Editing Pinball (section)

=== Flippers ===

[[File:Pinball Flippers - Demolition Man.JPG|thumb|Flippers allow the player to redirect the ball.]]
The ''flippers'' are one or more mechanically or electromechanically ([[solenoid]]) controlled levers, roughly {{cvt|3|to|7|cm|frac=4}} in length, used for redirecting the ball up the playfield. They are the main control that the player has over the ball, usually by corresponding pushbuttons on the cabinet's sides. They can primarily be switched fully on, sometimes with two different strengths for thrusting the flipper up and for holding it in position.<ref>{{Cite web|title=EM Pinball Circuits-Basics to not-so-basic {{!}} EM Pinball Tech {{!}} Pinside.com|url=https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/em-pinball-circuits-basics-to-not-so-basic/page/3|access-date=2021-07-21|website=pinside.com}}</ref> Careful timing of this limited positional control allows the player to direct the ball in a range of directions with various levels of velocity and spin. With the flippers, the player attempts to move the ball to hit various types of scoring targets, and to keep the ball from disappearing off the bottom of the playfield.

The very first pinball games appeared in the early 1930s and did not have flippers. After launching the ball simply proceeded down the playfield, directed by static nails (or "pins") to one of several scoring areas. These pins gave the game its name. In 1947, the first mechanical flippers appeared on [[Gottlieb]]'s ''[[Humpty Dumpty (pinball)|Humpty Dumpty]]''<ref name="bk-pinball-portfolio" /><ref name="bk-pinball" />{{rp|54–55}}<ref name="bk-tilt" /><ref name="bk-pinball-lure" /> and by the early 1950s, the two-flipper configuration at the bottom above the center drain had become standard.

Some pinball models have a third or fourth flipper. A few later machines have flippers that the machine's software could operate independently of the flipper button. During "Thing Flips" on ''The Addams Family'' pinball machine, the upper-left flipper automatically triggers a brief moment after the ball passes an optical sensor just above the flipper. Very few machines came with curve-shaped [[Time Warp (pinball)#Banana Flippers|banana flippers]].

The introduction of flippers ushered in the "golden age" of pinball, where the fierce competition between the various pinball manufacturers led to constant innovation in the field. Various types of stationary and moving targets were added, spinning scoring reels replaced games featuring static scores lit from behind. Multiplayer scores were added soon after, and then bells and other noise-makers, all of which began to make pinball less a game and more of an experience. The flippers have loaned pinball its common name in many languages, where the game is known mainly as "flipper".