Editing Pinball Construction Set (section)

==Reception==
''Pinball Construction Set''{{'}}s sales had surpassed 250,000 copies by November 1989,<ref name=gpsales>{{cite journal | author=Staff | title=Chart-Busters; SPA Platinum | date=November 1989 | issue=5 | journal=[[Game Players]] | page=112}}</ref> and it ultimately sold over 300,000 copies in all platforms.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

''Pinball Construction Set''{{'}}s scope and flexibility on a 48K Apple II was impressive. [[Steve Wozniak]] called it "the greatest program ever written for an 8-bit machine", and for thousands the software was their first experience with a GUI.<ref name="maher20130201">{{cite web | url=http://www.filfre.net/2013/02/the-pinball-wizard/ | title=The Pinball Wizard | work=The Digital Antiquarian | date=2013-02-01 | accessdate=10 July 2014 | author=Maher, Jimmy}}</ref> ''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' in 1983 considered the [[software toy]] revolutionary, and easy to understand because of its representative icons and drag-and-drop method of constructing a table; the magazine stated that "there's something almost magical about the way this product works. You take everything it does for granted after just a few minutes". The nine-page manual was considered "overkill", since ''Pinball Construction Set'' required no programming knowledge; an eight-year-old had no problems creating his own tables.<ref>{{citation | date = May–June 1983 | last = Besndard | first = John | magazine = [[Computer Gaming World]] | title = Pinball Construction Set | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1983&pub=2&id=10 | pages = 12, 43}}</ref> Reviewing the Atari version in their "Arcade Alley" column, ''[[Video (magazine)|Video]]'' magazine described ''Pinball Construction Set'' as a "remarkably clever and easy-to-use program", and noted that a third-party company had already published a suite of pre-made pinball games for use with the construction set.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Kunkel |first1= Bill |author-link1= Bill Kunkel (journalist)|last2= Katz |first2= Arnie |author-link2= Arnie Katz|date= October 1983 |title= Arcade Alley: From Pinball to Purgatory at Electronic Arts |journal= [[Video (magazine)|Video]]|publisher= Reese Communications|volume= 7|issue= 7|pages= 30–32|issn= 0147-8907}}</ref>{{rp|32}}

''[[Byte (magazine)|BYTE]]'' found the tool kit as "complete" and praised Budge's "marvelous sense of programming". The magazine reported that "creativity is encouraged. [Users] are gently encouraged and aided. This is valuable for children and inexperienced players and computer users".<ref name="holden198401">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-01/BYTE-1984-01#page/n283/mode/2up | title=Pinball Construction Set | work=BYTE | date=January 1984 | accessdate=22 October 2013 | author=Holden, Elaine | pages=282}}</ref> ''[[InfoWorld]]'' compared the game's importance to that of [[Scott Adams (game designer)|Scott Adams]]'s ''[[Adventureland (video game)|Adventureland]]'', and predicted that it "is sure to have lots of children and grandchildren".<ref name="mace19840109_16">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ey4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA69 | title=Electronic Antics | work=InfoWorld | date=9–16 January 1984 | accessdate=4 February 2015 | author=Mace, Scott | pages=69}}</ref> ''InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers'' cited it as a notable arcade game.<ref name="mace1984">{{Cite book |last=Mace |first=Scott |url=https://archive.org/details/InfoWorlds_Essential_Guide_to_Atari/page/n85/mode/2up?view=theater |title=InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers |date=1984 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-669006-3 |pages=75}}</ref> ''[[Ahoy!]]'' called ''Pinball Construction Set'' as one of the best home entertainment programs of its era.<ref name="davies198405">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/ahoy-magazine-05/Ahoy_05_May_1984#page/n47/mode/2up | title=Pinball Construction Set | work=Ahoy! | date=May 1984 | accessdate=16 October 2013 | author=Davies, Lloyd | pages=49}}</ref> ''The [[Addison-Wesley]] Book of Atari Software 1984'' gave the "pinball wizard's dream" an overall A+ rating, praising the user interface as "exceptionally human engineered".<ref name="aw1984">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/Atari_Software_1984#page/n127/mode/2up | title=The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software | publisher=Addison-Wesley | year=1984 | pages=128–129 | isbn=0-201-16454-X | editor1=Stanton, Jeffrey | editor2=Wells, Robert P. | editor3=Rochowansky, Sandra | editor4=Mellid, Michael}}</ref> ''[[Compute!]]'' listed it in 1988 as one of "Our Favorite Games", calling the game "a programming work of art ... a classic that never seems to grow old".<ref name="compute198805">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1988-05-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_096_1988_May#page/n13/mode/2up | title=Our Favorite Games | work=Compute! | date=May 1988 | accessdate=10 November 2013 | pages=12}}</ref> [[Orson Scott Card]] said in the magazine in 1989 that the program was so flexible that his son used it as a graphics program.<ref name="card198901">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-01-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_104_1989_Jan#page/n13/mode/2up | title=Gameplay | work=Compute! | date=January 1989 | accessdate=10 November 2013 | author=Card, Orson Scott | pages=12}}</ref>

===Awards===
In 1984 ''Pinball Construction Set'' received a Certificate of Merit in the category of "1984 Most Innovative Video Game/Computer Game" at the 5th annual [[Arkie Awards]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Kunkel |first1= Bill |author-link1= Bill Kunkel (journalist)|last2= Katz |first2= Arnie |author-link2= Arnie Katz|date= February 1984 |title= Arcade Alley: The 1984 Arcade Awards, Part II |journal= [[Video (magazine)|Video]]|publisher= Reese Communications|volume= 7|issue= 11|pages= 28–29|issn= 0147-8907}}</ref>{{rp|29}} One month later ''[[Softline (magazine)|Softline]]'' readers named the game the ninth most-popular Apple and Atari program of 1983.<ref name="stgame19840304">{{cite news | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1984&pub=6&id=16 | title=The Best and the Rest | work=St.Game | date=Mar–Apr 1984 | accessdate=28 July 2014 | pages=49}}</ref> ''Computer Gaming World'' in 1996 declared ''Pinball Construction Set'' the 50th-best computer game ever released,<ref name=cgw150>{{cite magazine | author=Staff | title=150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time | magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] | date=November 1996 | issue=148 | pages=63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98}}</ref> and ranked it #1 in the magazine's list of the most innovative computer games.<ref name="cgw199611mostinnovative">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1996&pub=2&id=148 | title=The 15 Most Innovative Computer Games | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1996 | accessdate=25 March 2016 | pages=102}}</ref> ''Pinball Construction Set'' is an inductee in [[GameSpy]]'s Hall of Fame.<ref>[http://archive.gamespy.com/halloffame/september02/pcs/ GameSpy Hall of Fame] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316041001/http://archive.gamespy.com/halloffame/september02/pcs/|date=2006-03-16}} from ''[[GameSpy]]''</ref> In 2008, ''Pinball Construction Set'' was honored at the 59th Annual [[Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards]] for "User Generated Content/Game Modification".<ref>[http://kotaku.com/342028/2008-tech-emmy-winners 2008 Tech Emmy Winners] from [[Kotaku|Kotaku.com]]</ref>