Pinball wizards in Portland for championship tourney

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Pinball wizards flocked to Southeast Portland for the Oregon Solid State Pinball Championships.

The weekend long event took place at The Zed, a Southeast Portland food hall transformed into a museum of 1980s arcade culture — the golden age of arcades — for the tournament.

Nathan Stellhorn, who lives in the neighborhood and owns Lents Pinball, said this event is very specific.

“I try to do special things and bring in rare games and special games that people don’t get to see that often,” Stellhorn said. “Do a lot of work with the local collector community to bring in things that folks are excited to play. And I just love the opportunity to be at The Zed and host something like this in my neighborhood for everyone to come and participate in.”

Thirty contestants from across the US came to the event, with the champion to be crowned around 9 p.m. Sunday.

“This event focuses on games from the ’80s — so solid state pinball machines, right from the transition from mechanical games to electronic games,” Stellhorn told KOIN 6 News. He said The Zed was fantastic to let them turn the food hall into a pinball arcade.

Finalist Lexi Whittemore said the event was “a really fun environment” for everyone to “get to know each other.”

“This is a more open space than we’re used to in a lot of pinball areas,” Whittemore said. “It’s a great space and we feel like we can chat with our friends between rounds and get to know each other.”

The event was also open to anyone who wanted to take part in the non-tournament competition.