We really enjoy our Wipe Out. I was just playing a two player tournament against myself. Player 1 won until he made the finals and player two beat him for the championship.

Just a very enjoyable, fun, brightly colored (with LEDs) game. The callouts are clear and fun and this is a keeper for a while. Ski lift and slalom are neat playfield toys IMO and in the opinion of friends that come over and play.

Vacation America, Designed by Steve Kordek and John Trudeau. Artwork by Paul Faris. How can you guys diss a game with those credentials?

I played it at an AMOA or ASI show and was not very impressed. That said, Gottlieb's Challenger is a lot worse of a game than Vacation America. IMO.

ditto

ditto ditto

I saw one at a Billiards store in Pasadena a few years ago...I don't remember if I played it - so it must have not left much of an impression lol. I just remember it was priced at about $3500

FS : Ultra-rare VACATION AMERICA. Only...
dr evil.png
Believe me when I say : none of your friends have this one. Almost HUO. Lightly routed in Australia ( Disclaimer : Does not include coin door. Not necessary.)
-OR- Get your photo taken playing machine : $267.32
-Also- NIB boxes. $34.95. Because the recent rash of insane inflation in our industry will not be tolerated.
-Will consider trade for RAVEN and $999,999. Cash.

If it said B/W on the backglass, would the flipper system also magically change into something as good as fliptronics? Would B/W on the backglass cause the playfield/backglass/cabinet art to become more attractive? The sound system to be on par with DCS?

Gottlieb put out fantastic EMs and some great SS games, but the system 3s as a whole just do not hold up well against WPCs.
The most important part of the game - the flippers, just feel horrible. WPC flippers are beautifully responsive allowing the player to have as much control and finesse as his skills allow. The Gottlieb flippers feel like two bricks compared to fliptronics.
And what is up with the flippers signaling a scored field goal? Is it supposed to be fun when you can cradle everything that comes the inlanes?

I do enjoy some system 3s - Surf n Safari, um, umm, the rules on Stargate are alright (even if you are always in MB). I would certainly play System 3s if I saw them. And a few of them I don't have much time on, so I could possibly be missing a fun game. Fortunately, the ops around me had the good taste to buy mostly WMS games in the 90s.

So to say that if you slapped an upside down Motorola sign on a game it would double its value is a simplistic view. Yes, WPC is highly favored compared to System 3. And there are many good reasons for that. The flippers, pops, and slings have a much better feel. Diamondplate. DCS. Superior call outs and sounds (how many times must the game remind me to shoot the pyramid?). Overall attention to detail. And WMS really started raising the bar with some stellar rulesets.
The only area where I can think that System 3s are on par or superior to WPC is that they are built like tanks and are known to be reliable.

VA used Williams flippers.

This is also why MMr is starting to look less like the original MM and more like a MM/VA hybrid in some ways.

Exceeept it was a game designed by Williams for coin-op use and aside from the boards the remake is using Williams physical/mechanical parts. Should feel/play the same...and according to Josh Sharpe, it does! Vacation was designed to be a cheap home game and thus was one.

WMS flippers can't save that game. Awful rules.

However, I was responding to Neo's post about Gottliebs being undervalued.

If you want to get down to it. System 3's build quality is far superior to bally williams. they are built like tanks. Try moving one once. I had SMBMW which is a baby cabinet, and it weighed more than my TZ did. They are built like a ton of bricks. Yes the name holds it back, because if B/W made stargate, it would be a 7K+ game. Many are close minded to Gottlieb because they know nothing about them. Btw, you can tone down the assisted callouts if you wanted. Ruleset for Stargate is more complex and in depth over anything B/W put out that year or before.

I crispy dollar

That is good news that Josh is reporting that it does play the same. I do hope it turns out well, but based on the PPS updates corners are being cut. I have reservations about the circuit board situation and how/if they can be repaired when something blows on it. I'm withholding judgement on it until I can see one in person.

Yeah, I said that they were built like tanks.
And I actually have a Big Hurt and have moved it around some, and put it on location.
It is solidly built, but when it comes to weight, it is no WOZ. Or Black Hole.

I would be toning those waaay down. But that did not help me when I was playing on location.

Probably not. But it would be a lot more fun with improved flippers, sound system, etc.

hold down the right flipper button before starting the game if you want to tone down the assisted callouts. Says so right on the apron. :/

Well, that is a good idea.
Where on the apron does it say this?
I'm looking at system 3 pics on IPDB and I don't see it.
Is it below the shooter lane? On the cards?

might be on the cards or when you start the game, but I know the game tells you how to turn off the assisted callouts.

va is priceless, I mean it is so bad I would not let it take up space if it was free

Best idea ever!

LOL Crash

I bet Rick knows an expert that does nothing but Vacation America Pinball.....

I saw one of these for sale locally and it stayed posted so long I almost went to see why.

After reading this thread I guess I am glad to save the gas money.

Here is on on NJ Craig's List for $500 or best offer.
cnj.craigslist.org link

Vacation America definitely uses Williams "WPC" style flippers with the normally open end of stroke switches. The coils are electronically driven by power MOSFET transistors.

Stargate might have a lot to do, but it's just not that fun to do it. The playfield geometry and flow isn't that great, the catch-all flippers just feel wrong, and as others have said, no finesse. How the hell can you do a live catch when the flipper goes up 40 degrees off horizontal? The sound is fair to bad and the artwork is mediocre at best the best art is the logo and stuff they licensed. It might be 'built like a tank' but the kickback assy and pyramid ship-thing seem to break down a lot.

I'll give it's one of the best System 3s, but definitely not as good as most WPCs and modern Sterns.

If you adjust the flippers to be in line with the inlane guides, you get full movement or should i say throw like B/W's flippers.

Lots of Gottlieb games have been adjusted in parallel to those 2 metal wire forms under the flipper, thus making them look saggy or hanging, i guess would be a good way to describe it..

When they are like that trapping is a bit more difficult...

some say thats is the positioning from the factory, ans some say not...

I bought a HUO Bighouse and the were in line with the inlane guides, and they feel and play great..

Most every machine i have i adjusted the bats to the inlane guides... and all the shots are stil more than makeable, and you sacrafice nothing in gameplay...

i drop catch dead pass, and tap pass all the time, and Gotts are no different thatn B/W's in strength or anything else, except the end of the bat is a bit less pointy than a willams... and the rubbers are not as wide..

As far as build quality, i have had them all, Stern, B/W's ,Sega, DE, and Capcoms..and Gotts are built incredibly well

Yes a lot of the A player tricks don't work on Gottliebs. they are a different animal. Which is good. I don't want everything to feel and play the same. Gottliebs always had a lot of travel in the flippers. I like it that I can trap the ball with an upper flipper. And if you get a Stargate dialed in correctly, it plays fantastic. I've never had a stargate break on me. In fact, i've never had issues with a gottlieb at all. In my experience, they held up a lot better than my WPC stuff ever did. Plus the connectors didn't get toasty either.

I have had issues, but yes, not the WPC issues.. Gott's biggiest issues and the pins inside the connectors..

Change those terds, and a life long love affairs starts all over again..

SYS1 through 3 can be the ultimate tanks if you do the few things nessecary to make the bullet proof...

And bullet proof they become

now system 80 gottliebs on the other hand. Those grounding issues will run you insane.

Its realy not that bad if ya know what ya have to deal with..

once done, they are rock solid !

A bit unfair in my opinion (and I have a horse in that race... I own one! - although I will have to sell some pins to make space for Predator, but that's a different story. Stargate has spent 19 months in my collection; many pins lasted less than that).

Granted for flow. This is more a stop and go pin, and the ramps do not give a smooth sensation. But not all pins need to be fast as hell. On the other hand I have no problems with the flippers. They are properly dialed (by the best local player) in my machine and it plays great. No issue with the pyramid.

Side note: is this the official stargate thread? I am confused

Back to Vacation America: any picture, anybody?

nobody wants to talk about Vacation america. It's better to talk about almost anything else.

How bad could it be??

ever play one of the home edition games that you used to order from sears? It's like that, except less fun.

What a shame it is a cool theme... I guess this one wont be on the PPS remake list

If they change it to National lampoons Vacation, it would have been better. but the gameplay still would still suck. Even if they had a topless hotel pool party multiball, I don't think it could save it.

I emailed the seller for pics back when I spotted the ad, but no response.

Don't know why you'd say that, except to be overly dramatic. VA has proper flipper, sling and bumper assemblies and is a fast game if set up correctly. The rules aren't very good, the music is bad, the playfield layout is ok, but it was still light-years ahead of home models with toy solenoids and spindly legs. I'd absolutely take a VA over a Zizzle or a similar home game.

that's the whole point tho, is that it's more in lines with the home games than it is with production games. Hence why you have a hard time getting $300 for one.

LOL

Those of you dying to get one are in luck!
columbus.craigslist.org link

If it wasn't 2 hours away I would go check it out just to see if it is as bad as they say.

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Contain your jealousy!

vacation.JPG

Put it next to a Popeye and some Zizzles and you'll be in business

They say no player has ever finished the wizard mode without taking the glass off, even Zach Sharpe.

At some point I'll have better pics and submit them to IPDB.

It has an issue with the switches. It doesn't have a switch matrix as far as I can tell. But something is wrong and several of the opto switches and the slingshot switches are not working. Several of the 330 ohm resistors on the opto boards had gotten very hot and started to burn.

Oh, and it is HUO!

Was it UL listed?

Just waiting on Snyper2099 to remind us of the VA he saw catch on fire Seriously, keep an eye on those boards!

All I can say is NEVER try to unplug anything on that game if you want it to keep working. The connectors are very bad and love to arc like crazy.

One positive note. They have the same exact (well built) cabinet as a Stern from this era (Churchill).

That is actually interesting. When the Chicago Gaming gentlemen was giving us an under-playfield tour of MMr he mentioned it also doesn't have a switch matrix. Or a lamp matrix for that matter.

Question for NEO-

How do you explain the rise in prices for literally every DMD pinball machine over the past several years - including DE/Sega stuff that in the early 2000s you couldn't GIVE away - with the exception of the Premier stuff?

Is it just a massive conspiracy? Do the Pinball Freemasons have a vested interest in keeping the price of Mario Andretti and Shaq Attack low?

A rising tide raises all boats, including these Permier sys3 garbage barges. I think Shaqs and Andrettis have at least kept up with inflation, which is sort of a price increase