Games & Recreation Pinball. The lost art.

[Hard Ball Get]

Mate of mine has a Rocky one. Awesome.

 

[Double the Fist]

Terminator 2 for me, loved it!!!

T2
Can't remember if that was the one that had the 'guns' on either side that when you loaded a ball you had to 'shoot' down the flying machines????
If it is the one I remember (possibly the only Terminator machine made) then yeah, it was awesome!
The blue and white fish and chip shop on O'Connell Street in North Adelaide had it long long ago. Went off like a pacific atoll!

Mate of mine has a Rocky one. Awesome.

Second or third time Rocky had been mentioned. I cannot say if I have seen it or not???? Would be surprised if I had never played it however....

 

[standingroomonly]

At my local they have a Family Guy pinball, great machine.

The mini "Stewie Pinball" in the top right corner is awesome.

http://www.sternpinball.com/FamilyGuyDetails.shtml

 

[TheStinger]

When I was a kid my folks used to go to this pub and to keep me amused the publican gave me a bunch of free games on the pinnie. The game I got to like the most was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles one. I got so good at it that Jeff would give me just one free game and I would play for three hours and have about four free games left when I had to go.

In conclusion, I miss those nights.

 

[Bouvet_Island]

The Getaway FTW.

 

[Scatter]

Eight Ball and Indiana Jones in UWA ref (circa 94). Spent hours a day on those machines.

'Sea Witch' was our choice at UWA circ 87/88. Spent most of my austudy funds on it. Don't think I have ever seen that machine anywhere else.

 

[Doctor Feel]

I also used to play the pinball wizard one at TAFE, I missed ALOT of class because I was too busy playing "one more game"

 

[Cleavy]

Terminator 2 for me, loved it!!!

Yes!!!!!

 

[Hodgepodge]

I don't get the attraction of pinball other than that the silver ball evokes some of my earllest memories and will always hold some fascination for me.

But yeah they're all pretty much the same.

 

[Xtreme]

I remember the Addams Family pinny, but not many others in my time. I remember my dad took me to one of his old arcade haunts many years ago (not the fun factory), got to have a go at a Playboy machine .

Jurassic Park was another, Elvira, Demolition Man,

T2
Can't remember if that was the one that had the 'guns' on either side

Had the gun handle / ball launcher on the right hand side. One of the video shops i frequented had it, as well as two different time zones.


I used to love going into Time Zone, from time to time someone would have left an open game (be it 1 ball remaining before game over, or have an unused credit, so when pressing start it would start the game).

 

[Double the Fist]

At my local they have a Family Guy pinball, great machine.

The mini "Stewie Pinball" in the top right corner is awesome.

http://www.sternpinball.com/FamilyGuyDetails.shtml

Ha ha. Awesome! Can just imagine some of the quotes that would come out of that machine!

The Getaway FTW.

Remember that too. Not one of my favs but still worth an hour or two!

I don't get the attraction of pinball other than that the silver ball evokes some of my earllest memories and will always hold some fascination for me.

But yeah they're all pretty much the same.

Oh Hodgey How can you say that? OMFG!

I remember the Addams Family pinny, but not many others in my time. I remember my dad took me to one of his old arcade haunts many years ago (not the fun factory), got to have a go at a Playboy machine .

Jurassic Park was another, Elvira, Demolition Man,



Had the gun handle / ball launcher on the right hand side. One of the video shops i frequented had it, as well as two different time zones.

Thats the one. Great table.

 

[Brad Goodman]

At my local they have a Family Guy pinball, great machine.

The mini "Stewie Pinball" in the top right corner is awesome.

I've played that one, either at Knox Timezone or the airport (can't remember which).

 

[DB10]

how and where do you buy one?

 

[Smoooothy]

how and where do you buy one?

ebay, or the aussie arcade forums

 

[dbcrow]

heaps on ebay.

I loved the Fish Tales one. Went on a holiday to Queensland with my wife and 2 kids last year, and they had this machine in the Games Room. Would have put $100 into it easily.

Also the World Cup '94 machine was great too. Never did manage to win the World Cup though.

 

[Dazb86]

 

[pezz]

win

6 flippers

edit- 5k on ebay

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Gorgar Beat You!!

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

I started to play them in the late 70s. Electronic ones were just coming into vogue. One of my favourites was Matahari. On the one I played, when the side alleys were lit it was worth 50,000 points. If the ball went down the left hand one, you could lift the flipper and if you hit the metal bar with the heel of your hand in just the right place you could make the ball jump back out again onto your right hand flipper and keep playing. I'd get there early in the morning during weekends or holidays put 2 bob in and play it most of the day. The machines would only let you clock up 5 credits. When I'd had enough I'd 'sell' the machine for 80 cents.

Lost World was another one. It had holes on each side about half way up. Get the ball in one of the holes to increase the value until you got extra ball and then 'SPECIALS', you cracked a game everytime you got it in the hole after that. It would reset for each ball.

Other such as Kiss, Nugent and others I've long since forgotten their names.

When I was 12 years old the local bowling alley had a pinball wizard competition. It ran for a month and at the end of the month anyone who had the high score on any one of the approx. 20 machines would play off for one of the older mechanical machines. Another bloke and I (he was best mates with my older brother) had the high scores on about 15 of the machines combined so it cut down the competition enormously. The finals were knockout and played for on the machine that was to be won. The two of us played off in the final and I won. There was a massive crowd there to watch it (misspent youth). As soon as I won a bloke stepped out from the crowd and offered me $500 for it. He was from one of the local soccer/sporting clubs (Bell Park I think). I took the money. For a 12 year old kid it was like being a millionaire.

My all time favourites would be 3 later ones. T2 which a few have mentioned, The Simpsons and Fish Tales. Basically anything that had multi-ball. I was a wizz with the multi-ball and it really accelerated your score when you could keep them going for awhile.

I was a real dead eye dick and once you learnt the primary targets and homed in on them (holes, spinners, ramps, loops etc) it became a real challenge. I loved them. I have a couple of mates with them in their homes and we have a session on them every now and then (all in our early 40s and still love it).

It was a sad day when Space Invaders came along and more so when the more realistic games like Simon's Quest came along. I did enjoy a few of them though, Scramble, Galaga, Moon Cresta, Paint Roller, Meteor, Hyper Olympics, Street Fighter etc. Another mate has a table with 3,000 plus games loaded into it. It's awesome.

I still use the old moves when we play. The bump, the little sideways shake (not enough to tilt) or the turnaround and clap as you let the ball roll down onto your flipper and it bounces over to the other so you can get a shot on a better target.

I don't knee the front metal doors anymore after the ball has gone straight down the guts, lol

I remember that on the early electronic ones that kids would used one of those sparking kitchen lighters to clock up credits. They'd push it hard up against the coin slot (the type that when you wanted your money back, you pressed them and the plastic panel would depress within the metal frame). Once fully depressed they'd start clicking away with that piezo lighter, the little wire that the coin passed over to give you a credit wasn't far away and the spark would register on it and give you games.

The world would be a better place if there was a bit more pinball action going on.

 

[TheStinger]

Lol, I think some of my knee troubles now are from kneeing the little metal door whenever the ball went straight down the guts too many times.

 

[rossi]

Ok I have a srs cat question about pinball. I never played t heaps as a kid as I was around when arcade games like Daytona and Point Blank were all the rage.

Anyway how do you highscore on them or be decent at them? It seems that quite often you will just get a shit bounce that goes right down the middle. Is there a way to stop this?

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

Ok I have a srs cat question about pinball. I never played t heaps as a kid as I was around when arcade games like Daytona and Point Blank were all the rage.

Anyway how do you highscore on them or be decent at them? It seems that quite often you will just get a shit bounce that goes right down the middle. Is there a way to stop this?

They will generally have listed under the glass on top either left or right near a flipper button how to play the game ie what is needed to complete bonuses, to increase multiplications of bonuses, how to light up things like extra-ball and specials, how to unlock captured ball for some mutli-ball action.

It just takes good hand eye co-ordination, quick reflexes and practice. You need to know what you're aiming for and how to hit it. There's all sorts of little tricks, such as getting the ball from on flipper to another to enable an easier shot, back flipping, when to let the ball bounce instead of flipping it, when to shake and bump and how to do it and in what directions. How sensitive is the tilt weight/pin? How to catch a speeding ball on your flipper so that it sits there and then rolls back down to set up for a shot.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

Lol, I think some of my knee troubles now are from kneeing the little metal door whenever the ball went straight down the guts too many times.

lol, I can relate to that. Every now and then I'd play a machine that had the coin slots and the metal coin eject buttons that were down a bit lower, I'd reflexively put the knee straight into it. Ouch!!!!

 

[Double the Fist]

heaps on ebay.

I loved the Fish Tales one. Went on a holiday to Queensland with my wife and 2 kids last year, and they had this machine in the Games Room. Would have put $100 into it easily.

Also the World Cup '94 machine was great too. Never did manage to win the World Cup though.

LOL, when the fish went nuts it used to get the attention of anyone standing near you. Then if you had a good game they would all marvel at your skill. If you failed miserably in front of them, then they just thought you sucked at pinny!

I still use the old moves when we play. The bump, the little sideways shake (not enough to tilt) or the turnaround and clap as you let the ball roll down onto your flipper and it bounces over to the other so you can get a shot on a better target. Like riding a bike!!!!

I don't knee the front metal doors anymore after the ball has gone straight down the guts, lol

The world would be a better place if there was a bit more pinball action going on.

Ahh, the slam tilt, last refuge of the frustrated player!

Anyway how do you highscore on them or be decent at them? It seems that quite often you will just get a shit bounce that goes right down the middle. Is there a way to stop this?

You need to learn how to move the machine, you can actually move the machine just enough to get the ball to touch the end of a flipper.
Its best to watch a successful player and try to emulate what they do.

It just takes good hand eye co-ordination, quick reflexes and practice. You need to know what you're aiming for and how to hit it. There's all sorts of little tricks, such as getting the ball from on flipper to another to enable an easier shot, back flipping, when to let the ball bounce instead of flipping it, when to shake and bump and how to do it and in what directions. How sensitive is the tilt weight/pin? How to catch a speeding ball on your flipper so that it sits there and then rolls back down to set up for a shot.

What he said!