If you grew up in the '60s, '70s or '80s, you likely have fond memories spending Saturday afternoons at a dark arcade surrounded by the dings, clunks, whizzes and zings of a classic pinball machine.

Chicago — Due west of O’Hare International Airport, there is a neighborhood — formally, part of Elk Grove Village — that isn’t much of a neighborhood. It’s warehouses, drab gray offices. It’s Gertrude ...

If you’ve ever been in a good arcade, you’ve been inundated by the sounds of electronic boops, beeps and pew-pews. One of the most recognizable sounds you’d hear were the sounds of pinball machines.

Step into an unassuming industrial building in Teltow, just outside Berlin, and a bright, clacking universe unfolds: around 50 pinball machines line 200 square metres, from classics like Wizard and ...

We’ve all read about declining artistic standards within the pinball industry. I.P. licensing is partly to blame: “Star Trek,” the band Kiss, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”—these big names dominate ...