Armed with a fistful of change, we dig deep into the underground culture of fans who have created an oasis for an iconic game that is making a comeback in Northern Michigan.
This article first appeared in Traverse Northern Michigan. Find this story and more when you explore our magazine library. Want Traverse delivered to your door or inbox monthly? View our print subscription and digital subscription options.
I had heard rumblings.
Whispers around town from hip-looking people who talked in hushed tones as if bestowing the password to a speakeasy. Truthfully, I thought they were kinda nerdy. Especially when one showed up at happy hour wearing a wrist brace. “What happened?” I asked. “Pinball injury,” he replied with a straight face.
Now, almost one year later to the day, I am rotating my own hands in pain and doing finger push-ups in the air as I stare down another mechanical wonder that blinks, beeps, beckons me to play just one more time.
My name is Joseph Beyer and I’m a pinhead (an affectionate and self-adopted term for a major pinball fan). In a matter of months, most of my socializing now involves traveling in search of new games, arcades and an endless quest to master something intangible.
What happened to me, Dear Reader, could also happen to you. And that’s because Modern Pinball is not only an addictive sport combining pop-art, technological wizardry and nuanced skillsets, but also even more alluring now that Traverse City is the undeniable Pinball Capital of Northern Michigan. Michigan, in fact, ranked second overall this year in registered players in the U.S. with the International Flipper Player Association (IFPA).
Most towns our size may have one or two dusty vintage pinball machines tucked away without much love at the dive bar or laundromat. But here, a small and dedicated group of pinball aficionados, craftspeople and players have been building a unique subculture, years in the making, right in our backyard.
There are currently a whopping 75-plus games within Traverse City city limits that anyone can find and play (“in the wild,” as pinheads say). And this doesn’t even include the unknown number of games in private collections or maybe forgotten in a barn near you.
There are weekly pinball tournaments anyone can join, launch parties when new games arrive, an official Traverse City Pinball Club, a teen club named Traverse City Pinball Wizards (where quarters are provided for free), the Belles & Chimes group for female and non-binary players, and an active social network connecting in chat rooms, on Instagram and through invitation-only text channels run by TCPinball.org.
Our region has emerged as a true mecca of pinball culture and has begun attracting an increasing number of pinball tourists. Unlike other subcultures, breaking into this one isn’t intimidating. Especially if, like me, you haven’t played in decades. The first time I entered a tournament, I didn’t know how to push the start but- ton even though it was blinking right in front of me. But it didn’t take long before someone helped me out.
Once you hit the plunger and the silver-balled opera begins, there is nothing but you and the machine and the fevered attempt to keep it all buzzing and clicking and pulsing together as you race around a dreamworld of ramps, targets and secret opportunities to score.
If pinball has an official poet or philosopher, it’s probably Roger Sharpe. A struggling writer for GQ magazine in the 1970s, Sharpe helped reverse a 30- year ban on the game by proving to skeptical New York City lawmakers that pinball was a game of skill, not chance, by shooting the lights out in front of them. Sharpe sums it up in the film “Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game”:
“Life is defined by risk; those you take and those you don’t. The ball is gonna drain no matter what, so find what you want and take a shot.”
Here in The Pinball Capital of Northern Michigan, you’ll have plenty of welcoming experts and amateurs who will enthusiastically introduce you to the history, culture and art form of the game—just as they did for me.
Let’s meet a few.
The Mentor: Scott Bright
“The Scotts” as they are collectively called (Scott Bright, A.J. Scott and Scott Pierson), are not in fact related by anything but their love of the game. Together, they make up the brain trust of curators, pinball techs and hustlers who not only keep the games running at Right Brain Brewery and The Coin Slot but are also the fuel that has sparked Traverse City’s pinball explosion.
Scott Bright is the eldest and most experienced of the crew with more than 50 years in the gaming, vending and pinball industries. Bright once sat on the board of directors to WMS Industries, the merger of the famed Bally and Williams empires. He smiles a lot when he talks about pinball—something you’ll need to clear your calendar for if you really get him going.
With a private collection of “hundreds of machines,” Bright is a fixture at Right Brain Brewery for weekly tournaments, skills clinics and special events he’s created to share his love and passion for the game.
“I’m amazed that every week, we seem to find one more person who gets into it, you know,” says Bright, proudly. “I thought we had found every pinhead in the area, and then somebody else shows up!”
Bright’s enthusiasm is contagious, and his knowledge of pinball designers, artwork and technology comes from decades of hands-on work in the game. “There’s no school in the world I know of that teaches you how to do it,” he says. And with each generation of machine innovations come new things to learn. The Modern Pinball machine has more than 3,500 separate parts and miles of computer circuits and connectors all tucked under the playfield.
But unlike online games, these machines can only exist in real life. That tactile nature of play is drawing a post-pandemic generation back and creating yet another boom in the 100-year history of the industry.
Bright tells newcomers just starting out, “You’ll play pinball first, but pretty soon you’ll find a crazy cross section of humanity who will become your friends.”
The Apprentice: A.J. Scott
If you catch a glimpse of a tall young guy with long red hair toiling underneath the hood of a pinball machine, there’s a good chance you’ve just seen A.J. Scott.
It wasn’t always this way. A.J. had been running sound and booking shows for local bars, and while often surrounded by pinball machines, he knew nothing about the game. One day he just started playing, and suddenly found something he didn’t know he was looking for.
“I was going through a really rough time in my life when I picked up pinball. It was a way to shut my brain off to what was going on around me. And what keeps me coming back is, it’s the easiest way I’ve found to put myself into a flow state. You know, the best games I have ever had, it’s like the machine is playing itself and I’m just standing there, watching it happen.”
A.J. spent months begging Bright to teach him about the game mechanics and take him “under the glass” to see how it all worked. Finally, Bright relented and invited the eager apprentice over to his pinball shop nearby. He handed A.J. the keys to an Apollo 13 machine and told him to break it down, put it back together, and he’d be back in a few days.
Now four years later, A.J. proudly calls himself a pinball tech: someone comfortable enough with machines in all aspects to repair, modify and master their settings.
Bright remembers that challenge and laughs, “We bonded, and he more or less came in to work with me from then on. He’s allowing me to share my lifetime of knowledge, and he’s been soaking it up like a sponge. He has a giant grin on his face all day.”
The Pusher Man: Scott Pierson
If you want to have a conversation about pinball with Scott Pierson, the owner-entrepreneur behind The Coin Slot arcade in downtown Traverse City, be prepared to move. The energetic Pierson rarely stops his daily grind of managing the popular corner at Front Street and Boardman Avenue. The spot now includes bars, patios, food trucks and a growing rotation of pinball machines.
Pierson caught his own pinball fever a few years ago with the purchase of a Star Wars game for the arcade. Today, it’s become a bit of an obsession as he manages an average of 60-plus machines between his personal collection, The Coin Slot rotation and acting as a certified dealer rep for Stern Pinball (the largest and longest running pinball manufacturer in the world, headquartered in Chicago).
“I’m six years deep, and it’s absolutely addicting,” he says while repairing a broken pop-bumper. “There’s no denying you’re really getting a dopamine kick from hitting the shots that just feel good. Once that happens, you’re hooked.”
“The Slot,” as it’s known, was the first venue in Northern Michigan to host competitive pinball tournaments, and the venue recently held an IFPA qualifying event that drew players from around the state.
Along with his businesses, Pierson’s also managing three young kids who have recently started using stools to step up to his machines. When I ask if he’s trying to raise proteges, Pierson says he’s never once given them a single tip or instruction; they picked it up on their own. He finds it to be a tribute to the intuitive nature and simplicity of the game. And yes, his kids have beaten him.
As the community has grown, Pierson has responded and changed the layout of his arcade to accommodate more machines, host more events and draw new players into the sport. Rumor has it there are even talks of hosting a pinball festival in the future, combining all aspects from skillset sessions to films, art, competitions and music.
“I really enjoy what’s happening, seeing all these people who are completely new to pinball fall in love with it. Once it clicks, it clicks hard,” Pierson says, and then he’s off again.
The Pizzaiolo: Steve Tyson
Launching a pizza shop right next door to a killer pinball parlor may seem like a no-brainer, but for Steve Tyson, the founder of Two Sons Pizza, it was actually a pretty big leap of faith.
“You have something as iconic as pizza in a town that has every kind of pizza already—different styles, really quality food. I didn’t expect we’d blow up, but I’ve gotta give it to the customers, they’re super supportive,” Tyson says.
A loyal contingent of those customers are pinheads, The Pizzaiolo among them. In between pies, Tyson can be seen playing his favorite game, Jurassic Park.
Named after Tyson’s two young boys and launched with his wife and business partner, Jen, Two Sons Pizza has taken downtown by storm with its signature New York–style slices. When asked about the origin he says, “I wanted a pizza that I could take to New York City and feel it would hold up and fit in, so I hired a consultant and moved him into my house for two months to run a test kitchen. I wanted everything to be authentic to the style I was going for.”
Tyson estimates they’ve already made 18,000 pies in their first year. With favorites like The Grand Pepperoni alongside gourmet monthly specials Tyson promotes on the radio, he’s dreaming of still more surprises.
“I haven’t done a chicken makhani. I haven’t made a Cuban pie yet. I’m looking for ways to incorporate ingredients that both touch the creative notes and also put some tastes out there that people aren’t necessarily experiencing regularly.”
The Regular: Raymond Minervini
That guy I told you about with the wrist brace, the one with the pinball injury? That was Raymond Minervini, whom I now regret mocking. He introduced me to pinball and gave me some of my first tips. Raymond is a part of The Minervini Group, known for restoring The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, and uses the game as a weekly break in a busy business life.
Pinball has always held a special fascination for him, ever since he started as a young kid, playing in the back of a bowling alley. As the years passed and the video game revolution began, Minervini says he ignored games like Pac Man and Asteroids but always gravitated back to the flashing lights of pinball. He and his brother could find two quarters and make them last all afternoon.
“I love the fast pace of it, you know; the reflexes that it requires. And that movement of the table and the perfect timing of those flippers is all part of the game. You don’t want to abuse the machine. You want to respect it. But you also have to move it to actually play well,” he advises.
Moving the table or game too much will cause the machine to tilt, and the player loses their bonus points and their ball. Moving the game without tilting is an art form, and when Minervini first introduced me to the concept he counseled, “If you’re not tilting, you’re not trying,” quoting a famous maxim of the sport.
These days Minervini warms up before playing, has changed some moves, and drew his wife, Christie, into the game as a player. It’s another way to spend time together, and they both enjoy the camaraderie. Just like when he was a teenager, Minervini still likes ducking in every once in a while and playing solo. “There’s something to the times you are dialed into the experience that’s really wonderful,” he says.
The Welcome Wagon: Marley & Ben Harris
For spouses Marley and Ben Harris, pinball was one of their first dates as they re-emerged after the pandemic. In those early months, they had to wear masks and there was hardly anyone else at the arcade. But playing created a shared activity and a bond that has only grown deeper.
Five years later, Ben is running weekly tournaments and connecting players through his side project TCPinball.org, a digital hub helping area players meet and compete. Combining his skills in technology with his enthusiasm for the game, Ben signs up new players, gives them a warm introduction to the group, and cheers them on as they learn.
Marley founded the Traverse City chapter of Belles & Chimes, a weekly gathering as they call it for “women, femmes and thems.” Marley created the club after sensing a need for other players to have a welcoming space to try out the game. It was a hit.
Belles & Chimes recently celebrated its one-year anniversary and has grown each time the group gathers at The Coin Slot, usually every two weeks. Marley says, “It’s not meant to be exclusionary, but we needed to carve out our own space so that we can feel comfortable. Pinball players are predominantly male—most of the time.”
Games from the 1970s–1990s are famous for the misogynous sexuality of their artwork and graphics—all aimed to hook teenage boys and men. And while game design has softened the use of stereotypes, the themes still skew toward a male gaze, and borrow characters and themes from the culture around us. Belles & Chimes is a refreshing counterpoint to that trend and has grown to more than 20 chapters around the world and counting.
As tournament managers, the Harris duo likes to keep the environment laidback, and they stress that beginners are always welcome—in the end you’re hanging out with friends old and new.
“What makes pinball so special to me is that you don’t have to be any particular kind of person to like it or play it,” Marley says. “It’s for everyone. You just need a couple of quarters.”
Joseph Beyer is a writer and producer who has held leadership positions at the Sundance Institute, The Redford Center, the Traverse City Film Festival and Michigan Legacy Art Park.
Andy Wakeman was born and raised in Northern Michigan. He enjoys exploring and meeting interesting folks, camera in hand.
