Editor's note: I had no idea what a "dead bumper transfer" was until I read Jeff's piece about the five things that make him smile about pinball. How many of you enjoy pinball? -Jason

Earlier this year I attended California Extreme, a classic video game show featuring pinball and arcade machines set to free play for an entire weekend. I came in with a distinctly greater interest in the video games than the pinball machines, but by the time I left, the pinball machines were equal with the game cabinets in my heart.

Here's a list of how pinball brings me joy. I discovered most of these while walking around the show or watching Rick Stetta's "How to Play Pinball" seminar. I'm sharing these in order to encourage you to play pinball.

-- The physics
-- The physicality
-- Each machine's uniqueness
-- The strategy
-- The competition

The physics of pinball are the physics of our world. That sounds like some hippie BS, but it's the crux of what makes pinball so entertaining. You understand how a ball is going to move because the rules of physics are a constant in our world. Most of us have that basic knowledge, which isn't something that can be said about video games. Nature designed pinball's rules for motion, whereas someone named Steve often designed video game rules.

Physicality sounds similar to physics, but this is more about your body's interaction with the game and the delicate balance between aiding, hurting, and tilting when it comes to hip-checking any particular machine. The physics come into play for this -- as it does with all aspects of pinball -- because you never exactly know how any particular attempt at tilting may turn out.

You press a button to do something in a video game, and you always get the same result. But pinball doesn't provide you with that assurance. And if you beat the game up too much, it punishes you by cutting off.

The uniqueness of any given machine is probably what sold me on pinball at California Extreme. Games are different from one another in ways that are sometimes subtle and sometimes vast. But the same pinball game often varies from machine to machine. Depending on the age of the parts, how well it's maintained, and if a particular component doesn't work so well, you may encounter a completely or slightly different experience from one Sopranos machine to another. This is why it's so much fun to have that one machine at your local dive that you get to know really well.

The strategy aspect is not something that occurred to me until I saw Stetta's presentation. He's a five-time world pinball champion and the only person to hold all three "belts" from the different governing bodies of pinball at the same time. He's also interesting and weird in a good way.

He ran down a few things about pinball that I had never taken the time to consider before watching him play.

First, you should look at the machine and learn its quirks. Try to pay attention if someone else is playing and notice how the playfield is changing based on what the player's doing. Most modern machines have missions, and that's how you score the big points. Try to find one that you're good at and that can be repeated, and try to perfect that particular aspect of your game.

A balance between control and chaos is a part of pinball, and Stetta made it clear to me that you'll always do better when you're in control of what's going on. It's important to try to catch the ball; there are a few ways to do that. Try to find one that works for you and stick with it.

I like the "dead bumper transfer," which may be difficult to explain. Basically, when the ball comes down the center of the playfield toward one of the bumpers, let it hit the bumper without springing the bumper. The ball should bounce over to the other bumper, which you can then spring up and catch the ball.  Now, you can choose what to do more precisely.

If you are insane -- or have a game at home -- you can try an alley pass, a maneuver where you wait until the last possible second as the ball travels down the bumper to shoot it across and up the opposite bumper alley. This helps you gain speed for a controlled shot.

At the beginning of this video -- which is from California Extreme 2008 -- you can see Stetta perform a "dead bumper transfer" and catch the ball.

Here's a video from this year's California Extreme where Stetta demonstrates the alley pass.

Finally, competition can make just about anything more fun. My friend and I enjoyed playing a game called "Beer" or "Rum and Coke," where we would race to see who could drink a beer or Rum and Coke faster. If you have friends that are around the same skill level as you in any particular activity, it makes it more enjoyable to compete against them -- or work together with them to compete against another team. It's the driving force behind some of the best moments in any kind of gaming, and pinball is no different.

Almost all modern machines allow for up to four players to play against one another, so go to your bar, pick a good machine, and have some fun -- just don't spill your beer on the glass, man. That's not cool.