Los Angeles, CA
I've always loved pinball, but only recently has it become a hobby. I have fond childhood memories, when my dad would randomly take us kids to the arcade as a treat. Though I was attracted mostly to the latest arcade cabinets out, I always reserved a few quarters for pinball. Quarters that I would promptly lose. I recall my dad being excited to see that I was playing pinball since he enjoyed it as well. Most kids my age didn't play and it became something we bonded over. I loved playing The Adams Family table!
Fast forward 20 years later. A friend of mine convinced me to join his bowling team. With bowling comes arcades. With arcades comes pinball! (usually) One alley had a few machines around and my friend would pop in enough for one credit and play forever. I'd never seen anyone play like that! I tried incorporating some of his moves into my play, buuuuut it didn't work; I still sucked. A little later, I picked up Zen Pinball on Xbox Live. Being able to play without shoveling my savings into a machine re-ignited my love for the game. As Zen continually released more and more fantastical tables that lacked in realism, my interest faded.
That is until I found Pinball Arcade. I played the hell out of it for while, but I was more occupied with other games at the time. Then life happened, as it tends to do, but every once in a while the itch would return. A few years ago the itch returned and it hasn't left. I found that Pinball Arcade was no longer being supported on Xbox 360 so I decided to purchase the game again on Steam. Then I purchased ALL if the tables. I just couldn't stop. I started streaming on Twitch, http://twitch.tv/mralterboy where viewers gave me tips and tricks. I finally started improving and I'm still having a blast!
I'm in love with pinball and it's not going away. I'm finally in a place where I'm in market to purchase my first real machine and can't wait until that day happens.
Mark-John
Inactive member
Unknown
9y 3,250 1
Buy one. Having one or more in the basement is simply awesome. Started with a Roller Games. Added a Haunted House. Then a Joker Poker. A Centigrade 37 came next followed by Paragon and a Genie. Yes, the magical arcade years for me 1976 - 1980 with a little early 1990's mixed in with RG's.
Its as much fun working on them and learning how to work on them as it is playing them. And while I go to the basement for 30-60 minute pinball sessions periodically, the cool thing for me is when I'm looking at a four minute commercial break during a show or game I am watching on TV and have zero interest in watching them, I just pop downstairs for a quick game or two. Back in the 1970's, I had to ride my bike 3 miles to The Land Of Oz to do that. Awesome.