San Francisco, CA
So jealous.
-mof
(Topic ID: 114500)
Linked Games
Alien Poker
Williams, 1980-
Asteroid Annie and the Aliens
Gottlieb, 1980
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Williams, 1981
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Big Bang Bar
Capcom, 1996
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Big Game
Stern Electronics, 1980
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Captain Hook
Game Plan, 1985
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Eclipse
Gottlieb, 1982
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Fore
Bally, 1973
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Quoted from NicoVolta:I enjoyed meeting John and being able to personally witness the launch of this very ambitious project. I very much want it to succeed like Funspot, Pinball Hall of Fame, etc.
However...
Having flown in from Dallas and primarily being an EM guy, it was rather upsetting to find so many out of service. The number was so high, in fact, that I was surprised to hear enough machines were actually available to break the simultaneous world record in the first place.
On opening day,
I estimated 2/5ths of all games (not just EM's) were off/totally unplayable.
1/5th would not start and/or were simply out of credits.
1/5th would start, but were not properly leveled, tuned up, and/or had some playability issues.
The final 1/5th were in good to great working order.
Unsurprisingly, the last quintile was comprised mostly of newer machines (most of which had a waiting queue).
I purchased a weekend pass but did not stay beyond 7pm on Friday (largely due to frustration). I traveled with a friend who also felt the same way. Saturday morning, we did not return and instead drove to Vegas (and the PHOF).
I would like to return in October, but not without the assurance that the machines are in working order. This is why TPF (Texas Pinball Festival) and other "bring your own" conferences tend to fare so much better... because the games are vetted before admittance and are thus expected to work.
Best of luck to John and fingers crossed for a more successful follow-up next time.
This took guts to write, and I really respect you telling your story and commenting on the state of the games.
Let's hope that the organizers find a way to attract teams of worker bees to swarm in on the games between now and October to get most of them in working order. There's an easy way to help people make good decisions about whether to go:
I have a very specific list of 10 or so 1980-1982 games that I want to play from this incredible collection.
My request would be that the organizers be transparent about what is working and what is not before the next event. This will help people decide if the travel is worth it based on their wish list of games to play. (I'm writing from my perspective of a long-distance traveler -- I'd be facing an 8+ hr drive or airplane travel/hotel, and so it's quite the time and $ investment to get my butt out there, so I feel the need to make a sound decision.)
I made a last minute decision to not go, based on my gut feeling that too many of my 10 on my list wouldn't likely be playable. I'll never know, since I didn't go -- but the LACK of information was enough to sway my decision to err on the side of caution.
At PAGG (our local annual norcal show), almost all the games work well, since they are all coming from collectors' homes who had them working before they arrived at the show. My only beef with PAGG (this last year) is that not all the games were leveled and pitched correctly, and that alone was enough of a reason for me to be disappointed. I went to PAGG last year with the intent to play 5 solid state games, and 3 were set up well. I changed my focus, and I turned it into a social event, and enjoyed my time talking shop with some pinheads. It was quite a tease to have 2 games I've never seen before be a disappointment to play due solely to set up issues -- and not the game or it's state...
As you stated, it's not enough for a game to turn on.
It's not enough for a game to be fully functional.
It has to be pitched and leveled correctly for it to be enjoyable.
I'm hopeful that this show, like all great shows, will learn from its growing pains and improve each year.
-mof
Quoted from NimblePin:If there is a game that you, or anyone else *cough MOF cough* are interested in playing for the next show, PM me and I'll make sure it gets some love.
I appreciate the invitation. When it comes time to plan for Banning/2016 I will gladly send a list of a few (1980-1982) games that I hope will be set up for the show. I look forward to it!
-mof
1 year later
I'd like to visit at some point, but there's no way in hell, I'm leaving my TV for anything on an NFL playoff weekend: 2 Games Saturday, 2 Games Sunday. 3rd worst weekend of the year to have an event for NFL fans, followed by Jan 22, and Feb 5.
Best weekend in January is the 28/29th, the Pro Bowl weekend (which is a non-event).
-mof
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