Here’s my Twin Galaxies write-up:
My girlfriend and I drove bout 90 minutes one-way from Orange County to a section of Palm Springs called “Banning”. I had never heard of Banning, other than that it wasn’t far from Morongo Hotel & Casino, which I had stayed at many a time in the past (great lazy river, terrible gaming, security that is not cool with you bringing your own booze up to your room).
Upon arrival, we were greeted with… a slowly moving train keeping us from our destination. This should give you a good idea of how rural the location is. After about a ten-minute wait, we were able to cross the tracks and make our way to the quite nondescript festival. Whatever I was expecting to see… this was not it. It reminded me of a farm-based elementary school. Warehouses crossed with Quonset huts. The opposite of glamorous, to say the least. I admit that upon first sight, I was a little dismayed; we came all the way out here for this?
But after we made our way into the building, my fears were subdued. Around the corner from the main entrance where the (heavy on the Billy Mitchell) merch table was, lied pinball – and arcade game! – Nirvana. Holy cow. It was just breathtaking how many pinball machines were in one HUGE warehouse.
I thought it would be best for us to take a look at the lay of the land before committing to playing anything. That didn’t keep my girlfriend from lighting up upon seeing all the EMs in one corner of the building, flittering from pin to pin, regaling in the joyous chimes until she sadly came to the conclusion that EMs are kinda on the boring side compared to newfangled doohickey games. She wasn’t the only one to think so, as the EM section was a ghost town throughout the evening.
The pinball section of the warehouse had various eras and companies kept together in various areas. As I previously mentioned, there was the EM section, which were broken down into other categories, like baseball and music themed pins. Then, you turn the corner, and find the widebody section, where my girlfriend squealed with delight upon seeing an Embryon pin – one of the first pins she ever really enjoyed playing! Then there was the Zacarria section (which were all sadly powered off), some Atari pins, including the how-can-it-be-so-cool-looking-but-so-incredibly-boring Hercules, some Capcom gems (FINALLY got to play Big Bang Bar, but Airborne and Flipper Football weren’t working), and some Gottlieb titles (I feel like I’m the only person in the world with a Monte Carlo, as I haven’t seen it in public ANYWHERE other than my garage). The middle aisle had all the epic games from the 70s through the 90s, and the aisle farthest to the right had all the latest games. Guess which aisle was the most populated throughout the evening?
I’m making my way through the aisles of the warehouse, in complete awe, feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. But I’m also thinking to myself, “wasn’t this place supposed to have a bunch of arcade games, too?”. Turns out if you were take a right instead of a left from the main entrance; you’d find yourself in the arcade game section of the warehouse. And while I am a huge pinball enthusiast, it’s old arcade games that REALLY have a soft spot in my heart… and this place TOTALLY delivered the goods as far as old, obscure games are concerned. Check out this amazing list: Atari’s Major Havoc, Peter Pack-Rat, and Steve Ritchies’ own Devastators, not to mention unbelievably ancient games like Steeplechase, Space Race and Canyon Bomber! And then there were an incredible amount of Bally/Midway games from the Marvin Glass era, such as Tapper, Domino Man and Timber. And I can’t forget to mention my first time ever seeing a Granny and the Gators! I could go on and on about the arcade game section. Laserdisc games in perfect condition. Cockpit versions of games such as Spy Hunter, Star Wars, and Red Baron. Definitely the most incredible selection of arcade games I have ever seen under one roof, even edging out ReplayFX in that respect.
It wasn’t all perfect, though. Quite a few games were turned off or out of order. The building was really hot in some sections. There was a band that performed on the property, but they played on the other end of the parking lot, as far away from all the pinball & arcade game action as one could get. I feel bad for the band as they were sparsely attended, if at all – despite the efforts of the staff reminding everyone via overhead speaker that they were performing! Vendors were pretty much non-existent, unless you wanted some Billy Mitchell swag, or Nintendo carts. I was glad to see the good folks at Pinball Arcade representing – they’re really making their presence known!
Also, and maybe this is just me, but I don’t think Wedgehead Microbrew is worth $7 a cup.
Overall? It was pretty spectacular. It’s grungy, which adds to what I consider a pretty cool vibe… but it also keeps the place from being a destination spot, unlike the well-coifed ReplayFX in the heart of Pittsburg. I’m not even sure it’s fair to compare ReplayFX to The Twin Galaxies / Pinball Museum. All I know is, I had a blast, and I recommend this place to anyone in Southern California who doesn’t mind driving out to the middle of nowhere to slap some balls around.
Torrance, CA
Winnipeg, MB
