# Past Times Pinball History Ep 23: Af-Tor

**Source:** Past Times Arcade  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2024-07-24  
**Duration:** 1m 40s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWQyPcn0IQQ

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## Analysis

Past Times Arcade presents a historical overview of the 1984 Wipe Out pinball machine, highlighting it as the first game to feature alphanumeric displays in the backbox for scoring purposes. The video corrects common misconceptions about pinball history, clarifying that Wipe Out was Wipe Out's only full-size game (preceded by the 3/4-size Big Top in 1977), and establishing the timeline of alphanumeric display adoption across manufacturers including Hyperball (1981), Chicago Cubs Triple Play (1985), and High Speed (1986).

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Wipe Out released two pinball machines: Big Top (3/4-size, 1977) and Wipe Out (full-size, 1984) — _Host states 'Seven years earlier, they released a game called Big Top, which was a 3/4-size game. So this is their actual only full-size game'_
- [HIGH] 1984 Wipe Out was the first game to have alphanumeric displays in the backbox used for scoring — _Host emphasizes 'this is the very first game that actually had alphanumeric displays in a pinball machine for that matter in the backbox' used 'for scoring'_
- [HIGH] Hyperball (1981, Williams) had alphanumeric displays but in the playfield, not backbox, and some don't consider it a true pinball machine — _Host notes Hyperball predated Wipe Out but 'the alphanumeric display was actually in the playfield' and 'some people don't actually consider it to be a pinball machine'_
- [HIGH] Chicago Cubs Triple Play (1985, Premier/Gottlieb) had alphanumeric displays in the backbox before High Speed — _Host states '1985, Premier—formerly Gottlieb—released the Chicago Cubs Triple Play game. Then the next year, High Speed was released'_
- [HIGH] Alphanumeric displays did not reappear on Williams games from 1981 (Hyperball) until 1986 (High Speed) — _Host notes 'alphanumeric displays first existed on a game called Hyperball, Williams game 1981, but then didn't resurface on a Williams game until 1986'_

### Notable Quotes

> "This is the very first game that actually had alphanumeric displays in a pinball machine for that matter in the backbox."
> — **Past Times Arcade Host**, ~0:25
> _Core thesis of the historical significance of 1984 Wipe Out_

> "Some people think that Williams High Speed was the very first game that had alphanumeric displays in the backbox. In fact, there was another game even before that."
> — **Past Times Arcade Host**, ~0:45
> _Directly corrects a common misconception in pinball history_

> "Some people think that this is Wipe Out's only pinball machine they ever made—technically not true. Seven years earlier, they released a game called Big Top."
> — **Past Times Arcade Host**, ~0:05
> _Addresses another common misconception about Wipe Out's catalog_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Wipe Out | company | Pinball manufacturer that released Big Top (1977) and Wipe Out (1984) |
| 1984 Wipe Out | game | Full-size pinball machine featuring the first alphanumeric display in a backbox used for scoring |
| Big Top | game | 3/4-size pinball machine released by Wipe Out in 1977, seven years before their full-size game |
| Hyperball | game | 1981 Williams game with alphanumeric display in playfield; some dispute whether it qualifies as a true pinball machine |
| Chicago Cubs Triple Play | game | 1985 Premier/Gottlieb game with alphanumeric displays in backbox, predating High Speed |
| High Speed | game | 1986 Williams game commonly but incorrectly believed to be the first with alphanumeric backbox displays |
| Williams | company | Major pinball manufacturer; released Hyperball (1981) and High Speed (1986) |
| Premier | company | Pinball manufacturer formerly known as Gottlieb; released Chicago Cubs Triple Play (1985) |
| Gottlieb | company | Historical pinball manufacturer, later became Premier |
| Past Times Arcade | organization | Arcade location hosting and presenting this pinball history series |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball history and technology evolution, Alphanumeric display technology adoption timeline, Wipe Out company and their game catalog, Common misconceptions in pinball history
- **Secondary:** Manufacturer comparison (Williams, Gottlieb/Premier)

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0) — Educational content presented factually with corrective intent toward industry misconceptions; no emotional tone or advocacy

### Signals

- **[historical_signal]** Host systematically corrects multiple common misconceptions about pinball history: Wipe Out's catalog size, and the timeline of alphanumeric display adoption (confidence: high) — Multiple explicit corrections: 'Some people think that this is Wipe Out's only pinball machine they ever made—technically not true' and 'Some people think that Williams High Speed was the very first game that had alphanumeric displays in the backbox. In fact, there was another game even before that'

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## Transcript

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] for this episode of Pas times pinball history we're going to feature this 1984 wo aftor some people think that this is wo's only pinball machine they ever made technically not true seven years earlier they released a game called Big Top which was a three4 size game so this is their actual only fullsize game that they released what makes this game historically significant if you look here this is the very first game that actually had alpha numeric displays a pinball machine for that matter in the backbox so you see here says wo presents aor there was a game that preceded this that would be hyperball 1981 so this is a 1984 however the difference on that is some people don't actually consider it to be a pinball machine and the alpha numeric display was actually in the Playfield so this is in the backbox it was actually used for scoring so it's 1984 some people think that Williams highp speeded was the very first game that had alpha numeric displays in the backbox in fact there was another game even before that 1985 Premier formerly got leag released the Chicago Cubs triple play game then the next year high speed was released so it's really interesting to me that alpha numeric displays first existed on a game called hyperball Williams game 1981 but then didn't resurface on a Williams game until 1986 come on in a pass time arcade check out this whiteo aour [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 4f640608-318d-4551-a78e-e50d7c6b58d1*