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Pinball Terms

The modern game of pinball you know in 2011 (a pinball machine with two paddles and a spring-loaded ball shooter) was patented in 1871 by British inventor Montague Redgrave. This patent was known as the "Redgrave Parlor Bagatelle," and since that time the modern pinball machine has remained popular. The machines have undergone variations over the years, such as the inclusion of flippers, the types of balls used in the game, and the size of the game. If you are interested in pinball machines but are confused about the terminology, you will need to understand what various terms mean.

Flipper
- "Flippers" are the mechanisms found at the bottom of most pinball machines that are used to hit the ball back into the top portion of the table. Buttons on both sides of the table are used to activate these mechanisms, and timing in the activation of the flippers is essential in making the ball go where you want it to go on the table.
Drain
- A "drain" is where the ball enters when your flippers fail to hit it back to the top portion of the table. This is a play on the term, "down the drain," as your ball enters a tube that you cannot see, much like an actual drain. When this happens, you are given either another ball or the is game over and you must enter more coins into the table to continue playing.
Dot Matrix Display
- A "Dot Matrix Display" (DMD) is found on newer generations of pinball machines. This display shows the score of your session along with various animations depending on what area your ball has entered. These animations are usually based on the theme of the pinball machine (for example, if you are playing a themed pinball table, an animation of a pirate ship on water along with your score may appear when your ball enters a particular area of the table).
Plunger
- The "plunger" is a spring mechanism used to shoot the ball back into the play area of the table. The player can usually control how much he pulls back on the plunger before releasing, resulting in the ball either traveling at a high speed along the surface of the table or barely creeping along into the play area.

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