SM Spiderman at Pinball Pete's-Ann Arbor
american...@hotmail.com
building.
Version 1.3
Set for $1.00 per 3 ball game. Full ripoff pricing. I played one game
and enjoyed it but will not get ripped off more than once. Owner
should follow brother Tim's 75¢ for five ball game pricing scheme.
Played most of the other 17 pinball machines there. They were in
various forms of repair and cleanliness. Biggest thing that bugged me
was the Washington DC hole not working on Austin Powers. You had to
wait for the machine to cycle to kick the ball out and it would never
score. Even worse during multiball since the solenoid only has enough
power to eject one ball at a time.
Spiderman played better than I expected even though the theme does not
attract me in the least bit. However, the buck a game turned me off
big time.
Eric A.
wrote:
I'll bet you'll pay a buck for a bottle of water though. ;-) Seriously
though last pay hike was mid 80s. I think it is time for a change. BTW
Other big amusement places have been a buck for a couple of years now.
Eric A.
313-268-0541
Mark Salas
3 ball pricing 10 years ago was??
Gasoline 10 years ago was??
How cheap are you??
JDubbbs
There are not many arcades left and the ones that are left are
starving.
John
jdubbbs
american...@hotmail.com
Then why did Stern have Family Guy defaulted at 50¢ per game and
raised the updated code to 75¢ a game and sent Spiderman out at 75¢
per game? Operators who immediately want to gouge can kiss my a$$.
75¢ was what I expected. Tim Arnold charges 75¢ to play new pins but
gives you five balls per game.
You pay the dollar per game. I'll use my savings to drive a nice car
and buy NIB machines. Besides, my company cut my healthcare benefits
to the tune of $2500 this year.
And no, I won't pay $1 for a bottle of water unless I'm on a cruise
ship where I can't get at my Costco bottled water that costs something
like 25¢ per bottle. Then I refill them several times. In my travels,
I buy the 35¢ cold bottles from vending machines at Wal Mart.
Koz Pinlicious
> On Jul 15, 1:30 am, JDubbbs <jdub...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Pay the danm dollar.
>
> > There are not many arcades left and the ones that are left are
> > starving.
>
> > John
> > jdubbbs
>
> Then why did Stern have Family Guy defaulted at 50¢ per game and
> raised the updated code to 75¢ a game and sent Spiderman out at 75¢
> per game? Operators who immediately want to gouge can kiss my a$$.
> 75¢ was what I expected. Tim Arnold charges 75¢ to play new pins but
> gives you five balls per game.
so you are bitching over a quarter? you expect to pay 6 bits but 8 is
gonna send you to the poor house?
>
> You pay the dollar per game. I'll use my savings to drive a nice car
> and buy NIB machines.
great, buy your own machine nib or any other stern nib. that is at
least productive.
Besides, my company cut my healthcare benefits
> to the tune of $2500 this year.
yet you speak of going on cruises, but won't pay an extra quarter to
play a clean working new pinball machine. please stop you crying, we
don't want our hobby to die.
>
> And no, I won't pay $1 for a bottle of water unless I'm on a cruise
> ship where I can't get at my Costco bottled water that costs something
> like 25¢ per bottle. Then I refill them several times. In my travels,
> I buy the 35¢ cold bottles from vending machines at Wal Mart.
you really need to stay out of arcades, the youth of america is
laughing at you because you still want to pay 4 bits to have 6" of
snow shoveled off your driveway ;-)
Pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)
Lloyd Olson
decent working pinball machines, must we pucker up too ? LTG :)
<american...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1184478554.3...@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
Koz Pinlicious
> What about operators who are just trying to stay open and provide a lot of
> decent working pinball machines, must we pucker up too ? LTG :)
yes, you too lloyd ;-)
Pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)
>
> <americannleag...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
american...@hotmail.com
machines so they keep all the dough, not just half..
The default pricing is 75¢ so that's what I expect and am willing to
pay.
Even more amazing is that he did not use a Stern professional price
card. A piece of cardboard with "one play $1" scrawled on it. That
made an impression on me. The other 17 pins all had proper price &
instruction cards if I recall correctly.
Didn't mean to get all of you mad at me. I have several machines in my
collection and do my best to keep the hobby alive by also playing
games on the street. I travel quite a bit and also play games all over
North America. When I notice a very poor game in a street location, I
call the operator phone number and leave a message commenting on any
specific problems as well as cleanliness and how it affets my decision
to play their games.
The $1 gouge for 3 balls really turned me off. If all games were $1 or
if Stern had the default set for $1/3 balls, I would have accepted it.
As to the $2500 pay cut and me going on cruises; That $2500 cut means
no cruise for my family this year. Hope you're happy.
american...@hotmail.com
Pinlicious,
you really need to stay out of arcades, the youth of america is
laughing at you because you still want to pay 4 bits to have 6" of
snow shoveled off your driveway ;-)
No paying someone to shovel my snow. Otherwise I wouldn't have any
money to play pinball!
If they felt they have to charge a buck per game, at least they could
give 5 balls.
americannleaguer....I used a spoon this morning to stir my coffee.
Jim D. in TN
No one's mad at you. We just don't want to hear your anonymous
whining. We have enough of that on this NG already. If you don't
like the price, don't play the game. If no one plays the game, the
operator will either lower his price per game, sell the game, and/or
go out of business.
> As to the $2500 pay cut and me going on cruises; That $2500 cut means
> no cruise for my family this year. Hope you're happy.
I'm sorry you've experienced a pay cut. No one likes that.
I've got an idea. Start your own arcade and charge whatever prices
you choose and with all the extra money you'll make, you will be able
to afford both health insurance and an annual cruise. Just do the
math first and be sure to include $4000 per game, licenses, insurance,
payroll, workman's comp, rent, taxes, maintenance, depreciation,
professional fees, construction costs, building permits, and anything
else I've forgotten. Let's see, at 75 cents per game, you'll only
need about 8-10K plays to break even on a new game. After that you
may begin to show a profit. Or maybe not. If these games were so
profitable, there'd be more pinball arcades.
ldnayman
>
> Spiderman played better than I expected even though the theme does not
> attract me in the least bit. However, the buck a game turned me off
> big time.
Anybody as impoverished as you obviously are shouldn't be wasting
money on pinball.
josh.k...@comcast.net
I agree wholeheartedly. I'm sure the expenses to keep up Pinball
Pete's is nothing, like insurance, electricity, etc. I say 50 cents
should be the pricing:(
Pingeek
http://www.pingeek.com
Get your pinball dvds here!
BlueMalibu
Wow, we should be happy Pinball Pete's is still there. There used to
five or six arcades in AA now one. They have about 20 pins.
I played the same Spidey and was happy to pay a buck. Jeez, played
for an hour for 2 whole dollars. Not a bad value.
Pete's has definetely made the jump going to $1 instead of $.75 and no
3 for $2 or anything. It will be interesting to see if it leads to an
increase in revenue. I am sure they are watching it and comparing how
it does compared to the POTC they put out at $.50. If they drop it
back to .75 or .50 then we can surmise it is a net negative to them.
All there other 19 or so pins are at $.50 so it may be a good test to
see what happens.
Have to agree on their state of repair. It is hit or miss on the
older titles as to how well they are playing. If you happen to go
soon after the techs go through they can be good. If you happen to go
soon before their techs go through they can be poor. If something
breaks it won't get fixed until the next tech visit.
If you want to play SM for .50 go to the Van Dyke Sports park. But
you will have to put up with smoke and they will never clean the game.
Parker
If
Super Bubby
Not even going to start. But will say having been born and raised in
A2, and finished school there (Economics), PETE's ROCKS!!!!
It's the only place left that has a tons of games. Let alone classics
in vid's (TRON). And W@W. Not one but TWO whole walls devoted to
PINS!!!! Impressive to say the least.
Support Pinball and the last of the Arcades.
And stop fighting... Fighting on Usenet is just dumb.
Let's move forward.
gha
>
> - Show quoted text -
Listen pal, almost all of the newer video/shooting games are $1.00. So
1 dollar is the same as you will pay for other games in an arcade.
George
Pinballomatic
Okay this is OT but "Super Bubby" as a name = greatness.
american...@hotmail.com
Like I said, 75¢ would have been fine. I never asked for 50¢ on a new
game, did I???
I too remember playing at The Crosseyed Moose (Liberty Street if I
remember) many moons ago. I even recall having to leave at 10 pm
because I was under there specified "after 10pm age" Pete's allowed me
to stay. Campus Pinball that was next to U Towers had a 10 pm curfew
too.
I do support pinball and will continue to do so.
american...@hotmail.com
> Listen pal, almost all of the newer video/shooting games are $1.00. So
> 1 dollar is the same as you will pay for other games in an arcade.
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
I don't even look at video games. Sorry for the disconnect.
american...@hotmail.com
>
> If you want to play SM for .50 go to the Van Dyke Sports park. But
> you will have to put up with smoke and they will never clean the game.
>
> Parker
>
I avoid the East side, except when I go to Dave & Busters there. I
think they removed the South Park & Revenge from Mars... Price was
about 60¢ / 3 balls when using player cards there.
Other recent D&B's I've been to including Nashville still have a pin
or two.
hgalecki
"gha" <glh...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1184511908.8...@57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com...
George
>
>
>Unless you go to Jilly's in Ocean City,NJ All pins are a quarter, thats
>right .25 on all of them even FG and SM. This place gets the volume so they
>could probably jack up the prices and still make out but they don't. Other
>arcades on the boardwalk are .50 a game on their pins. Don't know how I'd
>feel about $1.00/game but maybe also a turnoff for pinball.
Henry
Koz Pinlicious
> machines so they keep all the dough, not just half..
lets try to buy you some clues and get you in the loop...
1.) petes has bills that people who do a 50/50 split with locations
don't. someone else listed a few of them, but there is even more to
consider.
>
> The default pricing is 75¢ so that's what I expect and am willing to
> pay.
2.) BOTH pinball petes had their spider-man pinball machines set to $1
a play from what people like ME were saying here on the group before
stern went to $.75 a play.
>
> Even more amazing is that he did not use a Stern professional price
> card. A piece of cardboard with "one play $1" scrawled on it. That
> made an impression on me. The other 17 pins all had proper price &
> instruction cards if I recall correctly.
3.) stern wasn't including the price cards pinball petes wanted to use
with the game. are you that big of a snob that a hand-made price card
is going to turn you off? please stop being a flake.
>
> Didn't mean to get all of you mad at me. I have several machines in my
> collection and do my best to keep the hobby alive by also playing
> games on the street. I travel quite a bit and also play games all over
> North America. When I notice a very poor game in a street location, I
> call the operator phone number and leave a message commenting on any
> specific problems as well as cleanliness and how it affets my decision
> to play their games.
4.) someone who gets a brand new pin for (a fathers day gift of all
things) comes off sounding petty having to pay an extra 2 bits to play
a brand new game on location. just a heads up. ;-)
>
> The $1 gouge for 3 balls really turned me off. If all games were $1 or
> if Stern had the default set for $1/3 balls, I would have accepted it.
5.) this isn't gas, it is pinball. if you don't want to pay $1 to
play, then don't. in fact, i encourage you to stop going to arcades
period. let the good paying customers have their fun without having to
listen to your gripes. you gonna hold a sign in front of pinball petes
in protest? if you can't understand why pinball needs to be at $1 a
play using common sense, then it is probably best you just stay home
and play your own games :-)
>
> As to the $2500 pay cut and me going on cruises; That $2500 cut means
> no cruise for my family this year. Hope you're happy.
6.) some families don't have insurance at all much less go on a
cruise, ever. do you realize how petty you sound right now? WIM?
anyone who has pinball machine(s) in their home isn't doing all that
bad, much less a brand new stern.
davep...@aol.com
Well i agree that a buck is a ripoff luckly i dont pay to play as i
own to many to list..but if your a cheap bastard i would suggest to
take a screwdriver w/ you and pry open the door the hit the micoswitch
for free games ..chances are no one will see you or even care and
pinballs dont come with alarms.. So have at it you cheap sonofabitch
Lloyd Olson
help, sales tax, regular taxes, insurance, cleaning supplies, etc., etc.,
etc. Long running or not you have no idea of the expenses involved or you
wouldn't naively be thinking they get to keep all the dough.
A game an op puts on location they get a percentage of the gross the game
takes in, but the location swallows all the other expenses. LTG :)
<american...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1184505742.4...@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
Lloyd Olson
way more important than any cruise.
You had a $2500 cut, you have any idea of the pay cut I've had in the last
15 years ? Of course I did have that one day off so far this year, the 4th
of July. Unfortunately my yacht was in dry dock so I opted to spend the day
at the Hamptons rather than go on a cruise.
Cry me a river over a measley quarter. You don't know how good you got it.
<american...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1184505742.4...@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
american...@hotmail.com
I'm no snob, even though you feel I am. I am able to buy machines by
saving a buck here & there.
The card can be downloaded from the SPB site. Just an observation.
Flakiness noted and will be taken under consideration.
I was not griping to anybody at Pete's nor would I consider
protesting. I merely ststed my thoughts and observations here to
provoke thought. Just like you are free to do and do it well. I chose
to only try SM once and then I pumped over $20 in the other pins
there. I have lots of fun at arcades and playing pins in street
locations.
I am free to judge just like you. I imagine those who never take
vacations or don't have insurance don't worry too much about the
unnecessary habit of pinball that all of us here have.
Americannleaguer (...there is no spoon.)
Super Bubby
Thank you...
Bubby was my 16yo dog's name who i had all through puberty, college
and start of my professional years.
Super Bubby came out of that, and is my Usenet/Internet identity.
BTW, Bubby was name after Bubby Brewster of the 1980's Pittsburgh
Steeler's. Lord knows the Lions never have played well.
Ryan
AKA Super Bubby
super...@gmail.com
phishrace
Thank you for supporting location pinball. Interesting that of all the
people calling you a cheapskate only one mentioned that he plays on
location and didn't have a problem with paying a buck a game.
Jumping from 50 cents to a buck a game at the same location is too
much. Especially when the game has incomplete software. I wouldn't pay
it either. Not that I can't afford it. Just on principle. I understand
expenses increase for ops and they have to recover those expenses, but
don't double your regular price on a new pin with incomplete software.
So let's hear from the rest of you people giving him a hard time. How
often do you play on location? How often do you pay $1 per game?
Calling him cheap without giving your location play stats is weak. I
wonder how many of you play on location at all. Lloyd gets a pass for
obvious reasons, although I welcome any further comments he may have.
I play location games 3 to 5 times a week. The games I play are set at
either 50 or 75 cents a game. Because the ops in my area know better
than to double their prices, the price of a game is not a factor in
deciding where to play.
-phish
Lloyd Olson
hours I work doesn't leave a lot of free time to do it, and my off hours
usually are when other places are closed. When TSPP was on test in Chicago I
was there for burger, beer, and played a bunch of games on it. I was on a
time crunch and had to get back and get my own business open.
The basics of it is the value of the money you put in a game. With Black
Knight being the first 50¢ game in 1981, pinball would have gone to 75¢ in
1991 to have the same buying power. Now 26 years later players still want
50¢ play, it ain't happening, pinball will just keep disappearing from
locations until all that is left is the hobby.
I want to provide a great place to play pinball, but I can no longer keep
operating at a loss and subsidizing players entertainment.
One thing I haven't seen covered in this thread is the player is entitled
for their money to have a game with the latest software revision, and the
game needs to be clean, and fully working. The player is entitled to having
value for their money. I was putting 1.6 in my Spiderman with in minutes of
it appearing on Stern's site. LTG :)
"phishrace" <phis...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1184521321.4...@m37g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
davep...@aol.com
> I do play pinball on location. Though I don't get much of a chance to. The
> hours I work doesn't leave a lot of free time to do it, and my off hours
> usually are when other places are closed. When TSPP was on test in Chicago I
> was there for burger, beer, and played a bunch of games on it. I was on a
> time crunch and had to get back and get my own business open.
>
> The basics of it is the value of the money you put in a game. With Black
> Knight being the first 50 game in 1981, pinball would have gone to 75 in
> 1991 to have the same buying power. Now 26 years later players still want
> 50 play, it ain't happening, pinball will just keep disappearing from
> locations until all that is left is the hobby.
>
> I want to provide a great place to play pinball, but I can no longer keep
> operating at a loss and subsidizing players entertainment.
>
> One thing I haven't seen covered in this thread is the player is entitled
> for their money to have a game with the latest software revision, and the
> game needs to be clean, and fully working. The player is entitled to having
> value for their money. I was putting 1.6 in my Spiderman with in minutes of
> it appearing on Stern's site. LTG :)
>
>
> news:1184521321.4...@m37g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
>
> So let's hear from the rest of you people giving him a hard time. How
> often do you play on location? How often do you pay $1 per game?
> Calling him cheap without giving your location play stats is weak. I
> wonder how many of you play on location at all. Lloyd gets a pass for
> obvious reasons, although I welcome any further comments he may have.
>
> I play location games 3 to 5 times a week. The games I play are set at
> either 50 or 75 cents a game. Because the ops in my area know better
> than to double their prices, the price of a game is not a factor in
> deciding where to play.
>
> -phish
I play weekly..and am the best in Southern Arizona..Period
Fred Kemper
--
Fred
TX
CARGPB#8
******************
<american...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:1184505742.4...@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
phishrace
> I do play pinball on location. Though I don't get much of a chance to. The
> hours I work doesn't leave a lot of free time to do it, and my off hours
> usually are when other places are closed. When TSPP was on test in Chicago I
> was there for burger, beer, and played a bunch of games on it. I was on a
> time crunch and had to get back and get my own business open.
>
> The basics of it is the value of the money you put in a game. With Black
> Knight being the first 50¢ game in 1981, pinball would have gone to 75¢ in
> 1991 to have the same buying power. Now 26 years later players still want
> 50¢ play, it ain't happening, pinball will just keep disappearing from
> locations until all that is left is the hobby.
>
> I want to provide a great place to play pinball, but I can no longer keep
> operating at a loss and subsidizing players entertainment.
>
> One thing I haven't seen covered in this thread is the player is entitled
> for their money to have a game with the latest software revision, and the
> game needs to be clean, and fully working. The player is entitled to having
> value for their money. I was putting 1.6 in my Spiderman with in minutes of
> it appearing on Stern's site. LTG :)
Good points as usual Lloyd. Cool to hear you get out to play at other
locations now and then. Once a location player, always a location
player I suppose.
I'm sure you remember the uproar in the player community when prices
went from 25¢ to 50¢ a game. It wasn't so much that they couldn't
afford it, but the ops DOUBLED their prices! That's a big
psychological barrier. Same applies here IMO. The player community
will not respond well to doubling prices over night. No matter how new
or well maintained the game is.
Anyone else care to share their location play particulars? Sure got
quiet in this thread all of the sudden.
-phish
TZodd / GravitaR
play the game myself.
On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:31:17 -0700, phishrace <phis...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
Mark Salas
> Super Bubby came out of that, and is my Usenet/Internet identity.
> BTW, Bubby was name after Bubby Brewster of the 1980's Pittsburgh
> Steeler's.
Did Bubby Brewster play before or after Bubby Brister?
Mark Salas
CARGPB 30
Koz Pinlicious
I started playing in 1981 when centaur first started appearing. I have
been playing pinball on location ever since.
I have played pinball in every state except alaska and hawaii and have
also played in canada. I have played on 5 different spider-man pinball
machines on location from the ones here locally to the ones on test in
chicago. i have payed $.50-$1.00 per play and have no problem with
paying to play. i have had play sessions in excess of 10 hours on
spider-man, and while trying to learn the game, happily paying the
whole way. if the location near me was non-smoking, i suspect some
play sessions would be even longer. i have dropped more quarters than
most here on pinball through the years, and i will play more hours
than most here in the future. i love pinball and would happily pay $10
a game. of course all my years of playing have gotten me to the point
where i can play a machine for hours on one credit and with all the
free games being awarded i can play for hours on end for free while
passing off extra free games won to friends. remember though, i paid
my dues for a couple decades before i got to this point. even if you
are horrible at spider-man, you have to be a total bed-wetter to not
be able to get a free game at least once out of 2 tries (considering
they ship too favorable to the player) be it through a special, a
replay, a match, a high score or all 4. I don't play pinball machines
more than 3 titles deep. this means i MAY play a potc if one is in
decent shape, but almost all locations have blown out games by that
time in this area. that means the games are getting played AND PLAYED
A TON. when the new hotness comes out, i play a lot on my free time so
i can get some good plays in before the machine gets destroyed. the op
needs to make as much money back as fast as they can so they can make
quick profit and then eventually flip the game while it is still in
decent shape to cover their initial investment as much as possible.
one thing ops need to learn is just WHEN to dump their games and
either buy the new hotness or buy a new one (if it is a good earner
for them) of the SAME GAME now that stern often re-runs machines. ok,
back to work...
JDix
> Set for $1.00 per 3 ball game. Full ripoff pricing. I played one game
> and enjoyed it but will not get ripped off more than once.
I have no problem paying $1 per game for pinball at all. I do have a
problem paying $1 per game to play Sterns though. Cheap piece of crap
pins do not justify the price hike. Why should I pay twice as much as
I did for "real" pins a few years back, despite the fact that current
pins are built half as well?
They have cheapened pinball to a point that the product is laughable,
but then expect ops to charge more for it?
They need to earn that extra charge. Inflation or not you can't
expect to reduce quality and increase price. That crap is happening
all to often in America. If it keeps up the standard of living and
quality of life are going to suffer here. And eventually the once
great America will be relegated to a second rate industrialized
country.
No good.
Either charge more for an increased quality product, or charge less
for a reduced quality product. Period.
If the current business environment will not enable a company to make
a quality product for a marketable price then they should just give it
up.
Koz Pinlicious
i would love to know what games you think are better than stern games
like tspp, lotr, potc, fg, and spiderman. all "A" list games wms or
not. you keep doing your quality control checks with a burned out
flashlight and the reast of us will keep having fun playing some of
the best games ever made.
i would love to see what items you paid for and own so i can fill you
in on what real crap is ;-)
american...@hotmail.com
Although I have not been to the MSP area other than flying through in
at least five years, I have the location of your arcade/billiard hall
marked for my next trip to the area. I sometimes have to go to casinos
for business. Most Tribal properties are handled by others that's why
I have not been to Mystic Lake in awhile. I may be able to weasel my
way there by the end of summer ;o)
When I finally get to your arcade, I will play all of the pins, even
at $1 per game as I appreciate someone who does what you do. I worked
for a route operator from 1979 to 1985. Tough way to make a buck. Pror
to that, I repaired home use pinball machines for a home sales
business as well as non-warranty machines on my own. When I first
started, my parents would drive me to the mansions (and wait in the
car) since they were typically the only homes that had pins during the
mid 1970's.
Heck, even though I do not know you and have never played any of your
machines, I would have gladly contributed to the gift you recently
received. In fact, I personally know one of the contributors on the
list of participants. I have, more than once, donated cash to a
certain pinball museum as I have an understanding of the economics of
small businesses and related expenses. So, at least in my mind I'm no
cheapskate. I do recall the Williams flyers proclaiming 2/25¢ play is
the profit way as if it were yesterday.
Looking forward to my next visit to the MSP area, despite the fact
that I'll have to rely on Northwest Airlines to get me there probably
on flight 780 or 782.
american...@hotmail.com
> "GOUGE"? LOL!
>
> --
> Fred
> TX
> CARGPB#8
> ******************
>
>
> The $1 gouge for 3 balls really turned me off. If all games were $1 or
> if Stern had the default set for $1/3 balls, I would have accepted it.
Are you LOL'ing because I consider $1 for 3 balls a "gouge" when there
are 17 other games in there at 50¢ and Stern defaults Spiderman and
Family Guy to 75¢ per game or do you spell it differently in Texas?
Lloyd Olson
If you do make it this way, please let me know in advance so we can make
your trip special. If you need to get picked up at the airport, I'll figure
that out too. LTG :)
<american...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1184543995.4...@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
mattyb
Dude, you're obviously a cheapsake. All you can really do is embrace
it and learn to laugh at yourself for being so cheap. It's ok. MattyB.
american...@hotmail.com
>
> - Show quoted text -.
Pinlicious, I guess I should have bit the bullet and played a 2nd game
because you are right, I probably would have won a game and felt
better. You know, if all of the other pins there were 75¢, I would
have not posted anyting bad about $1 for Spiderman. As an arcade
owner, they do keep everything but I realize that they have huge lease
expenses in that building. I know that repairs don't come cheap.
I disagree with the other comment about Stern games having poor
quality. Sure, Striker Extreme is not on par with Elvis or newer games
but I played the Nascar & Elvis at Pete's and they were great playing
games (I have played both several times before in other places)
I will be back at Pete's. I did not realize it was still open in Ann
Arbor. I thought all of the arcades there were long gone! Since I have
come off as being such an a-hole to everyone, know that I will play
Spiderman there, even at $1 per game.
To the person who said I should pry the door open ( I know you were
joking), a few comments: I'd rather pick the lock than damage a
machine. Years ago I worked as a locksmith (trained & used to be
bonded) and am proficient at doing that. Pete's uses Tubular (round
key) locks instead of the Stern stock double-sided key disc tumbler
locks. I can usually get past them in 30 seconds. However, Pete's also
hasps & padlocks the games to discourage or delay thieves. Alas, it is
illegal so I wouldn't ever consider it.
To the person who suggested that I sell my FG for cruise money, no
way!!! I'll sell Grit first. I do have a 2nd, consulting job so no
time for a third one!
Never meant to cause such a ruckus. I'm really not as bad as I
sometimes sound.
Keep on flippin'!, Oh, and play some old Bally Bingo pinballs too. Up
until 3 years ago, I used to play two of them on location in a
Knoxville billiard hall near the airport!!! No kidding; Malibu Beach
and Miss America Supreme!
Koz Pinlicious
no worries, i give everyone a hard time until they come to the senses
and agree with me ;-)
i may be out at pinball petes in ann arbor next weekend, maybe we will
cross paths.
american...@hotmail.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
I do embrace it. Even the birds call me that when they are talking to
me!
Jim D. in TN
> until 3 years ago, I used to play two of them on location in a
> Knoxville billiard hall near the airport!!! No kidding; Malibu Beach
> and Miss America Supreme!
There are bingo games at a veterans club and a public bar I frequent
currently in Knox County. I just bought a 1951 Bally bingo game
because I can never figure out the more recent games. I guess I can
pay out to myself to keep it interesting.
Steve
> On Jul 15, 10:06?am, Koz Pinlicious <pinlici...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Jul 15, 9:22 am, americannleag...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> > > Remember, this is a large, long running arcade that owns their
> > > machines so they keep all the dough, not just half..
>
> > lets try to buy you some clues and get you in the loop...
>
> > 1.) petes has bills that people who do a 50/50 split with locations
> > don't. someone else listed a few of them, but there is even more to
> > consider.
>
Ahhhhh, another breath of fresh air, and a little more wisdom from the
"DavyGuy".
This forum gets a little more interesting every day, and it's folks
like the "DaveyGuy" that really deliver the good stuff, Let's see,
that would be a post advocating that pinballs should be broken into to
get free plays. Nice.
Steve
Lloyd Olson
to vandalize games, use slugs, etc. etc. LTG :)
"Steve" <kin...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1184551898....@o11g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
Fred Kemper
--
Fred
TX
CARGPB#8
******************
<american...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:1184544129.1...@22g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
davep...@aol.com
>
> On 15 Jul, 14:16, "Fred Kemper" <pbgar...@davlin.net> wrote:
>
> > "GOUGE"? LOL!
>
> > --
> > Fred
> > TX
> > CARGPB#8
> > ******************
>
> > <americannleag...@hotmail.com> wrote in messagenews:1184505742.4...@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > The $1 gouge for 3 balls really turned me off. If all games were $1 or
> > if Stern had the default set for $1/3 balls, I would have accepted it.
>
> Are you LOL'ing because I consider $1 for 3 balls a "gouge" when there
> are 17 other games in there at 50 and Stern defaults Spiderman and
> Family Guy to 75 per game or do you spell it differently in Texas?
No im not advocating the screwdriver pop and play method here..I was
merely stateing that if your a cheap sonofabitch why not go all the
way and pop and play for free..Damm buy some hotdogs and burgers with
the lose change that you "Might" find in that Spiderman coin box
there should be at least $1.75 in quaters in there with some slugs and
other foreign material..And while your there u might as well slide
back the glass and take off the useless stupid idiotic ornamints the
dream team put on to make the pin look like a marvel 1980 board
game..Hey SRE whens the CSI pin comeing out cant wait and see what the
dream team does to ruin this machine as well:) As i always say if you
can't do something right don't do it at all and your so called dream
team didnt do spiderman right ..God help us all had you done a
transformers pin
american...@hotmail.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
That would be breaking the law which I won't do. Free speech is still
protected in the United States, as far as I know.
Koz Pinlicious
someone dial 911, dave sounds suicidal, lol!
davep...@aol.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
Suicidal hardly..Im just stateing that cheap ppl do cheap things on
pinball machines i see it all the time from poped doors to keyed
cabinets to shattered backglasses i've seen it all.. And the faults on
SRE dream team latest so called best pinball his team ever designed
davep...@aol.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
suicidal hardly..i was just saying that cheap ppl do cheap things to
pinball machines ..i've seen it all from the poped coin doors to keyed
cabinets to shattered playfeild glasses and backglasses nothing
surprizes me anymore..And was quoteing on the horrific toy ornamites
that ruined the SM pinball and was waiting to see what the dream team
does to ruin the next one
Shelby Haynes
have contemplated my opinion on the matter.
I guess I should qualify this by simply stating I am an above average
player and have been playing on location since about '79. I have had a
one pin collection for the last 6 years (rotated once). And yes I am
on the frugle side.
When I first started playing it was 25 cents a game, of course the
EM's and early solid state weren't as sophisticated (and probably not
as costly as machines created today in real dollars). To determine
what inflation has done to the quarter I played with in '79 I went to
a typical internet inflation calculator. A quarter in 1980 is worth 67
cents in 2006. So considering the sophistication of today's games and
inflation one could conclude that $1 is about the right price; but
back then I believe I was getting 5 balls for my quarter.
Personally, I love pinball, and because of my limited collection I
play alot on location. I do like playing on location for the variety
(of pins) and in most cases the atmosphere. Like many other avid
players, I do not like the fact that on probably 65% on my location
visits I will have to adjust my game to a flaw in the location game,
whether it be weak or intermitent flippers, unlevel playing field,
broken switches, etc.
I don't agree with the $1 - 3 ball pricing. First I look at it from
the prospective of who makes pinball profitable for the operators, is
it the people on this group or simply the casual player playing
pinball simply to have fun, or for something to do, during some spare
time at a location. When I think of the casual player playing a game
while waiting for their pizza, I envision a person with the primary
objective of hitting things,making ramp shots and keeping the ball in
play for as long as possible. What is going to be the inital average
ball time for those type of people ~30 seconds or $1 for 1.5 min of
entertainment. Yet, if it's the people on this group who drive
profits, where the ball times are substancially longer (on
average),than $1 - 3 ball game may be acceptable.
To me, profitability is contigent on both types on players, but
particularly on the casual player who doesn't currently know about the
rythym of the game, the objectives, or a rule set. Those are the
players that you want to become as passionate as we are about pinball
for if there is a solid player base this discussion wouldn't be
occuring, for running pinball machines would be much more profitable.
So, what is my opinion, for what little it is worth. You really have
to leave it at 75 cents on 3 ball because of the risk of a casual
player losing 3 balls in 1.5 min and being deterred from playing in
the future. Remember pinball isn't a video game where the programmer
makes the game easier at the being and increases the difficulty as
game time progresses, so even a new player gets decent game time and
at the end of a game feels they were entertained at a reasonable
price. If they enjoyed the experience they may want to play again and
see if they could do better. With pinball you run the risk of a new
player putting in $1, slapping the ball around for 1.5 min and
concluding that pinball sucks (ripoff). I have seen Stern try to
remedy this to a degree, by offering a extra ball shot if your first
two ball times are very short. If you are going to raise it to a $1
game you really need to make it a 5 ball experience.
Considering the advanced players, I would only award replays if you
make the high score table or if you get a match. I would also limit
extra balls usually to one in most cases.
$1 - 3 ball pricing is excessive and I don't think it will help the
industry. With this pricing only the advanced players will perceive
value from a game of pinball. What the industry needs is more players
and I don't believe you'll get many more with that pricing, but then
again maybe it does not matter it the point, perhaps it's just a
matter of time before there will be no manufactures because it's no
longer a profitable business. I am not going to pay more than the
perceived value I get from playing pinball on location. I believe in
the invisible hand of economics, and as long as I perceive
entertainment value for the cost I will play games on location. But
when I consider that a majority of ops don't properly maintain their
machines, at $1 - 3 ball pricing, I may perceive the cost outweighs
the entertainment value. I am not going to pay extra money simply to
keep it alive.
Lloyd Olson
"Shelby Haynes" <shelby...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1184812257.7...@m37g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
>I have been following this interesting topic for several weeks now and
> have contemplated my opinion on the matter.
>
> I guess I should qualify this by simply stating I am an above average
> player and have been playing on location since about '79. I have had a
> one pin collection for the last 6 years (rotated once). And yes I am
> on the frugle side.
>
> When I first started playing it was 25 cents a game, of course the
> EM's and early solid state weren't as sophisticated (and probably not
> as costly as machines created today in real dollars). To determine
> what inflation has done to the quarter I played with in '79 I went to
> a typical internet inflation calculator. A quarter in 1980 is worth 67
> cents in 2006. So considering the sophistication of today's games and
> inflation one could conclude that $1 is about the right price; but
> back then I believe I was getting 5 balls for my quarter.
There are websites out there to figure the cost of living and the value of
money on. The 50ข put into Black Knight in 1981, would have had to increase
to 75ข in 1991 to have the same buying power. The cost to play was not
increased then and within 5 years the industry was in shambles. I always
thought it was the player base that got decimated in those years, but it was
simple economics. The money players put into games no longer had the same
worth, ops lost ground on maintaining and buying new equipment,
manufacturers lost sales and money they could put into R&D, by 1997 it was
almost over.
I won't be leaving it at 75ข, at least for new games coming in. Cheap
entertainment hasn't brought in players or growth, so to maintain a good
pinball location, the money has to come from somewhere, or it's over for me.
I've already suffered the risk of casual players not playing at 50ข.
>
> Considering the advanced players, I would only award replays if you
> make the high score table or if you get a match. I would also limit
> extra balls usually to one in most cases.
>
> $1 - 3 ball pricing is excessive and I don't think it will help the
> industry. With this pricing only the advanced players will perceive
> value from a game of pinball. What the industry needs is more players
> and I don't believe you'll get many more with that pricing, but then
> again maybe it does not matter it the point, perhaps it's just a
> matter of time before there will be no manufactures because it's no
> longer a profitable business. I am not going to pay more than the
> perceived value I get from playing pinball on location. I believe in
> the invisible hand of economics, and as long as I perceive
> entertainment value for the cost I will play games on location. But
> when I consider that a majority of ops don't properly maintain their
> machines, at $1 - 3 ball pricing, I may perceive the cost outweighs
> the entertainment value. I am not going to pay extra money simply to
> keep it alive.
>
The industry needs more players, but at 50ข play, it is declining, not
bringing in more players.
Now speaking for a new pinball machine, clean and working, and latest
updates in it, $1 - 3 ball is a bargain.
My perception is based on the facts of operating 20 pins. I've tried for too
many years to provide 50ข entertainment, and provided good value, and still
face declining revenues. So it's either raise prices and be successful, or
I'll be operating redemption equipment or porn in here. LTG :)
Koz Pinlicious
> Michigan on South U. right across from University Towers apartment
> building.
>
> Version 1.3
i stopped by there early in the week and hammered that game. played a
quick 2 with loose tilt, outlanes closed all the way. 2B+ something
and a 800M+. $1 a play is about as fair as you can get (it is still
set up too easily) for the way the game is set up.
Pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)
(FYI: who has played sh 2 times now and LOST BOTH TIMES!
choke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
(SCREW THE LOCK PROBLEM, FIX THE F-ING LEFT LOOP POST DEFLECTION DOWN
THE MIDDLE ALREADY!)
>
> Set for $1.00 per 3 ball game. Full ripoff pricing. I played one game
> and enjoyed it but will not get ripped off more than once. Owner
> should follow brother Tim's 75¢ for five ball game pricing scheme.
> Played most of the other 17 pinball machines there. They were in
> various forms of repair and cleanliness. Biggest thing that bugged me
> was the Washington DC hole not working on Austin Powers. You had to
> wait for the machine to cycle to kick the ball out and it would never
> score. Even worse during multiball since the solenoid only has enough
> power to eject one ball at a time.
>
> Spiderman played better than I expected even though the theme does not
> attract me in the least bit. However, the buck a game turned me off
> big time.