Pinball machines with controllable lighting components. In some embodiments, a method may include electronically determining a physical property of a ball, the ball configured to move within a playfield of a pinball machine during a pinball game, and modifying a characteristic of a light emitted by a pinball target in response to an evaluation of the physical property. In other embodiments, a pinball machine may be configured to identify a state or mode of a game, and to control a light emitted by a pinball target located within the playfield in response to the state or mode, thus providing a visual indication of the state or mode. In yet other embodiments, a pinball target may include a substrate configured to receive impact from a ball during a game and a light element embedded within the substrate, the light element configurable to emit a light having a controllable property.