Pinball Wizards

It’s hard for Joseph Ackerman and Tyson Conner to contain their enthusiasm when the subject of pinball comes up. The two men might as well be 10-year-old boys, talking about the latest video game. You can almost hear the click of flippers and the clang of bells and see the flashing lights of the machines when Sidetracked Brewery’s owner and general manager talk about their affection for the quintessential arcade games.

Now Ackerman and Conner want to spread the word about an opportunity the Morganton brewery is providing for experienced pinball players and those who want to learn about the hobby.

On Monday nights, the brewery offers IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) sanctioned pinball tournaments and players come from miles around to compete for points and bragging rights.

Sidetracked is the only location between Asheville and Charlotte that offers sanctioned tournaments, so on Monday evenings, the backroom arcade is hopping.

It’s difficult not to get caught up in Ackerman’s exuberance for pinball when he shares the story of the game that hooked him — a Terminator 2 classic — after an arcade supplier brought the game into Sidetracked a couple of years ago.

“I started playing it,” Ackerman said, “and I just loved it. There was the way that it’s narrated by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the feeling that you get when you hit a jackpot, and Arnold goes, ‘Awesome!’

“All the lights are going crazy and it’s interactive with the music. So that was the first machine that I really fell in love with,” he explained.

But Terminator was just the beginning. While he opened the backroom arcade by leasing pinball games, Ackerman now owns seven of the eight machines in his game room. He used online videos to learn tips and tricks about different games, then started his own pinball wishlist.

“I started watching videos about different machines and what they do, and what the goals are, how good they are, or not so much,” he explained.

And there’s no limit to how far the pinball junkie will go to add machines to his growing collection. Ackerman traveled to Charlotte to pick up a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles machine, and a friend drove up to the Washington, D.C., area to collect a Terminator 2 game Ackerman purchased after the rental machine was gone.

“It’s a really beautiful chrome edition topper (a decorative and often interactive accessory that sits on top of a pinball machine),” he said, “so that was a bucket list machine for me.”

Then came a Demolition Man game, which Ackerman said he wanted for a while, “because of watching videos of it and seeing how good it was.”

Finally, after enjoying a “Stranger Things” machine brought in by his rental supplier, Ackerman purchased the game as his first new, in-box pinball machine.

“Netflix had said they weren’t going to license to do another production run,” Ackerman explained, “but then they did at the end of 2023. I knew that was a machine that I wanted forever, because not only is it one of the best earners in the nation, it’s just a phenomenal, great time.”

The machines are not inexpensive — in fact, they are an investment on which, at $1 per play, sometimes it takes years to break even.

On tournament nights, pinball players file into Sidetracked’s back room, shelling out $10 for the opportunity to compete for points. The games are set to “free play,” meaning no money is required, so the entry fee includes plenty of free practice time.

When the tournament begins, up to four players compete at one time on each game. Top players’ placement carry points, which are added to the online IFPA platform.

“In a nutshell, there has been a massive pinball revival over the past few years across the country including arcades, tournaments, and machines being produced and sold,” Conner said. “We are already a part of this and hope to continue to build on it.”

Sidetracked offers youth tournaments as well as couples competitions. And they will soon offer $10 play-all-day wristbands on Sundays.

Conner said the brewery will also ask high-level players to provide lessons for newcomers or beginners on Sundays, with the hope of encouraging more regular players.

“On top of that, we are also going to start offering women’s tournaments and first-timers tournaments,” Conner stated.

“We just really think with the revival of pinball being so strong, along with the new things we are going to start offering, and having a location in our town that has (tournaments) set up, people would like to hear about it and maybe get introduced to a new hobby,” he said.

Sidetracked Brewery offers IFPA-sanctioned play every Monday beginning at 6:30. The brewery is at 609 S. Green St. in Morganton.