Live Power

The Live Power pinball machine, manufactured by the Dudley-Clark Company of Chicago in November 1934, holds a remarkable place in electromechanical pinball history: it was designed to allow up to nine balls in action at once, making it possibly the first electromechanical multiball pinball machine. Players received ten balls for five cents (or one cent), and the game was powered by a dry cell battery.

The strategy was distinctive. Players first loaded several balls into the center "Power House Accumulator" and "High Voltage" holes, then tried to land a ball in the top "Live Power" hole. Making that hole dropped the accumulated balls under the playfield to a kicker, which shot them onto the lower playfield continuously until they all landed in score holes. Balls shot into the top High Voltage holes were routed to the left or right side playfield and kicked upward to progressive scoring holes, and making the Live Power hole advanced those captive balls to the next-highest point holes, an early example of score-advanced captive balls. Outhole balls in the upper playfield were released for replay whenever the Live Power hole was made, and a buzzer sounded on the same event.

Measuring 20 by 40 inches, the Live Power is compact by modern standards but ambitious far beyond its size. Its cascading multiball action and captive-ball scoring offer a fascinating glimpse of just how inventive pinball design already was in 1934.