http://hackforfood.com/pics/Williams%20Spe...20Baseball.html

I thought some of you might find this interesting: it's a 1954
Williams Special Deluxe Baseball game that my father and I restored.
10 relays, 6 solenoids driving 4 ratchet rotors and 2 bells, and a
rotary encoder in the main hardware bank. "Source code" twice my age.
Incredibly simple.

Gameplay: hit button 1 to start the game and reset the counters. Hit
button 2 and a ball pops out from the middle of the field and rolls
towards the bat at the bottom. On the front of the machine there's a
lever that triggers a solenoid to swing the bat. Ball goes in one of
the holes on the field. If the ball goes in an 'out' hole, you get an
out, max of 3 and game is over. If it goes in a hit or single,
players advance one space. double, triple, homerun, use your
imagination. Each time a runner comes home, the run count ratchet
drives increment their count. Each hit a bell dings; each run a
different bell dings. Amazingly fun to play!

Hardest bug in the system to fix? Tired solenoids. Most annoying bug
to fix? Dirty switch contacts that have to be filed down by hand
without bending the switch fingers out of place.

 

my parents also have a skeeball machine, but that came in working order and is just lotsa fun to play

 

I wonder if anyone in the future will restore an old Xbox, play Halo 2 and be amazed at its simple but fun nature.

 

very cool

i have actually played a game similar to that.......

 

Pretty cool Josh I have an old pinball game waiting for me at mom's house

 

Very cool Josh. I too have restored an electro-machanical pinball game. I own a ~1975 Gottlieb "Sure Shot".

 

This one isn't mine... but like it.

 

Fantastic

 

Cool!

 

Very Joshy