How's The Pinball Scene By You?

[smbhax]

I'm pretty lucky, there's been a bit of a pinball explosion in Seattle in recent years, and there are now three pinball arcades--with 10-ish pins each--within a few miles of me: Shorty's, and the newer one's Full Tilt Ice Cream (Ballard) and Add-a-Ball. I just read that Shorty's has increased their game price to $0.75 , but Add-a-Ball I think is still at a quarter, which is nice, and now they're even expanding their location. And finally there's the much bigger Seattle Pinball Museum a bit further away across downtown, still haven't been there but this will be remedied very very shortly--machines on free play, admission $10 for adults.

 

[iamoneagain]

I just had a business trip up in Seattle but didn't get a chance to go the Museum because of their hours. I'm more of fan of the late 80's/early 90's machine though, so Shorty's was perfect for me (other than price). Stayed only 2 blocks away. Got to try several games I've only played on Pinball Arcade like Theater of Magic, Medieval Madness, and Monster Bash. I was actually pretty good at the first two right away but Monster was way too dark and couldn't tell what I was doing. Really enjoyed Theater. Now I wish they could figure out ball spin on Pinball Arcade because it adds a lot to the game. Sometimes it would seem like the ball would just stick to the flippers, which was so nice for control.

I also got to check out the Adam's Family machine and it was a lot of fun. Lots to do and not as cluttered as Twilight Zone. So hope they can eventual bring that one over. Also played Championship Pub, which I think I've heard talk of it being an upcoming game. That was pretty fun and would love to have unlimited time with it to get deeper into the game. Took me awhile and few bucks to make any progress.

Funny is I used to live in Seattle and never made it to Shorty's but went everyday on my short visit there. I'm now down in San Diego and the thing I miss the most is the annual NW Pinball Expo. I would play for hours each day and would go the whole weekend . Early Friday's were the best since it wasn't crowed yet and had no lines for any of the games. I see they are moving to Tacoma this year.

So far I haven't even seen any Expos in all of Southern California. I thought for sure LA would have one. Think they at least have a place similar to Shorty's with a lot of machines on hand. I also have access to the Pinball Museum in Vegas, but that's a bit of drive. Think in San Diego there a lots of machine but it's one or two at each place scattered through out the city.

 

[shutyertrap]

So far I haven't even seen any Expos in all of Southern California. I thought for sure LA would have one. Think they at least have a place similar to Shorty's with a lot of machines on hand. I also have access to the Pinball Museum in Vegas, but that's a bit of drive. Think in San Diego there a lots of machine but it's one or two at each place scattered through out the city.

It's a crime, isn't it? Only place in LA I've found is Pins And Needles, just south of Hollywood off Alvarado I think. There's nothing in the OC unfortunately, which is where I live. I've mapped out a round trip of 6 places I'm gonna check out in a week or two, for a total of 19 unique 1980-2000s tables. I don't relish driving all over, but beggars can't be choosers.

 

[Munky]

Anyone know of any good places in Indiana?

 

[smbhax]

I went to an ice cream pinball parlor tonight and most of the players were women. I am in favor of this development.

 

[iamoneagain]

Just in case you haven't seen this link. Maps out pinball machine in major cities.

http://pinballmap.com

Oops, I see it was already listed.

 

[Munky]

No love for Indiana in that link unfortunately.

 

[iamoneagain]

No love for Indiana in that link unfortunately.

This other link that was posted does have machines for Indiana:

http://pinside.com/pinball/map/where-to-play

 

[ER777]

I found all of the nearby pinball locations for me by looking on Pinside.com, I would recommend that site.

I went to an ice cream pinball parlor tonight and most of the players were women. I am in favor of this development.

This needs to happen in the Syracuse area, I demand it.

 

[norbert26]

I'll just leave this here

http://pinside.com/pinball/map/where-to-play

ill be a monkeys uncle. according to that there is a lord of the rings pin located at the airport two or 3 miles up the road from here.

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

The pinball machine scene near me is actually not too bad. Most of the machines are one-offs, but there's also two practical pinball arcades: Lanes & Games, which has some great Sterns plus Addams Family and Scared Stiff; and the godlike Pinball Wizard Arcade, featuring 106 pinballs from the early 80s to now.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Anyone know of any good places in Indiana?

My Aunt lives near this place in Lafayette:

http://www.msamuse.com/

 

[Clawhammer]

I'm pretty lucky, there's been a bit of a pinball explosion in Seattle in recent years, and there are now three pinball arcades--with 10-ish pins each--within a few miles of me: Shorty's, and the newer one's Full Tilt Ice Cream (Ballard) and Add-a-Ball. I just read that Shorty's has increased their game price to $0.75 , but Add-a-Ball I think is still at a quarter, which is nice, and now they're even expanding their location. And finally there's the much bigger Seattle Pinball Museum a bit further away across downtown, still haven't been there but this will be remedied very very shortly--machines on free play, admission $10 for adults.

Seattle does indeed have a great pinball scene. On top of Shorty's, Full Tilt, etc. there's also the NW Pinball show, although I think it's in Tacoma this year. When I lived in Portland and Olympia I used to love playing pinball up there.

 

[dagwood]

Amusement arcades in Eastern Australia are pretty much filled wall to wall with those $2 crane machines, driving or killing video games, and if you're lucky, one badly maintained 1990's pinball machine

 

[timmyD]

In New Hampshire, we are blessed with some quality locations:

Pinball Wizard in Pelham (near the Massachusetts Border and close to Boston) 100+ tables
Canobie Lake Park (In Salem, NH (on the MA border), but requires amusement park admission, but all 15+ tables are 25 cents)
Fun Spot in Laconia, NH (30+ tables)

Pinball Wizard has the best upkeep of playfields out of the three. Canobie and Fun Spot are hit-or miss.

Also worth noting:
Hampton Beach area NH (on Border with MA) has several tables in various arcades.
Salisbury Beach in Massachusetts (on the NH border)
Old Orchard Beach in Maine has several tables at Palace Playland, but the numbers have dwindled to about 7 tables from a high of 60+ in the multi-arcade heyday of the 80's

check out http://www.pinside.com for more listings all over the world!

 

[ER777]

In New Hampshire, we are blessed with some quality locations:

Pinball Wizard in Pelham (near the Massachusetts Border and close to Boston) 100+ tables
...

I've actually been considering making a weekend trip to Pelham to spend some quality time at this location. It would be a long drive but 100+ tables is very enticing..

 

[Punisher]

There is an excess of Stern tables, where I'm at. Only around three arcades that have tables, too. One of them does have a nice, huge amount, but most of them are Sterns, like I said. At least it has ToM.