bluegoatwoods
Pinball Player
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2024
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 3
- Points
- 9
- Favorite Pinball Machine
- Genie
I only discovered Pinball Nirvana this evening. I'm glad I did. You've helped me nail down a handful of tables which I've wanted pretty badly. Those elusive Gottlieb roms! I've had a number of VPX and VPT files stored in this computer for the day when I found the rom. And tonight I found, maybe, 8 or 10 of them here. I haven't got them all sorted out yet.
But it was a real jackpot. Thank you to those who work to put these files at our disposal.
I go back a ways. I remember inserting the ball in the plunger trough by pushing on the small plunger. I remember looking through that narrow window to see how many balls I had used up. And I remember when 3 inch flippers were something new. I was just a grade school kid at that time. But I was interested enough in pinball to notice these things. In the early 70s I was still a juvenile and not free yet to wander the world and play all sorts of different machines. But I still managed to play machines of that era from time to time. I think it was about that time.........though maybe a bit later.............when I started thinking, "There's just something about a good Gottlieb that just feels right". I knew that the others made good machines, of course. But it seemed to me that the mighty Gottlieb hit more home runs. And I still feel that way. I mourn their passing. (It's possible that the artwork of Gordon Morison plus the guy who preceded him at Gottlieb play a big part in this preference, I guess.)
Just as the solid states were being introduced I was a young quasi-adult hanging out in bars and shabby pinball parlors. And I played a lot during those years. My timing was good. Those were great machines. The later EMs and the early solid states......let's say 1975 to 1985....... were the golden age as far as I'm concerned.
And then I spent 30 years and more almost never even seeing a pinball machine. They certainly weren't a-dime-a-dozen anymore. And I honestly felt the loss. I was aware of it off and on during that time and it actually did sadden me when I thought about it.
Eventually I discovered Visual Pinball. But I'm not particularly computer savvy and I found that I could not download and handle these files well enough to actually play the machine. But I was aware that a library of machines, some of which I actually remembered from real life, was available if I could only master the technique involved. And eventually I figured it out. My first EM was a happy day. And I remember the sense of triumph when I downloaded and played my first solid state not too long after. This was all only a couple of years ago.
Since then I've been collecting machines. I only know one person in real life who is also interested enough to collect them. An in-law. So I've been sharing with her. That's fine since it means that I have backup copies if needed. And vice-versa. And we've even started to compare notes: pros and cons of various machines. We've only just begun that since there are a lot of games to wade through. But hopefully we can make progress before too much time is used up.
I have more machines than I can handle these days. So I've been paring them down. I have discovered that the machines of the 1960s and before were not as great as memory seemed to make them. They're dull. But they're too beautiful to throw away. So I've put them in a file titled "Mediocre". I don't play them enough to say so. But I look at them and admire them sometimes.
And I've still got to thin the herd. I still have more machines than I can handle properly. So recently I've started genuinely throwing away those that just don't play well. A poorly laid out playfield? Recycle bin. A jack-rabbit ball? In the trash. It does pain me to throw away a Gottlieb. But I've discovered that even the Big G made more dogs than I'd thought. So they gotta go.
And I've still got to get rid of some. So the new criterium will be whether the machine looks good or not. I can't afford to care if it plays well. If it's ugly, it's gotta go. No doubt Gordon Morison will save Gottlieb's ass quite a bit on this one. We'll see.
Well....this is kinda long-winded. What I'm trying to demonstrate here is that for those of you who simply love the game, you're my kinda people!!
In other hobbies I've been known to be an advice giver on the forums. It's just not so with visual pinball. My technical knowledge is so scant that I've got nothing of value to say. So I tend to not be online answering newbies questions. I feel a bit bad for that. But if I've got nothing to contribute, then it's best to just stay out of the way.
But I don't forget to feel gratitude toward those who've put a lot of hard work into making files which a neanderthal like myself is able to put to use re-living those glory days of great pinball. Thank you all very much.
But it was a real jackpot. Thank you to those who work to put these files at our disposal.
I go back a ways. I remember inserting the ball in the plunger trough by pushing on the small plunger. I remember looking through that narrow window to see how many balls I had used up. And I remember when 3 inch flippers were something new. I was just a grade school kid at that time. But I was interested enough in pinball to notice these things. In the early 70s I was still a juvenile and not free yet to wander the world and play all sorts of different machines. But I still managed to play machines of that era from time to time. I think it was about that time.........though maybe a bit later.............when I started thinking, "There's just something about a good Gottlieb that just feels right". I knew that the others made good machines, of course. But it seemed to me that the mighty Gottlieb hit more home runs. And I still feel that way. I mourn their passing. (It's possible that the artwork of Gordon Morison plus the guy who preceded him at Gottlieb play a big part in this preference, I guess.)
Just as the solid states were being introduced I was a young quasi-adult hanging out in bars and shabby pinball parlors. And I played a lot during those years. My timing was good. Those were great machines. The later EMs and the early solid states......let's say 1975 to 1985....... were the golden age as far as I'm concerned.
And then I spent 30 years and more almost never even seeing a pinball machine. They certainly weren't a-dime-a-dozen anymore. And I honestly felt the loss. I was aware of it off and on during that time and it actually did sadden me when I thought about it.
Eventually I discovered Visual Pinball. But I'm not particularly computer savvy and I found that I could not download and handle these files well enough to actually play the machine. But I was aware that a library of machines, some of which I actually remembered from real life, was available if I could only master the technique involved. And eventually I figured it out. My first EM was a happy day. And I remember the sense of triumph when I downloaded and played my first solid state not too long after. This was all only a couple of years ago.
Since then I've been collecting machines. I only know one person in real life who is also interested enough to collect them. An in-law. So I've been sharing with her. That's fine since it means that I have backup copies if needed. And vice-versa. And we've even started to compare notes: pros and cons of various machines. We've only just begun that since there are a lot of games to wade through. But hopefully we can make progress before too much time is used up.
I have more machines than I can handle these days. So I've been paring them down. I have discovered that the machines of the 1960s and before were not as great as memory seemed to make them. They're dull. But they're too beautiful to throw away. So I've put them in a file titled "Mediocre". I don't play them enough to say so. But I look at them and admire them sometimes.
And I've still got to thin the herd. I still have more machines than I can handle properly. So recently I've started genuinely throwing away those that just don't play well. A poorly laid out playfield? Recycle bin. A jack-rabbit ball? In the trash. It does pain me to throw away a Gottlieb. But I've discovered that even the Big G made more dogs than I'd thought. So they gotta go.
And I've still got to get rid of some. So the new criterium will be whether the machine looks good or not. I can't afford to care if it plays well. If it's ugly, it's gotta go. No doubt Gordon Morison will save Gottlieb's ass quite a bit on this one. We'll see.
Well....this is kinda long-winded. What I'm trying to demonstrate here is that for those of you who simply love the game, you're my kinda people!!
In other hobbies I've been known to be an advice giver on the forums. It's just not so with visual pinball. My technical knowledge is so scant that I've got nothing of value to say. So I tend to not be online answering newbies questions. I feel a bit bad for that. But if I've got nothing to contribute, then it's best to just stay out of the way.
But I don't forget to feel gratitude toward those who've put a lot of hard work into making files which a neanderthal like myself is able to put to use re-living those glory days of great pinball. Thank you all very much.
