I hesitate writing this post because I don’t want to criticize a worthy cause and a generous person, but here goes, in an effort of “constructive criticism”. Went to the PHOF for my first time a week ago and was disappointed. Probably won’t be returning. I was particularly interested in seeing and playing mostly EM’s. I had anticipated well maintained machines, true to their original style. What I found were games out of service, poorly maintained, or in some cases (OMG) EM’s with annoying LED’s. The first game I put a quarter in, the first ball, it got stuck behind the rebound rubber because the game was listing so badly to the left. I thought I was going to tilt the game just to get my ball to unstick. It didn’t tilt, but the remaining balls rolled so badly to the left. Yuk. Then I put a quarter in another game and I didn’t get a play nor did my quarter reject when I pressed (repeatedly) the reject button. Frustration...the reason they put slam switches on the coin door. Then there were EM’s that had bright white (I think technically they’re called “Cool White”) LED’s. Definitely not the look of an EM. To make it worse, they strobed when the ball passed by. I suppose the LED’s were done to reduce operating costs. OK, but at least use Warm White rectified bulbs that are a closer match to incandescent, and the rectified bulbs won’t strobe so noticeably. Other games I played had pop bumpers that didn’t always work, or drop targets that had to be hit with a line drive to knock them down. It was nice to see in person several games on my wishlist, but more of them were out of service than in service. I cashed in a $5 bill for change upon arrival and didn’t even stay to spend it all. My much anticipated trip from Ohio to Las Vegas and the PHOF was, well, a memorable experience, just not so positive.

Hall of Fame implies something really special...a major achievement....something really special. But my recent visit to the PHOF was anything but special. I found every game I played had issues. Lacking maintenance, or the ones I wanted to play were just plain turned off...out of service. If you can't maintain the games you have, why move to a bigger place and add even more games? Seems to me the name should be changed to Pinball on Tropicana, then you could just tell your friends your going out for some POT.

Will there be pinball in heaven?

Yes indeed, there will be pinball in hell, but if you like EM's you will be forced to play SS, and if you like newer games you will be forced to play EM's. If you've been really bad you will be subjected to flipperless bingo pinball for eternity. And the games will all be poorly maintained. And the games you really want to play will all be turned off and out of service. Pray you don't go to hell.

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