Arcade Expo held their first event at the Museum of Pinball in Banning, CA this past weekend and we were on hand to cover the opening. It was a packed weekend full of pinball, video games, seminars and even a new Guinness World Record attempt.
The facility boasts both pinball and classic arcade games and they were split up into two main rooms. The pinball room was arranged by eras and there was a separate tournament area in one corner as well as a bar and seminar room (as well as a secret “adults only” room with adult-themed pinballs next to the bar).
A lot of industry notables were on hand, including Roger Sharpe, Billy Mitchell, Walter Day and many others like Pinburgh 2014 champion Jim Belsito.
A documentary crew was also on hand working on a pilot and the local radio station was there to cover the Guinness Book of World Records attempt, which it seemed succeeded: “Although Guinness will have to verify all our paperwork and video footage, Walter Day and Billy Mitchell confirmed 331 participants as we BROKE THE WORLD RECORD for the most people playing pinball simultaneously. (Previous record was 272.)”
While many games weren’t functioning, this was the first event held at the facility and they have another event upcoming in October of 2015. Hopefully by then most all of the machines will be functioning, as the collection is quite impressive with many rare machines.
Personal favorites were learning games like TX Sector, Viking, Dakar and a bunch more. One of the best things about attending is taking advantage of the access to so many interesting machines. The event drew a wide mix of pinheads, video game enthusiasts and the general public and seemed to be a great success for the first time out.
The full gallery of photos starts here.
