This is a fun video that I think is quite informative. I go over the process of how I discovered a feature in the game was not working. It’s a good example of how even supposedly “fully-working” games are often not fully working and many people don’t realize.
So what do you do when you discover a play feature isn’t working? I go over how we can diagnose and identify/fix the problem, even without having schematics. Check it out!
As more and more people discover the joy of playing pinball, I find myself getting more basic/general questions, and this seems like a good time to launch a new series I’m calling, “Pinball Features”. Each video will focus on a certain element of pinball and offer some basic information on this feature/component of pinball. While this is geared for laypeople, I hope that regardless of your skill level, you may find it informative.
The first episode is dedicated to the Tilt Mechanism. I go into how it works, why it’s there and the different types of tilt devices found in pinball machines.
One of my favorite ways to play pinball with other people is a cool competitive format called “Pin Golf.” What makes this type of competition fun is that it works with both novice and skilled players, and it allows people to compete in teams and encourages cooperation. In this video I show you how we run Pin-Golf events, both sanctioned and un-sanctioned.
Lately I’ve been putting some of my games up for sale, and I get a lot of people who have never owned pinball machines contacting me. They have a romantic idea of setting up a game room for their kids and remember pinball machines fondly and want to have one at home. Sounds great right? I agree it can be very rewarding… but you have to know what you’re potentially getting yourself into. A pinball machine is not like a regular modern amusement device. Let’s go over the pros, cons and pitfalls of owning pinball machines, and while you think your kids will enjoy it, are you sure? Let’s dive in and talk about it!
You turn on your game and… “BLECH!” that’s what you get? That’s not good. Let’s try to figure out what exactly is happening:
Armed with more information, later on I have some time to pull the driver board and diagnose things further:
The other day as I was working on my Bally Mystic, I decided to upgrade the lighting in the backbox to LED and document what I consider to be a “tasteful” way to migrate from traditional incandescents to LED lighting. Some people complain about this but I think if you do it right, it’s a dramatic improvement, and in some ways is hard to tell from older style lighting. Let’s take a look!
If you have a game you are looking to store temporarily, or ship, here are some tips on how to break it down and store it to make sure it stays in good condition.