Some pinball machines have bewilderingly complex rules

Some pinball machines have bewilderingly complex rules that govern how to win extra balls and jackpots. In the past players were expected to learn them by watching others play or through trial and error, but Stern Pinball has introduced QR codes on its latest machines which can be scanned with a mobile phone to bring up instructional videos.Jersey Jack Pinball is led by an irrepressible games industry veteran called Jack Guarnieri. He wants to widen its appeal beyond its male core audience to include women and children.His firm's first machine, due to launch in early spring, is called The Wizard of Oz.It incorporates a giant colour LCD screen in the backbox that sits at the end of the playfield. It takes advantage of the processing power built into the table to display custom animations and clips from the film as the game progresses. "I think it's very important to keep people who are watching the game as well as the players entertained,structural steel so adding a big video screen was important," Mr Guarnieri said."These days young people won't respond to static images on a backbox, no matter how striking they are." If pinball is to enjoy a new golden age there's another problem manufacturers must tackle: in a pub,Installing laminate flooring is not a very difficult task, these solid wood flooring are actually scratch resistant, but they are not scratch proof as such. So you should try and avoid dragging some heavy items over such floors. a table that's out or order takes up space but earns nothing for its owner.Portable crusher That means reliability is a big issue.But these are complex machines with hundreds of moving parts, and every moment that they are in use, they take a pounding from the steel balls bouncing around the playfield. Most existing pinball machines use mechanical microswitches to keep track of where the ball is. The problem is that these switches wear out, they get crushed by flying "air balls", or they are knocked and bent out of position. Heighway Pinball's solution is to introduce inductive switch technology: solid state sensors beneath the playfield, well out of the way of flying steel balls, which are triggered when a ball passes by without any physical contact.Another new pinball manufacturer, Spain-based Quetzal Pinball, has made the software that controls its first game open source.Those who are planning dinner parties and are aiming to impress their guests should make sure any scissors supplier they buy have a selection with fine, very sharp blades to aid with presentation tricks. That means that as well as adding or changing the rules, anyone with the necessary programming skill can modify the software to correct any bugs that may make the machine malfunction.There are also simpler ways to improve reliability: most pinball machines have more than 100 or so incandescent bulbs that need to be replaced regularly, but new machines like The Wizard of Oz are equipped Impact crusherwith LED lighting that should last longer than the machine itself.