The Dutch Pinball Museum opened the doors in 2015. There are over a hundred pinball machines, and you can still play on most of them. Pinball machines were first introduced in 1947. The original version looked very different, and therefore it wasn’t called a pinball machine yet. This name only came in the ’40s, when a pinball bumper was added. The players named it ‘pinball’. In 1931 the in 1870 patented launch mechanism was incorporated in a partially automated pinball machine, and a new game was born.
Dutch Pinball Museum
On the ground floor are the latest versions of the cabinets. On the first floor are the older versions. Below you’ll also find one of the very first pinball machines, the Humpty Dumpty. With the pinball players got control over the game. Meanwhile, there are numerous versions released, which can be found in the museum to a greater or lesser extent.
In the seventies, the first electronic cabinet with mini processors and the digital display was released. After that, digitization came in entirely, and the game was almost entirely computer-controlled.
Stories from the Dutch Pinball Museum
Tough guys in shadowy arcades or a teenager on an adventure in a game hall are recognizable scenes from the movie. Fanatical players know where to get the excitement. The museum has almost a hundred machines that can be played. The collection is divided by era and stages of development. For example, cabinets that were developed before the war are distinguishable from the more modern post-war versions, with or without a specific name.
In 1998 the film ‘The Big Lebowsky’ was released where a fervent arcade player accidentally gets into trouble. In 2016 a cabinet was released in honour of the film. This one is available in the museum. Players are welcome to take a seat behind the machines but have to follow the rules. For example, they are not allowed to occupy a cupboard unnecessarily for too long, and they are not permitted to smoke in the room. White a unique systems the museum lets all players play on multiple machines.
