Deep 6 Arcade
I grew up in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and found my way here by following my career in advertising and marketing. I have worked with many brands you most likely have in your home. I now work on the brand side, for a company that focuses on healthy living products.
Everyone needs a hobby even when they love their professional work. Mine happens to be playing arcade games, most specifically pinball. Read on to learn more about my hobby and an invitation to play one of the games.
EARLY INTEREST
Over the years, my interest in arcade games grew as I started to collect, repair, restore and play pinball and other arcade games. I was interested in these types of entertainment even as a teenager. It all started when my father and I purchased a game titled “The Shadow”, which derived its theme from the Alec Baldwin movie of the same name. The manufacturer of the game was Bally, of the famed Las Vegas hotel and Fitness chains.
The sounds, lights and skill required to play the games quickly drew my attention. Like any of my interests, I became engulfed in learning all that I could about the subject. At first glance inside a machine, with thousands of wire color combinations traveling a myriad of directions, it is easy to find yourself running away.
Because a pinball can travel at speeds up to ninety miles an hour during a typical game, that Shadow pinball machine often needed repairs. So, I set out on a journey to unravel the inner workings of the device. The first step I took was to understand how to read “schematics”, which outline what every wire and device in a game does. With no formal training and the internet still in its infancy at the time, I turned to simple logical deduction to find my way through the schematics in order to demystify the maze of wires inside. Once I understood this basic structure, I felt the world of pinball machines open up completely to me.
While in college, I put this hobby aside for a while but still frequented arcades. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, my lack of access to arcades led me to search for a pinball machine to buy. I came across a game located in Fairfield, Connecticut and recruited two friends to help me relocate it. The machine had not worked for more than 10 years and was kept in a basement with an extremely narrow staircase. With proper disassembling of the machine, we maneuvered one piece at a time fairly easily.
Upon arriving home I spent 11.5 hours straight just tinkering with it. The moment that the machine started functioning, I knew that I had rekindled my childhood passion. I was warned by hobbyists that my pinball game collection might quickly grow, and my apartment is certainly proof of that!
The current lineup of games in my home are:
Nintendo Donkey Kong (Video Arcade)
Blue Chip (Pinball machine manufactured by Williams in 1976)
Volcano (Pinball machine manufactured by Gottlieb in 1981)
Black Hole (Pinball machine manufactured by Gottlieb in 1981)
Flash Gordon (Pinball machine manufactured by Bally in 1981)
Eight Ball (Pinball machine manufactured by Bally in November 1977)
Pit Boss SuperStars (Video bar top game manufactured by Merrit Industries in 1990)
DEEP 6 ARCADE
I soon built my website, Deep 6 Arcade, to brand my work with pinball machines. Webster's dictionary defines “deep six” as to discard or eliminate. Since arcade equipment allows people to discard pocket change, Deep 6 seemed like an appropriate name for the brand. I set up the website originally as a way to write about my hobby, but it quickly started gaining visibility on search engines like Google. The first requests to repair broken machines came from local enthusiasts. In an effort to save these machines, I started driving my tools around town fixing games. It turns out that my particular pinball machine skill set is in demand. As my website continued to gain traction on search engines, I started to get calls from people all over the world asking for help with similar machines.
While I do get a large number of people that want to join my popup tournaments. Sign up for a tournament here. The majority of requests are for the repair of electromechanical machines (“EM” is the industry reference acronym and were built until phased out around late 1977). EM games contain only mechanical mechanisms and electrical relays with no computer controls. EM games use moving mechanical mechanisms to control the games features and can freeze up over time. ( “EM” machines were replaced late by 1977-1979 with Solid State “SS” technology which use computers.) I rapidly became a crusader, protecting a small segment of engineering marvels from the last 100 years.
The adventure to reach a game in trouble is sometimes just as fascinating as the repair work itself. I have traveled throughout the east and west coasts working on games as well as acquiring games for my collection. I recently flew out to Fishers Island to fix a game manufactured by Gottlieb (1965) called Cow Poke. It had been in this person's family for decades and needed a tune up before their 4th of July party.
Click on the photo to the left to learn more about how Justin cracked the pinball electronics code.
AN INVITATION
This hobby has opened up ideas and worlds that I would otherwise never have explored. I invite you all to try your hand at the fun. I will be placing a Bally Eight Ball game in the club house for your enjoyment. Stop in and play a few games this Thursday through Sunday (July 28-31). I will be there Thursday from 5:30 - 6:30. If we have a large turn out, I’ll stay later.
I hope you enjoyed this and feel free to contact me if you want to play outside of the dates above. It’s always more fun to compete. You can ask if we run into each other, or shoot me a message through my website Deep 6 Arcade. Feel free to read the extended technical version on the Deep 6 website.
Join Justin For Pinball Fun At The Clubhouse
Click here for more information about joining Justin at the clubhouse to play his pinball machine.