# Virtual Pinball Introduction - Iron Man / Back to the Future - Check it out!

**Source:** RetroRalph  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-08-13  
**Duration:** 12m 12s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi8VBNY4MeA

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## Analysis

RetroRalph provides an introductory tour of a virtual pinball cabinet system featuring 863 tables including Iron Man and Back to the Future. The cabinet includes a 42-inch playfield display, DMD screen, 32-inch horizontal LCD, and is themed after Attack from Mars. Ralph demonstrates the menu system, game selection by era, and internal hardware including PC-based architecture with Deep Freeze copy protection.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] The virtual pinball cabinet contains 863 tables — _Directly stated by Ralph at the beginning of the tour_
- [HIGH] The cabinet features a 42-inch display playfield under glass — _Ralph describes the physical hardware specifications_
- [HIGH] The system uses Deep Freeze copy protection that prevents software cloning — _Ralph explicitly describes the closed system with copy protection mechanisms_
- [HIGH] The cabinet does not have a forced feedback mechanism, which are described as relatively new — _Ralph notes this feature is absent and that forced feedback mechanisms are new to the market_
- [HIGH] Ralph owns or has owned multiple virtual pinball cabinets and trades units with the manufacturer — _Ralph mentions trading units back and forth with the owner of Virtual Home Arcades and references a previous unit_

### Notable Quotes

> "This virtual pinball machine has 863 of these tables. It's all set Tee'd Off free play, although it does have a coin mechanism on it."
> — **RetroRalph**, Early in video
> _Establishes the scale and main feature of the cabinet being reviewed_

> "It's got an arcade power supply right there. This is the PC that runs everything. So you've got three video connections."
> — **RetroRalph**, During hardware tour
> _Explains the technical architecture driving the system_

> "You can't copy the software on this thing or anything like that. It's using some copy protection called Deep Freeze. So you can't really clone this or do anything like that."
> — **RetroRalph**, During internal inspection
> _Describes the closed ecosystem and copy protection strategy_

> "Those are relatively new and are hitting the market."
> — **RetroRalph**, Discussing forced feedback mechanisms
> _Indicates emerging technology trend in virtual pinball hardware_

> "I think it's something great for someone that enjoys pinball or even maybe the casual pinball player that really just wants Tee'd Off explore it a little bit more"
> — **RetroRalph**, Conclusion
> _Expresses Ralph's perspective on virtual pinball accessibility for different player types_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| RetroRalph | person | Content creator providing tour and review of virtual pinball cabinet; known pinball enthusiast and media personality |
| Virtual Home Arcades | company | Manufacturer/vendor of virtual pinball cabinets; owner known to Ralph who facilitates sales and trades |
| Iron Man | game | Virtual pinball table on cabinet; one of 863 available games demonstrated by Ralph |
| Back to the Future | game | Virtual pinball table on cabinet; classic era table (1990) featured in Ralph's demonstration |
| Attack from Mars | game | Cabinet theme inspiration; Ralph notes the virtual cabinet is themed after this classic pinball game |
| Terminator 2 | game | Classic 90s virtual pinball table available on cabinet; Ralph mentions it as one of his favorite tables |
| Apollo 13 | game | Pinball table available on virtual cabinet; referenced as example of 90s era tables |
| Revenge of Mars | game | Pinball table available on virtual cabinet; referenced alongside Attack from Mars in 90s table collection |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Virtual pinball cabinet hardware and specifications, Virtual pinball game library (863 tables), Internal PC-based architecture and cooling systems
- **Secondary:** Copy protection and closed system design, Forced feedback mechanisms as emerging technology, Virtual pinball accessibility for casual and experienced players

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Ralph expresses clear approval of the cabinet's build quality, hardware design, and wiring organization. He describes himself as 'pretty impressed' and notes the product is 'pretty cool' and 'sweet.' Some minor frustration expressed about filming logistics (lighting, maneuvering around cabinet) but directed at circumstances, not the product itself.

### Signals

- **[product_strategy]** Ralph mentions upgrading virtual pinball cabinets with soundbar mods as an aftermarket enhancement (confidence: medium) — Ralph states: 'I'm going Tee'd Off upgrade this with a soundbar. I did that on my old one. I just did that on this one, so I haven't been able Tee'd Off do that mod yet.'
- **[technology_signal]** Forced feedback mechanisms are identified as relatively new technology entering the virtual pinball market (confidence: medium) — Ralph notes: 'Those are relatively new and are hitting the market' regarding forced feedback mechanisms absence on this unit

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## Transcript

 In this episode, we're going to check out some virtual pinball. Alright guys, let's take a closer look at the virtual pinball machine. So this is set up right now to play the Iron Man table. This virtual pinball machine has 863 of these tables. It's all set to free play, although it does have a coin mechanism on it. It has a 42-inch display play field, which is right here under this glass. It also has a DMD screen, which is a dot matrix screen right here. You'll see that when we do some gameplay. It's got two speakers, and it's got, I believe this is a 32-inch horizontal screen. It has some nice features like the chrome T-molding. It has these nice metal brackets along the whole entire body of the cabinet. Sorry I have the lights turned down so you can see everything well otherwise you get a lot of glare on this. And then as you move down you've got the buttons that run the system. So let's take a closer look here. You can scroll right, scroll left, page right and page left obviously with 863 games you may want to page through them for quicker access here's your coin door behind your coin door you'll find a amplifier and obviously the coin mechanism so you can adjust the volume right there there's your start button here's your plunger to launch the ball or do what I just did there's your menu and your credit button so actually it looks like that also will launch you into the game so what that just did is it launched the Iron Man pinball table so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go back and press that red menu button and you'll see we'll get the menu back up here in a second all right so I'm gonna scroll through these so if John Youssi if I scroll right to left you'll see the different games pop up there and the tables and the associated artwork that goes along with them that DMD screen won't light up until usually you're in a game, but there's tons and tons of tables on here. If I select one of these or try to, it can bring up this alternative menu. So this menu will actually tell me, do I want to play this game or am I looking for a specific table that maybe would be in a different era? So that actually useful because there so many on here So if you know you looking for a 90s table you can use these page up page down 90s so if I select 90s and I hit the start button now I'm gonna get only the 90s table so it says featuring 163 90s tables this is where you'll find tables like Terminator 2 that was one of my favorite ones you know Apollo 13 attack and revenge from Mars it's actually this this cabinet is actually themed off of attack from Mars so you'll see I know it's tough to see the lighting in my room is not the best right now but pretty sweet cabinet artwork so I'll just scroll through these a little bit to give it idea of what's here you know the original back to the future pretty cool and it'll give you some information about the game usually right here in the front so when it was made 1990 so as we scroll through here a little bit you'll see you know all the games of that era so if we wanted to play one of these like let's say we want to play that for the future and go back to the future hit the start button and it says do we want information about it do we want to go back to all tables or return we're gonna hit the start button again and then it will launch that game. And you'll see the DMD will activate and the play field will start up here in a second. Alright, so there's the play field for that game. I'll give you guys a closer look at it right now. The detail is pretty good. Obviously, the newer ones are even better, but this one's not bad. The detail is pretty good. And then John Youssi that DMD screen is now activated. These things are pretty sweet, these DMD screens. There's lots of neat information about the game. It shows you like we are scoring, things like that. And then also you've got your top screen right here. And I apologize for the glare. There's just a lot of glass on this thing. So, all right. Well, I'm going to put the camera on the tripod and you guys can check out Back to the Future real quick. And I'll check out a couple more of these titles and I'll give you a peek inside the unit as well. Alright, we're going to start it up. Not a good start guys, not a good start. I sorry Alright I going to move the screen up so you can see the DMD All right, let's try a little Iron Man, and then I'll go over to the back of the machine and show you a little bit about the inside. The white light is for credits. Shoot the spinners to battle the Iron Monger. tactical assault drone 100 000 air assault drone 200 000 collect drone targets for war machine assault all right i know you guys are all nerdy and geeky like me and you want to know what the heck runs this thing. So let's go around back and see what's inside. This is the bottom compartment that you can open that has the PC that runs all this stuff. So I'm going to take the key and open this guy up. You kind of get an idea of what's inside here. So they have a really great cooling system that's on the door, which is great. And the wiring in this thing is like some of the best I've ever seen. So they put this really long like sort of conduit bar that has all your wires to the whole machine in it. It's got an arcade power supply right there. This is the PC that runs everything. So you've got three video connections. This one goes to the main play field. This one goes to the 32 inch LCD on top, the horizontal screen. And this one goes to the DMD. So you've got two video cards in here, one with two outputs. The thing does run on an SSD, which is right there. You can't copy the software on this thing or anything like that. It's using some copy protection called Deep Freeze. So you can't really clone this or do anything like that. It's sort of a closed, it actually isn't sort of a closed system. It is a closed system. So just keep that in mind if you were ever thinking about investing in one of these. Down there, you've got your amp way up there in the front of the machine. I'm going to zoom in a little bit. So if you can see that, that's your amp. Like I said, I'm going to upgrade this with a soundbar. I did that on my old one. I just got this one, so I haven't been able to do that mod yet. There's a JAMA connector. It actually a PC to JAMA for the front buttons So those buttons that control things like the menu system and everything which you can kind of see them back there This one does not have the forced feedback mechanism Those are relatively new and are hitting the market. So there's a bunch of those. That's the connection for your JAMMA for the switches. There's the undermount of the 42-inch LCD. And then if I move up, actually, there's a little power strip right here, too, to power everything. And if I move up to the next compartment here, This next compartment's got the back of the, oh shoot, sorry, I'm falling over. Sorry guys, I know this isn't the most professional video I've done, but it's really hard to maneuver around back here. Alright, so I'm literally shoved in the wall right now. So when you open this up, you've got additional cooling fans, which are all over this unit, which is great. You've got your speakers, your front speakers. That's the back of your DMD. And that's your 32 inch LCD. So there you go. That's pretty much it, guys. It's a pretty cool system. I mean look how clean all the wiring is they did a really really good job on all of this So I'm pretty impressed with this unit the guy that sells these is um Virtual home arcades actually know the owner of that company if you're interested I can kind of help set you up with him But he does a good job with these units and I think he can drop ship most of this stuff straight to your house So I'm gonna close that up. I've been like him and I have been trading units back and forth. My needs changed and he wanted to have the other unit so the one I had before you could actually play arcade games on. I never really did make a video of it. I think I have one early video of it but yeah pretty nice unit guys. I'm gonna show you the side really quick. I know I didn't show much gameplay but we'll do that again another time. So all the details are really nice on this. This This is this nice metal rail. You've got the nice artwork. And there's my tripod. Sorry, guys. And then you got more of the artwork on the side over there. So pretty sweet. Anyways, I know that's short. It's a short and brief little intro to virtual pinball. I have had a lot of fun with these. I continue to explore pinball machines that I've never played before. and you know I think it's something great for someone that enjoys pinball or even maybe the casual pinball player that really just wants to explore it a little bit more so that's it guys if you enjoyed this please like the video please subscribe to the channel and please hit notifications so you can be informed of future videos and don't forget to leave your comments below alright guys thanks so much and we'll see you on the next one take care

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: b2e74c14-d0f8-4565-8cb1-e6658f2f1c1a*