People are flipping over pinball in N.B., which has been making a comeback

The unmistakable sounds of pinball machines are ringing in the ears of old-school gamers who say pinball has made a comeback.

During the height of the pandemic, people were seeking reminders of happier times, according to Patrick Parisé, a New Brunswick pinball collector.

“Especially during COVID, people were really looking for something that reminded them of better times of their youth,” said Parisé.

Pinheads, as they’re known, have been gobbling up old games for the last few years, said Julien Boudreau, the owner of Game Over Retro Tech in Cap-Pelé, N.B.

He said he can barely keep up with requests for repairs and refurbishments, and demand for pinball machines spiked 30 per cent during and after the height of COVID-19.

“Prices went up, too, because the demand went up,” Boudreau said.

Machines made in the ’90s can fetch as much as $10,000 to $15,000, according to Boudreau, with people seemingly all too willing to pay big bucks to line their basement caves with some nostalgia.

“It is the sounds, it is the lights, it is something you can’t replicate on a computer properly,” said Boudreau.

After COVID-19 shut down his conventional bar, Joel Fowler turned to the flippers and opened an arcade bar in Moncton. He said a lot of pinball enthusiasts of all ages are playing.

“We have a lot of pinball people that come in and it is not just people that are my age, 40, 50 and above. We get a lot of newcomers who have never played pinball, who don’t know how to start the game but they get hooked on it for sure,” he said.

At one point, pinball was illegal in parts of the U.S. in the 1940s, Boudreau said. Machines were destroyed by authorities because it was considered a gambling machine. However, a court ruling in the mid-’70s legalized the game, and it is now widely recognized as a game of skill, not gambling.