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Pacific Pinball Museum

pacificpinball.org

21–30 of 73 posts

Re: Pacific Pinball Museum

#22
post #19

https://www.pinballmap.com/ As already mentioned, The Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas is probably the most well known collection on a national level. Pittsburgh has two good collections-- Pinball PA, with various solid states up to modern machines, and Pinball Perfection, with more old (wood rail) tables and rarer tables like Banzai Run and the often-broken Circus Voltaire. There is a growing number of public colle…

I wanted to add Modern Pinball, in NYC to the list, but sadly they closed due to COVID. While it was a small shop, they rotated machines frequently and had a number of historic machines available for play.

Also the legendary Steve Epstein was involved in the business. Steve ran Broadway Arcade, which at its height in the 80s had over 144 pins. It was my local arcade growing up and sat where the Times Square Church and McDonalds on 51st st now occupy today.

Palace Playland in Old Orchard Beach, Maine used to be a great location for pinball as well but has long since gone the Family Fun Center route instead. I think most of what they had moved to Maine Silverball Tavern in Saco.

I also hit the PHoF in Vegas every time I go. Great collection.

Re: Pacific Pinball Museum

#23
post #18
post #8

I'm glad this exists but at $22 admission I don't think you're going to attract anyone but hardcore pinball lovers and maybe the odd person trying it out as a novelty once and then never returning. Pinball for most people is not an all day activity so an hourly rate seems like it would be a better fit.

Yeah, I used to live a couple blocks from the museum and only went there once. The admission's a bit steep if you only want to play a couple of games and then leave.

Hey, I still live a couple blocks from there! Hi, ex-neighbor.

We took a group of Cub Scouts there one night and turns out a bunch of skeptical little kids can become instant fans.

Re: Pacific Pinball Museum

#25
post #20
post #16

Are there any open source pinball machines? I have the Indiana Jones Pinball adventure and there are a few minor game design decisions that need modifying (partially due to the physical condition of my machine).

a) Convert your game to run the P-ROC system: https://pinballmakers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page Then run this code (or modify it per your needs): https://github.com/mypinballs/indianajones b) or repair your game.

There are software-only bugs (game design decisions?) that I'd like to modify.

I found that source code, but they also have made modifications from the original and don't include the original assets. I emailed the creator asking for what hardware they are running for this.

Re: Pacific Pinball Museum

#26
post #8

I'm glad this exists but at $22 admission I don't think you're going to attract anyone but hardcore pinball lovers and maybe the odd person trying it out as a novelty once and then never returning. Pinball for most people is not an all day activity so an hourly rate seems like it would be a better fit.

They have a two for Tuesday special. I have gone a bunch of times, I took a friend and we played for 5 hours. Much cheaper than feeding quarters, and a LOT better variety. Yes, they could do both half days, and an hourly rate...

But its a Museum, and there is a bunch of overhead.

Re: Pacific Pinball Museum

#27
post #19

https://www.pinballmap.com/ As already mentioned, The Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas is probably the most well known collection on a national level. Pittsburgh has two good collections-- Pinball PA, with various solid states up to modern machines, and Pinball Perfection, with more old (wood rail) tables and rarer tables like Banzai Run and the often-broken Circus Voltaire. There is a growing number of public colle…

> As already mentioned, The Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas is probably the most well known collection on a national level.

I've heard that a lot of their games have various maintenance issues, is this true? On the other hand, I've wanted to get over there and play the only remaining copy of The Pinball Circus!

Re: Pacific Pinball Museum

#28

Oh dude, looks like they have Indiana Jones Pinball Adventure! This is the pinball machine! I've wanted to play it again for a long time. It had really crisp sound effects for its time, the plunger is a pistol grip you pull the trigger on (with gunshot sound effect!), and intermission games where you punch people. Pretty friggin' awesome. I'm so glad someone still has one running, and I think I'll be visiting this pl…

One of my local spots has it! One feature I think is especially cool is there's a small upper playfield which, when you manage to get the ball up there, has you controlling the tilt with the flipper buttons. Getting to the end without dropping the ball through various holes scores a bonus. I thought it was really inventive- although there are several games with similarly inventive features, it's always cool to see a new idea.

Re: Pacific Pinball Museum

#29
post #8

I'm glad this exists but at $22 admission I don't think you're going to attract anyone but hardcore pinball lovers and maybe the odd person trying it out as a novelty once and then never returning. Pinball for most people is not an all day activity so an hourly rate seems like it would be a better fit.

I went there maybe ten years ago and it was pretty full of people, not jam-packed but enough that you had to maneuver around them. (Only went there once because when we lived in the Bay Area it was an hour-plus drive)

I've been there recently and can confirm it still draws a healthy crowd.

Re: Pacific Pinball Museum

#30

I believe PinBallz in Texas has ~80 pinball machines at their main location. I was there a few years ago and the place is massive with a friendly vibe: https://pinballz.com/original/original-classic-games/

I was a regular at Pinballz for 5 or 6 years. I love it and it's one of the number one things I miss from Austin. They maintain a great selection of games and they route a lot of games around town as well. Pins at Pinballz get a lot of play and can be in rough shape or out of service at times.
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