shmups.system11.org

I have been to that museum in Baltimore, but it closed down. I have also been to crab towne in Glen Burnie and that is a good mix of arcade and pinball. I'm not sure if the Fuddruckers near the Annapolis mall has pinball, but they have/had a couple arcade machines. Happy House Pizza nearby used to have a pinball machine (Tales of the Arabian Nights), but it was in terrible condition. I don't know what it is with malls getting rid of arcades. I know they aren't as popular, but malls barely have much in the way of non shop places (aside from theaters) anymore.

edit: I should go up to Crabtowne again soon. Looks like they have a Stern Kiss pinball, as well as the Bally one that has been there. The funny thing about that Bally Kiss is that is takes the jingle from the Harlem Globetrotters pin and adds extra notes to it in an attempt to make it sound like I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night.

Well, to be fair, around here arcades are making a bit of a comeback, but they're now almost irreparably linked to alcohol sales. Every new (or retro) game place that opens up has some kind of bar associated with it, and that certainly helps the bottom line.

From my experience with places near me, those place don't have a choice but to sell alcohol to be profitable. Can't speak for the US, but I have a feeling that it's a similar deal down there.

Barcades definitely seem to be growing in popularity. I mean, you've got people who were prob. already pretty crap at games, and now they've had a few beers. They're gonna keep shoveling in quarters until their wallet is empty ..

Anyway, to keep things on topic, Bally's Radical from 1990 is fucking great.

https://youtu.be/vwPwkzX1iOI?t=34m16s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1cxufpR6r0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqyxn1EH1OA

It really is a unique, super-fast playfield design, isn't it? Four flippers, and *both* upper flippers have significant ramp shots associated with them, and *neither* of them have "slow, set-up shots" for those upper flippers, do they? It's just go-go-go, and you'd better be ready for the ball when it's there. I love its 80's kitsch and voicework, and there hasn't been a design like it, since. It's pretty rare that you have a game that, to this point, has either nothing or next-to-nothing about it that's been copied into another machine.

Yeah, it's really a nice table. Also, that guy has some amazing tours of pinball-centric arcades that will make you absurdly jealous you don't live near them ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQY3_w75aGc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvrHnL_LYn0

Definitely go back to Crabtowne. They have downsized on some of the arcades that don't get much play and replaced them with more pins, so your pinball selection is greater now. They fired the old tech and got some new blood, and as a result the games are playing much better overall (some still need work, but it's a lot better than the last time you were there). The restaurant has been overhauled as well so the place feels less like a dump.

There are other places as well I am not sure if you have checked out. VUK in Bethesda has a great lineup with lots of new games (they have Total Nuclear Annihilation, Attack From Mars remake LE, Dialed-In, etc). Spinners in Frederick just opened recently and has a good lineup of older and newer games, many obscure (like Hercules). Volleyball House in Elk Ridge still has a good mix of games (odd hours and location, but it's a fun trip).

Radical is one of my all time favorite machines! Definitely nothing like it and when you find one set up right, they play so smooth. And yes, you had better be ready b/c they play super fast.

This is apparently the underside of a new Jersey Jack Pinball table under development .. https://i.imgur.com/UYTf1I9.jpg

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/pinball/commen ... es_of_the/

Was playing around with Pinball FX. Physics are not that great, unfortunately. I don't know why they added like a billion Star Wars and Marvel tables, but I guess it pays the bills over there.

The Jurassic Park tables aren't that great compared to the real table that was made back in the 90's. Most of the licensed ones aren't, really. The best are the Bethesda ones IMO. I think the real problem is quantity over quality, I mean there's already 3 Jurassic Park tables, I think only two of them are worth playing (Mayhem and World).

Been playing again.

Earth Defense (PR is 263 million but I'll probably never hit that again) has seen most of my time but I am finally taking the plunge and getting the Aliens table now that I know the mechanics.

The Archer table I feel a bit better about now that I've spent more time with it, but still not what it could have been.

Funny you mention that because the Marvel and Star Wars tables are absent from the Switch version of Pinball FX3 with no announcements of Marvel or Star Wars tables based on the newest properties.

Yeah, that's the other problem with licensed shit, isn't it? They keep losing the licenses, or they can't use them everywhere. I know there were a couple of FX2 tables that never made it on to FX3. Thankfully, none that I actually cared about.

Tried out Ghostbusters 2016 on Stern's Pinball Arcade thing. The physics were even worse than Pinball FX, lol. Seriously had so many wonky moments. That table is brutally difficult, too. One missed or imperfect shot and you're going down the drain.

That is the case with the physical table as well. I happen to like the (real) machine quite a bit, but understand a lot of the flak it get concerning the drains-a-ton design. There are some fair things that can be done to make it a bit more fair, but it is designed to be a drain monster, that's for certain.

Well, at least I know it's not just me then, lol. There was recently a Ghostbusters 2016 VPX released, the physics are of course way better .. but I'm still terrible at it. Almost feel bad for anyone who bought the machine and found it too difficult. Maybe they can sell it off?

Also, I'm pretty sure Excalibur, X-Men and Doom are my fav. Pinball FX tables at the moment.

I recommend sticking to docked play on the Switch version of Pinball FX3. Handheld is 30 FPS and some tables even drop below that. PS4 is my main platform for the game, though. I wish Zen would have done something more tailored to the system from the get go instead of trying to shoehorn FX3 on switch. At least Pinball Arcade got the framerate right on the switch. I wouldn't be surprised if some bugs were there given my experience with the regular Pinball Arcade.

I've played a lot a Excalibur, but I'm not particularly good at it. Tables great but that Merlin ramp is so hard to hit.

Sounds like the Switch version is kind of a rushed port. I play on PC, my 16:10 monitor really helps to show that extra bit of vertical resolution when playing in view 2 (my go-to view) with the camera movement disabled.

Also, this Apollo 13 table is pretty nuts (you'll see why) https://youtu.be/P8kpYRWYpdA?t=12m40s

Before I watch the video, my guess is 13 ball multiball?

From what ive heard, yes.
Of all things, that table was a favorite among the girls in my last pinball meet. Have no idea why.

It is, by far, the very best game/machine made under the Sega nameplate. The 13-ball play is pretty original, yes, but ultimately it's just a parlor trick/gag for the most part. It's pretty much nigh unplayable, and it's actually quite funny to let all 13 (or as many as possible) collect and rest down by the flippers and then hit the flipper buttons...the reaction is quite funny, really.

Here's the *really* good news: if you took the 13-ball play and *completely* removed it from the game, you'd *still* have yourself one heck of a terrific-playing game. It's got a nice playfield with a plethora of (admittedly pretty narrow) shots all around it, some nifty toys they use to pretty good effect (though I wish the back lift ramp was used a bit more than it is, I do like how they do use it...), and the mode-based play with accompanying Wizard Mode is pretty satisfying. Plus, there's a separate path for Multiball/13-ball, and a separate path for orbit advancement awards, too. Couple these things with some really good hand-drawn artwork that very, very cleverly disguises the fact that they couldn't secure Tom Hanks' likeness use in the license, along with audio that I think is *very* well done, and it's a winner, even without the Main Gimmick.

Great machine. Wish I owned one.

Yeah, Apollo 13 is pretty good.

Another table I came across recently is Rollergames. It's definitely "So 80's it hurts" in terms of aesthetics, and I feel like it's a really difficult table as well. But it's pretty fun.

https://youtu.be/hkWUsgzkthw?t=1m11s

Rollergames is good stuff. Classic Steve Ritchie!

I watched that when it was on

Rollergames can be good, kitschy fun, yes, but it's awfully hard to find one, even a properly restored one, that's in good enough condition to be close to how it was when it was originally released. It's actually a pretty limited title when you get down to brass tacks, but the kitsch factor does drive it higher, for certain. With only 5 real playfield shots, though, it's not one of Steve's best, for certain.

Well, it turns out the situation with Future Pinball is a lot more complicated than I initially thought .. there are several "unofficial" versions with enhanced/tuned physics, and quite a few tables use them. The most common seem to be 2.5 and 2.6. Not many use the latest 2.7 yet. I don't reccomend Zedpinball as the tables for that version tend to lag. Also, there are some versions that are meant for cabs that say DOFLinx on them.

Download and install: https://futurepinball.com/download.html
Extract .exes from here, rename them, place in Future Pinball folder: http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinres/entry-16 ... able_files

The original tables here will have tags for what version they require.

http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-5 ... y_ultimate
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-5310-die_hard
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-5239-gremlins
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-5301-jaws
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-5312-robocop
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-2 ... -man_ultra
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-8 ... t_ultimate
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-4 ... s_ultimate
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-5 ... y_ultimate
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-2 ... op_only%29

These original tables don't require any special versions, and you can use the original.

http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-1 ... s_invasion
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-3169-rocket_derby
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-3 ... _adventure
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-2940-wipeout
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-2 ... _revisited
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-14596-goldrake

One of the few games I own is a Rollergames. Fun game by Steve Ritchie. Also, I'm with you on Ghostbusters. Personally I like it, but there's been many a credit where I've walked away fuming mad either due to the eject hole throwing the ball down the middle, the ball jumping over the inlanes and flippers and out, and the magnetic slingshots turning off and draining the ball straight down the middle. I have put up probably 10 games in the billions on it, but its a rough one for people who aren't pinball diehards. The flipper gap is also way bigger than most machines. I've seen various mods like longer flippers, a center post, and plastic guards on the machine to protect against air balls. The major issue with that is I see a lot of airball guards on the tall ramp. Well most of the time if you hit that shot with any speed, its launching it in the air, and the guard settles the ball like a soccer settle, and kills the shot. I'd still buy one though.

New Iron Maiden table by Stern just got some new info .. and a lot of pics.

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2018/03/27/i ... from-stern
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic ... st-4303791

They are streaming the new table on Twitch now: https://www.twitch.tv/dead_flip

Finally got back to Crab Towne. Played some High Speed, Stern Star Wars, Stern Kiss, Strikes and Spares, 8 Ball Deluxe, and Stern Ghostbusters. Definitely agree that Ghostbusters is one mean table. I like what I played of it, though.

So which is a better mock name, creditbusters or quarterbusters?

The Iron Maiden stream was pretty impressive, looks like Stern's best new table in years.

Random table of the right now: Congo. It seems pretty noob friendly as I was able to get most shots with ease, and it seems to award massive points easily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoE5P351NP4