Badmovies.org Forum

I've gotten a little nostalgic recently...mainly because the old arcade at the Ithaca Mall, which I remember from ever since I was a child, has been shut down.  I hardly ever went to the place in the last couple of years, but being a child of the 80's, I have a lot of fond memories to keep with me...one of them being the many pinball machines they used to have.  Anyone whose played a real pinball table knows what I'm talking about. 

Pinball?  Remember?  That game where you knock the ball around with flippers?  Those of us lucky enough to own an old pinball machine knows how magical the experience can be.  There's something about a well crafted, and maintained table that just gives it a lot of character.  The artwork, the ramps, the bumper layout, etc...each table was a new experience. 

If there's anyone out here who feels like I does, I'd love to hear from you.  There's a great computer program called Visual PinMAME, that emulates these old tables with dead-on ball physics, that you can download as well.  Ask me about it in private if you're interested in places to download tables.

They can tear down and sell off these tables, but they'll never be able to take away our memories of them, and there's some comfort to be had in that.   :smile:

Yeah, Pinball has been a dying breed for some time.  So have arcades in general, really.  Pretty sad.  For my money, pinball simply can not be emulated on a PC.  It just isn't the same. 

God, I LOVE pinball.  The machines are hard to come by, but there's a local driving range/mini golf place has Theater of Magic and Bride of Pinbot.  They don't exactly keep them maintained but they're playable.  A couple of years ago I missed out on a chance to get an actual Firepower pinball machine in beautiful condition for like, $500, but someone else beat me to it.

I love pinball.    cyclone,  fun house, arabians nights...

I used to go to alot of arcades when I was younger, when my family took trips to Wales. The one at Quay West was awesome, they had all kinds of cool games and pinball machines. I must though, before I die, own a KISS pinball machine  :teddyr:

(http://www.pinballnews.com/sites/gamesnat/index_kiss_pinball.jpg)

With gaming systems being so advanced and comparatively in expensive sadly it is no surprise to see the arcades go.  I don't really miss the video games but Pinball is a serious loss.  I saw something on TV a few months ago talking about one of the few (if not the last) companies that make pinball games in the US.  It is located in Maywood IL a town not to far from where I live.  Anytime a get a chance to play a game of pinball I am all over it.  My wife and I had talked at one time about getting a pinball game but then we had kids and oddly that conversation stopped really quick.   

Good luck with the Kiss Pinball game that would be very cool. 

Back in college I was addicted to a Star Trek The Next Generation pinball machine.  Not sure why but I kind of mastered this one better than others.  I do love playing pinball although I'm not great at it.  A local pizza shop back home had the one based on Tommy. 

In the shop I have a four old Pinball Machines and I'm looking for more, I did some work a few years ago for a guy that owned a struggling arcade now out of business, he didn't have the money o pay me so he paid in old equipments that was "boring" at the time, with the newness of fancy home video gaming systems he had very little business. I need parts for one and to rework another, two play fine and I got 3 old video arcade machine too.

The parts can be hard to find at times and overpriced when you fine them.

As you can see it's understandable why this one is my favorite. The first one I restored ...
(http://www.stevechannel.com/images/elec_pins/lineup_flashgordPinbot.jpg)
(This is a internet image not the actual machine)

I like and pinball and Elvira...

But not as much as these losers... :bluesad:

-There's bad language folks-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mvhB7tcxJ2w

Those guys need girlfriends quick !!!

There's a great pinball machine in one of the local pizza parlors just off campus...I'm gonna miss it when I graduate.  It's called "Attack from Mars" or somesuch, and has aliens that look like muscular, four-armed versions of the "Mars Attacks!" Martians. 

Heh, when we first arranged to have a bunch of geeks living together in a suite, as opposed to divided up in corridor-style residence halls, my friend Dennis and I were discussing essential furniture and such for the suite, and we agreed that the only thing more important than a TV would be a pinball machine.  And since a bunch of us were supposed to get together and discuss furniture and who could bring what, but only Dennis and I showed up, we agreed that everyone else in the suite should foot the bill for the pinball machine. 

We still haven't gotten one, sadly. 

Most arcades I've been around went away because they ended up a place where the bad crowd gathers and the place where kids go to buy drugs. In Texas there was an adults-only arcade (started out as a pool hall) that was cool, but it seemed the novelty wore off and it just became a plain old bar. I think guys got to realizing that when they went there, they didn't pay attention to the women, but rather spent the evening playing games when the point of going to bars was, , well, to get laid.

I agree though, pinball machines rule, I especially remember either Terminator or Terminator 2 being a good one.