High School Pinball Throwback

Arcades, dominant in the 80s are something of a bygone era. While there is a resurgence in places to play video games in the modern era, no 80s arcade is as unique as this one in Los Angeles. Because its location is quite unexpected: Torrence High School. The Electronics Club of the school did something unique and opened a “pinball room”, which ironically also had arcade cabinets too. The club is the subject of the All American High documentary that was released in 1987. A piece of the footage is below which shows the pinball room in action. It’s an…

Pinball Wizard Music

Video game music is an art form. Composers finally have their own category at the Grammy awards. But watching the music get composed for pinball in the 80s is where some real magic happens. Composer Suzanne Ciani is the main composer in this documentary video showing how she creates music and digitizes speech for Xenon. The table features her voice and original music for all aspects of play. It’s an incredible piece of archival footage; mainly because Ciani talks you through the process every step of the way. From drawings of how the table will look to enthusiastic talk about…