I'm really appalled at the attitude that because the game is a few years old, obviously not under warranty and I am not the original owner, you're "not obligated to support it". That's a quote from Chris your "tech support" guy.

The total amount of tech support I've rec'd (from vpcabs tech via a short email) through "regular channels", has been... "Try turning it off, and reconnecting your hard drive. Something may not be secure in the Sata cable, or power cord. Maybe try a different L plug on the power supply." If you want to charge me for that. I'm fine.

Imagine calling JJP (or any other reputable game maker) and saying, "hi I have a WOZ that has an issue" and they tell you ..."well, we made that game back in 2013, It's totally different inside than what we're making now, it's not under warranty and since you're the 2nd owner... we not obligated to support it. However, you can pack it up and ship it to us for probably $400, we'll fix it for an untold amount and send it back to you for another $400 shipping. OR we can fly a service guy out there to fix it in person." Most companies bend over backwards to support their products so they get repeat customers and good reviews.

I have never asked or expected to not be charged. I'll pay a reasonable amount to get this game working again but I can't afford to ship it back or pay a vpcab tech to fly out to ga to fix it. It's a $2k game in working condition on the used market. It's not a bugatti.

I only brought up the out of warranty comment because you’re bitching out of context about not having a remote included, like we didn’t send you one. You don’t have a remote because a previous owner didn’t give it to you.
If you’re not happy with out service you are welcome to try and find someone else. It’s an open source Windows 7 computer that any qualified PC tech can work on for you.
Or you can calm down and let us try and fix it. Your choice.

Or If you want JJP service I could send you a bag of washers?

The HD is on the way. It'll be there in 3 days. I wasn't bitching about the missing remote, I was bitching about the fact that I needed a remote at all to turn the tv on when it's supposed to just turn on with the game. If a local computer tech (or myself) had all the game files to put on a new $60 HD from amazon, I'd be all set. Do you offer some kind of restore disc or thumb drive to reload the software?

We sell/sold backup drives as an option with machines. The original owner either opted out or didn’t give it to you.

So there's no way for the end user to restore a new HD.

lol about the speakers being in the back. pretty sure that was obvious when it was bought. why bitch about something that was a known when purchased. cl°wn

We can attempt to restore your drive and or create a new one. Either way their will be some setup required on your end once you get it back. The games(except for FX)aren’t pre-installed anyway so someone else put those on there.

I'd like to get it working so I can sell it. It's too big to use as a doorstop and it probably floats so using it as a boat anchor is out of the question.

Are you being a jerk on purpose or does it just come natural? I’m literally trying to help you and you still won’t shut up.

Popping in here to say that I got a Vertigo from PinballStar last year. I had some issues with it at the very beginning--most of which was a result of my own stupidity. Brad was one of the most patient guys ever, talking me through the problem and servicing my game remotely on Sunday nights when I'm sure he would have rather been with his friends or family. I really appreciated that!

Any manufacturer, be it Stern, JJP, or VPCabs is NOT obligated to give you free tech support on a second hand machine. I understand that when I buy any game, and so should everybody else. If they offer to help you in spite of that, it helps to drop the attitude and appreciate the lengths they're going to to make it right.

End user can easily remove the drive and image it with clonezilla or any other backup program. Or you can contact VPcabs and they'll help you out with it. Despite the fact the machine is far out of warranty. And despite the fact you aren't even their customer. AND despite the fact you're acting like a complete tool and should have rightly been told to piss off with that attitude.

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I am so confused.... Your for sale listing is the exact opposite of your post here....

Right. Notice how that ad has expired? The game was working fine when I listed it for sale. It's been out of commission for quite a while since then. I'm just trying to get it working again so I can sell it.

I don't see why everybody keeps harping about this thing being out of warranty and me not being the original owner?! I'm not asking for anything to be free or discounted or even for free tech support from VPCabs.

Lots of things in this world that we buy (both brand new and used) quickly go out of warranty but when they break and stop working, the companies still support them... you can still buy parts for them and you can still get them repaired (or repair them yourselves) even decades after they were made. This game is not THAT old... 3-4 years?

I wish VP cabs played the 90s games. I swear they use to. I’d buy one.

They do, you just need to add the Roms. I found a way to play Golden Tee Fore on that thing, it was super awkward with the control panel being so shallow, but the game ran great. Just needed the right .ISO

That is very true since the all important HD was "secured" to the cabinet with a velcro strip at the factory.

It's the little black box seen here dangling by its wires.
IMG_20210622_130204_LI (resized).jpg

They stopped sending those out.

I rec'd the HD from VPCabs yesterday. I installed it and after some trial and error... got the game working again. This rather minor issue (bad $50 HD) and what I had to do to get this game working again has soured me from any computer based game that can't easily be updated & repaired (the HD restored) by the owner in the event of an inevitable issue.

IMHO, computer based games like these will become obsolete in just a few short years due to the fact they run windows and the TVs used will eventually fail and be unrepairable. Today's electronics & computers are made to be thrown away after a fairly short life span. How many computers and TVs have you owned in the last 20 years? Nobody wanted them even if they still worked. What did you do with the obsolete ones? You either recycled them or tossed them in a landfill.

How many 1UP and other similar arcade games are going to be around (& still working) in 5, 10 20, 30+ years?

I'm sticking with pinball that will ALWAYS be supported by the aftermarket companies long after the company that made the games goes out of business. And, pinball also goes UP in value as it becomes collectible.

100% agreed. I'm not sure if it's been fixed 5 years later. From the website, it appears not though. https://virtualpinball.com/products/vertigo?variant=19208746759

Well you can easily recover if you take the time to make a backup. Now that you know it is a computer and drives do in fact fail, that seems prudent.

you sir, are a giant jerk.

As usual, I find a new hobby/obsession at the worst time, so seeing I would either need to shell out ~$7,000 for a NIB that I may have to wait months for or shell out ~$3,000 for something I'd likely have to put a lot of time into getting up to shape; I looked into virtual pins. It only took about 2 days of surfing VPForums to learn that owning and maintaining a virtual pin can be just about as time consuming as a real one. It didn't seem like this fact was being hidden by anyone; much like Pinside it's pretty much the first thing they were telling all prospective buyers (be prepared to spend a lot of time tinkering/repairing). This combined with the pretty common knowledge that for the past 20 years by the time you unbox your brand new "insert electronics device here", there's already something bigger and better on the market makes me wonder if you didn't just get in over your head a little bit and are now taking it out on the manufacturer (who you didn't even give business to because you bought it second-hand). As for companies supporting things out of warranty, maybe you just have better luck then me, but most tech goes out of date and loses support quickly anymore; especially for free. At that point you either learn to DIY, pay a little for a specialist to help, or pay a lot to just replace it (which seems to be the manufacturer's preferred choice, at least many of the large companies).

It's understandable to be frustrated about everything that happened, but I wouldn't be taking it out on the company that is actually trying to help you; especially despite you flaming them in a large community forum. I hope it works out for you, either for your own enjoyment of it, or whoever the future owner may be when you sell it.

Thanks Ron.

Bought a VPcab from Brad at Louisville expo about 6 or 7 years ago. I’ve only had a few minor issues with the machine and all were handled by VPcabs. And they usually sent me parts for free (had a virtual plunger break). Virtual pinball software is like any. It is constantly being updated and upgraded. To stay on the cutting edge, eventually you will need to upgrade your hardware. For me, I am happy with my game and maybe I will upgrade at some point, but not worth the effort right now.

Now that it works again, it's for sale again. $2000. I paid $2200 not too long ago.
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/114387

Love my Vertigo. ~4.5 years old. Wasn’t lazy and took a little time to learn the ins and outs of it (adding games, tweaking settings, etc). Zero issues since day one.

I'm still running MAME on an 18 year old P4-3.2ghz (single core) connected to a WGD9200 CRT. The CRT is supposedly extremely failure-prone, but in home use, it's still got a perfect picture and works fine. Windows is irrelevant - you setup your games and emulators and stick with it. My CRT rig is still running XP because thats all it needs. Disagree electronics are designed to fail, but there is a base failure rate you need to keep in mind.

Your one mistake was not dumping the HDD to a backup image immediately after getting the machine. And really, as long as you can follow basic instructions, rebuilding the disk isn't all that hard even without a backup.

I will say this
I own a VP mini pin
Over the years I have upgraded it in many ways
They offered support when I needed even when I asked questions as I headed down the modding it path

Plenty of forum and Facebook help out and about virtual pinball

I run the pinballX frontend with many systems vp pinball fx 2 3 and more
With all the developments with pup I might switch it up

I upgraded hardware and the OS over time
Even switched to a newer zebsboard plunger

I bought it in 16 and have been able to keep it fresh