Where Do You Play Real World Pinball Tables?

[Kevlar]

Finaly found a few real tables approx 40 miles from my home in Western Super Mare, UK. Played a brand new Transformers which I enjoyed, great multiball. Played a fair condition Batman with a few problems but still enjoyable and bad condition shrek. There was also a Spiderman but there were a few good players on it with coins lined up, fun to watch though.



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[LeeChicago Gilbert]

I play them mostly at truckstops when I can find them. Just now tried Lost World (Bally '77) here in St Paul MN. it was in real good shape and only cost a quarter but it's kind of a dog (design-wise)

 

[LeeChicago Gilbert]

 

[Eric Qel-Droma]

I sure wish there were a working Big Hurt around here these days. My personal record was actually over 2 billion on a physical machine. Of course, if there were one around here, I'd probably never do anything else, so...

 

[pseudokings]

I'm from Phoenix and Castles and Coasters ROCKS! I think they've got around or over 20 machines. A good chunk of the top 100 on Pinside are there for sure!

Another place is in Mesa called Golfland, it's got Medieval Madness, Theatre of Magic, Monopoly, Roller Coaster Tycoon and Revenge from Mars.

Castles N Coasters is down to 15 pins
According to a flunky employee I talked to they probably won't sell any more, and might (but I doubt it) add some new (it seems they are getting a fair number of requests for Tron Legacy).
-WHO Dunnit
-Indy (1993) [was recently worked on]
-Creature (seems to not be level, but was recently worked on)
-Getaway (could be working better)
-Addams (was recently worked on)
-Revenge from Mars
-SW: Episode 1
-Pirates
-Family Guy
-Simpsons (needs work)
-Elvis
-Spider-Man
-Batman
-T3 (was recently worked on)
-Iron Man

Not terrible, but a far sight from the 27 they had at one point, and once upon a time they had like 17 of the top 20 from the IPDB & Pinside lists, plus they used to take MUCH better care of them. They do get a couple points for recently hosting a special 1-day only "launch" event with the AC/DC Premium, but they didn't buy one so... only a couple points.

Haven't been to Golfland in years, but planning to get back soon, before they sell their pins too...

 

[The Wolfman]

I found Monster Bash and Junk Yard in a bar just around the corner (Café de Uyl van Hoogland, Leiden). Medieval Madness (my favorite!) and Star Wars Episode 1 (http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=4458) are a five-minute walk away (café de WW, Leiden).

 

[Logan812]

The closest place that I know of in Alabama with pinball machines is in a mall in Birmingham (about 60 miles from where I live), so I try to take advantage of going there whenever I can (which, sadly, hasn't been the case lately.) A local sports bar once had a Cue Ball Wizard table, but it was broken every time that I've seen it there.

 

[Jeff Strong]

I found Monster Bash and Junk Yard in a bar just around the corner (Café de Uyl van Hoogland, Leiden). Medieval Madness (my favorite!) and Star Wars Episode 1 (http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=4458) are a five-minute walk away (café de WW, Leiden).

Lucky!

 

[The Wolfman]

Found another one today: Twilight Zone (Café Respons, Leiden). Nice! Never played this one before so I had some catching up to do. I got a pretty decent score to begin with (261m) and 2 credits for free. That makes me a very happy (wolf)man!

 

[Pete]

I love going to the Silverball Pinball museum in Asbury Park NJ. They have hundreds of tables, mostly older classics. All the machines are set on free play and it's $20 for an all day pass. It's right on the boardwalk and they give you a wrist band so you can leave and come back. Also what makes it really fun is they keep track of high scores and put your name over the machine if you get a top 3. They have 3 top 3's for each machine, childen under 14, regular people, and seniors. http://silverballmuseum.com/

 

[unclewilly]

national pinball museum in baltimore md

they have quite a few tables to play

 

[LeeChicago Gilbert]

I play at truckstops when I can find them (yeah I'm a pro trucker)

Played Fish Tales for the first time last week in Buckhorn, PA. They got a Jurrassic Park too

 

[Ark Malmeida]

Finally got a chance to take a trip up to The Pinball Wizard Arcade in Pelham, NH yesterday. I was quite impressed with the arcade overall. It was very clean and no nonsense and really felt just like the non-chain arcades I used to go to when I was a kid. All of the pinball machines I played were in great shape and seem very well maintained (they even worked on a few different ones while I was there). They work off tokens that cost a quarter just like you would expect, although you can get 100 for $20 which is definitely the best deal. All older pins are 2 tokens per play with the newer ones being 3 tokens. Medieval Madness was unique in that it was actually 4 tokens a play (I loved it though and really can't wait to finally see the 360 DLC so I can play it at home!). When you want to slow down the rate at which you go through tokens, they have a nice selection of arcade games from all different eras. The high scores were actually pretty reachable on some of them too (got the top score on Q*Bert for instance).

The only bummer was that my playtime on most of the machines was pretty short because the ball just loved to go SDTM or to the outlanes. Not sure if my real world table skills have just gotten THAT bad or what, but I didn't have many decent games on any of the machines. Managed to play well enough to earn a free game on TOTAN, CV and the DW machines that were there but most games were pretty short affairs. These are the Machines I remember taking a shot at:

Adams Family (fun but I barely even got a shot to flip the ball)
Baby Pac Man (interesting to have the video game portion along with pinball)
Banzai Run (really tough to do much with the ball on the 'backglass' playfield, but I did manage to get it up there several times and actually had a decent game)
BlackWater 100 (has a really cool dynamic where you launch three balls and then they 'start racing' all at once so you essentially get multiball at the start of each ball)
Cirqus Voltaire (Really enjoyed this one - can't wait for the 360 DLC!)
Creature From the Black Lagoon (didn't even manage to play long enough to get an impression)
Cyclone (One of my favorites from when I was a kid - didn't disappoint)
Diner (Very fun - definitely got a strong Taxi vibe from it)
Doctor Who (love the subject matter so I was going to like it anyways but the rising element in the middle back is a lot of fun)
Dr. Dude (Remember liking this one as a kid but the game went by too fast to get much of a feel for it again)
Earthshaker (Liked what I got to play of it)
Eight Ball Deluxe (Was pretty fun for an older table)
Family Guy (Looked cool but once again had too short of a game)
Fish Tales (Had lot of fun with that one so I played it multiple times. Captive ball shot is a brutal SDTM shot most of the time)
Fun House (Always liked this one so playing it again was great)
High Speed (Game lasted probably less than a minute - very frustrating)
Indiana Jones - Williams (Another one of my favorites. Would love to see Farsight somehow get the licensing for this one)
Medieval Madness (Loved the quotes and humor. Definitely one of the most fun machines I played)
Pool Sharks (fun older machine. Got a match so I got to try it a few times)
Revenge From Mars (Pinball 2000 - I liked the setup on this one where you have several stories to beat. Made great use of the screen for neat little videos)
Roller Coaster Tycoon (Not one of my favorites. The toys looked kind of cheap. A troll doll? Really?)
Simpsons - Data East (Liked the feel of this one. One of the few machines that felt a little worn out. The kicker was weak and the ball didn't drain correctly without a nudge or two)
Star Trek - The Next Generation (Can see why this is one of the all time favorites for most. Sound effects and flow are great. Good modes from what I could see)
Star Wars Episode I (Another Pinball 2000. Didn't like this one as much as Revenge From Mars. Seems like they could have done most of the mode video on a DMD and it would have had the same feel)
Super Mario Brothers (First one I played on the day - had fun with it. Did a nice job of capturing the feel of the video game)
Super Mario Bros Mushroom World (dispensed tickets which I thought was amusing. Kind of a basic pinball game)
Superman (older and not particularly fun. Didn't seem like there was a ton to do on the playfield)
Tales of the Arabian Nights (Felt just like the TPA version. Actually had a decent game on this one)
Theatre of Magic (Tough! Could make all the same shots as on the TPA version, but had a heck of time controlling the ball and keeping it from going down the middle)
Tron (Game was quite short so I didn't get a strong impression either way.
Twilight Zone (Can't wait to spend more time with this on in TPA - the ceramic ball is cool in real life)
Whirlwind (The fan is a neat gimmick - really liked the theme and the overall look and feel of the table)

There are quite a few I wanted to try but forgot until after I left (Lord of the Rings, Black Knight & Black Knight 2000, Monopoly, Big Guns, Gorgar, Road Show, Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball, Cactus Jack, Xenon) or didn't get a chance to (Star Wars - Data East - One of my all time favorites, but it was out of order, Taxi - not on the floor because they have to replace the playfield, Black Hole - the upkicker to move the ball back to the top level is burned out).

Had a great time overall and I highly recommend it to anyone that is close enough to make a day trip. Pretty cool to be able to say that I had the opportunity to play 9 out of the top 10 ranked tables from ipdb (No Monster Bash - one of the employees said they haven't been able to find one, and when they did, it was from a bar and beat to crap).

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

The only bummer was that my playtime on most of the machines was pretty short because the ball just loved to go SDTM or to the outlanes. Not sure if my real world table skills have just gotten THAT bad or what, but I didn't have many decent games on any of the machines.

Don't feel too bad; my first visit to CP Pinball was an exercise in rust and frustration. Your skills will start coming back slowly as you play more.

Twilight Zone (Can't wait to spend more time with this on in TPA - the ceramic ball is cool in real life)

I've always liked TZ, but I've been really putting the local one through hell and back in anticipation of the TPA version. It's been returning the favor - TZ can be a very cruel table even at its default settings, and it's very easy to follow a 250M game with two or three sub-25M total failures - but its cruelty has taught me more about proper control and technique than any other table so far. Hopefully I can get it to submit and allow me to become Lost in the Zone at least once before the TPA version comes out. (The volume is pretty high on the local one, so when I reach LITZ, the whole room's going to know. )

(No Monster Bash - one of the employees said they haven't been able to find one, and when they did, it was from a bar and beat to crap).

There seems to be a serious supply shortage (well, more serious than the general supply shortage of every table) of Monster Bash, the going price has been driven to nearly $7000 recently. The MB locally has been getting a lot of play lately, but I think that's more because people want something to do while waiting for the shiny new AC/DC next to it.

 

[Ark Malmeida]

Don't feel too bad; my first visit to CP Pinball was an exercise in rust and frustration. Your skills will start coming back slowly as you play more.

I hope that's true. It was getting so bad I was ready to start claiming conspiracy theories about there being magnets in the center of the tables

I think the real difference is that you can't generally nudge real tables enough, especially side to side, to avoid it going down the middle consistently like you can in TPA. It didn't even seem like the tilt settings were too sensitive on these tables - I never hit the danger warning on any. The legs seemed very solid on most so they didn't even really budge from side to side. I was able to nudge up some though.

And for those who say the ball is too bouncy on TPA, I found that it really varied from table to table. I definitely had trouble doing any kind of a catch on some (TOM for instance) because the ball wouldn't sit on the flippers, but on others I was able to control it much better. TPA seemed very true to TOM and TOTAN in my experience. The only differences was in the toys. The Genie looked flimsier than I expected on the real table while the lamp looked solid and tougher to spin.

 

[slcpinball]

I live in Utah and could never find places to play pinball easily. Now I pretty much stop and look inside every movie theater or bowling alley I drive by to see if they have any pins. It's crazy how you sometimes find a Monster Bash or other great game in rundown little place. I started my own website to post the locations I've found, slcpinball.com. Pinball is not dead like some people think--you just need to know where to play.

 

[Tuomas Hämäläinen]

There's a Stern Playboy at a local pub - that's the only public machine I know to exist in this little town, and it's in really bad shape. About 50 km away there's a private arcade with many pinball machines owned and maintained by hobbyists - I've never been there but they should be in top condition. Generally there are very few pinball machines in public here in Finland, unfortunately. Most are owned privately. The situation being what it is, I bought a Road Show last month so I can get my real-world pinball fix at home. It's already apparent that I need to get space for more machines - RS is the first but absolutely not the last

 

[Matt McIrvin]

Finally got a chance to take a trip up to The Pinball Wizard Arcade in Pelham, NH yesterday. I was quite impressed with the arcade overall. It was very clean and no nonsense and really felt just like the non-chain arcades I used to go to when I was a kid. All of the pinball machines I played were in great shape and seem very well maintained (they even worked on a few different ones while I was there). They work off tokens that cost a quarter just like you would expect, although you can get 100 for $20 which is definitely the best deal. All older pins are 2 tokens per play with the newer ones being 3 tokens. Medieval Madness was unique in that it was actually 4 tokens a play (I loved it though and really can't wait to finally see the 360 DLC so I can play it at home!). When you want to slow down the rate at which you go through tokens, they have a nice selection of arcade games from all different eras. The high scores were actually pretty reachable on some of them too (got the top score on Q*Bert for instance).

I actually live about half an hour from there; my father-in-law lives in Hudson, pretty close by. But I've never actually gotten over there (can't justify it as a family trip, since my wife and kid would be completely bored). I should go up there with my old pinball-wizard buddy sometime.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Most of my real-world pinball playing is done at a place that costs $400+ to get into, and has VERY tight security (they scan you, and all your belongings before you're allowed entry). Yup, I'm talking about the airport. For some strange reason the arcade at the Edmonton International Airport has a bunch of tables, usually 6-10 of them. Last time I was there they were all newer Stern tables, and I managed to find 2 credits on the Rolling Stones table (I didn't like it at all) and scored a replay on a match (freaked my 5 month out, causing him to cry - he'll learn to love the sound).

 

[Ark Malmeida]

I actually live about half an hour from there; my father-in-law lives in Hudson, pretty close by. But I've never actually gotten over there (can't justify it as a family trip, since my wife and kid would be completely bored). I should go up there with my old pinball-wizard buddy sometime.

I have a similar problem with my wife and daughter having little to no interest in going to an arcade. I've been trying to find a way to get there for quite a while now and finally had the opportunity so I grabbed my son and headed up there. One thing to think about is that they have a Chunky's movie theater right next door where you sit at a table and order food to go with your movie - never been to one but it looks fun. Maybe you could suggest the family go check out a movie so you get 2-3 hours of play time?