Move over Stampeders and Flames – another Calgary team is heading into a Battle of Alberta this weekend.
Members of the Stampede City Pinball League are hosting the second annual Alberta Cup Challenge, going flipper-to-flipper against their arch rivals from Edmonton.
The Calgarians are the defending champions, with team member Darren Krywold vowing, “Edmonton is going down!”
Many of the players grew up with pinball, but most of the arcades where they played have disappeared in recent years.
They say the event is part of a comeback for pinball.
“It gets you up off the couch and out meeting other people,” player Shawna Teale said. “I’ll never go back to video games.”
“The thing I love about pinball versus a straight electronic game is the randomness of the ball spinning along the play field,” tournament organizer Clark Dickson said.
The teams from Calgary and Edmonton will be squaring off on a wide variety of flashy pinball machines, everything from a new model featuring the music of Metalicca to Stellar Wars, a Star Wars-style game made in 1979.
The Alberta Cup Challenge happens from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 23 at Koko’s Sports Bar in northeast Calgary.
For more information on the Calgary Pinball Enthusiasts click here.