I had the same reaction when I saw Mustang for the first time.

"Dear God, what is that THING?"

Went to Lyons Classic Arcade yesterday and the WoZ was working and in great shape

Yep - it's their top earner

That is awesome !

At a buck a play I can see why I didn't play it more for that reason and the fact I am not good enough to earn replays on it as I don't know the rules.

6 plays for $5 is how we play it........ Gotta do something while waiting for mine to ship

Yeah, Tim's heart is in the right place but *gasp* perhaps not the best person to stay on top of maintaining a big room full of pins. Each time I've been there (incl. twice at the new location) it's been pretty disappointing to see how most games played, if they were working at all.

Now it is Tim's fault? Perfect .

Steve likes to pass the buck.

Jim, it sounds like you have intimate knowledge of Tim's operation. What's wrong with his game, and what has he done about it?

Really, I go into the PHOF and WOZ is broke every time. I am just a guy putting quarters in a few pinball machine.

Ok, so as you are putting quarters in, how do you find the condition of the games as you play them? The ones other than WOZ of course.

Most of the games at the PHOF are over 20 yr old and you want to compare them to WOZ thats like comparing condition of a TZ to a MET.

Why doesn't the owner try and get replacement light boards? It sounds like the game is under warranty.

Most of the games in my house are also over 20 years old, and I compare them all the time... But I wasn't asking you. Of course, feel free to list your opinion on the state of his games.

I don't know?

In the same vein, "LOTR is always out of order on location" based on my sample size of exactly ONE here in town

I always find it funny when people compare there HUO game to game on rout.

Damn Flinstones at the bowling ally by my house has be broken down with a busted flipper as well as other issues for over a year now, what the hell?

Pinball in the wild almost always sucks!

A few places on cape cod are good in june but suck in Aug.

Yup, and I always find it funny when people neglect their grammar. But I overlook it. Most of my games lived most of their lives in various arcades around the country (except one that spent most of its life on location in Germany).

Yes unfortunately around me it does. It kind of blows if you want to actually go out and flip some pins other than the ones you own...., I have yet to find a place near me that's not too far of a drive where the pins actually function at least to a acceptable level where they can be played.

Head over to Lanes and Games in Cambridge. Mike keeps his games in great shape. If there is an issue, just email him and it will normally fix it pretty quick. One of the few places where the operator really keeps them running and playing well all the time.

I hate to agree with you but in this time I do.

Such a hater. You and MinusWorlds best buds?

I played a Harly Davidson a few weeks ago, it let out the most awful sound trying to reset a target bank on the left side, it had a shitload of problems. I played it anyway though just so I could get some feel for what the game was like.

And I bet we could get everyone here to agree with that. I understand that every operator can't run an arcade like that. Every one of us that has played on location has seen it all. Flippers just stuck up, or only moving half way. A VUK full of balls because of a bad switch. A trough that can't put a ball in play. Bad launchers. Dark light bulbs. And there are very few operators that can stay on top of that. Mike does, and he always gets the latest games. The first time I played AC/DC Pro and Premium, MET, Star Trek, Mustang and Hulk were all there. That is how a first rate operator should run. So I'm just going to nominate Mike for operator of the year here on Pinside.

In fact I've also bought a game from him before. I don't want to mention the title for fear of embarrassing myself, but it was a game I remembered fondly from about 30 years ago. When I picked it up Mike wrapped up this D-list game like it was the Crown Jewels. And he said the funniest thing. "Every game is an A lister here". That is how he treats every game. He knows that somewhere, someone enjoys that game. So yeah, operator of the year.

There are a few of us that are trying to change that.

I hear you and appreciate anyone that can do it ! I don't own 16 games and the 17th on it's way because on route pinball kicks ass!

If you want a good playing game,chances are you will have to do it yourself and own some pins.

I'm sure it's a real nice area, but you live in St George Utah. I wouldn't expect a real thriving location scene in an area like that. Out here on the west coast, location pinball is getting better all the time. Have you been to Portland or Seattle lately? Those areas have tons of pinheads that don't own a single game.

If you want a good playing game you don't have to maintain, move! d

Wow, thank you very much for that. One thing being an op has in common with every other job is that you hear about a thousand complaints before you hear one compliment. I really appreciate the kind words, you made my day. Thank you again.

That is because you are one in a thousand . Most ops are not even close to what you do .

I think the reason pins on route are in such rough shape is because most of the ops out there, especially the ones that have beem around for a long time, see pinball as just another device used to try and take your money (or in kind words, to get you to put money into it). They dont look at it as providing entertainment or a service to someone. Its just there like the many other various machines to take in money. As long as it does that, which even a broken pin will, they feel no need to fix anything on it.

I can remember long ago a tech comming to fix the family pin..., bent over inside the cabinet with solder in one hand, wire in the other and a cigerette hanging out of his mouth. Holy sh!t i'd toss a guy like that right out of my house without thinking twice...talk about unprofessional.

Excellent evasive non-answer. About wwhat I expected. And Jim, my comment was in response to your wondering how someone dare question Tim's abilities as an operator. Yes, his heart is in the right place (supporting pinball and charities) but maintenance of games at the PHOF is sub-par. Granted, it's a large location but even the newer games don't play up to my standards. And too many of the older games have limp flippers/pops, etc. when I've visited. Not surprised he's been neglecting the (early-production problem-prone) WOZ there too.

Gotcha, thanks.

WOZ is the best game ever. jealous much?

Free troll post for you. ahhhhahhahahahhhhahaaaaHhhAAAA.

_{Post edited by PEN: oh no! thumbs down....Wouaaaa}

Played a game of WOZ yesterday at The Arcade here in Michigan and like the last few times I was there it's working and playing great! The techs at The Arcade do a great job of maintaining all of the games (I think 60+ pins?!) and their WOZ is no exception.

woz_arcade.jpg

Just reporting that the WoZ at Flipper McGills is now up and working fine.

At least you have Woz on location near you.
No Woz near me to complain about.

I'm not sure about that whole newfangled LCD thingy Panzer... I mean all I can tell from looking at this is that you just locked a ball, you have one winkie left to get into the castle (though you have not captured yet), you have 2 balls locked and need 2 tinman rollovers to light lock for the third and start ECMB, you have already started Fireball, you completed rainbow and are ready to spin the house to start a munchkin mode, you have a haunted mode ready to collect, and are on ball 3 in a single player game.

Every game has issues sooner or later, usually sooner if on location. Check Eddie C's thread here with an ongoing log of issues at Modern Pinball! No game is bulletproof. Early WOZ games had real issues with the light boards, which was addressed, and some other sporadic issues on specific games. And that light architecture isn't even being used in the Hobbit. For a first game with a pretty complex brand-new platform, it's not doing too badly. And I'm sure the Hobbit will be more reliable, based on the WOZ experience gained.

I've been to that bowling alley up in Boston Mike and found all the games working and well maintained!

I'm at Knoebels usually once a week, haven't seen the WOZ off yet although maybe I missed the days it was. Obviously it had the upper GI issue as I recall but still playable as of the weekend. I'm thankful one is around to get some time on especially given the price tag on it. I wouldn't have the balls to have little greasy/sticky kids smashing on it all day. So a big thanks to Jon & Brandon for putting it out there! I don't play it much but of the pins in that arcade I always hear new people walk by and take notice of it, partial GI or not. Location pinball is hit or miss, doesn't matter if its JJP, Sterns or a Williams IJ that i've been waiting over a year to actually see fixed and that's just the opto trough & flippers, ohwell.

Sentence structure is a component of grammar two.

I hope you used "two" on purpose.

I'm sure your correct

Q: how many pinsiders does it take to change a lightbulb in WOZ?
A: WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO START AN ARGUMENT ABOUT WOZ!@#!@#!@#

That's a long drive, thanks for making the trek!

Ugh, I played this machine on Friday in Rehobeth.

The flippers were super weak, and if you held in the left flipper button for longer than 1/2 a second it would flip 3 times...so it was impossible to cradle the ball.

I walked away after 1 game. It was really disappointing since WOZ is my absolute favorite game.