Pinball machines versus video games

[ledge]

I updated my pinball machine today and a conversation I had with a few friends was which is better, now I am not talking the latest video games but the old tabletop types that took over from pinballs, space invaders, dig dug, pacman etc .

I of course am a major pinball fan and was quite sad to see them slowly disappear.

I am interested in knowing fellow woofers thoughts and favourite games being pinball or video games.

For the record I traded in my flash for one called Last action hero.
My favourites were Mata Hari, Pheonix, Gorgar, Playboy, all 70s models.
The only video games that I enjoyed were space invaders and one called jungle boy.

[AndrewP6]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

I was never really a fan of pinball...being born in the mid-70s, I think I kind of missed the peak of the pinball popularity, as video/computer games become the 'in' thing. Space Invaders,Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, Prince of Persia were some faves...

[ledge]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

From what the records show Andrew pinballs biggest popularity was the mid to late 70s and early 90s, sadly only one company makes them now called stern.

I suppose the 70s they were big because video games were non existant, any fish n chip shop you ventured into had one back then and with them were 4 to 5 kids putting in their 20 cents.

I used to venture into a pinball parlour next to Footscray station or the bowling alley which had a few too.
Oh to have a pinball parlour now would be so awesome.

[Before I Die]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

I updated my pinball machine today and a conversation I had with a few friends was which is better, now I am not talking the latest video games but the old tabletop types that took over from pinballs, space invaders, dig dug, pacman etc .

I of course am a major pinball fan and was quite sad to see them slowly disappear.

I am interested in knowing fellow woofers thoughts and favourite games being pinball or video games.

For the record I traded in my flash for one called Last action hero.
My favourites were Mata Hari, Pheonix, Gorgar, Playboy, all 70s models.
The only video games that I enjoyed were space invaders and one called jungle boy.

Was Gorgar the one that would constantly call out "Feed Me" if no-one was playing it?

Lived a few years in Carlton in the 80s and Johnny's Green Room was the pinball venue of choice.

[mighty_west]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

Fish & chip shops, pubs, tattoo parlours, they all either has a pinny machine, stand up or sit down video game, and / or a record playing jukebox machine.

I remember playing the KISS pinball at the old Strand pub on the corner of North road & the Strand in Newport as a kid.

The local Tattoo shop used to be swamped by us 14/15 year olds playing the latest video game, either Moon Cresta, Pacman or Galaga, the local fish & chip had a stand up machine that used to use different machine cartridges, Kangaroo, Popeye, Donkey Kong Jnr & Jungle King were some of the faves at the time.

These days, you can just download MAME, which is an emulator, click on the roms which are identical to the original arcade coin op machine versions.

Or you could lash out on your own machine with tons of games, with not alot of change from $5k...

https://www.arcadegamingaustralia.com.au/cms/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=155&category_id=9&option=com_phpshop&Itemid=18

[ledge]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

I go to Bumper in Sth Melb they have the sit down table top with 60 games for $2000,they sell every sort of video game you can think of including the big buck shooting game that seems to be popular in a few pubs now.

[mighty_west]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

I go to Bumper in Sth Melb they have the sit down table top with 60 games for $2000,they sell every sort of video game you can think of including the big buck shooting game that seems to be popular in a few pubs now.

I'm pretty sure that is the store i had a peek in a few years ago, i was a little put off by some of the prices of machines, so i just went with the X-Arcade duel joystick, might attempt to build a stand up with the joystick & MAME one day....when i can be bothered.

I can't really split what i prefer, a Pinball or Arcade video game, although an old classic pinny in the lounge would look pretty damn cool.

[Desipura]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

Frogger was a favourite of mine as well as the car racing game at Highpoint that was producing free games all day one school holiday period back in the 80's.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

Country trains didn't stop at West Footscray, so after the game we would walk to Footscray station and play the pinnies in the bowling alley until the red rattler rolled up.

[The Coon Dog]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

My favourite pinnie:

[Twodogs]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

Great topic Ledge.


Pinballs have an element of hand/eye coordination and reflexes that I really enjoyed over the old table top games. My favorite pinny of all time was called 'Orbit'. They used to have one at Footscray Bowl. It was pretty easy to get free games on but was still challenging enough to make it interesting. The other thing I loved about pinnys was getting 'extra ball' or 'multiball' and waiting to see if you had enough extra bonus's and multipliers to get a free game at the end.

I always kept away from those pinball machine that only let you have three balls. Proper pinnys had five balls.

[ledge]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

Great topic Ledge.


Pinballs have an element of hand/eye coordination and reflexes that I really enjoyed over the old table top games. My favorite pinny of all time was called 'Orbit'. They used to have one at Footscray Bowl. It was pretty easy to get free games on but was still challenging enough to make it interesting. The other thing I loved about pinnys was getting 'extra ball' or 'multiball' and waiting to see if you had enough extra bonus's and multipliers to get a free game at the end.

I always kept away from those pinball machine that only let you have three balls. Proper pinnys had five balls.

I started to lay off them when they went from 20 cents to a dollar then 3 balls, ripped off bigtime I thought.

[ledge]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

My favourite pinnie:

Is that one you own TCD? If so is it still working okay, Kiss is very rare and worth a lot.

[The Coon Dog]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

Is that one you own TCD? If so is it still working okay, Kiss is very rare and worth a lot.

No, it was just my favourite one to play.

[comrade]

Re: Pinball machines versus video games

No, it was just my favourite one to play.

I can just imagine you whacking away at the pinnies back in the day, TCD.

In this age of Wii, Playstation (2 and 3 and PSP) and XBox, does The Coon Pup even know what a pinnie is!