Jason Miller

Finding the best fight sticks in means sorting through a market that has exploded since the FGC’s pandemic-era boom. I have spent the last decade playing Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and Mortal Kombat 1 across arcade cabinets, locals, and majors, and I have hands-on experience with every stick on this list. My testing covered … Read more

I’ve spent the last three months testing leverless arcade controllers across Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and Guilty Gear Strive, and I can tell you the format has officially gone mainstream. The best leverless arcade controllers in deliver faster directional inputs, more precise motion commands, and a much cleaner aesthetic than traditional fight sticks. For … Read more

Moving a pinball machine safely comes down to five core steps: remove the balls, fold down or detach the backbox, take off the legs, wrap the cabinet in moving blankets, and load it upright onto a dolly or hand truck. A typical machine weighs 250 to 350 pounds and holds fragile glass and sensitive electronics, … Read more

Walking up to a pinball machine for the first time can feel like stepping into a foreign country. Everyone around you is talking about multiballs, VUKs, tilt warnings, and something called a “house ball.” If you have ever nodded along pretending you understood, this pinball terminology beginner’s glossary is for you. Pinball terminology is the … Read more

If you have ever walked past a Twilight Zone pinball machine and heard collectors buzzing about a “powerball,” you are not alone. The term confuses plenty of new players, and even seasoned hobbyists sometimes mix it up with lottery terminology. I have spent years restoring and playing pinball machines, and the powerball is one of … Read more

Pinball machines hold their value because they combine limited production scarcity with hand-built mechanical durability, decades-long lifespans, and a passionate collector base that actively trades on platforms like Pinside. Add licensed pop culture themes that age into nostalgia, and you have a category of consumer entertainment that resists the depreciation curve seen in TVs, gaming … Read more

The backglass and backbox pinball machine components are the upper visual and electronic heart of every game I have ever owned or restored. The backbox is the tall vertical cabinet that sits on top of the lower playfield cabinet, while the backglass is the illuminated artwork panel mounted inside the front of that backbox. Together … Read more

A drop target is a flat mechanical target on a pinball playfield that is held up on a small ledge and drops down out of play when struck by the ball, typically spring-loaded and monitored by switches that register each hit. Drop targets are one of the most important scoring tools in pinball, and once … Read more

If you have ever stared at the backbox of a vintage pinball machine and watched those drum-style numbers flip and click into place, you have witnessed one of the most satisfying mechanical inventions in arcade history. Score reels were the beating heart of electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machines from the 1950s through the late 1970s, long … Read more

If your favorite arcade game has started feeling sluggish or unresponsive, the trackball probably needs a good cleaning. Dust, skin oils, and debris build up inside the housing over months of play. That buildup causes the ball to drag, skip, or feel gritty under your hand. Learning how to clean an arcade trackball is one … Read more