Lanes) was my least favorite (Goldeneye 007), I played a few games here. Midnight bowling was in session, so with dim lights and pumping dance music and a large crowd visible from the game room, the environment stirred my memories from 1996 when video arcades were a cool place to hang out at.
The crew running The Alley are still in the midst of rennovations of the mid-century icon of Raleigh, so hopefully they’ll continue investing in coin-operated entertainment as well as of the 10-pin variety.
The Alley
2512 Hillsborough Street
The Gritty Favorite: Jackpot!
Jackpot! has the same pinball machine as Slim’s, but the environment is a bit off the beaten path. Jackpot has been a favorite bar of mine for some time now, but since I quit smoking a while ago, I’ve found myself here less and less. The music, the care-free attitude, and people are exactly what I’d want in finding a place to play pinball. Hell, there is even a pint glass holder next to the machine. The bartenders are of the highest caliber in Raleigh.
As is somewhat evident from the graffiti scrawled bathroom door above, playing at the Jackpot involves throwing some standards out of the window. For many, it’s completely worth it.
Jackpot!
Gone but Not Forgotten: King’s Barcade
Above image credit: Abbyladybug
Very likely the first place in Raleigh I played pinball. Since shutting down, it has yet to be rivaled in the beautiful matrimony of live music and video games.
A Sad Find that isn’t in Raleigh: Destroyed Pinball Machine
Having no relation whatsoever to Raleigh, but tangentially related to this article is the photo above. For the past couple of years I’ve found myself taking a vacation in the New River gorge area of West Virginia, and on one such excursion I found the vandalized and destroyed pinball machine above. In a former mining equipment and supply factory, it lay in mud and debris, completely destroyed.
What are your memories of playing pinball in Raleigh? Several folks commented on the Cameron Village Subway post to mention Battlestations, the small underground arcade with just a few games. Where else was a good place to play in pinball’s heyday?
I’ve named four locations in the Raleigh area to play pinball, surely there are more. Where else can one find a working pinball machine?
Special thanks go out to Jay Winfrey, David Millsaps, Kitch, Stefanie Toftey, and Dugald Wilson for the suggestions on finding a local pinball machine.
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS feed
Subscribe to posts by Email
Sign up for the Newsletter
09/01/2009
Fun stuff! I did a pinball cataloging thing a few years ago, but not just limited to Raleigh. I’m sharing the blog post I made, on of all places, Myspace?! It is from September 2006–so likely to be out of date, for instance–Jillian’s no longer exists. I know a lot of these places have switched out the machines they have, but they likely all still have something. And I must take exception to the notion that there is no strategy to pinball–it opened up a whole new world when I figured out how it all works from endless hours playing the machine that was at Jackpot before the current machine: Junkyard by Williams. (best pinball company evar!)
Pinball!
First off, gotta hand most of the credit for this list to Chris Jones. http://www.ipdb.org/ is the database of EVERY PINBALL MACHINE EVER MADE!!!!!!!!!!!
Check out strategies, tips and tricks on any game you run across. This is what we’ve come up with, add more!
Ale Houses: Cary–Elvis Wake Forest by the Long Branch: Golden Eye 007 (kinda broken) Falls of the Neuse: Attack from Mars.
Jackpot: Junkyard. (Totally Awesome)
The Brass Tap (in Pho Cali shopping mall on Capital) South park
The Korner Pocket (way out Capital right before Sheetz): The Who Tommy
Orange County Social Club: South Park
The Cave: Elvira
Pool hall across from Atlantic Springs Movie theater: No Good Gophers
Western Lanes: Last Action Hero–broken
Chucky Cheese on Capital: Simpsons–broken.
Fat Daddy’s: Cue-ball Wizard, Monopoly AND a video pinball of Star Wars Episode I.
The Office Tavern: White Water–set on a left-leaning floor
Rack ’em Up West: Red and Ted’s Road Show-somewhat broken
The Upper Deck: Corvette
Peggy’s laundromat beside the Upper Deck: Jackbot Skate Ranch: Star Trek or something like that–it’s real fun and gives you lots of free games.
Frankies Fun Park http://www.frankiesfunpark.com/raleigh/: Ripleys Believe it or Not and Lord of the Rings. Haven’t been, but it sounds good–one of the few places with more than one.
AMF Capital Lanes: Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines
Jillian’s: Addams Family, Godzilla, and some Basketball one
Super K-Mart, Garner: Twister
09/01/2009
AWESOME idea, loved the post and photos. I’m thinking you should have posted your scores, too, so that all the pinball wizards would rise to the challenge…
I love pinball, but lose so fast it becomes expensive. :/ So mostly I like to watch other people play. I think that makes me a pinball groupie.
09/01/2009
all,
thanks for all your great local pinball data. I’ve become a foster parent of one, now soon to be more, dead or nearly dead p-b-machines. I make ’em perfect again! Fabulous machines!
Thanks for your pics n research! I’ve gotta do a tour of the places above.
C
09/01/2009
This was great, reminded me of growing up in Memphis in the ’70’s(!) when Arcades implied pinball machines, back before Pong signaled the beginning of the end.
My all-time favorite machine was Evel Knievel, which I actually learned to play so well that I could make money at it. I would put in a quarter, win 15 free games (the most you could accumulate at one time), then sell them for a couple of dollars to one of the guys who’d been watching me for the past half hour. What great memories.
09/01/2009
@Jennifer- Junkyard @ the JP opened my eyes to the goodness that is pinball. A few of us would occupy that corner nonstop trying to steal the high score from each other. I miss that machine. I must admit that when Junkyard disappeared I didn’t feel the need to fight the smoke stink of the Jackpot anymore.
09/01/2009
When I was 5-10 (late 1980’s) I use to spend hours playing the star wars machine at PR on Friday nights. My parents would work through a couple pitchers of beer and seemed to have an endless supply of quarters on hand for me to entertain myself with. Last time I was in PR the machine was gone and I haven’t been back since…
09/01/2009
Growing up in Raleigh off Ridge Road in the ’70s and ’80s Crabtree was the place to go for pinball and other gaming…not least because we could walk down there. Both G.C. Murphy and Sears had gamerooms and my fondest memories are of the KISS pinball machine at Sears and another machine (whose name escapes me) that consisted of driving a tank around a square maze and trying to avoid other tanks. I had that pattern memorized! There was also another gameroom off Glenwood near the current Millbrook intersection. It was in a building (I seem to recall it being a fancy mobile home) that looked like a spaceship. Or maybe I just dreamed that.
09/01/2009
Thanks for using my picture! I miss King’s so much.
09/01/2009
I just donated a Charlie’s Angels pinball machine to Helping Hand Mission. It probably needs a new board but you can buy them brand new for $120 on eBay. Go get it!
09/02/2009
Growing up in North Raleigh, my favorite place to play was Woolworth’s at North Hills. I remember starting out with some of the old machines with the mechanical scoring. They even had a Hercules machine (the jumbo-sized machine that used a cue ball – not that good, actually). I also played the machines at GC Murphy’s and Sears as well.
When I started at State in 1979, I played at Blimpie’s, Western Lanes, and Battlezone.
Woolworth’s was still the best, though.
09/02/2009
I’m with the above posters on GC Murphy, Sears, and Woolworths. SportsWorld had a nice row of about 5 machines. Right now, Frankies seems to be the best, as far as clean machines that work correctly.
In college (UNC) I seriously got into playing Cyclone and Pinbot. Cyclone is the greatest coin-op game ever created (IMHO). They had a great one in the student union and a good one at Spring Garden. I got to the point where I could play for 45-60min on 50-cents, which made for a slow-burn! Sad to not see Cyclone on this list. :(
On my next Vegas trip, I will make a point to visit the pinball museum there. They supposedly have one of everything ever made, even some rareties.
09/02/2009
The Pinball Museum in Las Vegas is THE greatest thing in that dump of a city. $10 in quarters and a $5 joint will provide you with over a million dollars worth of entertainment value. You may also notice that many of the machines in the museum come from Thorpe Music, of Rocky Mount. They purchased a truckload of rare games from Thorpe, who has 3, or 4 warehouses in downtown Rocky Mount, all filled with old pinball machines and coin-op machines.
09/12/2009
Love the blogh and pinball. You used to repair machines? Now, can you tell me how to repair the scoring lights in my old Williams machine?
09/12/2009
I also used to walk to Crabtree Valley Mall in the ’70s to play pinball at Murphy’s and Sears, and I also remember Woolworth’s in North Hills. Each of them had at least 5 or 6 pinball machines, plus a whole bunch of video games. I remember the Kiss Machine, and I also remember an Elton John Captain Fantastic machine at the Woolworth’s. All the bowling alleys had great pinball too, including Western Lanes. There were a lot of machines in those days, but they definitely got better in the ’80s when multi-ball play came along.
09/15/2009
Frankie’s Fun Land has three tables now. Indiana Jones (covers all four movies), Family Guy, and one more that escapes me right now. I love this post, btw, pinball is a favorite time killer of mine.
09/16/2009
grew up with this is my dad’s den.
http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1003&picno=23243
he collected things…
also, i think (and maybe my memory is completely wrong) there is a machine tucked away in the back room at the brewery. maybe…
09/16/2009
Old school(77-82) Raleigh’s best pinball players were always in the gameroom downstairs at the NCSU student center. There were always 4-6 pinball machines there. They kept notebook paper attached to each machine with the high scores.I remember they had a sweet Fireball machine for a long time.
I also played at Woolworth’s, GC Murphy’s, Sears, & “The Gold Mine.” I think it was at the mall in Durham.
Lastly, wasn’t there a double wide trailer that someone made into an arcade up hwy 70 called Score Seeker?
12/04/2009
I was too young for pinball, unless it’s the computer game that comes with windows, but there’s nothing wrong with having a bit of nostalgia for cool machines that are occasionally older than I am.
10/26/2011
Heck, I’ve got 3 working pinballs in my spare bedroom. Love playing ’em…
04/30/2012
I recently discovered a place in Greensboro called Lost Ark Video Games that actually has 20 pinball machines. All of them are in tip-top condition. Worth a drive, as most of the pins in the Raleigh area are in some state of disrepair. Lost Ark even has a monthly pinball tournament.
12/04/2012
A group of us are trying to organize a Triangle Pinball League, starting meetings/play in 2013. If you’re interested in pinball and you’re in the Triangle, check out the Pinball Bash online forums at http://pinballbash.com/forum! We have a google group set up too. Definitely check out http://www.pinside.com as well.
Does anyone have an update of the great summaries of locations and games above for this area?
03/14/2013
Anybody have any recommendations on who repairs pinball machines in Raleigh. I own a Twilight Zone.
03/16/2013
Try
Capital Games
5655 Western Blvd
Raleigh, NC 27606
(919) 859-2321
I bought one from them years ago, and they’ve worked on both of mine.
08/24/2013
Check out some of the best places to play pinball in North Carolina! Visit North Carolina Pinball
I’m trying to get NC’s pinball community to come together and play tournaments and Leagues!
-Aaron