/vr/ - Retro Games

>>6400578
didnt this cab have something wrong with it? I remember rumors that tilting it would create credits or something like that?

addams family got some pretty nice video games too

wow wikipedia says there's an addams family GBC game, anybody played it? is it a HIDDEN GEM

>>6400578
>blocks your path

>>6400604
There's nothing really terribly wrong with it. However, tilting the game gives you a letter in GREED, which you need to light multiball locks. To my knowledge, it's the only pinball game that rewards you for tilting.

>>6400639
I've always seen more T2s around than Addams Family myself. Almost every single arcade I've been to either has one or has had one at some point

It was Elvira I remember seeing the most.

THE MAMUUUUUUSHKAAAAA

>>6400578
Isn’t this *somehow* the best selling pinball machine of all time? I wonder why/how distributors moved so many of these machines? It was a hit film but nowhere near as big as THIS.

>>6400728
>tilting the game gives you a letter in GREED
Never knew that. Neat!

>>6400730

>>6400730
>tfw got to meet her at a pinball expo last year
Her new machine is fucking cool

>>6400746
I don't know but I remember JP movies suffering from a lack of dino horror and dino screen time (probably due to the limits of CGI.) I would have like to see more predators ambushing and eating more people, more dinos in general doing random stuff. Make it feel like a real dinosaur park gone wrong.

>>6400578
I really want to play this again, but it's no longer as prevalent as it was.

>>6400746
Why I think Addams Family was the best-selling game of all time (post hoc guesses).
The DMD technology was "coming into its own". Some people hadn't encountered it before.
The sound effects and voice work is great.
The rules are simpler than, for example, Terminator 2. People liked that, I guess.
The Question Mark at the top of the mansion is alluring.
A good set of toys, I guess.

I've heard that one of the reasons that Addams Family sold so well is that there was some sort of deal with the movie's marketing department to use the pin to promote the movie. But I think that may just be a rumor.

One thing people don't know is that Addams could have sold way more than it did. Operators/Distributors were clamoring for it because players kept putting quarters in. Addams Family Gold Edition sold out very quickly and Williams could have sold more than they did.

>>6400957
What new machine?

>>6401753
No way is Addams Family easier than Terminator 2. That pin is as simple as it gets, you can grasp the ruleset in 15 minutes. That being said, I have no clue why AF got as big as it did. There were many better pins, with more spectacular shots and better game flow. AF isn't even easy on beginners, which should have made a difference, but it somehow didn't.

>>6402357
There are 3 elvira pins now. Party Monsters, Scared Stiff, and House of Horrors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VrQ1r44B3Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUMmErwpVLE

>>6402624
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f8mK-DjmW0

>>6400952
Elvira had a surprisingly good run of games in the /vr/ age.

My personal favorite that was around was a local laundromat having Data East's Star Wars. It's got presentation in spades, shame it's scoring is so lopsided that pros don't like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v83p6_itYrg

>>6402624
I can't tell what it is about elvira that aged so well. Probably the personality + the tits

>>6402654
Literally everything, she is timeless.

>>6402376
Addams Family is one of the easiest games overall to get into pinball with, I'd say. Terminator 2 is a faster and more punishing game where draining is easier (have to keep the kickback in the left outlane lit) and single shots aren't particularly rewarding (have to shoot ten ramps total to start payback time, or shoot the skull multiple times within a time limit to start multiball). Addams Family popularized the light mode -> start mode style of gameplay that's pretty easy for new players to follow, and Tour the Mansion provides a pretty obvious goal for these players to want to reach. It's gotten to be a nightmare in tournaments because of how easy it is to control the ball in Addams Family, even with the magnets disabled; you're just shooting ramps, shooting scoops, and incidentally getting multiball letters.

Man, I can't get enough of The Addams Family. I really like the layout, and most of the missions. Touring the mansion always feel good.
Many would complain it's very start & stop, gameplay-wise, but hey it's a Lawlor game.

Am I the only one to fucking hate manchildren obsessed with "mods" (basically ruining a playfield with useless toys or tacky LEDs)?

>>6403343
I don't know anon, I've seen many normies leave in anger and confusion at my local bar because they had no idea what they were supposed to do (I've even had to explain how to start a game a few times). Even hitting the chair is a challenge for many. The lack of ball save makes people surprisingly furious, too.

>>6400578
I had the high score on that damn thing. I wish I liked video game pinball half as much as "real" pinball.

>>6403412
>i wish i liked masturbating with a cheese grater
k

>>6403412
Not even Pro Pinball, anon?

>>6403403
Can't argue with actual observations, but I feel like it's important to make a distinction between people who play pinball to actually learn and get better versus people who play simply to bat a ball around for a little bit. If someone is simply looking for playtime, then any game with a generous ballsaver will be their favorite, but I think people were more willing to learn how to actually play pinball games around the time Addams Family released. Both the oldest of games and newer games share the issue of there not being anything obvious to shoot at to score points; modes in a lot of modern games like Guardians of the Galaxy are utterly worthless unless you stack them with something else, while the target banks in the original Black Knight don't even tell you how many points they're worth. They're not as easy to grasp as Addams Family, which offers very distinct modes and multiball strategies.

What's the difference between good and bad pinball board design? Is it speed? Having a variety of objectives? I understand the appeal of certain themes but not much beyond that.

>>6405043
Pinball is a complete package. A good pinball game needs both good presentation and thoughtful gameplay. Back when arcades were more widespread, the higher-ups were a lot more willing to pay artists and engineers to make something worthwhile. Pin-Bot is a good example of a game that was originally conceptualized by an artist to look and sound appealing and was elaborated upon by a playfield designer to make gameplay to match. Nowadays, because pinball is perceived as dying by most companies, they're compelled to save time and money, which doesn't give designers as much time to think on their designs and essentially cuts artists out of the design process entirely. You get a lot of games with interesting gameplay and absolutely terrible presentation like Jurassic Park, and you get a lot of games with gorgeous artwork and terrible gameplay like Ghostbusters.

>>6403730
Every virtual pinball I've tried has been shit. It's not so much "muh physics", I think it's just I'm staring at my monitor instead of actually playing pinball. Maybe VR would help, but I dunno.

LOOK EVERYONE WE HAVE GUESTS!!

So Stern's next table is going to be TMNT

>tfw haven't played real pinball in 2 months because covid

>>6405489
>another fucking comic book theme
>jjp probably revealing another fucking music pin
wake me up when this nightmare is over

>>6403343
Terminator 2 is pretty hard but I found it really rewarding. Only got 148 mil though.

>>6405724
Yeah who the fuck decided we needed a new Aerosmith or Metallica table? I like the Iron Maiden one though.

I used to own a Space Jam table, but I sold it for like 300 dollars. I still regret it to this day.

>>6405489
>he doesn't own multiple pinballs at home

I'm sorry, anon :(

Has to be one of the best pinball tie-ins ever, surely?

>>6405043
There's a lot of things that people almost never like. Spellathons, for instance (hit the same shot over and over again to spell something). And people don't like games where you shoot the ball up to the upper playfield every time it goes to the lower playfield, and each ball ends up lasting forever. And they don't like games where the best strategy is repetitive.

>>6406813
This pinball machine is not very well liked. Ranked #235 on pinside.

>>6407183
Wonder why. The rails seem like a natural fit.

>>6407187
Reading the reviews now, apparently it's slightly too easy and the art is poor quality. Plus the troll is bizarre - I always thought that was a strange addition, myself.

>>6400578
Not without me, cousin!

>>6407168
>the best strategy is repetitive
Aren't pinballs by nature somewhat repetitive or are you taking the piss?

>>6408394
There are some games, like Bride of Pinbot, where the best strategy is to shoot for the left ramp almost exclusively. Compared with a mode based game like Guardians of the Galaxy where you'll be playing each mode and shooting a variety of shots.

>>6408530
Yeah, I understand that BoP can be a one-shot game. Out of curiosity I checked out its ranking on Pinside and only a few people bemoan the "one-shot-pony" aspect of it, it's suprisingly well ranked. I personally like it but wouldn't own one because it would get boring REAL quick.
Then there's idiots like pic related.

>>6401230
maybe instead of pinball they should have put a live dinosaur in a box
it'd pay a credit to tase it or whatever every time i went to the bowling alley

>>6407168
>>6408530
Thanks for the replies. I definitely missed the time when pinball was really popular, so I know very little about design.

In my experience, Pinside reviews are generally an unreliable measure of a game's popularity. Too many reviews are lazily written and come from people with buyer's remorse trying to justify their purchase or from people with incredible hateboners for the games in question.

>>6406813
>>6407183
I believe it's generally agreed upon that RCT has a fantastic layout (and theme), but the programming is abyssmal. It was made back when Stern was on its absolute last legs, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that they had to rush the code big-time. None of the modes except for Power Ride are worth playing, and they exist only to reach Tycoon. Multiball isn't particularly interesting either, and most of the shots (especially the Scrambled Eggs spinner) have no real purpose. If somebody wrote new code for the game, it'd probably be a lot more popular; this is what happened to The Walking Dead to turn it from a terrible game with a terrible layout into a mediocre game.

>>6408550
BoP is one of the most sought-after games among non-enthusiasts for the sole reason that it's cheesecake built into a pinball machine, like having a trophy wife. More enthusiasts still appreciate the game for the same reason, which buoys the game's popularity.

>>6408670
>Too many reviews are lazily written and come from people with buyer's remorse trying to justify their purchase or from people with incredible hateboners for the games in question
Dear god this. I would never have bought a Hobbit if I read pinside reviews, and it's one of my favorite modern pins. Shit's filled with scathing reviews from people who only ever played on 1.0 code.

>>6400578
I always like Addams family. Fun game.

By far my favorite pin of all time though was the old Space Shuttle of the early 80s. Spent ungodly amounts of time playing that over the years. Unfortunately, theres none near me, and even the huge Funspot Museum Arcade in an hour away in Laconia NH doesn't have it. I haven't seen a space shuttle in at least 15 years since the one at the local bowling alley (long closed itself) disappeared.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98eJwb9Rc0

For modern-ish pins I like the Monsters of Rock one.

>>6408562
>I definitely missed the 50/60's
We all did

>>6409040
Pinball reached its peak popularity in the 1990s

>>6408670
>In my experience, Pinside reviews are generally an unreliable measure of a game's popularity. Too many reviews are lazily written and come from people with buyer's remorse trying to justify their purchase or from people with incredible hateboners for the games in question.


Their reviews are shit is what they are.

Look at the top 100 games. See the obvious bias? They have good forums and info, but ignore the reviews straight up. It's like asking people to rate ice cream flavors or pizza.

>>6409086
Flat out untrue. 1996+ pinball was almost dead and down to one or two companies by 99.

The peak most units sold in a year was 1979. The 70's was undoubtedly the peak decade.

https://pastimepinball.com/a-brief-history-of-the-silver-ball

>>6400952
Even now I'd fuck Elvira

>>6409086
Keep telling yourself that kiddo

>>6409086
Maybe not peak popularity, but it definitely reached peak quality in the 90s

>>6408550
He might be joking. Or maybe not, there are a lot of horrible white-knights in this hobby. And this world.

>>6400734
>You will never see the full uncut scene

Why even live?

>>6407218
based

>>6400578
>stalks
911 what's your emergency?

>>6400578
Never saw this one. In my town only one convenience store had a pinball machine and it was White Water..

>>6402624
>Scared Stiff
What did she mean by this?

>>6411727
Elvira's entire schtick was based on innuendo and boobs

>>6411716
My buddy just sold his prototype White Water.

Any fans of this game?

>>6411758
Fantastic

>>6411798
It was a great machine. Hope he got a good amount of money for it.

>>6411813
I'm fairly certain he received top dollar. He's been dealing in pinball and arcade for years. He sold to a fairly large collector in San Diego.

>>6411813
$6500.00 is what he sold it for.

>>6411827
Damn, that's definitely top dollar.

>>6411828
I'm assuming it has a lot to do with it being a prototype. I do know that the title normally carries some value due to obscurity.

>>6411828
I thought the side art was charming. Very family friendly.

I wish there were more like TNA in the 90's

https://www.sportbible.com/football/news-gattuso-has-hilarious-response-to-daft-press-conference-question-20180403
>The question from a journalist to the AC Milan boss was in relation to how different AC Milan's season could been if refereeing decisions against Arsenal had gone there well, as well as if Hakan Calhanoglu's shot against Juventus, when the score was 1-1, had flown in instead of smacking the crossbar.
>"If my uncle had three balls he'd be a pinball machine,"
Very clever. I'm gonna use that all the time.

>>6411883
top 10 most questionable posts

>>6411848
Speaking of simple-ish modern machines, how do you like The Beatles pinball machine?

>>6411887
beatles is good. it's probably the one stern machine i had the most fun playing and for the sole reason that the shots are all unique and not the same old song and dance that every other modern machine is.
>autoplunger
>italian bottom
>two orbits, one with a spinner
>two ramps, esp. when they combo
>bash toy
>scoop
i've gotten so desperate that i'm overcome with emotion when a game changes even one of these

>>6411906
The layout is just Seawitch.

>>6411932
You tell me when you've ever had the chance to play a Seawitch at your local arcade, though. Old games with interesting layouts are getting harder and harder to find while new games with samey layouts are a dime a dozen. I've never played an AC/DC and I have absolutely no desire to ever play one because I know for sure it won't feel any different than Metallica or Kiss. If Stern has to resort to reviving a 40-year-old playfield design to get something fun out to market, then it's one of their only shitty business practices I'll support. They aren't the first company to have done it, anyway.

>>6411906
Autoplunger... you shouldn't have a problem with autoplungers. Autoplungers are good. Having an autoplunger is better than not having one.
Do Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast and Jurassic Park (Stern) differ enough from that pattern to satisfy you? What about Star Trek and Tron: Legacy? It could be a problem with only the two flipper games.

local arcade by me has this one. Also wizard of oz and willy wonka. Didnt know i liked pinball till i tried them.

>>6412006
I have played a few of them, actually. Funny enough, one place had both a Seawitch and a Beatles.

>>6403403
A lot of the LED mods are overdone, there's definitely a line you can cross and make it look like shit. I hate color DMDs, too.

I like some Lawler games but not others. I fee like I'm the only person who is into pinball who really doesn't like The Twilight Zone.

Man I remember so many times as a kid being excited to play a pin and then being crushed when it was broken in some terrible way. I remember a RoboCop pin at a hotel once, I had never seen that before. I put two quarters in, and the flippers were as slow as molasses.

>>6405043
Pinbot is the best Pinball game not based on a preexisting IP

some of that might be bias from the fact that my Dad used to own a Pinbot machine and had it in one of his houses when I was a kid though

>>6407218
yeah most arcades I used to go to between the 90's and around 2008 or so tended to have at least one of X-Men, TMNT, or The Simpsons

>>6412034
I never liked how easy it is to exploit autoplungers by juggling balls in the shooter lane. You're just kinda left to assume that people will have the good faith to not do it. I prefer autolaunchers like Attack from Mars has, and I vastly prefer simple plungers with no autolaunching mechanisms built in. Multiballs that let you flail away for zero consequence because ball savers are so long are really brainless when you compare it to the old multiball restart system that Banzai Run started. I appreciate that Munsters tried to bring it back, but Munsters sucks.
Iron Maiden and Jurassic Park are too similar to Stern's other games, but I will admit that I have tried neither Star Trek nor Tron. Tron always looked like it had nice shot flow, but I've never found one out and about. Star Trek I've avoided because I dislike the timing out modes aspect of gameplay.

>>6412058
I just wish modern companies offered more variety. It feels like every machine is built with the assumption that an operator is buying their first machine. It leads to situations where an arcade startup will buy Stern machines in bulk, after which you have essentially five of the same game sitting next to each other. No operator is going to go out of their way to find a 30-year-old game for the sake of variety; that's up to the manufacturers.

>>6412062
I'm really not into Twilight Zone, either.
Most of the game takes place in the upper-right corner, it's dull and boring to me.

>>6405043
The truth is that they're a lot of ways a pinball machine can be good or bad. It's good if there's some novelty in the toys or the rules. For instance, the rules of the new JJP Pirates of the Caribbean have a structure that's different from any other pin, and people like that (once they figure it out). There are about five or six things in the code of JJP PotC that have never been done before. And the Pirate Ship is a toy that's never been done before, which... people like. A lot.

>>6400578
Love that game