Pinball machines sold at Best Buy?

Stern's Facebook page has a wall photo of a couple of their machines on display at Best Buy. Wonder if this will be something for sale at the stores or simply just a temporary display.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150310073079244&set=a.3861...=1&theater

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Temporary, I'd guess. Come to NJ and visit the Silverball Museum on the Asbury Park boardwalk, right asross the street from the Stone Pony. Admission gets you unlimited play on hundreds of machines from all eras. Unfortunately, I've not made it there yet, but hope to.

That's crazy.

My RCT machine pretty much serves as a dust collector. The novelty of playing wore off, but the novelty of having it prevents me from selling it for a few bucks.

That's why I've recently gotten into MAME. I'm in the process of converting a Virtua Fighter upright arcade cabinet into a MAME cabinet...literally thousands upon thousands of the original arcade games at your fingertips. If I had just one game, I'd get bored with it pretty quickly I think.

Virtual pinball is pretty popular as well. Drop a flatscreen TV face up into the base of an original pinball cabinet, another TV on the upright portion for the scoreboard, and you can play as many different pinball machines as are available. Here's an example (speaking of Gonch's RCT machine). :)

The pinball conversions can get real pricey, though. I don't think I'd have the patience (or free time) to mess with that. Plus I'm not into pinball as much as I am the retro video arcade games.

Re: RCT sitting unplayed: honestly, RCT isn't a very good game.. this may contribute to its dust-collecting attributes :) Many pinball fans consider it among the worst of Pat Lawlor's games (same designer responsible for classics "The Addams Family," "Funhouse" and "Twilight Zone.") It has some good points, but the troll is annoying as hell, some of the shots don't line up well, the rules have problems and the upper right flipper is too weak (by design). Of course, if one isn't much into pinball, even the best games can seem dull, but I'd advise trading that game for, say, Attack from Mars or Spiderman or similar. FWIW, if your machine has never been operated and is in pristine condition, you could probably get $2500-$3000 for it, depending on buyer. By comparison, used AFMs start at $3K for beat up examples and can exceed $6K for restored machines. Yea, it's that good :D

Re: pinmame and visual pinball - these ARE very cool programs (both are used together to create the simulated pinball game) - but, you have to be careful setting them up and with what features you enable, otherwise the game will have insufferable flipper lag and be unplayable. Really cool when it works, but unlike MAME, it's not even close to being a sub for the real thing. A pinball machine is like a car... some people get more enjoyment out of restoring a machine to gleaming newness and tweaking it to play perfectly, than they do actually playing it. I'm more of a player, although I do restore/tweak my own games. There's something to be said about having those steel balls banging around all the various mechanisms, feeling the machine action, etc.. much more interactive than a joystick+buttons and video screen...

Oh, watch out on those Best Buy games. I believe the Iron Man model they sell is a stripped down one that lacks features found on the proper arcade model (they call it "Iron Man Classic"). If you don't see a magnet post (round steel insert in the playfield) in front of Iron Monger and near Whiplash's targets, it's the cheapie and not worth buying at all. I'm pretty sure Tron is the actual arcade model. It won't be the limited edition one, though - that one has luminescent wiring in the ramps and a special 'Daft Punk' multiball mode.

-Larry, pinball nerd :)

Did I just stumble onto PinballBuzz? What happened to CoasterBuzz?

LOL, yea sorta OT.. Pinball and gamerooms do share some history with amusement parks, though.. usually the smaller parks (although CP still has a good collection). Some of the older pinheads are carnies, and are park enthusiasts as well.

Three Words: Eight Ball Deluxe!

metallik said:
Of course, if one isn't much into pinball, even the best games can seem dull...

Pretty much. It's cool and all, but I've never been a pinball guy. The initial novelty of having a machine was fun, but...

FWIW, if your machine has never been operated and is in pristine condition, you could probably get $2500-$3000 for it, depending on buyer.

It's used but aside from a couple of slightly worn rubber pieces, it's essentially exactly the look and condition as it was out of the box.

$3000 vs the keeping it. Not even close. I'll keep the machine. The novelty/conversation piece is worth more than the $3000.

CP does have a decent collection of pinball but nearly all of them are EM (except South Park and Attack From Mars that I can think of) and none of them play well, if at all really. I do give them credit for their classic arcades though; probably the best and largest selection i've seen at any park. I wonder how long they will keep them around for...I usually see only a handfull of people, including me, back there playing them.
BTW-- never thought I'd see the day of pinball on coaster buzz. Two of my favorite things!

CP has South Park too? The only modern machine I could find was Attack From Mars, which I apparently suck at, so I don't waste my money for 30 seconds of gameplay. The relics in the back of the arcade are kinda neat to try out, but not as fun... one of them was so easy, I actually couldn't wait for my ball to go down the drain, I was so bored. Oh how I wish they had an Addams Family machine there!

I trust you pingeeks are aware of the Pinball Hall-of-Fame in Las Vegas? I've only been to Vegas once, and unfortunately only had about 20 minutes to spend at the PHoF because I was traveling with other people, but I easily could have spent half a day (and ungodly amounts of quarters). Pinball Circus was really cool -- love the ball roll on the elephant. :)

When I had the Jurassic Park machine in Cleveland, it was kind of a hub for parties. Since I liked to throw parties, I like to have a pinbal machine. I'm not sure what I'll do when I move back, but I would like to have one again, but preferably a newer one. I really liked the Indiana Jones machine I played when the fourth movie came out. Alas, hot tub is the first priority.

Gonch: I'm glad you're keeping it... Guests love 'em, and that game is all about your favorite hobby :)

Ktrain: Yes, CP leans towards EMs... ("electromechanical" for non-pinheads - no computer, just relays, solenoids and score motors/reels). I suspect the guy keeping them running is an EM fan. The games will probably go when their caretaker retires or otherwise leaves. EM techs are a dying breed. Also, I'm fairly certain CP only has *revenge* from mars - the pinball 2000 sequel. This game has cool technology, with the reflected display, but honestly isn't nearly as fun as http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=3781 attack from mars.

Birdhombre, I unfortunately haven't been to PHoF yet... haven't had a reason to go to Vegas otherwise. I did manage to go to the last couple California Extreme shows - http://www.caextreme.org - they have over 400 vids + pins there. Their Pinball Circus is one of only two in existence. It never made it past the prototype stage - the bill-of-materials for the game was insanely high, so they canned the project :(

Jeff: JP is a great game.. one of Data East's best efforts. On the other hand, I think you'd be severely disappointed with the new IJ game. Its gameplay gets *extremely* repetitive (shoot hole, watch badly-rendered movie scene in 8 shades of orange, ball ejects.. shoot hole, repeat) .. it doesn't get much better as it goes on. Watching the Ark barf out a bunch of pinballs at the start of multiball is cool, but doesn't save the game. You're welcome to test drive any/all of my games once you're back in Ohio - you might find a couple you really enjoy. Newer isn't necessarily better. The Getaway: High Speed 2 (http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=1000) is consistently one of my most popular games with guests, despite being a 1992 model. It's easy to understand, has a kickass playfield toy and a cool theme. If nothing else, I can help you avoid ripoffs or hacked up machines.

Yeah, this is my "other" big hobby - what I spend all winter (coaster offseason) messing with!

Attack From Mars, that's the one I loved playing when I was younger! I've been trying to remember the name of it, and I knew it wasn't Revenge. That table was pretty challenging for me when I was standing on a step-stool to play, but I loved it. I probably played most of the tables that came out between 93-99. My aunt worked in our local mall and she would take me to the arcade, grab a step-stool, give me several dollars worth of tokens, and let me take over the pinball machine. That and skiball was pretty much all I ever did until about '97 when I got tall enough and understood the other games in the arcade.

And yes, Addams Family is one of the best tables out there. I also like the monster one, I think its Monster Mash or something like that.

I haven't played any of the newer ones lately, I'm a fan of the 80's to mid 90's machines. Jeff's JP machine was always a fun one to play for me.

I would like to add a couple of machines to my basement to compliment my Black Knight machine, but home improvement and kids kind of take precedence over that. Instead, I've been taking my 5 year old to the Ohio Pinball Expo in Cuyahoga Falls for the last couple of years and he loves playing different machines there. His favorite is Attack From Mars. Now my 3 year old is starting to play around with our BK machine at home, so I guess it'll be time to take him to the show as well.

Yeah, I'm somewhat of a Pinhead too. :-P

Oh and MaxairMike, it's Monster Bash. That's a fun one too!

~Rob

^^^ Yep, Cedar Point's machine is definitely Revenge, not Attack. The reflected display is a neat effect. I remember liking Jurassic Park and Terminator 2: Judgment Day a lot when I was a teenager.

Another one that intrigues me is Baby Pac-Man, maybe just because of its unusual combination of pinball and video game. I've never actually played it though.

^ Cuyahoga Falls? Hmm, I might have to check that out next year...

I remember playing a Baby Pac-Man when it was first released. If I recall, it was a pretty challenging game. The combination was pretty cool.

birdhombre,

Here's the link to the show. It is being held March 9th and 10th this upcoming year. I usually go out there with my dad and my son. It's a nice guys night out sort of thing.

~Rob

Awesomeland. Thanks!

If you ever get out to Las Vegas, make sure to stop by the pinball hall of fame. They had some awesome old school games and the place was busy with people dropping quarters left and right.

I would love to have a pinball or stand up video game machine.