Have you ever wanted to turn your Nintendo Switch into a pinball machine? Well, if you have a 3D printer, now you can.
Pinball isn’t a huge deal for most gamers, but there’s a certain segment of the gaming populace that just loves the retro feel of a real pinball table. Getting one of those is getting harder and harder these days as pinball tables can cost upwards of thousands of dollars (and even mini virtual tables aren’t cheap), so most are turning to cheaper alternatives.
The Nintendo Switch has a digital pinball game that you can get called The Pinball Arcade that does most of the job of recreating that pinball feel, but it doesn’t quite nail it. Shoulder bumpers just don’t feel the same. That’s why Tommy Williamson of the YouTube channel Nerds&Makers decided to do something about it.
His plan? Turn the Nintendo Switch into a pinball machine. His ingredients? A standard Nintendo Switch, a flatscreen TV, a table, and a 3D printer.
Since Pinball Arcade has a portrait mode that allows you to play with the game displayed vertically instead of horizontally, all you need to do is lay a TV down flat in order to get most of the way to a true pinball table. But the remaining 50% needs some authentic pinball machine buttons, and for that, Williamson turns to the 3D printer.
By creating a set of special holders, Williamson turns regular Switch Joy-Cons into actual pinball machine buttons. The holder is essentially a big black box that spans the width of the TV and has slots where the Joy-Cons can be inserted. A pair of spring-loaded buttons have actuator arms that will hit the bumpers whenever they’re depressed. You can even lean on the holder like you would an actual pinball table thanks to the heavy construction.
Just don’t lean too hard or you might knock your TV off the table.
You can download the Joy-Con holder off of Thingiverse if you’ve got a 3D printer. If you don’t, you’ll sadly have to cludge your own solution or shell out for an actual pinball table.
Source: Kotaku, Nerds&Makers
