Line #22 Pinball/SpaceInvaders


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/space-invaders-pinball_7183.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[RunningGag Us? copying]] ''Film/{{Alien}}''? [[VideoGame/CrushPinball Surely, you jest.]]]]
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4	''Space Invaders'' was an [[PhysicalPinballTable arcade pinball machine]] designed by Creator/JimPatla and released by [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally]] in 1979. As Bally's VideoGame division Midway was the Western distributor of the [[VideoGame/SpaceInvaders arcade video game]] at the time, that makes this the UrExample of the PinballSpinoff.
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6	As with most other {{pinball}} games at the time, there wasn't much of [[ExcusePlot a story to the game]] -- the player would simply shoot pinballs at various alien targets to repel the invaders. To flesh things out, Bally distributed an eight-page ComicBook[=/=]Advertisement to arcade operators that provided a backstory: the invaders were a race of [[Creator/HRGiger Giger-esque]] aliens who have infiltrated Earth as sprites in the VideoGame cabinets. Now the second phase of their plan has begun, as the aliens exit the arcade games and combine to form ''incredibly addictive'' pinball machines that completely steal the minds (and quarters) of unsuspecting humans.
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8	The entire comic can be read [[http://kotaku.com/5902881/the-giant-alien-dick-machines-of-space-invaders-pinball/ here.]]
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10	The art for the game (by Creator/PaulFaris) was heavily "borrowed" from the designs used in the movie ''Film/{{Alien}}''. Naturally, 20th Century Fox sued Bally over the resemblance, stopping production after 11,000 machines were manufactured. Bally eventually reached a settlement with Fox, paying royalties for each pinball sold.
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12	----
13	!!This pinball machine demonstrates the following tropes:
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15	* AlienInvasion: Of the infiltration variety.
16	* BlankWhiteEyes: On some of the aliens.
17	* ChestMonster: According to the comic, the ''Space Invaders'' pinball machines are actually aliens in disguise.
18	* CreepyLongFingers[=/=]FemmeFatalons
19	* EvilIsVisceral
20	* ExcusePlot
21	* FangsAreEvil
22	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen
23	* HumanoidAliens: The aliens in general, but the Queen in particular, who resembles a four-eyed human female with silver scales.
24	* InNameOnly: Aside from the name, a few small sprites on the playfield, and using the sound effects from the game itself, the pinball has no relationship to the ''Space Invaders'' arcade game.
25	* MirrorMonster: As seen on the mirrored backglass.
26	* NewMediaAreEvil: Played with in the comic; people who play the ''Space Invaders'' video game become enraptured by it to the point of ignoring everything else around them. On the other hand, the long lines of people who want to play the pinball is treated as just a curiosity.
27	* OverlyLongTongue
28	* {{Phlegmings}}
29	* PinballSpinoff: The UrExample.
30	* SpikesOfVillainy
31	* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Like other pinball games, players could get a free game [[MatchSequence if the last two digits in their final score matched a random multiple of ten]] (00, 10, 20, etc.). However, the lowest scoring targets award 50 or 100 points, making the player's final score always ending in 00 or 50...

Context Pinball / SpaceInvaders