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JIM BELSITO & THE RIVERSIDE PINBALL LEAGUE WORDS: MANO MIRANDÉ PHOTOS: ZACH CORDNER
While growing up in Riverside in the 80s, there was no shortage of places to play video games. Local staples like the Riverside Plaza’s “Aladdin’s Castle,” and “The Gold Mine” at The Tyler Mall, and of course, the three-story arcade inside Castle Park were constantly packed with people of all ages dumping whatever change they could scrounge up into these machines. Some played as an innocent distraction, while others spent countless hours honing their skills to defend their high scores and defeat potential challengers. With popularity of home gaming systems like Nintendo and Sega reaching an all-time high by the mid to late 1980s, a noticeable decline in attendance of public arcades inevitably followed. Many of these once thriving gaming institutions eventually met their demise—permanently closing their doors to become nostalgic memories of days past. Long before the video game craze of the 1980s, another beloved source of coin-operated entertainment reigned supreme. Consisting of only a silver ball and two flippers, the The Riversider Magazine
deceptively “simple” game of Pinball offers much more to its players than one might imagine. With roots as early as the 1930s, Pinball has managed to survive the test of time, and with the current resurgence in popularity of Retro Gaming and “Barcades,” it’s currently witnessing a long-awaited rebirth. But those who love the game and its culture recognize it as much more than just a passing trend. It’s become a lifestyle to many, and like any competitive platform, it demands a skill level and dedication that requires years of practice to master. One Inland Empire native who has committed decades of his life to Pinball and continues to contribute to its advancement is Jim Belsito—founder of the Riverside Pinball League, owner of PS Vending, and co-organizer of the INDISC Pinball Tournament. Born in Lansing, Michigan, Jim moved to the Inland Empire at the age of five where his love for video games began. At 52 years old today, Jim fondly recalled his early fascination. “It started in ’81 when I found Pac-Man. I was totally addicted to video games, and Pac-Man was the start of it. In elementary
