timmyD
New member
- Nov 28, 2012
- 66
- 0
Hello Everyone,
Many of you have played pinball since you were younger, me, a LOT younger! Since I could stand on a step stool, I learned to plunge, shake, nudge, tilt and of course, drain...
Well, my family has taken me to Old Orchard Beach in Maine since I was born. Every summer, we would load up the family car (a station wagon), and head north to Maine. We started out in an Army surplus tent, moved to a pop-up camper, then travel trailer, then motor home.
While our camping equipment changed over the years, the arcades did not. Each summer, my three older brothers and I would walk the beach, collecting cans and bottles in trash bags and haul them to a nearby redemption center for a handful of quarters.
While my brothers were mainly interested in the newer video games... I, somehow, being the youngest, leaned to pinball.
Palace Playland, Dream Machine, Pier "Casino" and a few other spots were loaded with pinball and video games.
Of course, things change. The town's history went from a sleepy seaside village to boom town destroyed by fire, rebuilt and burned again and so on... Train service has come, gone, and is back again. The carriage roads were widend, parking meters added.
The smell of fried food and sounds of bustling streets hasn't changed in years, but the sounds of electronic games is different.
Today, only one video arcade remains, that is Palace Playland.
Palace Playland is an amusement park with about 20 rides and a large video arcade. The pinballs are almost extinct. In the 1980's and 1990's, there were over 70 pinball machines in this arcade alone. There are four pinballs remaining, not only here, but in the entire town. The video games are hanging in there, but are no longer the classic stand up cabinet ones. They are the sit down and shoot, or sit and ride (jet ski, motorsport). They are dwindling in numbers however due to the sheer size of the new machines and what every pinhead dreads: The Ticket-producing games are king now.
Ticket-producing "games"...
Families pump endless dollars into a 5-second game of "lack-of-skill" to get ripped off in the end. For $20, you can earn enough tickets to buy a small stuffed ball... mission accomplished. And it takes a family about 10 minutes or less to spend that kind of money now. I know this because I've been there, done that! The profits from these machines far outweigh what a 50 cent or 3-for-a dollar Addams Family pin will produce. Maintenance... Ticket games need to be reloaded with tickets. If the mechanics get fouled up, it's usually a simple fix, no playfield glass required... pinballs need care and feeding and more care.
As pinheads, we care more about these machines than the disappearance of the upright video cabinet. Pinball has soul. Far more than any other game, then and now.
Well, what can I say? Now my own children are visiting Old Orchard Beach once a summer in our small travel trailer pulled by a pickup truck (same camp ground). They know how sad I am to see the serious decline of my favorite electronic game genre, and they even oblige to play along with me occasionally (It's awesome seeing my daughter hack away at STTNG!).
Sadly, they do not have the same interest in video arcades as I (did) and I know why...
Well, that sums up the pinball-side of an otherwise epic Labor Day Weekend (We spent most of it in the frigid North Atlantic or lounging nearby on the sand).
The rides are still expensive and fun!
The fried dough and french fries are still fat-free
Oh, in case you wonder what games are left (they are all in pretty bad shape, except maybe STTNG):
I miss the "Old" Orchard Beach
Many of you have played pinball since you were younger, me, a LOT younger! Since I could stand on a step stool, I learned to plunge, shake, nudge, tilt and of course, drain...
Well, my family has taken me to Old Orchard Beach in Maine since I was born. Every summer, we would load up the family car (a station wagon), and head north to Maine. We started out in an Army surplus tent, moved to a pop-up camper, then travel trailer, then motor home.
While our camping equipment changed over the years, the arcades did not. Each summer, my three older brothers and I would walk the beach, collecting cans and bottles in trash bags and haul them to a nearby redemption center for a handful of quarters.
While my brothers were mainly interested in the newer video games... I, somehow, being the youngest, leaned to pinball.
Palace Playland, Dream Machine, Pier "Casino" and a few other spots were loaded with pinball and video games.
Of course, things change. The town's history went from a sleepy seaside village to boom town destroyed by fire, rebuilt and burned again and so on... Train service has come, gone, and is back again. The carriage roads were widend, parking meters added.
The smell of fried food and sounds of bustling streets hasn't changed in years, but the sounds of electronic games is different.
Today, only one video arcade remains, that is Palace Playland.
Palace Playland is an amusement park with about 20 rides and a large video arcade. The pinballs are almost extinct. In the 1980's and 1990's, there were over 70 pinball machines in this arcade alone. There are four pinballs remaining, not only here, but in the entire town. The video games are hanging in there, but are no longer the classic stand up cabinet ones. They are the sit down and shoot, or sit and ride (jet ski, motorsport). They are dwindling in numbers however due to the sheer size of the new machines and what every pinhead dreads: The Ticket-producing games are king now.
Ticket-producing "games"...
Families pump endless dollars into a 5-second game of "lack-of-skill" to get ripped off in the end. For $20, you can earn enough tickets to buy a small stuffed ball... mission accomplished. And it takes a family about 10 minutes or less to spend that kind of money now. I know this because I've been there, done that! The profits from these machines far outweigh what a 50 cent or 3-for-a dollar Addams Family pin will produce. Maintenance... Ticket games need to be reloaded with tickets. If the mechanics get fouled up, it's usually a simple fix, no playfield glass required... pinballs need care and feeding and more care.
As pinheads, we care more about these machines than the disappearance of the upright video cabinet. Pinball has soul. Far more than any other game, then and now.
Well, what can I say? Now my own children are visiting Old Orchard Beach once a summer in our small travel trailer pulled by a pickup truck (same camp ground). They know how sad I am to see the serious decline of my favorite electronic game genre, and they even oblige to play along with me occasionally (It's awesome seeing my daughter hack away at STTNG!).
Sadly, they do not have the same interest in video arcades as I (did) and I know why...
Well, that sums up the pinball-side of an otherwise epic Labor Day Weekend (We spent most of it in the frigid North Atlantic or lounging nearby on the sand).
The rides are still expensive and fun!
The fried dough and french fries are still fat-free
Oh, in case you wonder what games are left (they are all in pretty bad shape, except maybe STTNG):
- Star Trek TNG
- Funhouse
- The Simpsons
- Addams Family
I miss the "Old" Orchard Beach
