There’s an undeniable and indefinable charm to classic pinball tables. Something about the flashing lights, the squeaky, stuck flippers, the irritatingly loud bumpers and the feeling that you never know if you’re doing well just makes for an addictive experience. I’ve lost several hours of my life to various pinball machines, both real and computerized, over the years, and I don’t regret a minute of it, except the specific minutes wherein I lost those games.
Now I’m not one to be traditional or nostalgic, but I think there’s something about the classic arcade pinball experience that can’t be replicated. That said, being able to play any number of different, unique pinball boards on a single machine would be pretty darn cool. And that’s just what Nike has provided with its World Cup promotion pinball table.
The board is really just an LED screen, so you’re essentially playing a computer game. But the flippers are still controlled with buttons, making it a hybrid experience between computer pinball and real pinball. While this particular example features simple yet weird layouts with Nike shoes for flippers, the possibilities here are endless. No longer will you have to wait for the Lord of the Rings pinball machine to become available. They’re all Lord of the Rings machines. And they’re also all Superman machines. And, most importantly, they’re all Space Cadet machines.
Here’s the video of Nike’s LED table:
