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What Pinball Looks Like When the Stakes Are High

Posted by timothy on from the more-fun-to-watch-than-poker dept.

siobHan writes "The PAPA World Pinball Championships recently concluded in Scott, PA (near Pittsburgh), as covered on Slashdot already. The organizers recorded full 1080p/60 HD video of the playfield during the final games, and have uploaded the entirety of the crucial deciding game, with commentary (direct link to just the video). The winner of this game received $10,000 for his skillful play."

22 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Monitor by Dan+East · · Score: 4, Funny

    I knew I had my 20" monitor oriented vertically all this time for an eventual reason - to play this video optimally.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re:Monitor by Garble+Snarky · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A better question to ask is "why in the world would widescreen monitors be so prevalent when so much content is predominantly vertical?"

    2. Re:Monitor by xded · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Because your eyes field of view is wide rather than tall.

      Problem is that industry choose to change the AR from 4:3 to 16:9 keeping the diagonal size constant, while they should've kept constant the height (or, at least, the vertical resolution).

  2. When high by delirium+of+disorder · · Score: 5, Funny

    What Pinball Looks like When...High:

    BEEB BEEB BEEB...LIKE WH0A...NOM NOM NOM NOM...O NOES...

    o....when stakes are high...

    "I mean if Pacman affected our generation as kids, we would all run around in darkened rooms eating pills and listening to repetitive music."

    --
    ------ Take away the right to say fuck and you take away the right to say fuck the government.
    1. Re:When high by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I thought that was called a rave?

      Careful there, you are dangerously close to actually getting the joke.

  3. Re:Pinball Fantasies by xororand · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Pinball Fantasies is the best software pinball game that I've ever played. Stones'n'Bones kept me busy for weeks in all its 320x400 pixel glory, scrolling with silky smoothness on a 386 CPU, and awesome tracker music that never got old.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Fantasies

    Some brazilian guy is currently building a full size replica of the "Party Land" table. It looks pretty good already!

  4. I would not want to see the breakdown by hour by Shivetya · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Granted the time at the tournament would make it look good but if you average all the time spent getting there. The payoff is recognition amongst your peers more than monetary rewards.

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
  5. Where are the women? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I noticed something very strange: It's all men. Where are the women players? In the audience? At least, why didn't the audience bring their wives and girlfriends?

    1. Re:Where are the women? by east+coast · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's not all men. It's just that the women who are hardcore into pinball look like men.

      --
      Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
  6. Pinball is in a sad state. by Majik+Sheff · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is only one pinball manufacturer in the world right now, and they didn't get there by being the best engineers, artists or designers. They got there by being/having the scummiest lawyers. Now we're stuck with horrible designs, bad gameplay, and most of the best IP buried in an unmarked grave in wrigley field.

    --
    Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
    1. Re:Pinball is in a sad state. by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Tilt: The battle to save pinball is a great documentary to watch.

    2. Re:Pinball is in a sad state. by Majik+Sheff · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You've obviously never had to service any of them. Stern has a nasty tendency to release their designs before fully testing them. For an entertaining read check out the code revisions and dates for Pirates of the Caribbean.

      Back EMF is a recurring issue on several modern Stern designs; due to things like poor wire routing choices and underspec'ing diodes on larger coils.

      Want a nightmare? Check out the membrane switches under the motorcycle toy on Harley Davidson.

      I could literally rant for hours about Stern and never repeat myself. They are garbage whose horribleness is only eclipsed by the complete shite rolling off the lines of Gottlieb starting in the early 70's and culminating with Water World.

      --
      Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
    3. Re:Pinball is in a sad state. by Majik+Sheff · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Granted Bally had some stinkers, but with a roster like this it's hard to back up your argument:

      The Addams Family
      Attack From Mars
      Cactus Canyon
      Champion Pub
      Cirqus Voltaire
      Safecracker
      Theatre of Magic
      The Twilight Zone

      --
      Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
    4. Re:Pinball is in a sad state. by S-100 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Gottlieb electromechanical (EM) machines were #1 from the beginning of the flipper period (Humpty Dumpty - 1948), but lagged in features and complexity around the early 70's. But the latter EMs of that decade were unmatched - with classics like El Dorado. But once the games transitioned to solid state(SS) in the latter part of the 70's, Gottlieb never found their way back, and faded slowly from the scene until Barb Wire - their last pinball machine. Until the EM/SS transition, Gottlieb games had a well-deserved reputation for quality of components and reliability. This was all lost in the SS transition with the horrible System 1 platform, designed by Rockwell of all places. And even though they did bring up quality by the 90's it was too late for Gottlieb by then and they faded into obscurity.

    5. Re:Pinball is in a sad state. by multipartmixed · · Score: 3, Funny

      > Want a nightmare? Check out the membrane switches under the motorcycle toy on Harley Davidson.

      That was on purpose. It pays homage to the years AMF owned Harley.

      Stern originally wanted to make them leak oil too, but their lawyers vetoed the idea since patrons might hurt themselves walking on greasy floors.

      --

      Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
  7. The best, easily-accessable pinball setup I saw by Pojut · · Score: 3, Informative

    There were two:

    The arcade at Dixie Landings in Walt Disney World. They had an entire wall that was nothing but pinball machines...at least 20-30 in a row. The second was at a place in Gaithersburg, MD that shut down about 12 years or so ago, called Sportland America. They too had an entire wall of just pinball machines, although they had closer to 40 or 50 of them.

    Such good times. I miss pinball machines :(

    --
    Living With a Nerd
  8. OT: Pinball on a Stick by British · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you are in the twin cities area, go to the MN State fair. There's a room with nothing but pins. This is a welcome change from the increasing numbers of shooting gallery & ticket redemption machines invading the fair.

  9. Re:Pinball Fantasies by carlzum · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's hard to reproduce pinball in a video game, but Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection on the Wii comes really close. The Wiimote and nun-chuck are perfect for the flippers and nudging the table, and the physics are lifelike.

  10. Re:PC! by sho-gun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    http://www.vpforums.org/ is the site you seek.

  11. Sports that are boring to watch: by retech · · Score: 3, Funny

    Golf

    Bowling

    NASCAR

    Pinball

    Tennis

    Bicycling

    Sailing

    Swimming

    Gymnastic Ribbon (WTF is that)

    Water Ballet

  12. What Pinball Looks Like When the Stakes Are High by hamburger+lady · · Score: 5, Funny

    looks pretty much the same as when the stakes are low.

    --

    ---
    Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
  13. Insert Coin by spacemky · · Score: 3, Funny

    "The winner of the $10,000 prize purse at the World Pinball Championships has requested his entire winnings in quarters."

    --
    640YB ought to be enough for anybody.