So my wife was playing our machine yesterday and she asked me what that little credit wheel was for, which I thought was very interesting.. I also noticed that she would manually restart a game whenever a ball in play drained too soon or her score was too low.. I tried to explain to her that when the game is set to take money then you could win free games and not have to put money in to start a game.. ( Needless to say I got the deer in the headlights look..)

So I started to think about it, and one thing I always felt was lacking in the home environment was a meaningful way of realizing the pursuit of winning a free game. This is why I always felt a "ADD A BALL" game would be more suited for the home.. but I digress.. So I decided to take it off free play just to get a feel for it. I was not sure if it would be too much of a pain in the butt to add a quarter for 2 credits every time I wanted to play..

Well, I have had it off free play for a few days now and I can honestly say that for me, this is the way to go. On free play the special being lit felt meaningless.. but now if I win a free game, at least I dont have to reach down and put a coin in the slot.. While not really a big deal, it does make a difference for me. And my wife now understands the reason behind the credit wheel and the Special being lit, etc.. How do you guys have your games setup? I suspect most is on free play, but for me, I doubt I will ever revert back to free play.

There is something just so nostalgic as well about adding a quarter to a old pinball machine, hearing the quarter hit the coin box and watching the credit wheel increase, ever knowing that when all your credits are gone, you have to reach in your pocket and add another coin to play again!

I should note that this is a old em game so there is not such option..)