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Video game simulations

Simulating a pinball machine has also been a popular theme of video games. Chicago Coin 's TV Pingame (1973) was a digital version of pinball that had a vertical playfield with a paddle at the bottom, controlled by a dial, with the screen filled with simple squares to represent obstacles, bumpers and pockets. This inspired a number of clones, including TV Flipper (1973) by Midway Manufacturing, Exidy 's TV Pinball (1974), and Pin Pong (1974) by Atari, Inc. The latter replaced the dial controls with button controls.

Other early pinball video games include Toru Iwatani 's Gee Bee (1978), Bomb Bee (1979), and Cutie Q (1979), Tehkan 's arcade game Pinball Action (1985), the Atari 2600 game Video Pinball (1980), and David's Midnight Magic (1982). Bill Budge 's Pinball Construction Set, released for the Apple II in 1983, allowed the user to create their own simulated pinball machine and play it.

Most early simulations were top-down 2D. As processor and graphics capabilities have improved, more accurate ball physics and 3D pinball simulations have become possible. Tilting has also been simulated, which can be activated using one or more keys (sometimes the space bar) for "moving" the machine. Flipper button computer peripherals were also released, allowing pinball fans to add an accurate feel to their game play instead of using the keyboard or mouse. Modern pinball video games are often based around established franchises such as Metroid Prime Pinball, Mario Pinball Land, Pokémon Pinball, Kirby's Pinball Land, and Sonic Spinball.

Popular pinball simulations of the 1990s include Pinball Dreams, Pro Pinball and 3D Pinball: Space Cadet that was included in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. More recent examples include Pinball FX, Pinball FX 2, and Pinball FX 3.

There have been pinball programs released for all major home video game and computer systems, tablet computers and smart phones. Pinball video game engines and editors for creation and recreation of pinball machines include for instance Visual Pinball, Future Pinball and Unit3D Pinball.

A BBC News article described virtual pinball games e.g. Zen Pinball and The Pinball Arcade as a way to preserve pinball culture and bring it to new audiences. Another example of preserving historic pinball machines is Zaccaria Pinball that consists of digital recreations of classic Zaccaria pinball machines.