I got to play The Getaway today! But...

[Nightwing]

Well actually it was yesterday - at a small arcade outside of Plymouth,MA. What made it interesting is that the table has been gimmicked to make people lose quickly SDTM. It's too bad,because the table was in decent shape otherwise.

I started playing,hit a couple of shots,and then the ball bounces off the right side down towards my left flipper. Until it hit precisely the middle of the playfield & then did a 45* turn & right down the center drain.

Now my ball wasn't going at top speed - but I've played enough pinball to know that shouldn't happen. My guess is there is some sort of small magnet in back of the center drain - just strong enough to divert the ball going by it. Needless to say,I won't be going back...

 

[DrainoBraino]

Magnet eh? It was probably just worn in the center causing the ball to lose speed and follow the worn groove.

 

[Nightwing]

It could be - but then that groove must have been a damn trench. I should have taken a vid of it.

 

[shutyertrap]

Sounds to me like a raised insert. You've got a whole circle of them on The Getaway, and a slow ball would totally change direction because of that.

Why does everyone always assume magnets?

 

[Naildriver74]

Sounds to me like a raised insert. You've got a whole circle of them on The Getaway, and a slow ball would totally change direction because of that.

Why does everyone always assume magnets?

The magnet theory has been around since I started playing in the 60s. No one knows where it started.

 

[kinggo]

hmmm....... magnet in the 60's. Did any of those guys ever looked under the playfield of EM machine? There's no place for magnet there and even if there is, the one that should be strong enough to interfere with the ball movement through thick wodden playfield would probably be strong enough to interfere with all those mechanical moving parts also.

 

[Nightwing]

Sounds to me like a raised insert. You've got a whole circle of them on The Getaway, and a slow ball would totally change direction because of that.

Why does everyone always assume magnets?

Because the ball wasn't going that slow. I've played tables with that "dead area" in the middle that can mess around with a slow moving ball. This was different. I tried nudging the table to see if I could get the ball out of that area with no success. It really looked liked someone was using the force.

Anyways,if I get back into the area I'll post a vid of exactly what it was doing.

 

[Naildriver74]

hmmm....... magnet in the 60's. Did any of those guys ever looked under the playfield of EM machine? There's no place for magnet there and even if there is, the one that should be strong enough to interfere with the ball movement through thick wodden playfield would probably be strong enough to interfere with all those mechanical moving parts also.

Some people have to blame something for playing a bad game. Then there's others that say man I need to get better at this I suck.

 

[DrainoBraino]

Sounds to me like a raised insert. You've got a whole circle of them on The Getaway, and a slow ball would totally change direction because of that.

Why does everyone always assume magnets?

This is probably the right answer.

 

[Zaphod77]

i've seen behavior that looks like a magnet at times. but play TAF to see what a magnet under the playfield will really do. Usually some other fact of physics is to blame.

most likely it caught on a vertical insert, or a groove somehow developed in the field. take a picture if you can.

 

[Carl Spiby]

 

[Fungi]

How does this get past the beta???!!! Man, time to go complain!

 

[ER777]

i've seen behavior that looks like a magnet at times. but play TAF to see what a magnet under the playfield will really do. Usually some other fact of physics is to blame.

most likely it caught on a vertical insert, or a groove somehow developed in the field. take a picture if you can.

The magnets in LAH are even more brutal than TAF. There are 3 big ones under the middle of its big open playfield that have no problem slinging balls straight out the outlanes.. luckily they only activate during multiball. HS2 on the other hand has no magnets under the playfield unless the operator modified it.

I agree that a raised insert is the most likely answer.

 

[Nightwing]

The magnets in LAH are even more brutal than TAF. There are 3 big ones under the middle of its big open playfield that have no problem slinging balls straight out the outlanes.. luckily they only activate during multiball. HS2 on the other hand has no magnets under the playfield unless the operator modified it.

I agree that a raised insert is the most likely answer.

It could be. I certainly don't know everything about pinball,unlike some people...

 

[ER777]

I'm far from knowing everything about pinball, it just happens that you're talking about a game that I own.

 

[Espy]

It's not magnets, it's the algorithmic level of difficulty

(Funny how many pinball conspiracy theories there are to cover up choking)

 

[SydyneBall]

Had to be unlevel left/right. or too steep.. or warped playfield... bad lightning..Warped floor where I was standing..Ball out of round...

Magnets? such a 70s excuse....

 

[Nightwing]

Well excuse me for asking. I didn't even know there was some stupid magnet theory conspiracy until I posted here.

 

[DrainoBraino]

Well excuse me for asking. I didn't even know there was some stupid magnet theory conspiracy until I posted here.

Yea it's a rather big conspiracy theory/urban legend of pinball machines. People still to this day swear they knew of an operator at an arcade that installed magnets under the playfield, or a manufacturer secretly installed them before delivery. Some pinball machines do actually have magnets, like Addams Family, but they are only active during certain modes.

Now it's used mostly as a joke or excuse for down the middle drains.