evan@petfe.UUCP (Evan Marcus) (04/17/85)
I am something of a purist, and while there are some video games that I like, I much prefer good old fashioned pinball. I'd like to see if we can get a discussion of old-time favorite pinball machines up. Let me start... There was one, I believe it was called Fireball. It appeared years before the modern multi-ball machines, yet it had multi-ball capabilities. The other remarkable feature about it was a big rubber spinner in the middle of the table that (when turned on) would put incredible spins on the ball. It included targets and pins representing Odin and another mythological god (Roman? Greek?) whose name escapes me. Anyone care to add anything??? --Evan Marcus There are two kinds of people in the world, those who divide people into two groups, and those who don't.
mom@sftri.UUCP (Mark Modig) (04/17/85)
> I am something of a purist, and while there are some video games that I like, I > much prefer good old fashioned pinball. I'd like to see if we can get a > discussion of old-time favorite pinball machines up. > > Let me start... > There was one, I believe it was called Fireball. It appeared years before > the modern multi-ball machines, yet it had multi-ball capabilities. The other > remarkable feature about it was a big rubber spinner in the middle of the > table that (when turned on) would put incredible spins on the ball. It > included targets and pins representing Odin and another mythological god > (Roman? Greek?) whose name escapes me. > > Anyone care to add anything??? > The other god was Wotan, also a Norse god, I believe, from an earlier mythos than Odin and his contemporaries [something like Cronos and the Titans giving way to Zeus, Poseidon, etc.]. Anyway, this was one of my favorite, favorite machines. The spinner had little buttons around it that could open or close the flippers. With the flippers closed, it was much more difficult to lose a ball down the middle-- you really had to try. Also, you had a tilted area at the top where the ball would first enter the playing field. Agood shot here would get you 3000 points. Too hard and the ball would go thru a chute and down towards the bumpers. Not hard enough and you wouldn't get the ball to go into the lane. I really like old pinball machines and was very sorry to see them go. I still own a half share in one of them that a friend and I had in college. We also had a Space Invaders machine [the pinball machine-- with the mirrored backglass] for awhile. Two of my other favorite machines were "Wizard" and "King Kool". Any other pinball fanatics out there? Mark Modig ihnp4!sftri!mom
matt@oddjob.UUCP (Matt Crawford) (04/18/85)
When I was an undergrad we used to go in a group of four over to the next dorm and play Fireball or Sing Along and stay for hours on a single coin. In fact we considered it either a shame or a sign of bad manners not to leave fifteen games on the machine. Sing Along was s-o-o-o old that you could get points by 1's and 10's, not 100's and 1000's. It had four holes in a horizontal row across the lower field (about where the spinner would be in Fire- ball) and a column of lights under each hole. You'd hit various targets to light the lights and raise the value of the holes. Each hole had a kicker which would USUALLY pass the ball along to the next hole or from the last one down toward the the flippers. By the way, Odin and Wotan are two names for the same guy, pro- bably in different dialects of whatever they were speaking. Playing Die Walkure at 1000 Watts had no appreciable affect on the Fireball machine. "It's true your honor. This node has no disk." _____________________________________________________ Matt University crawford@anl-mcs.arpa Crawford of Chicago ihnp4!oddjob!matt
bobd@zaphod.UUCP (Bob Dalgleish) (04/18/85)
> > I am something of a purist, and while there are some video games that I like, I > > much prefer good old fashioned pinball. I'd like to see if we can get a > > discussion of old-time favorite pinball machines up. > > > I really like old pinball machines and was very sorry to see them > go. I learned on a machine called 2001 from Gottlieb(sp). The backglass indicated a copyright date of 1969 (no idea of the artist or designer). It was (and is) my all time favorite machine. It only allowed one player, it had the tiny flippers, and powerful pop bumpers. The things I learned to do on that machine: catching the ball and slowing it to a rest to allow time to take aim; toss the ball from one flipper to the other and back; hit the ball from one flipper to the other allowing a "backhand" shot (this was the only way to hit some of the pins). Alas, many of these things are no longer possible because the relays driving the long flippers just aren't strong or responsive enough. I occasionally think about the good ol' 2001; go out and buy it from where it is sitting in an old movie house and refurbish it. Has anyone else actually rebuilt/refurbished an older machine? I have seen a catalog of replacement parts, but I am wondering if the old relays, etc. would still be available. -- [The opinions expressed here are only loosely based on the facts] Bob Dalgleish ...!alberta!sask!zaphod!bobd ihnp4! (My company has disclaimed any knowledge of me and whatever I might say)
david@sesame.UUCP (David Watson) (04/19/85)
> I am something of a purist, and while there are some video games that I like, > I much prefer good old fashioned pinball. I'd like to see if we can get a > discussion of old-time favorite pinball machines up. > > > --Evan Marcus Real Pinball is a physical sensation. Some video games are fun, and many are very challenging, but I never played pinball to win. It was always for that feeling of *riding* the ball. In 1973 I spent two weeks playing pinball in England. I had discovered that most of the classic '60s machines in American public places were played out, but Britons had preserved the machines much better. In Leicester Square I played a machine called "Sapporo" (after the 1972 Winter Olympics) which had a small chairlift which would carry the ball up-field for a bonus. In 1976 I repaired hundreds of pinball machines. I learned to respect the classics as rudimentary computers and superb kitsch art. One of my most prized possessions is a 1968 "Melodymaker". I would collect better machines than that one if I could afford to. Does anyone know of a large collection of classic machines open for public play? I haven't had much chance to indulge in my old obsession since nearly ten years ago, but Evan's article brought back all the memories. -- David Watson {genrad|ihnp4|ima}!wjh12!talcott!sesame!david {cbosgd|harvard}!talcott!sesame!david david%sesame@harvard.ARPA
ron@wjvax.UUCP (Ron Christian) (04/19/85)
*****
From: evan@petfe.UUCP (Evan Marcus)
Organization: Perkin-Elmer DSG, Tinton Falls, N.J.
...[pinball machines]
There was one, I believe it was called Fireball. It appeared years before
the modern multi-ball machines, yet it had multi-ball capabilities. The other
remarkable feature about it was a big rubber spinner in the middle of the
table that (when turned on) would put incredible spins on the ball. It
included targets and pins representing Odin and another mythological god
(Roman? Greek?) whose name escapes me.
Anyone care to add anything???
--Evan Marcus
*****
Wotan!
Not Roman or Greek, Scandinavian, I think. Fireball! My personal
favorite! Gee, it's been a long time. There were two ball traps
on the top left and right sides with the names of the gods, and
two targets lower down called 'Release Odin' and 'Release Wotan'.
If you got a ball caught in the trap you got another one, and when
you hit the 'Release' target, you'd get the second ball back in play.
You could get three balls at once in the game!
I believe Heathkit released a 'home' version of Fireball, but it
didn't have the center spinner and was missing a few other features.
Gee, I haven't thought about this for a long time. Thanks, Evan.
Two others from my college days come to mind. One was a vacation
motif, had a big counter built into the backplane, and you had
a certain amount of *time* as opposed to *balls* to play. Losing
the ball stopped the clock. You could also stop the clock by hitting
a special target, and in a sense continue playing for free. I
think the game was called 'Time Zone'. Anyone else remember it?
Another one was a space (time) travel motif and had a tunnel in
the middle of the playing area (glass covered), made up of decreasing
concentric circles that lit up in different colors. I think the idea
was to hit a target when the color was that of the highest point value.
I don't remember the name. Anyone remember more?
--
--
Ron Christian (Watkins-Johnson Co. San Jose, Calif.)
{pesnta,twg,ios,qubix,turtlevax,tymix,vecpyr,isi,idx}!wjvax!ron
"What do you mean you backed it up the wrong direction???"ee163ahj@sdcc13.UUCP (PAUL VAN DE GRAAF) (04/21/85)
[ 'You hurt GORGAR!' ] One of my all-time favorites was the novelty machine which I believe was called Goliath or Hercules or some such. It was made by Atari (the only decent pin to come from them) and I'm sure you'd remember it if you played it, since it was, to quote David Letterman, "just plain BIG !" The ball was about the size of a skee-ball or duck-pin bowling ball. Most people played it for the novelty, and not for the game, but it was quite playable and gave me hours of enjoyment. Nothing boosts your ego as much as beating the crap out of a huge machine with dozens of on-lookers watching in amazement. A play cost 50 cents, and I guess it suffered from the same problem that present day pins have, it took up too much room to be profitable. If I could find a used one though... well maybe it would fit in my living room if took out all the furniture :-). I'm surprised nobody has mentioned 'Captain Fantastic', or '8-Ball' (not Deluxe) two of the most popular of the old-time games. Or even the one that I learned to play (well) on, 'Flash!'. The play on the old games was pretty good, but I'm a sucker for the sound of those synthesizer chips. The sound was particularly good on 'Silverball Mania', 'Mystic' (my all-time fav- orite), and 'Fire-Power'. Now that Video is sort of dying, maybe we'll see a resurge in Pinball, but the only new game I can think of from this year is 'Space Shuttle'. It's OK, but I know they can do better. Sooner or later the old machines are going to start falling apart, most arcades skimp on their maintenance; another reason why you don't see too many pins anymore. Paul van de Graaf sdcsvax!sdcc13!ee163ahj U. C. San Diego
plutchak@uwmacc.UUCP (Joel Plutchak) (04/23/85)
Thanks! I've been racking my brains trying to remember the name of my
favorite pinball game. It was indeed 'Firepower'. I also played and
enjoyed 'Fireball' at the arcade at Marriott's Great America amusement
park (Libertyville, Ill.) when I worked there one summer many years back.
-joelli63sfh@sdcc7.UUCP (Philip Kao) (04/24/85)
sorry, i dont remember fireball
however, does bow and arrow ring a bell ? now there's a classic
or better yet, there's space mission
-dragon pup
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Dec-Net: ihnp4!sdcsvax!sdcc7!{li63sfh}%DECWRLken@ncrcae.UUCP (Ken Fineberg) (04/24/85)
For the line eater - Special when lit! In reply to the question about replacement parts, I've restored (restore may be too strong a word) I've cleaned up and gotten about two dozen machines working in the last ten years. These have ranged from a 1952 Chicago Coin Baseball to a Bally Wizard and a Gottlieb Royal Flush (love them Gottlieb Drop Target Games!!). Generally, unless the machines suffered serious damage, like a fire inside or has been cannibalized for parts, you won't have to worry about buying replacement relays. Most of the time simply tightening the screws that hold bakelite switch stacks together will compensate for spacer warpage and bring the contacts back into adjustment. It's been several years since I looked but coin machine dealers used to sell a switch repair kit that consisted of leaf spring material and contact points that you peen into pre drilled holes to make your own custom blades. Probably $20-$25 for a kit. If you go into a dealer, buy a bottle of playfield cleaner/wax. There are several brands on the market. Should smell like turpentine. This will clean and wax the playfield and give you far better playing action. Also replace the playfield rubbers. To re-rubber an entire machine should cost no more than $10 bucks. Pinball machines make great industrial strength toys. Short of attacking it with a hammer they're childproof. Any questions, I'll try to answer them by mail. Play pinball for fun and recreation. It's fun to compete.
laman@ncr-tp.UUCP (Mike Laman) (04/25/85)
Ahhh. I learned to play pin-ball on "Flip-Flop". I learned to cheat on it
too. If you never saw the game, there were four targets in the upper center
one had to hit (among other things). When you hit one of those targets,
a corresponding rectangular wooden "block" would "flip" over. After getting
all four over, you next had to hit one of two mushroom (no not
thumper/pop bumbers) to "reset" the rectangles. In other words "flop"
the rectangles back over. You got a bonus for each rectangle you "flipped"
or "flopped" over, so hitting the mushroom was worth 4 bonus points.
After hitting all the targets so all the rectangle were "flipped" over
(and awaiting to hit the mushroom target), one person would put both
hands under the head of the pinball machine and his (I wasn't into girls
then) elbows in the middle of the glass over the playing surface. When the
ball went for the mushroom, the person would push hard (when you're a young
teenager, you had to push real hard) using the machines head as an aid
to "dent" the glass down over the rectangles. When we got lucky and hit the
mushroom, the game would try to "flop" the rectangles back over. But if we
were pushing on the glass enough, the rectangles would hit the glass and fall
back waiting for us to hit the mushroom again (and get 4 more bonus).
The side alleys were a bear on that game.
One of the toughest games was "Old Chicago" and "Bronco". Yea, I miss
some of those old games. Thanks to some one for mentioning "Space Mission".
I was trying to remember that name. I enjoyed that one too.
Now I'm not all that old (26). I've just enjoyed the game for a long time.
I taught my best college friend how to play on "8 ball". That's a good one
for doing that. You learn to hit the chutes.
I liked the big machines too. There are a couple around here, but as typical
of most older (not that the ATARI pinballs are old) machines, they get
run down.
Ohhhh. How about "Sinbad". I could (and did) play that game for hours.
I also used to work the night shift at a pinball arcade. I'd lock up at
midnight and play games until three/four in the morning! Those were the days!
(That was the fringe benefit that made that job well worth it. I'd take the
glass off and practice some too. Needless to say I got (and still am, but a
little rusty) quite good.)
Oh well, enough of my fun. Keep those machine names coming! I'm enjoying
every message and memory.
Mike Laman
UUCP: {ucbvax,philabs,sdcsla}!sdcsvax!ncr-tp!lamanzarth@drutx.UUCP (CovartDL) (04/26/85)
Like so many Pinabll machines two of the games you mentioned were marketed under other names(I believe): 1) Flip-Flop was also called(or very similar to) Wizard. 2) Sinbad also went by something and as soon as I put this down I got a mental block. I also remeber seeing the game Cleopatra out as some other name, anyone know it. Wish I had seen this discussion earlier as I have been an avid pinball adict seen I first played one. Personally, I think in recent years I like Bally Machines the best. Gottlieb's have never been that great in my opinion, usually wide bodies and built like tanks, but there try at competing with the likes of Bally seems to be a little less than promissing. There multiball games(i.e. Haunted House,Black Hole) can't comparing to the likes of Bally's. Have any of you ever played the Hulk by Gottlieb?? Wasn't it Gottlieb who came out with the video/pinball game Caveman?? Interesting game, but relies to much on the video part. Not to be to hard on G's machines I do like and have played, Scorpion and Countdown. I am sure there are others to but they do not come right to mind. Well I just thought I would jump into this before it died out. BTW does anyone know of a good place to play pinball(perferably a bar(no rugrats(young kids))) in the Northglenn area. I just moved to Colorado recently and am having troubles finding one. Zarth Arn drutx!zarth
mer@prism.UUCP (04/27/85)
My favorite (although not my first) was the Space Invaders pinball game. When brand new it was wicked fast--I just watched in awe the first few times, my quarter lasting about 2 minutes. But there was a lot of neat things on the game and after a lot of work, boy could you make it sing! <something, something, mit-eddie...> sorry...prism!mer
steveh@hammer.UUCP (Stephen Hemminger) (04/30/85)
I to miss the old favorite pins, but also remember some real terrible ones. Does any one remember some of the real "must miss" machines whose only purpose was to send the ball screaming down a dump chute upon hitting anything. I got a chance to see the 80 winter olympics at lake placid. There they had some sort of "concept sculpture" out on the lake. It consisted of various all white houses with different all white things inside. Inside one was ten or so pinball machines. The only problem was that they were all painted white, and the machines had the sound turned way down. Also, they were set to infinitely easy; they were so many free games on them, you had to try to lose. It was so easy, and so uncolorful, it was boring. Was this what the "artist" (I use the term loosely) was trying to say?