I made sure to practice really hard this week. I didn't want to find myself in the same situation as last week. We were told two of the four games, Star Trek LE and Genie. There's only so much practicing you can do on Genie, but I played A LOT of Star Trek, and I got to a place where I felt very comfortable about playing it this week.
This week's machines:
Elvira and the Party Monsters
Genie
Medieval Madness
Wizard of Oz
Wait... what?
We were given our score cards and told which machines had been chosen. Everyone seemed content, and no one questioned the omission of Star Trek. I thought maybe I had messed up, but I asked the judge and was told Star Trek had a weak right flipper. I wasn't going to let that throw me. Tonight I was relaxed. I found my balance. There are so many wild variables that you will never control. The only thing I can control is me. Win or lose, as long as I don't psych myself out, I'll have fun and be happy with how I play.
We were put in the same groups again. It was me, my lady, the kid from last week, and a new guy joined us as well. We started with Elvira and the Party Monsters. I love Elvira but I'm a bigger fan of Scared Stiff, so I usually play that one. I like this machine a lot though too. The new guy played well and took the first game. I was relaxed and doing pretty well in my second game. I lit a 3 Million point shot, but while I was waiting to catch the ball, it shot out of the bumpers straight down the middle. I took game two, but I was pretty sure that shot would've got me first overall.
First Place: 1,628,140
My Score: 907,180 (3rd overall)
The next machine was Genie. I've played it excessively on TPA. I both love and hate Genie. I've played it at the arcade a handful of times, but it's more of a novelty than a machine I find a whole lot of fun there. This past week I played it quite a few times. I eventually stopped because you can use skill, but luck seems to be the biggest factor in a good game of Genie. My best practice runs were between 250 and 300 thousand points. I felt like anyone could take first on this one, and I had a feeling that it would fall into that point range. I had a few balls that lasted about five seconds. Other than that I played pretty well. The newest member of our group did very well, taking the first game with 279 thousand. I took game two with a score I was okay with because it easily could have been much worse.
First Place: 279,090
My Score: 197,140 (3rd overall)
Next up was Medieval Madness. I was a little nervous, because I love this machine. There was a bar near my house in the late 90's that had one, and I played it a lot. I am very nostalgic for the days of playing and learning that machine. The only other one I've played is the one that is currently at the arcade. As thankful as I am to have one near me again, it just isn't the same. It is always occupied, and when it isn't, playing it makes me kind of sad because I know what Medieval Madness felt like new. I know the people there love it and take care of it as good as anyone could. There's just always something a little off about it.
That being said, they had it playing in tip top condition this time. The trolls are usually broken in some way, but tonight they worked great. I was really feeling good about the game I was playing. I destroyed 5 castles and was pulling off some crazy moves. I hit the Damsel/Peasant combo 7 or 8 times in a row and had 9 hurry ups. At one point the ball shot out of the upper right Joust directly at my left flipper, I caught it for a split second stall, and sent it with a backhand into the catapult. That felt amazing. I took game one. During game two my girlfriend got called for a slam tilt. It ended everyone's game on ball 3, and we had to start over. I don't think she even nudged the machine, and I certainly had gotten away with worse. Slam tilting will get you dq'd from the league, but I think everyone understood. She ended up taking game two.
My Score: 49,244,250 (1st overall)
Finally we played Wizard of Oz. It's only been at the arcade for about a month. I've played it maybe five times. It is beautiful, ornate, and fantastic. There is no question that it is sensory overload. You can almost become entranced by the light show and display, only to realize you've just lost your ball. It's also five tokens to play, so I haven't committed to really learning it. The things I really love about it are the extremely low scoring and the multiple chances you get to win a ball back that you just lost. Did I mention how gorgeous it is?
I was feeling really good at this point. I had a feeling I might have just gotten first place on Medieval Madness. Ultimately though, I was just happy with how I was playing and that I wasn't letting nerves get to me this week. I was in the zone and started pulling off some cool moves. At one point I found a shot I could hit in an infinite loop. It only got me 27 points a hit, but it's a very low scoring game. I could have sat there all night hitting it. That would have been a cheap way to win though, and I didn't want to beat anyone like that. I played without exploiting that shot, and took the first game. By game two, I was playing as well as I possibly could. I was killing it, when out of nowhere a friend I hadn't seen in months came up and gave me a giant hug. It didn't mess me up at all. In fact, it gave me a boost. I smiled, said hello over my shoulder, and continued to wale on Oz. I felt a lot of eyes watching, but it didn't shake me up. I got the replay, won game two, and even got a match.
I felt so good about how I had just done that I didn't blink an eye when two guys came up and stole my free games right in front of me. Seriously though, who does that? Answer, unfortunately everyone.
My Score: 43,185 (1st overall)
I finally got the email with everyone's scores and rank. The first thing I checked was what place I got this week. I was dead last. I was shocked but immediately realized the scores were calculated wrong. When totaled correctly, I actually came in first place this week. This helps moves me up in rank. I still have to fight to rise higher because the good players are still doing well. I'm proud of how I played though. I feel like at the very least, I'm establishing myself as someone to look out for. If you're wondering, my girlfriend is still ranked #3.
Total Standings after Week 2:
ranked #4
Next week's games are Pinbot, Whitewater, and two more surprises. I wouldn't say I currently hold any kind of advantage in either, other than having played them both. I'll be practicing all week though. We'll see how that goes.
OmegaDef
OMD
This week's machines:
Elvira and the Party Monsters
Genie
Medieval Madness
Wizard of Oz
Wait... what?
We were given our score cards and told which machines had been chosen. Everyone seemed content, and no one questioned the omission of Star Trek. I thought maybe I had messed up, but I asked the judge and was told Star Trek had a weak right flipper. I wasn't going to let that throw me. Tonight I was relaxed. I found my balance. There are so many wild variables that you will never control. The only thing I can control is me. Win or lose, as long as I don't psych myself out, I'll have fun and be happy with how I play.
We were put in the same groups again. It was me, my lady, the kid from last week, and a new guy joined us as well. We started with Elvira and the Party Monsters. I love Elvira but I'm a bigger fan of Scared Stiff, so I usually play that one. I like this machine a lot though too. The new guy played well and took the first game. I was relaxed and doing pretty well in my second game. I lit a 3 Million point shot, but while I was waiting to catch the ball, it shot out of the bumpers straight down the middle. I took game two, but I was pretty sure that shot would've got me first overall.
First Place: 1,628,140
My Score: 907,180 (3rd overall)
The next machine was Genie. I've played it excessively on TPA. I both love and hate Genie. I've played it at the arcade a handful of times, but it's more of a novelty than a machine I find a whole lot of fun there. This past week I played it quite a few times. I eventually stopped because you can use skill, but luck seems to be the biggest factor in a good game of Genie. My best practice runs were between 250 and 300 thousand points. I felt like anyone could take first on this one, and I had a feeling that it would fall into that point range. I had a few balls that lasted about five seconds. Other than that I played pretty well. The newest member of our group did very well, taking the first game with 279 thousand. I took game two with a score I was okay with because it easily could have been much worse.
First Place: 279,090
My Score: 197,140 (3rd overall)
Next up was Medieval Madness. I was a little nervous, because I love this machine. There was a bar near my house in the late 90's that had one, and I played it a lot. I am very nostalgic for the days of playing and learning that machine. The only other one I've played is the one that is currently at the arcade. As thankful as I am to have one near me again, it just isn't the same. It is always occupied, and when it isn't, playing it makes me kind of sad because I know what Medieval Madness felt like new. I know the people there love it and take care of it as good as anyone could. There's just always something a little off about it.
That being said, they had it playing in tip top condition this time. The trolls are usually broken in some way, but tonight they worked great. I was really feeling good about the game I was playing. I destroyed 5 castles and was pulling off some crazy moves. I hit the Damsel/Peasant combo 7 or 8 times in a row and had 9 hurry ups. At one point the ball shot out of the upper right Joust directly at my left flipper, I caught it for a split second stall, and sent it with a backhand into the catapult. That felt amazing. I took game one. During game two my girlfriend got called for a slam tilt. It ended everyone's game on ball 3, and we had to start over. I don't think she even nudged the machine, and I certainly had gotten away with worse. Slam tilting will get you dq'd from the league, but I think everyone understood. She ended up taking game two.
My Score: 49,244,250 (1st overall)
Finally we played Wizard of Oz. It's only been at the arcade for about a month. I've played it maybe five times. It is beautiful, ornate, and fantastic. There is no question that it is sensory overload. You can almost become entranced by the light show and display, only to realize you've just lost your ball. It's also five tokens to play, so I haven't committed to really learning it. The things I really love about it are the extremely low scoring and the multiple chances you get to win a ball back that you just lost. Did I mention how gorgeous it is?
I was feeling really good at this point. I had a feeling I might have just gotten first place on Medieval Madness. Ultimately though, I was just happy with how I was playing and that I wasn't letting nerves get to me this week. I was in the zone and started pulling off some cool moves. At one point I found a shot I could hit in an infinite loop. It only got me 27 points a hit, but it's a very low scoring game. I could have sat there all night hitting it. That would have been a cheap way to win though, and I didn't want to beat anyone like that. I played without exploiting that shot, and took the first game. By game two, I was playing as well as I possibly could. I was killing it, when out of nowhere a friend I hadn't seen in months came up and gave me a giant hug. It didn't mess me up at all. In fact, it gave me a boost. I smiled, said hello over my shoulder, and continued to wale on Oz. I felt a lot of eyes watching, but it didn't shake me up. I got the replay, won game two, and even got a match.
I felt so good about how I had just done that I didn't blink an eye when two guys came up and stole my free games right in front of me. Seriously though, who does that? Answer, unfortunately everyone.
My Score: 43,185 (1st overall)
I finally got the email with everyone's scores and rank. The first thing I checked was what place I got this week. I was dead last. I was shocked but immediately realized the scores were calculated wrong. When totaled correctly, I actually came in first place this week. This helps moves me up in rank. I still have to fight to rise higher because the good players are still doing well. I'm proud of how I played though. I feel like at the very least, I'm establishing myself as someone to look out for. If you're wondering, my girlfriend is still ranked #3.
Total Standings after Week 2:
ranked #4
Next week's games are Pinbot, Whitewater, and two more surprises. I wouldn't say I currently hold any kind of advantage in either, other than having played them both. I'll be practicing all week though. We'll see how that goes.
OmegaDef
OMD
