A collection of Memes from Video Games' older and more dignified brother, Pinball.
Please add entries in the following format:
- The name of the video game or company.
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme, if necessary.[[/labelnote]] ExplanationLike this.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
- __ (is) lit.
- EVERYTHING IS LIT!ExplanationIn Black Knight 2000, if you acheieved the game's Wizard Mode (called "The King's Ransom" in this game), it would eventually tell you that every feature of the game was lit.
- Tour the MansionExplanationSimiliar feature in The Addams Family where not only will everything be lit, but all timed modes will start one after enough. It's referenced in Steve Ritchie's Elvis pinball where the objective of the Graceland wizard mode is to tour the mansion; the first screen of the mode quickly pops up, accompanied by a quote from the game.
- EXTRA BALL
- SHOOT AGAIN ExplanationIn most games, this light appears near and between the flippers, and lights up when you get an extra ball. Later games would display "SHOOT AGAIN" when your extra ball gets used.
- JACKPOT ExplanationA very high number of points that, in early games, would steadily increase between games, much like lottery jackpots.
- REPLAY ExplanationRefers to a free game, which is very hard to get.
- REPLAY AT (point threshold)ExplanationUsually appears when players are on their last ball.
- MATCH ExplanationAfter the players lose their last ball, most pinball games display a Match Sequence, giving players a chance to get a free game. It seldom happens, however.
- *KNOCK!* ExplanationThe sound most machines make when a free game is earned. Famous for startling players.
- MULTIBALL ExplanationWhen two or more balls are in play at the same time.
- DANGERExplanationNudging the machine at the right moment can save the ball from making a beeline for the drain or falling into an outlane, but if it's done with enough force to trigger the tilt sensor, the game will flash "DANGER" on the screen to warn the player they're being more forceful with the machine than they should be.
- TILTExplanationThe player can only trigger "DANGER" so many times before triggering a "TILT", which ends the player's current ball, disabling everything on the table to return the ball to the drain, voiding any end-of-ball bonuses, or the entire game in the case of older machines before end-of-ball bonuses were implemented, in the process.
- Magna-Save ExplanationA feature, sometimes controlled by the player that usually prevents your ball from going into the outlane (which would result in your ball being lost) by energizing a magnet to pull the ball from the outlane to the return lane.
- FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY ExplanationThe earliest machines were often used for gambling, which was later outlawed in most states. Now pinball games must make it clear that they are not to be used for gambling.
- "MOVE YOUR CAR!" ExplanationA side mode in Creature from the Black Lagoon involved an annoying guy in a drive-in and the methods used to remove him. The main quote from the mode has shown up in a large number of other pinballs.
- "OPEN THAT SAFE!" ExplanationA variation of the above that appears in Judge Dredd.
- "BIG POINTS." ExplanationOriginated in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and is said in Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice when a player gets simply a flat amount of points from a random award. Countless games afterward to the present day have either had characters say the phrase and/or display it.
- Cows. ExplanationA running gag among Bally/Williams pinballs is a completely random cow showing up somewhere during gameplay, usually in an obscure manner or as an Easter Egg. This has even made its way to video pinballs made by Fuse Games.
- Moose. ExplanationIn Breakshot (1996), the Capcombo shot shows a moose kicking a cow on the DMD. It's a very subtle take that to W/B.
- "Feel The Power." ExplanationMany pinball machines designed by Pat Lawlor include a reference to "The Power", often in conjunction with one or more game modes.
Bud: Hey, Buzz, I can feel the power!
Buzz: That's all those wires down there!
- The number 3. ExplanationA common trait of Steve Ritchie's games is to have a secret "frenzy" mode by pressing the trigger if there is 3 of something on the DMD. It was later referenced in Road Show, where if the sign in front of Bob's Bunker says "Uranium Ore $3.00 a Chunk", Construction Mania will start.
- The 3 does nothing! ExplanationIn Star Trek: The Next Generation, there is a "3" symbol in the Shuttle Simulation video mode. Hitting it, unlike all other obstacles in the mode, makes it just disappear into the distance. This was later homaged in games like Cirqus Voltaire.
- Skull. ExplanationIn Steve Ritchie's No Fear: Dangerous Sports, a Rudy-like head named Skull hosts the game. He received mild criticism on his repetitive quotes, so they were often used in other games as a Take That.
- "GOOOOOAAAAL!" ExplanationCollecting a lit goal in World Cup Soccer elicits this response from the announcer.
- "It's a great day for racing!" ExplanationIndianapolis 500 blares this quote at the start of every new game. As an inside joke, it was parodied in other games (like the Skull example above.)
- "LIONMAN!" ExplanationA frequent callout from Swords Of Fury which caught on with pinball fans. In particular, Spooky Pinball's podcast adopted it as an in-joke, to the point of it appearing in Total Nuclear Annihilation and Rick and Morty.
- John Borg's outlanes.ExplanationBorg's games are notorious for causing the ball to frequently drain through the outlanes on the sides of the cabinet, in spite of (or because of) his Signature Style usually having two inlanes on one end of the playfield. Discussions about his games will often lead to someone joking about the outlanes.
- One specific to the pinball forum Pinside: the imamaculate Baywatch.ExplanationIn 2018, a user attempted to sell
a Baywatch pinball machine at a slight premium that they initially described as "nearly imamaculate"... only for other users to quickly point out that the description also noted that it needed several repairs done, in addition to the accompanying pictures indicating wear and tear that seemed too extensive for the price they were asking. In particular, several photographs depicted the machine sitting on a large piece of cardboard in the street with no legs, baffling forumgoers who wondered why the seller couldn't set it up properly. The thread devolved into mockery and memes at the expense of the seller (whose defensive, confrontational responses to criticism didn't help) before it was closed. Pinside users still reference details from the listing years afterward, ranging from joking references to the machine's lack of legs and the phrase "imamaculate" to using it as a point of reference when other listings that excessively upsell and overprice games appear on the forum. - EVERYBODY UNDERGROUND NOW! EVERYBODY UNDERGROUND NOW! EVERYBODY UNDERGROUND NOW! ExplanationBill Paxton's character in Twister says this so often during gameplay that it's become a bit of an in-joke in some circles.
- Jaws 2024: But does X eat the ball?ExplanationPrior to the game's unveiling, a great many fans hoped that it would contain a mechanism where a Jaws toy would eat the ball (similar to the T. rex head in both Jurassic Park (Data East) and Jurassic Park (Stern)). When it was properly revealed, it turned out that the Jaws mech was actually a bash toy that does not swallow the ball, a decision which led to outcry and arguments over whether it was an acceptable compromise or not. The debate got so prevalent that other fans began making light of it, turning "does the shark eat the ball?" into a snowclone applied to any other pinball game — especially ones where it would make no thematic sense. Examples include a barbeque cooker eating the ball (Barry O's Barbeque Challenge) and the tank eating the ball (Galactic Tank Force).
