To be a fan of gaming in the late ’80s and early ’90s didn’t only mean sitting at home with a controller or mouse in your hand. It meant venturing out into the world, changing a dollar bill into some quarters or tokens and plunking them into a tall machine that fed on your desire to score just a little higher than the last time you played.
Ah, yes, the arcade. The names of the establishments were different from mall to mall, but there were always a few constant offerings: “After Burner,” Sega’s fighter jet classic; some variation of Whack-a-Mole; winning tickets for useless prizes; “Mortal Kombat” and its sequels, ubiquitous from the moment they debuted until the arcade market crashed; “Pac-Man,” or the “Ms.” for the purists.
Most importantly, there was always a wall of pinball machines — my personal obsession. Sure, the sound-and-fury cacophony of the video cabinets had its own appeal, but there was something special about pinball. Each video game was regimented, controlled, designed right down to the pixel. But there was something unique — human — about pinball tables. There was an unpredictable element to how they worked. No matter how good you were, that shiny silver ball was the ultimate unknown. Your game could last 30 seconds or 30 minutes. It was a joyful gamble.
And for a few years, every wall of pinball machines seemed to have one particular model in its possession. There was something about this table that seemed to strike a chord with players everywhere. Maybe it was the license it was based on, maybe it was the nearly flawless design, maybe it was the prominent use of an LED screen (still new to the genre), maybe it was the incredibly entertaining voice-over work by its actors. But “The Addams Family” table from 1992 grabbed the imagination of a whole new generation of pinball fans and helped make sure the genre would persevere and evolve.
Based on the 1991 movie, the “Addams” table became the most popular pinball machine of all time (it sold over 20,000 copies, a record), and with good reason. From the electric chair dominating the middle of the space to the “Thing” box in the corner, there is no wasted space or motion on the “Addams” table. Everything has a purpose, nothing feels cluttered. There are plenty of little secrets for players to discover, but it’s welcoming out of the gate for newbies, as well.
Then you add in the designer’s perfect use of the license, particularly the work of the late Raul Julia as Gomez. While many stars’ voice-overs on pinball tables are perfunctory at best (Arnold’s sleepy encouragement on the T2 table could put players into a coma), every line Julia delivered for “Addams” was boisterous and infectiously enthusiastic. When a player started the table’s elusive multiball, it was impossible not to become giddy at the slowly building tension created by the lights and sounds, capped by Gomez’s exclamation: “SHOW TIME!”
All these details remain burned into my memory even today, years after the era of the arcade has long since faded into the distance. Most video games from that era have been lovingly preserved and ported to modern consoles for a new generation of gamers to appreciate. But pinball seemed like it might be a casualty of the death of the arcade — a loved relic that wouldn’t make the transition.
Farsight Studios out of California has been working to change that. Through its multiplatform release “Pinball Arcade,” the developer has worked to port classic pinball machines to modern audiences. The problem is, many old machines come laden with licenses that make them prohibitively expensive. Farsight has worked to make these games a reality through Kickstarter fundraisers, successfully bringing “Twilight Zone,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “T2” to new consoles.
Now, finally, the chance has come to make an “Addams Family” port a reality. Farsight has listed a new fundraiser, asking for $97,000 to earn enough to secure the rights to the actors’ licenses and finally, finally make the greatest table ever made available in digital form. (Copies of the finished table come with just a $7 donation.)
As “The Art of Video Games” exhibit comes to a close at Toledo Museum of Art, I hope fans inspired by its memories of eras gone by consider chipping in a couple bucks toward preserving one of the most important pieces of arcade history. “Pac-Man” is available everywhere. You can play “Mortal Kombat” in any format imaginable. But “The Addams Family” remains just a memory.
That can, and should, change.
Show time!
Farsight’s “Addams Family” Kickstarter runs through Oct. 12. Visit http://bit.ly/addamskickstarter for details.
