BlahCade Podcast #6 - James Bondage (or, Pinball Fools!)

[Jeff Strong]

I hope I'm not strange for saying that I prefer brightly lit places (and daylight) for pinball.

Not strange at all. Everyone has their personal preference. One main drawback with lights or windows around pinball machines is that you have to lookout for glare/reflections on the glass, but if the pins are placed properly in relation to the lights/windows then it's not an issue (or if the machines have the newer anti-glare glass). The other thing is that bright lights diminish the effect of the pinball machine's own lights. The light show gets washed out in a bright room. On the other side of the coin, some people prefer to get a better view of the art which a bright room provides, so they both have their merits. Personally, I like it on the darker side, but I'll play anywhere.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

They make special glass now...InvisiGlass I think it's called...very expensive but it makes it from a player's perspective like there's no glass at all.

I played a Wizard of Oz on location under a track spotlight that normally would have made the machine unplayable with glare and it cut the glare down to barely noticeable levels.

I prefer darker ambients personally so that the machine's light show has a chance to shine, but I know many players prefer to see the art more clearly.

 

[Jeff Strong]

They make special glass now...InvisiGlass I think it's called...very expensive but it makes it from a player's perspective like there's no glass at all.

I played a Wizard of Oz on location under a track spotlight that normally would have made the machine unplayable with glare and it cut the glare down to barely noticeable levels.

I prefer darker ambients personally so that the machine's light show has a chance to shine, but I know many players prefer to see the art more clearly.

Yeah, I actually alluded to that glass in my post

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Yeah, I actually alluded to that glass in my post

OK, so maybe I'm off work today, and maybe I've started enjoying some adult beverages earlier than I normally do...can you blame me?

 

[Jeff Strong]

OK, so maybe I'm off work today, and maybe I've started enjoying some adult beverages earlier than I normally do...can you blame me?

Of course not. I just like messing with ya's. Cheers!

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

Yeah, I definitely know about the anti-glare glass. Either it's popular here, or the operators are good at picking spots where lights on the ceiling or windows don't interfere with gameplay. I think there's only been one case where a reflection was bad enough to interfere with gameplay, and that's because the machine was next to a window on three sides. A lot of these machines have also been LED-modded, which are bright enough to be easily visible in even the most intense sunlight.

A lot of machines, I noticed, have general illumination turned off. That Time Machine was one such case (or does it not have general illumination?). A pinball machine with a black playfield in a black room with no lights and no general illumination meant I was relying on the insert lights to try to figure out where the ball was.

 

[mmmagnetic]

This podcast completely flew under my radar, and by that I mean that my radar was completely unplugged and stored in the basement, covered with three decades of dust and spiderwebs.

I´m marathoning through the old episodes right now, and I just wanted to say how enjoyable these are! You all have great voices, I love hearing all these regional accents It´s also a great way for me to catch up on some older topics, I´ve been out of the loop during the last few months.

 

[shutyertrap]

This podcast completely flew under my radar, and by that I mean that my radar was completely unplugged and stored in the basement, covered with three decades of dust and spiderwebs.

I´m marathoning through the old episodes right now, and I just wanted to say how enjoyable these are! You all have great voices, I love hearing all these regional accents Heretic really cracked me up. It´s also a great way for me to catch up on some older topics, I´ve been out of the loop during the last few months.

We appreciate the feedback! And don't look now, but Podcast #7 is right around the corner.

 

[mmmagnetic]

Sweet!

 

[karl]

Keep up the good work, guys. Great to hear another one is just around the corner

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

Sweet. Q&A is always my favorite part of any podcast I listen to, and an extra-big one will be extra-sweet.

 

[HOW]

We appreciate the feedback! And don't look now, but Podcast #7 is right around the corner.

That's JUST what I was on here to try and find out!
(PS. Meant to add my UK arcade experiences in a post here-Hopefully I can submit before #7 hits )

Andy/HOW

 

[mmmagnetic]

Considering pinball in Germany, it´s not quite as dire as the running gag makes it seem. We actually have a pretty big pinball museum in Schwerin!

One of the contributors even lives in what I can only describe as the "palace of Lord Flipsalot":

http://youtu.be/zHx4ta2vAbE?t=8m43s

...other than that, of course, it´s pretty bleak, I have to admit. At least the big cinema chain UCI almost always has a couple of pinballs in their lobby - last time I went there they had Tron and Revenge From Mars. Not too shabby!

 

[shutyertrap]

Considering pinball in Germany, it´s not quite as dire as the running gag makes it seem. We actually have a pretty big pinball museum in Schwerin!

...other than that, of course, it´s pretty bleak, I have to admit. At least the big cinema chain UCI almost always has a couple of pinballs in their lobby - last time I went there they had Tron and Revenge From Mars. Not too shabby!

Looks like we'll have to send Bonzo on a mission!

 

[mmmagnetic]

Looks like we'll have to send Bonzo on a mission!

Actually, I´ve been thinking of going there myself, I live in Hamburg which is just a sub-2 hour trainride away from Schwerin. If and when I´m going there I´ll make sure to document this all with a ton of pictures for sure

http://www.flippermuseum-schwerin.de/index.php/unsere-flipper

Weitere Flipper:

Indiana Jones, The Addams Family, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Capt. Fantastic, Funhouse, Demolition Man, Jack in the Box, Time 2000, Fireball, Mata Hari, Medusa, Fire!, Space Invaders, Black Knight 2000, Viking, Nine Ball, Ali, Pinball Champ, The Getaway, Royal Flush, Firepower, Fireball, Orbitor1, Time Machine, Space Shuttle, Star Trek DE, Pinbot, QBert´s Quest, u.v.m.

(u.v.m. meaning "and many more")