If only 1 pin - which one?

[mcfa0201]

Guys,

Looking at purchasing first pinball for home.  Whats the deal:
- Indiana Jones (williams of course)
- Nba Fastbreak (for fun with mates)
- Twilight Zone (for the acclaim)
- White Water (for the fun)

Have been reading heaps and heaps of reviews on all the different machines, but really need to know - what is the ultimate HOME pinball.  Something that I wont get sick of playing, and is challenging in achieve a) high scores b) all of the stories

[Xiaou2]

Pinball is so very personal, and so its probably best you try each machine to see how you like it before sinking a lot of money into it.

 You have to see if your a stop-n-shoot type of player, or a "flow" guy as well.

 Out of the list you posted, I prefer williams IJ.
Its got 12 modes.  3 of which are video mini-games.   I cant imagine finishing all 12 modes, let alone getting very high marks on each one, in a single game.   Im still not the best player, so maybe in time.  Its a real challenge, and something you can grow into as your skills progress.

 I particularly like the flow and trying to get the path of adventure repeatedly.
The theme and sounds are excellent and fun.

 Some dont like the slower ball speeds of the game however.  Its not as adrenalized as something like Theatre of Magic.


 Ive played White Water a few times.  Mixed opinions about it.  The shots seem somewhat limited.. but I do seem to have fun playing it.  Its definitely a hard game, and kicks my butt frequently.   Love the sounds on it.  Looks cool.

 
 Another one of my Favorites is  Creature from the Black Lagoon.   I really wish I had the cash for one.  It plays pretty fast.  Lots of great shots.  Fun theme and music.  Awesome ramps and cool lighting effects.  I always have a blast playing it.  Maybe more so than IJ, however, I just dont think I could give up IJ for it.  I think IJs 12 modes will have a longer lasting appeal.


 TZ is a stop-n-shoot style game, and I just cant get into it.  I prefer a faster flow game.


 - edit -

 If you do get and IJ,  make sure you get a complete flipper rebuild kit immediately.
If IJs flippers are not spot on, you cant make the two ramps easily.. and it will destroy the tables good ball flow,  making it frustrating and un-rewarding.   I think this is why a lot of people are throw off when they get to play one.. because its out-of-whack, and not playing as designed.   That could be said of a lot of pins, but some function better than others, even when out of whack.

[mcfa0201]

Mate that is very helpful - cheers.

I would love a IJ but wouldnt mind a Fastbreak just for the mates/beers nite for a little fun.  Ah now to sell the car and get that living room looking a treat

[Dazz]

If I could have only 1 pin I'd go with a digital pin.  1 digital pin can have 100's of tables in the same space you can have 1 mechanical pin.  While nothing compares to having a real pin, having only 1 pin to play gets real boring after a while.  Then you either need more room or start trading/sell when you get bored. 

[Q*Bert_OP]

If you have the budget for TZ or IJ, but want a NBAFB to have fun with friends, why not get 2 NBAFBs and link them? That requires adding a few components to a board in each game, but allows for a competitive simultaneous 2 player game.

Personally, I'd choose TZ, however.

[mcfa0201]

Yeah there is a great place near mine (Pinball Warehouse) that has heaps of the top pins - so i think a trip over there for a few tests may be in order to find which tickles my fancy the most.

I have to budget for all Q-Bert lol

NBA Fastbreak looks like a fun game cause its so different... i dont know too much about Twilight Zone (never seen the show or movie), but have always had an appeal for IJ.

I just dont want to get a machine that i am going to be bored with after 12 months.

[HanoiBoi]

If you aren't absolutely passionate about just one table right now, I think you'll bet bored with any of those pins after 12 months.

+1 on the digital pin.  I've got 2 (older) pinball machines and I'm in the process of building a digital pin.  When that's finished, the others are finding new homes.

If you've got the skills (and time) build a digital pin.  It could cost about the same, but you'd have the ability to play 100+ tables and it would requir less maintenance.  For fun with friends, it would be perfect.  Some other fun tables would be Attack From Mars, Medieval Madness, Whodunnit, Star Wars, The Shadow, Scared Stiff, Indianapolis 500, World Cup Soccer, Funhouse, The Getaway and plenty more...

For a real pin, if money's no object, I'd go with Attack From Mars or Medieval Madness.

Of your list, I've always enjoyed Whitewater, but I imagine that wouldn't hold interest as long as IJ would over time.  I'd also guess that IJ would be easier to resell when the time comes.

[ChadTower]

Get the pin that is the best deal in the best condition locally.  You'll want to swap it eventually no matter what.  Get a game that plays really well and you'll enjoy it just fine.

[JeepMonkey]

Regardless of what anyone says or what review you have read about how fun a pin is, play them and determine what you like.  Forget buying titles for the prestige, get what is fun for you.

[Krupa]

Regardless of what anyone says or what review you have read about how fun a pin is, play them and determine what you like.  Forget buying titles for the prestige, get what is fun for you.

This. Reviews and other opinions mean very little.  I have two of the more expensive, "prestigious" pins in my collection, Creature and Lord of the Rings, and while I love them both I play my Judge Dredd more. It's my cheapest pin, gets average reviews, isn't a "desirable" theme, but for whatever reason I just click with it. I've had it almost two years and I'm not anywhere close to being bored with it. That isn't to say you should get one, lots of people think it sucks.  Just make sure you play a bunch before you settle on one.

[tomdotcom]

I would probably pick TZ out of those options, with IJ a VERY close second...

But Krupa makes a good point. I've owned ten pins so far, and my all time fave that I've owned so far is Fishtales, even though I've had other good pins like Addam's Family, Dr Who, World Cup Soccer 94, Getaway High Speed II, etcetc...

[Xiaou2]

 As for Digital pins, sorry... but I dont agree.  Theres nothing like the real deal.  Ive played plenty of virtual pinball and future pinball... and they just make me more frustrated than anything else.

 The tables look like butt.  Poor shading, poor lighting, low quality art scans, many times the perspective is from a midgets point of view, colors are usually off due to poor lighting, Ramps, toys, light covers.. all usually are visually unbearable.  The look is flat obviously, and in person, its even worse looking than you can imagine.
 
(if you want to see an example of good looking virtual pinball tables, see Microsoft's old Pinball Arcade cd.)


 Digital pins Physics are poor.  And the analog abilities are still really weak.  Shaking a table feels nothing like shaking a real machine.   (I have a feeling some people dont know how to work a pin correctly here, using lite bumping and flipper tricks, as well as ball spin tactics)  In fact, you cant feel anything on a virtual pin.  With a real pin, you can sense the smallest things... from position of the ball (hear it as well as feel the ball rolling), as well as how hard things hit, and how much you have to bump things...etc..

 And finally, you have issues with the motion blurring because even decent LCDs still stink for fast moving objects.

 All in all, Id never trade my real pin for a virtual pin.

 At very  most, I might build one as an addition... but only if things like head-tracking (seen on the Johnny Lee's wimote demo) is added - to create 'on the fly' 3d perspective / depth...  as well as supporting analog inputs better.
 

[mcfa0201]

Guys, this is exactly the input I needed.  Not so keen on the Hyperpin style setup (more after the real deal).  I think I will head down to the pinball warehouse, take some decent coin with me, and play and play and play - and go with the one that 'clicks'.

I cannot wait to get one home but - am an old arcader - am looking to break into the pinball world.

Thanx for all the input - helped alot.

 

[Donkbaca]

If it was me, I would get a Gottleib street fighter 2 pin.  The bonus stage with the car is dope, plus its the only version of SF2 that I haven't beaten 

[Donkbaca]

Yeah, I have no pins.  Honestly that's the one I want the most. I think I can probably get one for $500 in good shape.

The wife though, says that if we are going to get a pin, it has to be Banzai Run....

[mcfa0201]

This thread kinda turned into a Visual Pinball review - perhaps we can move this on to that in another post.

Does anyone have any other (non-pc pinball) cabinets they recommend? - White Water??

[Donkbaca]

Street fighter 2!

[smartbomb2084]

Virtual pins have their place but the real thing is the real thing.  Half the FUN of pinball for a lot of people is working on the physical game itself. Swapping out rubbers, soldering wires, fixing burned or intermittent connectors, changing fuses, having your game suddenly RESET when you press both flippers simultaneously,  having a switch or two that only works half of the time,  ETC ETC ETC.

With VP you have to be a computer geek instead of a coin-op mechanic. I'm not bashing VP here, I love the idea of having almost EVERY MODERN GAME EVER MADE at my fingertips in one cabinet and the nit picking critiques of color rendering and shadow rendering are for the software guys and really don't bother me much at all--- I just wanna play some PINBALL. When computing power is strong enough for true virtual reality pinball isn't gonna be the first thing on our list to do using it.

As said in this thread previously, you can never have just ONE perfect game. No matter what the game is if you play it enough you will tire of it eventually. So, for me, the best 'first pin' advice is to find ANY game that works well for a good price and live with it for a while. See if you REALLY WANT a game in your home. Find out if you like 'working' on it and having the the extra traffic in your house from all of the people you bragged to about owning a game.  The less you spend now may be beneficial in the future. If you find you want to step up,  great, you can sell your decent  game that you worked on to someone else hopefully for a profit and get another better game.

[Krupa]

Does anyone have any other (non-pc pinball) cabinets they recommend?

Do you have a budget in mind?

[pinballwizard79]

This thread kinda turned into a Visual Pinball review - perhaps we can move this on to that in another post.

Does anyone have any other (non-pc pinball) cabinets they recommend? - White Water??

True

Guns N Roses - Data East

[Blanka]

For a real pin, if money's no object, I'd go with Attack From Mars or Medieval Madness.

You mean the Mars Attacks movie one? That one was awesome. My favorite at college!

[Dazz]

Guys,

Any chance you can have a separate thread on this debate lol 

Sorry about the turn this thread took.

You wanted a suggestion for 1 pin and I think digital pins are definitely a valid suggestion for people looking for "only 1 pin".  I'd be much more interested to see a thread stating "If you could live with only 1 pin, for the rest of your life, which one?".  I don't think you would ever get an answer as all pins get boring after awhile. Seriously though, I don't think anyone will ever be happy with a single pin.  Once you have one pin, it will never end there, you will always want more, or you will want to sell or trade the one you have for another.  From there; it's a never ending vicious cycle. 

I do think there is only one way a person could live with a single pin for the rest of their life... Emotional attachment.  I currently have a 1969 EM pin that I've had for 33 years now.  The only reason this machine has been kept and will continue to be kept is because it's worth more sentimentally than it would ever be monetarily.  I'm currently dropping about $600 into this pin because I do want to keep it in my family for many many many more years to come.

BTW - Xiaou2 is the one that wanted to start a emulated vs mechanical war.

[saint]

Thread split into two - please keep the digital vs. real pin discussions out of this thread.

--- saint

[jennifer]

           All pins, even the slow, boring, less popular games were not only fun then, but are just as much today. Those "A" list games have already
found homes for the most part, but what about Totem, Aztec, and hundreds of others that just feel the need to belong?
           One game? For me that would be a local problematic basket case..... Years of fun.