Where Do You Play Real World Pinball Tables?

[Chris6210]

Do many of you have access to the real versions for comparison?

I have an arcade nearby with some machines (actually googled it after playing this game) and they have "Ripleys Believe it or Not", it was great to really play it and also to be able to realise how much work has been put into the game to make it feel so real.

I initially thought, wow this feels like the game, but then realised it's the game that feels like this.

There were some visual differences on the table, a couple of the pics near the bumpers, (maybe it's a newer table and the game is older version?) and the rail that goes down behind the spinner on the right doesn't seem to go down into the hole in the game but the real table has a hole that the ball goes in. IDK maybe it has to be opened on the table, can anyone confirm?
Overall I thought the game looks great compared to the real thing, I have no graphical complaints at all.


Anyway, me and my buddy are gonna try and find more of these tables an more just because this game has re-invigorated our childhood love of pinball.

Other tables we found at this place were: Revenge from Mars, Playboy, Elvis, Monster Bash (which is great) and Indiana Jones was in another arcade a few yards down the road.

Anyone else got any tables near them that they play?
Pinformer.co.uk is a great site.

 

[Jeff Strong]

We have a whole thread for this topic here.

Thanks Serenseven. I moved his post over.

 

[Kolchak357]

The only place I play in my small town is a pool hall. They have a ton of pool tables and video games. And they have one pinball machine. Currently they have LOTR and it is in nice shape. But today my wife on her way home from work thought she noticed a going out of business sign. So I fear that I am about to become a pinball orphan.

 

[darkuni]

Castles 'n Coasters in Phoenix, AZ. If you're ever driving through? Be sure to stop in. Free admission. Card based credits.

Here is a pano pic I shot from upstairs looking down on the pin pit.

 

[Chris6210]

Thanks Serenseven. I moved his post over.

I appreciate that you don't want your forums cluttered, but my thread was alot more specific than this one, I was asking about real versions of the in-game machines and you moved it to a topic about any and all machines and TBH as i've skimmed through I have not seen a single in-game machine being talked about.

Maybe you could give my thread another chance???

 

[bavelb]

I appreciate that you don't want your forums cluttered, but my thread was alot more specific than this one, I was asking about real versions of the in-game machines and you moved it to a topic about any and all machines and TBH as i've skimmed through I have not seen a single in-game machine being talked about.

Maybe you could give my thread another chance???

We have a whole thread dedicated to this exact topic as well: http://digitalpinballfans.com/showt...isons?highlight=real+life+pinball+comparisons

 

[pseudokings]

Castles 'n Coasters in Phoenix, AZ. If you're ever driving through? Be sure to stop in. Free admission. Card based credits.

Here is a pano pic I shot from upstairs looking down on the pin pit.

Yeah, it looks nothing like that now. Down to 15 tables, all upstairs.

 

[Jeff Strong]

We have a whole thread dedicated to this exact topic as well: http://digitalpinballfans.com/showt...isons?highlight=real+life+pinball+comparisons

Thank you. I had forgotten about that thread.

Chris, I'll copy your post there as well.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

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?

Well, today we had an interesting development: my wife had gotten me a gift card for Funspot up in Laconia, a place she remembered from her days around those parts, which she figured we could all enjoy together since they have bowling, skee-ball and a bunch of other carny-type games, and classic videogames as well as pinball.

But when we actually got there (through awful summer weekend beach traffic), they spent a surprising amount of their time playing pinball. And my wife actually got sort of hooked on Pin*Bot. Once I told her the basics of how to open Mr. Bot's visor and lock the balls in there for multiball, she actually had an achievable goal to shoot for. My kid, it turns out, also likes playing co-op where she operates the plunger and possibly the right flipper if she's in the mood.

So things are looking up...

 

[Matt McIrvin]

By the way, though I'd heard warnings here about the condition of the games at Funspot (NH), I found that the vast majority of their old pins were in enjoyably playable shape, and they at least had the decency to turn off the few that weren't. Some had pretty worn playfields. Rudy's head was broken on Funhouse, but the game was still playable. Their Xenon had a left flipper that was so sticky that it broke the game; that was probably the worst case.

But many of even the oldest pins were just fine, and they were clearly actively maintaining the tables; we saw a guy working on their Addams Family while we were there. It was nothing like the terrible situation at Canobie Lake, where maybe 80% of the machines are unplayably broken. Also, the tables at Funspot, even the 1990s ones, are all set incredibly cheap, one quarter token a play.

Funspot's strongest suit is probably early solid-state pins from the 70s and 80s (which is thematically appropriate, since they're upstairs along the wall of the "arcade museum" area, which is full of classic coin-op videogames from the same era; I was never a coin-op video whiz but I did get in a few rounds of Tempest). I think my favorite new discovery was Grand Lizard. Least favorite, probably Sky Kings, a 70s Gottlieb EM with a saucer at top center that always drops the ball SDTM through the enormous flipper gap.

 

[Sean]

After finding out HMV in Glasgow city centre had a few tables I had to check it out. Got to play Lord of the Rings and Whitewater for the first time. They had Transformers, but I didn't like the look of that machine; sadly I think it replaced Tron, which I would like to have had a shot at.

50p for one play and two for £1, so it was a nice way to spend a few quid.

 

[dtown8532]

The only place I play in my small town is a pool hall. They have a ton of pool tables and video games. And they have one pinball machine. Currently they have LOTR and it is in nice shape. But today my wife on her way home from work thought she noticed a going out of business sign. So I fear that I am about to become a pinball orphan.

If you feel like a little trip, you should check out the Pinball Gallery (pinballgallery.net) in Downingtown. Decent selection and the machines are well kept. They just got a Scared Stiff and BK2K. There's a game list on their web page.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

I haven't been back in a long time, but last time I was it was gone...a NO FEAR table in JAIL! YEP JAIL!It was in a part where the most trusted inmates where housed people on work release or non-violent offenses. I couldn't believe it. It used a debit card style pay as did soda and snack machines. One guy rigged a paper clip and slid it under the very upper left of the glass where a piece of the trim was barley attached, and hook the loop things that counts the ball as it passes and jiggle it getting infinite loops and games. He enterd initials CON. Its amazing how starring into that little world of flashing lights, sounds and gizmos will take you out of the real world temporarily.

 

[Pinballfan69]

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...

Woa? Haven't been there in couple of months. They don't have LOTR anymore? No Medieval Madness? I recall going there they had tables both upstairs and downstairs. LOTR was a table I primarily played because well....I never played it now it's gone? Sigh.

 

[pseudokings]

Woa? Haven't been there in couple of months. They don't have LOTR anymore? No Medieval Madness? I recall going there they had tables both upstairs and downstairs. LOTR was a table I primarily played because well....I never played it now it's gone? Sigh.

They sold off the 4 "lowest earning" pins earlier this year to go down from 19 to 15. They were LOTR, Junk Yard, Nascar, and Attack From Mars.

I'll give you a moment to grieve.

........

Anyway, they haven't had MM in quite awhile, and as I stated in another recent reply post, yes, all the pins are upstairs now, which sucks. It's really sad compared to the place's past brilliance, and I firmly believe that whoever is managing the arcade now is incredibly short-sided, and that all the Fruit Ninja (ughhhh!) machines in the world aren't going to bring in people. But hey, if you can get a couple grand for your machines at once, that's better than promoting that you still have an awesome lineup of pins (as it once was), that you can continue to make money off of for years to come without having to spend $8K on a Fruit Ninja machine, right? Yeah. I'm gonna have to find that guy and give him a piece of my mind one of these days... maybe a piece of my fist too... okay probably not, since it won't bring the pins back. Oh, but if it could though...SMACK!

 

[Pinballfan69]

They sold off the 4 "lowest earning" pins earlier this year to go down from 19 to 15. They were LOTR, Junk Yard, Nascar, and Attack From Mars.

I'll give you a moment to grieve.

........

!

.............sniff......... sigh........snifff,........... Thanks for the memories........sniff *blows nose.........

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

They sold off the 4 "lowest earning" pins earlier this year to go down from 19 to 15. They were LOTR, Junk Yard, Nascar, and Attack From Mars.

What, did they not maintain the LOTR and AFM? The only way those two could have been lowest-earning is if they had been left to rot.

 

[pseudokings]

What, did they not maintain the LOTR and AFM? The only way those two could have been lowest-earning is if they had been left to rot.

I played them all once this year, what turned out to be a week or two before they sold them, and AFM played better than most of the other tables (both game quality, as everyone know, and more the point, operationally). LOTR had some play issues, seemed to have some burned out GI, and was missing many of the playfield toys (the cosmetic ones). Junk Yard seemed to be fine, save maybe a slightly weak flipper. Nascar had some minor issues, and a dirty playfield, but it seems to me it would have been easy enough to rehab.

And, yes, I agree, it's hard to imagine AFM and LOTR being "under-performers". Though a casual audience (which is mostly what you see there) would be more likely to be drawn to LOTR of the two. That said, they still have Revenge from Mars, which while the better of the two Pinball 2000's, is still no match for AFM. I suppose play numbers could have also been affected by the fact they have Spider-Man which has A LOT of similarities to AFM, but is much newer, and has a very popular license attached to it, but honestly that is probably giving the Coasters clientele too much credit.

 

[pseudokings]

Last week I finally made it to Golfland. Here's the rundown from the day I was there.

1. Theatre of Magic - Just barely playable, if you really want it (which I did). Intermittently sticking left flipper. Sensor/software errors left, right, and especially Trunk. Some burned out lights. Still love it, and it reminded me that this really is a top 3-5 machine in proper working order.
2. Attack From Mars - It was shut off. Playfield looked complete/intact, but we all know that doesn't mean there wasn't a good reason it was turn off. Really disappointed by this.
3. Spider-Man - Left flipper would stick briefly once every few dozen flips, but only for a moment, other than that, it played great. Sweet.
4. Medieval Madness - Dark. Flippers a little weak. One messed up sensor that was making it frequently make the "ball return from the moat" sound. Had trouble telling when the ball had drained to start a new one. Playable, but not what you want it to be to play well.
5. Monopoly - Some weak but not "deal breaker" flippers. Ball scoop would fail to launch the ball out on the first try, but this actually worked in my favor as it triggered a mode for me this way a couple times. Very playable, and as it was my first play, I gotta say, a really good, underrated machine, with what I imagine would be a reasonably priced license. TPA material for sure.
6. Revenge From Mars - weak left flipper. Seemed like some mild sensor issues relative to "hitting" the projected targets. Playable, but not as well as the one at Coasters.
7. Rollercoaster Tycoon - Many issues. Underwhelmed. Ball would get stuck on top of the drop target bank below the troll, as they never raise. Maybe there is something here in a properly working one, but it has a lot of similarities to Monopoly (both Pat Lawlor), and that one I believe would be better any day of the week regardless.

They offer an interesting $8 for an hour of "unlimited" play (but they way it works you can't really share a card as it require time to pass between swipes) option. Not sure it's worth it. But, I am sure the $12 for 2 hours option they also offer would be. Replays set low. Fairly generous on match games.

Really wish they'd spend some time on their pins, which they obviously don't. Would be a great place to play if they did.

 

[darkuni]

Funny ... I've lived here since 1998 and have never been to Golfland. Then again, I live in West Glendale ... quite the drive.

Of course, now that C&C apparently is sucky ... Time to make a field trip up to PHOF up in Vegas...

For those that haven't been? http://www.pinballhall.org/