Moreover, you won’t find just pinball machines at the arcade. Additionally, if you want to take your pinball game a step further, ask about leagues! Hone your skills and compete with fellow arcade goers for a spot on their weekly high scores list. Since the inception of “multiball”, achieving these missions raises the difficulty. “There’s a depth of play to modern pinball machines,” Ernie told me, explaining that each machine has a range of missions. As for the machines themselves, a multitude of bands and classic movies represented, from Aerosmith-Ernie’s personal favorite!- AC/DC, and Metallica to Jurassic Park, Star Trek, Iron Man, and Deadpool. Basically, you pay a set fee-either $8 for the hour or $15 to pay until close-and you’re good to go! No quarters needed! Your wristband allows you to leave and come back. Compete for a spot on the weekly high score list, or ask about leagues to take your pinball skills to the next level!Īt Rock N’ Roll Pinball, you’ll find 29 pinball machines, both vintage and modern, that are set to ‘free play’. Modern machine, and the vintage Grand Prix machine. Following COVID setbacks and building renovations, what used to be a toy store was quickly transformed into Rock N’ Roll Pinball arcade! The Pinball ArcadeĪt Rock N’ Roll Pinball, you’ll find a multitude of themed machines, such as the Star Trek
After some setbacks with axe-throwers and leasing clauses, Ernie eventually settled on the current location on 815 South Railroad Avenue. It’s the place “where the Auburn people go to have a good time,” as Brian told him. With Amy came her fiancée Patrick Davis and his experience in the restaurant business.įinally, with a team assembled, Ernie began scouting a location. What began as an idea for an Auburn venue eventually became a search for a place in Opelika. ” Next, Brian brought his daughter Amy Briggs in, Rock N’ Roll Pinball’s general manager. He was the literal missing piece, and, as Ernie describes him, “the muscle behind a lot of what you’ll see in. Where Scott could fix the newer machines with computer boards, Brian could fix the solid-state vintage machines.
Importantly, a few weeks later, he was introduced to the “fourth musketeer”, Brian Briggs, the EM (electro-mechanic) guy. With their combined content knowledge, Ernie knew he had the beginnings of a team to start his arcade. Pay $8 for an hour of free-play, or buy a $15 wristband to free-play until close! You’ll find 29 vintage and modern machines, all with different themes, at Rock N’ Roll Pinball. Next, it was that night he met Scott Mount, elbows deep in a pinball machine repairing some bumpers. “They were occupying spare bedrooms, dining rooms, garage, hallways… everywhere where you could possibly put a pinball machine, they have one,” Ernie said, laughing. This was evident in the 25 pinball machines in the Gentry’s home.
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Stephen knew who to buy from, what to look for, and how to get the good deal. Then, Kenny invited him to the home of Stephen and Emily Gentry for a pinball tournament. His experience with the tourism industry in Miami introduced Ernie to the world of conventions, conferences, and tournaments. So, Ernie began to assemble the team that would grow his one pinball machine into the successful arcade venture he owns today. The Journey of Rock N’ Roll Pinball Begins
Markedly, it was the same price as the Corvette, but with a more resilient “joy factor” that couldn’t be ruined. Eventually, he decided on his first machine, still found in the arcade today: The Beatles machine. So, Ernie began to look around for his own. “It was common in the 80s for people to have their own pinball machines,” he explains. He then remembered that in the Air Force people owned pinball machines and transported them from place to place. He asked himself the relatable question: “What do you want to accomplish-what do you want to have out life-before you say goodbye?” So, Ernie began to think about what was next. Specifically, that with a sideswipe or a fender-bender, it would be ruined. However, Ernie quickly began to reconsider the “joy factor” of his purchase. As a matter of fact, Rock ‘N Roll Pinball began with the purchase of a 1987 Corvette convertible in 2016. When Ernest “Ernie” Rains began his career in the Air Force in 1976, it never occurred to him that one day he’d own a pinball arcade in downtown Opelika, Alabama. Rock N’ Roll Pinball owner Ernie Rains shows off both his modern and vintage pinball machines,Īll available for ‘free-play’ with the purchase of a wristband.
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