Where Do You Play Real World Pinball Tables?

[Jeff Strong]

A few more places in Chicago to play (besides my basement)

This place has the new X-Men and BOP....and a ton of beer:

http://emporiumchicago.com/

 

[1976mrk]

I actually have several great options nearby:

Funworld (Ironman, AC/DC, Transformers @ 4 tokens for 3 plays)
Pinball Wizard Arcade (a literal pinball heaven with well-maintained machines)
Funspot (tons of classic pins)

Same here, New Hampshire is classic arcade heaven!

 

[mudtoe]

Last weekend I visited Galloping Ghost in Brookfield, IL (call first) and finally got to play Funhouse, Twilight Zone, Gorgar, among others (Black Knight was unfortunately DOA). Got there at 3pm and they didn't have the pin room (2 doors down from main gameroom, same building) open until 7pm, so we ventured across the street and a block west to Brixie's, where I enjoyed several rounds of Medieval Madness, Xmen and Getaway. Highly recommended if in the area, but CALL FIRST.

Just returned from Stella's bar in Chicago where I dropped 3 dollars in quarters into their Data East Guns N Roses table which is in nice shape and sorely unappreciated. I just learned that the Blind Robin bar just down the street has recently removed their tables, to my dismay.

 

[immortalmindz]

So i finally got to play some real pinball last night at the pipeline bar in London. They actually have five machines, AC/DC, The Shadow (though that wasn't working), No Fear, Demolition Man and Attack from Mars. Attack from Mars was a blast to play, it had a colour dmd too which i thought looked superb. Wasn't really feeling No Fear, not sure why i think i was too hooked on AfM. AC/DC looked amazing but being a novice i didn't last too long on it. All in all a cool bar with some good pins, can't wait to go back.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

I finally made my way to Pinball Wizard Arcade in Pelham, New Hampshire, mentioned here many times previously:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/100452847199780289157/posts/hYwMmaFppeW

I am utterly floored by this place. 100+ pinballs covering the entire solid-state era, aggressively maintained (there are three or four EM machines but none seemed to be in order yesterday). It's probably the best pinball collection in the northeastern US, and a pleasant, clean, family-friendly place to play too.

There's also a surprisingly huge collection of classic Eighties videogames (not quite up to the level of Funspot's, but nothing is), and some more standard modern arcade stuff for your kids.

It's just enough out of the way that people don't always know about it who should, but it's actually not hard to get to from the northern Boston area.

 

[Danieru_X]

I have updated a few locations on Pinball Rebel for Sydney Australia. Very outdated.

http://www.pinballrebel.com/locator/searchlocationresult.php?country=Australia&showmap=yes&lastloc=233#loc233

 

[J2fold]

Hey if anyone is at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk there are quite a bit of tables to play and all of them were pretty much open to play. I took some train ride over there and was surprised to see so many of them.

 

[immortalmindz]

Ok first off I don't work at or own the pipeline bar in London, I say this cos i go on about it a lot lol however living where I do there isn't much choice for real pinball. Anyway went there again tonight and there were a couple of new tables, demolition man and attack from mars (was sad about this) had gone and in there place was a corvette and Ripleys.

Corvette was a lot of fun, I had a real blast on it and also got two free matches from it. Found the shots quite easy to hit on it and scored quite well (well for me anyway) the tilt must be turned off this machine cos the guy who played after me was throwing it all over the place and didn't even get a warning, well he did from a member of staff lol but not the game itself.

Ripleys, I have to say this table looks amazing in real life, it was the first time I'd ever seen one. Really enjoyed playing it tho its a lot harder than its tpa counterpart. Saying that I found the ramp shots not too bad, the vari target was quite easy to hit too, so was able to start a few continents. The killer and I mean the real killer was the kicker right of the idol (beg my pardon but I can't remember it's proper name) it basically shot the ball straight down the middle of the flippers at such a pace, a save was nigh on impossible. In fact I'd say in a couple of games I had I must of hit it ten times plus and only managed one save. That said the table was awesome to play, one which I thought I'd never get to play and am so glad I finally have. Can't wait to go back.

 

[karl]

There is only one good place to play pinball in Oslo (as far as I know). It is called Tilt and they focus on 90s games. They have a great collection. Whitewater, Indy (will), Addams, Shadow, Cactus Canyon, Terminator 2, Theater of magic, Med Mad, Tales of Ar, Congo + a few others. As it happens they also have a great Beer selection. They also have shuffleboards and some of the sitting arrangements have arcade games (mame perhaps?) on the table surface. It is a really nice place but it can get a bit crowded on a Friday/Saturday night. On Sundays you can play pinball for free I believe (never tried it as I am usually not fit for pinball on Sundays)

 

[Andassaran]

Y'all are lucky. There's only ONE machine within an hour of me at the local Chuck E. Cheese. They've got a 2005 Stern Pirates of the Caribbean that's in iffy condition. Sticky flipper, broken autoplunger, and the ball likes to get stuck in the ship. The autoplunger makes multiball start fun because you have to hand launch it lol... stuck ship can be nudged free and the flipper... just hit the button a few times. It'll let go.

 

[rehtroboi40]

We used to have a place in Wichita called the Copper Cue, which at one point had 15 pinball machines. Elvis was the last new Stern Pinball game they got-that was around the time they stopped maintaining the tables they did have. It closed in 2009. Now there's a couple of places that have a pinball machine, but nothing I'd go out of my way to play.

 

[Kevlar]

Shopping in central London today so had a few goes on the Fishtales in the superdry shop and LOTR in the casino on Tottenham court road. Both machines seem to be in good nick with everything working. Didn't have time to go to The Pipeline as it doesn't open until 4pm according to their website :>(

 

[mudtoe]

Went to Expo in Chicago (nay, Wheeling) IL USA last weekend and played Tales Of The Arabian Nights, Funhouse, No Good Gofers, Attack From Mars, Whirlwind, Whitewater and a few other nice tables.

Biggest thrills, though, were seeing Lyman Sheets coming out of the men's restroom (should have brought my issue of Grand Royal to be signed!), Gary Stern in the hall chatting up some other attendees and Roger Sharpe breezing by in the tournament hall.

 

[immortalmindz]

Ok i've been to that place again, gotta say im really loving corvette tho i do think the playfield is a little cluttered but its so easy to score on, you almost feel like a pro well this at least until you see the high scores lol I do have my PAPA moments tho when i skillfuly (ok luckily) live catch a ball, done it a few times now and it always puts a grin on my face as i have no clue how i managed to pull it off.

As always i put some coins into ACDC, im starting to really like this table but i have now managed to get the ball stuck in three different places, one below the pop bumpers above the tnt, i can actually see that as a lil problem however, i also managed to somehow get the ball stuck on the lefthand drop targets. A lil nudge sorted that, then a weak shot up the right orbital managed to get the ball stuck between a rollover which quickly led to a tilt and the end of a decent game (well for me anyway).

Still cant wait to go back for more punishment, well at least until i get my own pin, if only the wife saw it that way, maybe if someone did a pin based on shoe shopping she might come round lol.

 

[Bonzo]

Bally's Prada Party anyone? *ggg*

 

[immortalmindz]

Bally's Prada Party anyone? *ggg*

lol i was thinking 'manolo blahniks' could be the super jackpot

 

[Paul Petrissans]

For anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area there are a plethora of options.

First and foremost the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda http://pacificpinball.org/

For those that are in the city proper and not in the mood for heading to Alameda there is a great community driven map at http://www.sfpinballflippers.com/ however a lot of the bar tables are really beat up.

After I went to that spot in Alameda, My wrist hurt for over a month!

 

[Paul Petrissans]

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.

I found quite a bit of pinball in Provo the short time I was there. I wonder if my high score on Pirates of the Caribbean still stands? (Initials PPP)

Forgot to mention, well there are really only 2 bars in Provo and one that isn't scary... they have lots of pool tables, forgot the name. And I believe the local movie theater had a Monster Bash I loved to play.

 

[mudtoe]

Played the following Stern (& 1 Sega) tables today at a "family fun center" (basically a children's casino) in the Chicago suburbs which recently added a pinball room.

Family Guy
XMen
Pirates of the Caribbean
Lord of the Rings
AC/DC
Rolling Stones
Batman/Dark Knight
Ripley's Believe it or Not
Nascar Dale Earnhardt
Avengers
Transformers
NBA Fast Break
Monopoly
Tron
CSI
The Simpsons Pinball Party
Avatar
South Park

Unsurprisingly, I had the room mostly to myself for the 2.5 hours I was there on a Saturday afternoon.

 

[mudtoe]

The bar across the street still has their Data East Guns N Roses game, and one a bit further up the street has got a Stern Playboy. Both are in need of repair but I still play them on occasion.

Two local Chicago "barcades" are currently expanding their pinball offerings:

Emporium currently has AC/DC premium (played 4 games there this afternoon), X-Men & Avengers (sadly, the superhero-themed games do little to excite me). They are currently expanding into the vacant space next door with what I've read will be mostly or all newer Stern titles. Games are played with one token each, with four tokens per American dollar.

Headquarters (who had their expansion grand opening this weekend) similarly expanded into the adjacent (former "Uncle Fatty's" nightclub) space with a pinball room. I also made the trek there today. No cover, all tables set to free play (!!!) and a good selection of later-model games, including Attack from Mars, Twilight Zone, The Addams Family, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Guns N Roses, Corvette, Rollergames, Popeye, Star Wars Episode 1, and several others. They had Stern's new Metallica pro which was an absolute blast, in my opinion. I will definitely return.