MERIDEN--Pinball machines may seem obsolete, but retro is in these days and so are these old-school games.
In Meriden there are a group of pinball wizards determined to keep the ball rolling.
The Sanctum, an arcade that focuses on pinball, honors the game as more than just a hobby like any other video game. "The fact that it's physical with moving parts in front of you, you can't mimic that," said Mark Carvey of The Sanctum.
Carvey's goal is to break into the top 1,000 players nationally, a list that's determined by a governing body, the International Flipper Association, that maintains national scoring.
Jim Swain, a Hamden resident, is a plumber professionally, but at night he works on the wires for the pinball machines at The Sanctum. "These sockets go bad, if it's one broken wire, they're all daisy-chained--it can take out half the lights on the playing field."
The Sanctum hosts tournaments and is open to anyone who wants to play.