For an ice hockey fanatic like Bob Lemieux, inventing another game is the best way to channel his frustrations as an ice hockey player. For the manufacturing company Brunswick, he designed air hockey tables in 1972. It easily became a huge hit and easily became popular among carnivals and game rooms in the United States. In 1974, Brunswick held an air hockey championship, with a $5000 worth Best Air Hockey Player in The World trophy. For the regional championships, New York City was chosen as venue. “The Spiderman” and “Barnett” were the final contenders. Barnett is a college student, while The Spiderman is a 24 year old professional. The game ended with The Spiderman losing to Barnett.
The era of video games and arcade in 1980s almost caused air hockey nearly taking its toll. This was until the deemed hero of air hockey Mark Robbins placed a magazine ad asking for old air hockey game table in every household. He collected these tables and managed to convince the U.S. Billiards to manufacture tables. This move was seen to revive air hockey. There were some negotiations with Dynamo Corp. to produce some tables.
This event was the rebirth of air hockey. Robbins was able to build a company which sold at least a thousand hockey tables a year through the renovation of simple tables. How do you play air hockey? You will need a table, square mallets, disk, and puck. The game table must not have friction, and must be smooth. Dots which emit warm air consist the architecture of the table. To slide the disk on the table’s surface, air cushion is used.
The multi game table is surrounded by rails to prevent the mallets from leaving the tables. At the opposite sides of the table lies the goal. The United States Air Table Hockey Association only approves Dynamo-manufactured, tournament sized hockey tables. Tables such as Blue Top, Photon, Brown Top, Pro-Style, Black Top, and Purple Top and are also approved by the USAA.
How do you play air hockey? Two players are needed to play air hockey. Through a toss coin at the beginning of the game, puck possession is determined. The goal of each player is to shoot the puck inside the opponent’s goal. Seven points must be made to win the game. When the mallet is placed on top of the puck, foul is committed. This is also called topping. In this case, the opponent will gain the possession. Anytime during the duration of the game, the players are not allowed to touch the puck. Once the puck leaves the table, the opponent will have possession of the puck, and an offensive foul is called upon the player responsible. It is a good example of a classic game room furniture.
A hockey table may be the best option, along with other classics such as billiards tables, chess board games, and foosball tables, if you’re thinking of the perfect game room furniture for your game room.
The best options when it comes to picking the perfect game room furniture for your entertainment room are air hockey tables. This game table is an all time American favorite sport.
- Tom Stevens