Add-a-Ball Amusment’s Touchless Pinball Machines Are Taking Health to the Next Level

Add-a-Ball Amusment’s Touchless Pinball Machines Are Taking Health to the Next Level
By this point, I bet you’re sick and tired of hearing how the pandemic has affected businesses’ bottom lines and how many are trying their best just to scrape by. Don’t worry, we are too. However, since it has become the “new normal” and the entertainment business has been particularly impacted by the fallout as re-openings begin to take place in some areas, we feel it important to highlight innovations in safety and interacting with games in new ways.

Case in point, a Seattle arcade called “Add-a-Ball” in Fremont reopened last week with a brand new vision to their games, one that combines the entertainment and sheer excitement of old-school pinball gameplay with the new preventive measures of the current circumstances. Specifically, during their grand reopening, which saw the place transitioning from a dedicated arcade bar to something more akin to a restaurant/bar, they unveiled their own custom touchless pinball machines.

This idea came from the mind of one of Add-a-Ball’s employees, Alex AKA “Sleepy”, and consisted of adapting the flipper buttons and launchers to be operated using foot pedals. In this sense, the players can completely operate the game using just their feet, without the need to ever touch the machine. Even the launcher is a spring-loaded pedal that allows careful adjusting of the force put into the ball when putting into play.

Check out this KING-TV news report on the endeavor to see the machines in action:

While they’re definitely not perfect and completely safe, since users still have to use their hands to insert quarters, we think that this is a great and inventive step in the right direction when it comes to safety in COVID times. If anything, we hope that it paves the way for other creative businesses that look to adapt other machines for the current health and safety specifications. And who knows, if the new style of gameplay is good enough, they might even spawn new leagues of their own.

Foot pedal pinball machine tournament… we like the sound of that! What do you think of these new pedal pinball machines?

Thanks for reading! Here at PrimeTime Amusements, we like to keep ahead of the curve in arcade game rental and sales and pride ourselves in providing the best service in the country. If you’re looking for a game in particular, or have a few questions about the industry, feel free to give us a call at 1.800.550.0090 or to swing by at 5300 Powerline Rd. Suite 210, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 33309.