Golden Gate was released by Bally in 1962.
It has the Magic Screen Feature, Extra time Feature, OK / Red Letter Game game feature, 2 in blue scores 600 feature and the GOLDEN GAME feature.
I've owned this Golden Gate since early 2014. It's been out of service for a while.
 |
| My Golden Gate Bingo |
I recently had some vacation time so I decided to fix up the machine on rainy days.
It just needed a few stepper units cleaned and freed up, a few points burnished and the Magic Screen motor serviced. The game was out of service from not playing it for a long period of time.
I have a post from 2020, where I basically wrote the same thing. This game deserves better!
Unfortunately I’m down another G-4114 gear and noticed that the magic screen gearbox casing is on it’s way out, which is a bit concerning because I’m starting to run out of spare gearboxes... and spare gears.
 |
| Gear and parts book |
I made it a point to play the game almost every day now that it's repaired. This has given me renewed appreciation for this game.
To be frank, I don’t care much for OK games, Futurity games and all that malarkey.
My favorite Magic Screen Game is Sea Island. It’s straightforward and really puts the section scoring feature in value.
Golden Gate is something else! And, to be clear, when I play it, I only care about the GOLDEN GAME.
There’s something so esoteric about this game. A hidden world. You see the cryptic panel on the left of the backglass “GOLDEN GAME”.
But just like an identifying sign on the outside of a masonic lodge. It advertises a secret world. Hidden meanings to the uninitiated. The secret world of the golden game.
But one does not simply enter the golden game. First, the GATE panel must be lit. This gives the player access to the Purple Section which is the GATE to the golden game.
Then you must land 3 balls in the liminal threshold of the purple section, press and hold the R button and a hidden world is revealed.
 |
| The Purple Section |
A game within a game. That automation: The balls drop, the screen rolls, revealing the gold sections, and the game sets up.
Liquid Poetry!
A world within a world, with different rules. Like The Village in The Prisoner.
3 Balls in any golden section scores “green 5 odds” or 2 balls in any striped golds section when the feature is lit. Screen can be moved anytime before before 4th ball enters play. No extra balls.
 |
| The GOLDEN GAME! |
It gives me David Lynch mythology vibes. A dreamer dreams and lives inside that dream. But who is the dreamer? The sleeper must awaken. Plans within plans.
The main game is just a facade. Inside the golden game, that’s where the real business happens. A golden world of oddly shaped golden sections. Where the stakes are high. Just three balls in a section for a big juicy payout. But, like all things in this world, it's a ruse, it's a scam. It's a better way to steal your Nickel. Divide your attention, distract you with features. Dazzle the player with the prospect of the big prize. Sure, some players may win big, but many will just get Nickel and Dimed. Because that's what these machines were designed for all along: an elaborate way to take your pocket change.
Later bingo machines, like Orient, Venice, London, Safari, Super Seven and Bonus Seven had side games that could be played in parallel to the main game but only Golden Gate / Silver Sails had a game within a game.
Somewhere I had read that Golden Gate’s sister game Silver Sails was to be Bally’s last bingo game due to the LAW closing in on the bingo machine industry. I guess Bally wanted it’s bingo production to go out with a bang. Ultimately, the lawyers managed to play legalese tag for another decade or so.
 |
| Billboard November 10th 1962. Page 69 |
Fun observation: the backglass for Golden Gate / Silver Sails doesn’t say "Bally" anywhere on it.
While I was writing this post, the IPDB went down for a day or so, which was concerning, the database being a priceless trove of information on everything pinball.
Over the years I accumulated a lot of bookmarked pinball web pages and every now and then I notice that some old site is gone. The old internet is disappearing. It's important to keep all the old information around.
Here's an ancient video of Don Hooker, the father of bingo machines, being relentlessly questioned by a bunch of pinball nerds. I saved this years ago, I don't remember where I got it, but there's some good information in there. It's almost 1h20 long and it's VHS quality!
Here's few bonus pictures of inside Golden Gate's backbox in all it's glory. What a beast of a game.
 |
| My favorite relay: Super Blue |
