The game may have been in its prime for their parents’ generation but digital natives have taken over pinball.
Four of the top five players in the world are under 21 — a title Queenslander Emily Cosson hopes to one day achieve.
As the top female player in Australia, Ms Cosson returned from competing in the United States in January, where she came third in the open B division.
She estimates about 25 per cent of the competitors in Los Angeles were players under 21.
“The young players just keep coming back because they keep winning,” Ms Cosson says with a laugh.
At only 20, Ms Cosson has been playing in pinball competitions for more than a decade after a childhood spent practising on her dad’s collectable machines in their Gold Coast home.
“He was always in here either fixing a game or playing a game so that always enticed me to come in and also join in,” she says.
It was love at first sight, according to the prodigy.
The lights, noise and unpredictability drew her in, while the different strategies for each machine kept her enthralled.
She recalls being the only female — and young person — at many competitions from age 10, a statistic that has now changed.
“It’s expanded so much now … young players definitely dominate, definitely in the international scene,” she says.
‘Mini assassin’ enters competition
Born in an era where Space Invaders consumed his formative years, Ms Cosson’s father, John Cosson, bought his first pinball machine — an unwanted raffle prize — in 2004.
Dr Cosson says he has since owned 60 pinball machines, a collection that currently sits at 18 with a mixture of classic and modern games.
When he began competing, he took his daughter along as well.
“She suddenly found she would start beating men … and that endlessly amused her and somewhat upset the men and she got the nickname of the ‘mini assassin,'” he says.
“And the more she played, the more she beat the men until she was coming first or second in most of the events.”
It wasn’t long before Dr Cosson hosted competitions. Initially held in his game room, they evolved into the Australian Pinball Open held on the Gold Coast last year.
“[In competitions] it used to be middle to older age guys and now the young people are just taking over,” he says.
“When you go to an event and you’re paired up with a young person, you know you’re in trouble.”
But Dr Cosson says there are no sour grapes at competitions because the influx of the next generation ensured the future of the sport.
“If it wasn’t for them, the games could die off,” he says.
“The only reason they’re still selling so much is because they’re being put out on location again and young people are discovering them and playing them and that encourages manufacturers to make more and encourages the venues to buy more.”
‘Flow state’ unlocked
James Angliss owns a pinball arcade in Brisbane and has been organising competitions for the past decade.
He says the demographic has changed in the past five years.
“Some of the best players in the world are teenagers at the minute,” Mr Angliss says.
“Just that enthusiasm that they bring, their ability to learn rule sets really quickly, their reflexes are incredible.
“There’s a lot of fine motor and flippers skills that you need to be a consistent competitive player and young people pick that up really quickly.”
Mr Angliss, aka Jimmy Nails in the pinball community, says the desire to switch off from the online world is also driving popularity.
“I think we are all connected to our phones way more than we should be,” he says.
“[Pinball] is a very tactile, physical game to play.”
Mr Angliss says it’s easy to get absorbed in, and feels like nothing else is happening in the world.
“Surfers talk about it when they catch a wave … it may sound ridiculous, but it’s the same thing … it is very much like a flow state.”
‘We need more Emilys in the sport’
Professor Daniel Johnson, director of QUT’s games research and interaction design lab, explains the game’s “kinetic satisfaction” appeal.
“That brings a kind of joy and satisfaction you can’t necessarily get in more digital pursuits.”
Mr Johnson has researched the pinball community, initially exploring the connection between pinball and mental health in male players.
“We focused on men because that was the main demographic of people who play pinball,” he says.
“What emerged is lots of the men that are playing pinball recognise the benefit and the need for more diversity in the community.”
He says there is a desire for more diversity in the niche sport in both age and gender.
“There’s some really interesting stuff going on, where there’s a lot of younger players who are coming into the sport and doing really well.
“We need more Emilys in the sport … it’s the young people, people that are not necessarily middle-aged men coming in who are shaking things up … they’re doing amazing things.”
